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1、The Connotations of Number WordsA Thesis SubmittedTo Foreign Language DepartmentOf College of Information & Business,In Partial Fulfillment of the RequirementsFor the Degree of Bachelor of ArtsBy Student ID Number: * Supervisor：somebodyJune 1st , 2013论 文 摘 要 任何一种语言都蕴含着极多的文化内涵，语言是文化的载体，词汇就是其中最重要的一部分。
2、本文从不同角度对比与分析了数字的内涵，揭示了社会和文化心理及其在文化间交流的关联性，探索了中文及英文的数字翻译，讨论了多种翻译方法。数字不仅仅被用作计数工具，也承载了丰富的文化内涵，反应了中外独特的文化。为正确理解及准确使用数字需要有许多有关源语及目标语文化的背景知识，译者在翻译前需要明确数字在给出的上下文中的文学、比喻及文化内涵。关键词：文化；数字；内涵；翻译Abstract Any language bears a lot of cultural connotations, language is the vehicle of culture, and vocabulary is the
3、most active part of language. This article compares and analyses the connotations of number words in different aspects, revealing the relevant social and cultural psychology and its influences on intercultural communication, exploring both the Chinese and English numeral translation, and discussing
4、the translation strategies. A number is not only used as a counting and calculation tool, but also carries profound connotations, reflecting the unique culture of both China and English-speaking countries. To correctly comprehend and properly use numeral words calls for a wide range of background kn
5、owledge concerning the culture in both source language and target language. The translator should distinguish the literal, figurative and connotative meanings of the numeral words in the given context before they get down to translating them. Key words: culture; number words; connotation; translatio
6、nTable of ContentsAbstract (Chinese) .Abstract (English) .1. Introduction.62. A brief survey of the cultural connotations of numbers62.1 A brief contrastive explication of some single numbers across cultures.62.2 Review on other numbers in cultures both home and abroad .73.Nidas translation theorydy
7、namic equivalence and two related translation strategies83.1 Dynamic equivalence93.2 Two translation strategies: naturalization and foreignization.103.3 Different views of naturalization and foreignization.124. Translation strategies of some number words134.1 Literal four-involved Chinese phrases.13
8、4.2 Cultural-bound four-involved Chinese phrases135. Conclusion.14Bibliography.15Acknowledgments161. Introduction Numbers belong to a part of language and are a common phenomenon of different languages in the world. Whenever numeral are mentioned， people may think of mathematics or statistics then a
9、s a part of study in natural science. Apart from their explicitness and accuracy in natural science, there are considerable differences in their connotations and extensions, for the sake of influence of national psychology, religious beliefs, worship of languages and other cultural distinctions. In
10、fact, numerals endowed with non-quantitative meanings have become an important component in language study with the development of human society and human languages.2. A brief survey of the cultural connotations of numbers2.1 A brief contrastive explication of some single numbers across cultures In
11、humans intercultural activity, all participative parties not only need to be familiar with national language and culture, but also must fully understand the language and culture of the opposite party, specially the difference between ones national culture and others culture. Only holding this opinio
12、n can one make the human communication work smoothly.(Zhou Zhipei 2003:480)(Translation of the original by the author). In this section, the general culture related to different numbers are surveyed. The number “three” is used widely in China. “Three” is written as “三” in Chinese character, in which
13、 the first line is considered to represent the sky, the middle line symbolizes human being, and the last line represents the earth(Zhao Xiang 2005:90). In the history, human gradually recognized that time is divided into three parts: the past, the present, the future; space has top, middle, bottom.
14、Under such a cognition of time and space, “three” is endowed with lots of meanings in Chinese culture and also consequently widely used in various fields: the navy, the army, the air force are called “three Armed Force”(三军); cattle, sheep and pigs are named “three domestic animals”(三牲); Dragon Boat
15、Festival, the Mid-autumn Festival and the Spring Festival constitute “three festival”(三节) (Hui Yu 2005). The number “three” is also respected by Western people. They hold the idea that the world consists of three elements, the earth, the oceans and the sky. The nature is constituted of three element
16、s: animals, plants and minerals(Duan Ping 2006:208); the Christians think there are the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the Western people believe “three” is a perfect numbe. They often said “The third time the charm”(第三次准灵); a play of Shakespeare also said “All good things do by thr
17、ee”(一切好事以三为标准。). In Laotzu, Laozi stated that Tao breeds one, one breeds two, two breeds three and three and three breeds everything. That is to say, everything in the world is evolved from “three”. This thoughts is accepted by people and reflected in daily life. For example, “三” in Chinese means in
18、 what Confucius claimed “一日三省吾身”（I examine myself many times a day.）and “三思而后行” （think twice before you act）. But “三” can also be used to express “few” such as “三年五载”“三言两语”。2.2 Review on other numbers in cultures both home and abroad By contrast, Christianity is its mainstream culture in English soc
19、ial life. Christianity has a great effect on culture connotations of numbers. For example, the number “three” in English has auspicious and mysterious connotations. Number “five” is frequently used in China. It has a special brilliant past, reflected in the Theory of the Five Elements, an extremely
20、popular theory in ancient China. We can tell its popularity by looking at some phrases and idioms, such as “five elements: metal, wood, water, fire and earth”; “five sense organs: ears, eyes, mouth, nose and tongue”; “三番五次”(again and again); “三令五申”(warn and order repeatedly), etc. (Hui Yu 2005). Whi
21、le in western countries, people consider the fifth day of a week as an unlucky day, and the reason is that it is the day of the Passion of Jesus Christ. Referring to “six”, in Chinese peoples view, it is the most lucky number. A common saying “六六大顺” is the best proof. Besides, three-dimensional spac
22、e consists of forward, back, left, right, up and down; a woman who gets pregnant is called “身怀六甲”. In addition, people would like their telephone number or car number with “six” in it. For instance, “6; 66; 666; 6666” are specially cherished by people. With the development of Chinese economy, “eight
23、” has become increasingly welcomed by Chinese people for its similar pronunciation to the Chinese character “发”, which means making more money and getting rich. So all the numbers contain eight are welcomed and more expensive than other numbers, and people are willing to spend a lot of money buying
24、a number with eight for their telephone number or car number. Especially for the businessmen, “eight” seems a lucky number for them to make fortune. However, in Western countries,eight is not particularly favored.3.Nidas translation theorydynamic equivalence and two related translation strategies3.1
25、 Dynamic equivalence Chinese and English cultures are quite different from each other, the differences are reflected in the respective languages and get expressed by means of words, phrase, sayings and so on. Thus, the two languages have become the carrier and container of the two cultures. At the s
26、ame time, the two cultures are the soil that the two languages exist in. In other words, there would be no language if there were no culture.The interrelatedness of language and culture are perfectly reflected in Nidas words:.The meaning of verbal symbols on any and every level depends on the cultur
27、e of the language community. Language is a part of culture, and in fact it is the most complex set of habits that any culture exhibits. Language reflects the culture, provides access to the culture, and in many respects constitutes a model of culture (qtd. Ma Huijun, 75). Obviously, numbers have ric
28、h cultural connotations, besides their meanings on the surface. This brings about some obstacles in transferring numbers in one language to those in another without causing misunderstanding. Therefore, while translating numvers, the cultural factors of numbers should be taken into account.3.2 Two tr
29、anslation strategies: naturalization and foreignization Translation is to transfer meaning across languages with little information loss as possible.(Nida, Eugene A, 1993) It should give the approximately equivalent information of the source language to the target language readers. Due to different
30、cultural backgrounds, the same numbers in different countries have diverse connotations. In some cases, the target languages shares the same connotation and linguistic feature with the source language.3.3 Different views of naturalization and foreignization The cultural backgrounds and expressions a
31、re various in different nations. So it is sometimes different or impossible to translate literally to get equivalence between the source language and the target language. Naturalization and foreignization are related. All translations have to make a compromise between the two basic methods of transl
32、ation. From the standpoint of the intended readers, naturalization translation is directed toward a large number of common readers, whereas foreignization is only towards a few elitists who know the two languages concerned (Robinson 1997). In the process of translation, the two translation methods a
33、re usually used together, only if combining these two methods can we use another language to express its original meaning.4. Translation strategies of some number words4.1 Literal four-involved Chinese phrases “Four” is regarded as an unlucky number in China, because its pronunciations in Chinese ar
34、e the same as the pronunciation of “si (die)”. If a car number, telephone number and address number contain “four”, it will not be welcomed by people. Especially they avoid “4,14,24,54,514” which all contain si. However, at present, young girls and boys paid less attention to this problem.4.2 Cultur
35、al-bound four-involved Chinese phrases In ancient China the most common symbolical meaning of the number FOUR is four directions and four seasons. People often praise wonderful things or person by using Four. Such as “the four virtues”(四大美德)，“Four Buddhist Holly Mountains”（四大佛教名山），“Four Heavenly gua
36、rdians”(四大金刚) and so on. In English speaking countries, the number FOUR has totally different symbolic meaning and people do not have to avoid it. Some of them think that number FOUR stands for equitableness, justice and power.5. Conclusion As we can see that the Chinese terms are various, their Eng
37、lish translation strategies can be varied according to the phrases themselves. In the process of research, the author has made drawn a conclusion as follows: When referring to the non-cultural specific terms, we can take the English phrases as direct references, and these non-figurative phrases invo
38、lving “seven” are primarily translated freely. As for the figurative seven-involved terms, the author believes we should categorize them into different groups and adopt different translation theories and methods according to different situations. However, due to the limitation of the authors ability
39、, the analysis conducted in this paper has not covered all the possible translations of numerals in Chinese set phrases. This paper focuses on the study of the numbers cultural connotations and its translation strategies, which may promote peoples inter-cultural communication. It is widely accepted
40、that language is intrinsically connected with culture. Numbers in a language are certain to be inseparably related with their culture. Numbers are a mirror which reflected the cultural characteristics with regard to the way people view the world. In a word, it is very important and necessary for tra
41、nslators to know about the cultural of numbers while translating numbers. Decision of methods of number translation depends on specific context and respective cultural backgrounds.BibliographyCatford, J. C. A. (1995) . Linguistic Theory of Translation . England Oxford Press. Garner, B. A. (2003). Ga
42、rners Modern American Usage. New York: Oxford University Press.冯庆华，2007，实用翻译教程，上海外国语教育出版社。金惠康，2002，跨文化交际与翻译，中国对外翻译出版公司。李长算，胡爱平，2000，“试论翻译史”，中国翻译第三期。郭庆光，1999，传播学教程，中国人民大学出版社。胡壮麟，1994，语篇的衔接与连贯，上海外语教育出版社。张培基，喻云，1988，英汉翻译教程，上海外语教育出版社。Acknowledgments My deepest gratitude goes first and foremost to Profes
43、sor Wang for his constant encouragement and guidance. He has walked me through all the stages of the writing of this thesis. Without his consistent and illuminating instruction, this thesis could not have reached its present form. Second, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Professor Z
44、hang, who led me into the world of translation. I am also greatly indebted to the professors and teachers at the Department of English: Professor Li, Professor Chen, who have instructed and helped me a lot in the past three years. Last my thanks would go to my beloved family for their loving considerations and great confidence in me all through these years. I also owe my sincere gratitude to my friends and my fellow classmates who gave me their help and time in listening to me and helping me work out my problems during the difficult course of the thesis.
