IDIOM

CULTURAL AFFECTION ON TRANSLATION ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE ANIMAL IDIOMS

            As Wikipedia defined “An idiom is a word or phrase which means something different from what it says - it is usually a metaphor. Idioms are common phrases or terms whose meanings are not literal, but are figurative and only known through their common uses.” It means people can not understand the conversation or the text written by the foreigners if they merely look at the literal meaning of the text. Instead, people need to have a knowledge of idioms in order to figure out the inside meaning of the text. In the idioms, words have lost their individual identity. The structure of the idiom is to a large extent, fixed and unchangeable. Every language has a set of idioms and fixed expressions of its own, which have been created and developed throughout history. It is profoundly influenced by the geographical position, natural and social conditions of the culture in which the language is used. Thus, the sets of idioms and fixed expressions in different language varies in many ways.  

       The image of animal idioms its rich, unique features and its expression in the English language ability plays an important role in the formation of readers in mind a vivid image of the concrete. Idioms "like a cat on the hot bricks" is a good example. According to this description the reader can well imagine the scene at that time, translated into vietnamese is “rối như tơ vò”

       There are many kinds of idioms related to animals in both English and Vietnamese. Those idioms are often about dogs, cats, monkeys and so on. For example, we have idioms related to dogs like “as sick as a dog”, “like the dog with two tails” or “dog-eat-dog”. We also have some idioms about cats like “as weak as kitten” or “ cat gets one’s tongue”. Those are some typical examples that people use animals as the means of transmitting the meaning. Due to the difference of culture and context, English and Vietnamese language may have some similar and different symbolism of animals.

 

           Culture is a complex system of knowledge, ethical principles, beliefs, arts, law and traditions, etc. In addition, language, as a part of culture, reflexes the wealthy and various cultural phenomena. Idioms preserve close relationships with people's life and the culture where they are shaped and used. As Vietnam has a long history of cultivation and agriculture, a large number of idioms related to agriculture have been in use. Most of the elements used in Vietnamese idioms are focus on animals that the farmers have to deal with in their daily life as we can see in the following examples:

ăn ốc nói mò: to make something out of nothing

con sâu làm rầu nồi canh: one rotten apple spoils the barel

cháy nhà mới ra mặt chuột: hidden thing wil be bruoght to light in due time

cõng rắn cắn gà nhà: the snake bites the kitchen

chuột sa chĩnh gạo: to get a windfall

con giun xéo lắm cũng quằn: even a worm will turn

đàn gẩy tai trâu: to cast pearls before swine

giao trứng cho ác: opportunities makes the thief

khỏe như trâu mộng: as strong as a horse

lo bò trắng răng

nước đổ đầu vịt: water off a duck’s back

nuôi ong tay áo: to set a fox to keep the geese

sẩy đàn tan nghé

vắng chủ nhà, gà mọc đuôi tôm (or: vọc niêu tôm): when the cat is away the mouse will play.

(Tuyển Tập Thành Ngữ Tục Ngữ Ca Dao Việt Anh Thông Dụng)

      In the above idioms, farm animals like chicken, duck, fish, buffalo, cow….are often used when the farmers need an image to express their ideas about something. Take buffalo as an example, Buffaloes pull ploughs, work very hard everyday to help farmers in their farming. As a result, wanting to mention strength, people often refer to buffaloes. In fact, to talk about someone very strong, the Vietnamese have the idiom “khỏe như trâu” while the English have the idiom “as strong as a horse”. That’s because English people prefer horses to buffaloes. Horses can not only pull ploughs but also transport and entertain. They are really energetic and strong enough to help people in life. Take buffalo in the other idiom “đàn gẩy tai trâu”. According to Vietnamese conception, buffalo is one of the twelve zodiacs, and it represents something is bulky, lumpish, but patient. Buffalo is considered a close buddy of the farmers, leaving an unfathomable spot in the mind of Vietnamese. Đàn gẩy tai trâu uses one characteristic of the buffalo -lumpish- to express the idea of a person who would not listen to anything or anyone. Or buffalo in the idiom “khỏe như trâu” Differently, living on an island, the English are tend to sailing and traveling a lot, the English language flourish in idioms connected with navigation.

all at sea

any port in a storm

half sea over

in the same boat

sink or swim

take the wind out of somebody's sail

weather eye

to keep one's head above water

to clear the decks

to tide over

(Oxford Dictionary of Idioms)

          The second feature of the culture’s reflex on idioms is the distinction of customs is multi-sided, of which the most typical one is the attitude towards such animals as the dog, the cat, etc. Take the dog for example. In Vietnam, the dog is of a lowly status. Most of the Vietnamese idioms concerning with dogs are used in an insulting sense, usually describing wicked persons, although the numbers of pet dogs have increased nowadays.

chó treo mèo đậy

chó chạy cùng rào

chó chê mèo lắm lông

chó cùng dứt dậu: beast at bay bites hard or a wounded animal at bay

chó cắn áo rách: misfortune never come alone to a poor man

khổ như chó or nhục như chó: lead a dog life

 (Tuyển Tập Thành Ngữ Tục Ngữ Ca Dao Việt Anh Thông Dụng)

      Nonetheless, in the eyes of the English, “Dog” is a man’s best friend in Western countries. Since the dog is a lovely pet, a faithful fellow. Even though some other languages put forth passive influences on certain English idioms concerned with dogs, such as "a surly dog”, “in the doghouse” they always show sympathy and tender fondness to dogs rather than disgust and even hatred. In addition, a story said that a couple was quarrelling. One neighbor said, “Don’t bit the dog”. It shows that people regard a dog to be a person “love me, love my dog” “help a lame dog over a stile”.

a lucky dog

a top dog

die like a dog

as sick as a dog

as faithful as a dog

          It is the outcome of different cultures forming different languages. The knowledge of the same animal is different in the minds. Therefore, the animals can mean different meanings.

      By contrast, the dragon, as a symbol of the Vietnamese since a long time ago, carries a positive and favorable meaning. Such idioms are often found in Vietnamese language, since the Vietnamese is proud of being descendants of the holy dragon, “con rồng cháu tiên”

Symbolize wealth and goodness: đầu rồng đuôi tôm, rồng đến nhà tôm, vẽ rồng nên giun

Symbolize luxuriousness:

thêu rồng vẽ phượng; chạm rồng trổ phượng

Symbolize fortune:

mả táng hàm rồng như cá gặp nước,như rồng gặp mây rồng mây gặp hội

Symbolize brilliancy:

rồng bay phượng múa, ăn như rồng cuốn, uống như rồng leo

     Nevertheless, in Western mythologies, in this case, it is in English folk tales; the dragon is described as a monster, a devil and cruelty. It is a common knowledge that the Bible portrayed dragons in a very negative way, equally with Satan. In English speaking countries when you entitle a woman a dragon, you imply that she is fierce and horrible” (Tiger).

            However, it is not all the cases that the attitude of English and Vietnamese are always different. When living and working with the animals, human beings have the same feelings towards some certain animals. “Fox” would be a good example for this. Fox is supposed to be tricky by both Western and Eastern conception. “Deal with a fox, think of his tricks”. Such as the English saying goes, “The fox changes his skin but not his habit”. Also, Vietnamese idiom has “cáo mượn oai hùm”.

In short, the language only is a part of culture, and the culture is not equal to the language, the culture is bigger than the language, alone itself is not impossible independently to exist outside the language system, in other words, the language and the culture are one kind of complex interrelation. Moreover, human beings are not the only animated objects in the world. There are all kinds of animals all over the world. Some animals live distantly from human beings, such as penguins. Since they live so far that normal people are not familiar with them, the unfamiliar animal terms are seldom used in languages. But some other animals live close to human beings, such as domestic animals dog, cat, cow… . People raise them as pets, keep them for food or make them guards to protect people. As a result, human beings clearly know their habits and characteristics. Such animal terms occur in human language more frequently as in “cats and dogs”, “as wise as an owl”. It is apparent that people habitually relate certain persona with certain creatures. These qualities frequently provoke certain reactions or emotions.

            According to these above things,how can we transmit these idiom into another languages.Translation of animal idioms have some basic strategies such as literal translation, free translation, and sets of translation can  be better translation.

      Literal translation: When the two cultures with the same kind of animal to express the same or similar image, to use the literal translation, for example, are used "pig" to show that the "obese", with "sheep" to mean "docile." Literal translation has many advantages, it maintains the original form, not in the sense of confusion and misunderstanding, such as "as fat as pig"( Mập như heo) can be translated as "with the same fat pig." "As gentle as a lamb" is "as gentle with the sheep ( Hiền như cừu)."            “As black as crow” is “Đen như quạ”. “As cheerful as a lark” is translated “Vui như sáo”. “ As fierce as a tiger” is “ Dữ như cọp”. Literal translation can be accurate and effective expression of the original culture, narrowing the gap between the two

languages. The reader can easily understand the rich cultural connotation and metaphor translation. And it maintains the original charm, image and expressive. To "as proud as apeacock"( Đẹp như tiên sa) as an example, imagine the peacock look like: beautiful, elegant. If someone has been likened to "as proud as a peacock", we can through this clever and vivid metaphor to imagine how proud he was in the end.

      However there are many idioms which we can not find the equivelence exactly in other languages, we should consider another translation. It is free translation: when there are differences between English and Vietnamese concept, you can consider free translation. Such as the "white elephant" should be translated as "waste, something big elephant" instead of "white elephant." Able to accurately paraphrase the original meaning of the expression of an effective, such as "do the donkey work" meaning do menial work, the reader familiar with these translations can easily understand them. But the disadvantage is that it lays down the image of the original animal, reducing the expression of force, such as "my old servant never left me, he was as faithful as a dog" can be translated "my old servant, never leave me, he told me very loyal. "

     Another strategy when we can find out the equivelance in the target language we can use  an idiom of similar meaning but dissimilar form.  It is also possible, and usually easier to find an English idiom with a similar meaning to a Vietnamese idiom, but which is expressed differently. For example, in Vietnamese idiom" Trâu chậm uống nước đục" translated into English as "The early bird catches the worm". The meaning both two idioms is success comes to those who prepare well and put in effort. Or take another example “dog eats dog” can translate into vietnamese “ nồi da nấu thịt”, because “ nồi da nấu thịt” is familiar with vietnamese people. It origin from a tale that there was three siblings went together. After many day in the hunger, the oldest brother eventually decided kill his youngest brother and cook. And then he still can afford to find the food and he killed the other man. Although difference in form but both of them refer to the fighting between the member who live together in a family.

             In conclusion, idioms have meanings that can not be figured out by looking up the word in the dictionary. They have meanings that are understood by people who speak that language. Especially in animal idioms, because there are many kind of animals appearing among many countries, however the concept and the attitude toward these animal in this country is not always similar to others. Because of cultural gap between English and Vietnamese, it cause many dificulties in convey the animal idioms from english to vietnamese and in contrast. So we need to apply the proper strategy to translate them. We use literal translation when the two culture with the same kind of animal to express the same or similar images. When there are diference between vietnamese and english concept, view toward the same  or other difference kinds of animal we can approach free translation or using an idioms that has the same meaning but dissimilar form. Idioms reflect the cultural influence of that language. Therefore, when we learn English and Vietnamese idioms, it is necessary for us to know the cultural connotation for appropriate and successful communication.