英汉习语翻译策略.doc

Cultural Default Reflected in Proverb Translation between English and Chinese
and pensation Strategies
Absrtact: Proverbs are the accumulation of human’s experience and wisdom. Different proverbs transmit different cultural information. If those cultural elements are not taken into consideration in the process of translation, cultural misunderstanding or cultural loss would arise. To deal with the cultural default in Chinese and English proverb translation, the author puts forward pensation strategies.
Key Words: Proverb Translation; Cultural Default; Compensation Strategy
I. Introduction
Proverbs are the crystals of human intelligence and experience. They do not only reflect human civilization but also enrich human life and make language more colorful. They are culturally influenced, thus bringing up difficulties in translation. As different nations have different cultures, whose uniqueness inevitably bring munication barriers between different countries and regions. Those differences may sometimes be culturally-specific, which means that what belongs to one culture may be vacant in another culture. This usually results in cultural vacuum, or in other words, cultural default. The translation between Chinese and English proverbs is affected greatly by the cultural elements of Chinese and English-speaking countries. Therefore, it is of great importance to find pensation s