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Meta
Journal des traducteurs
Translators' Journal

Cultural Differences and Translation

Chen Hongwei

Volume 44, Number 1, mars 1999 Article abstract

Théorie et pratique de la traduction en Chine This article discusses the influence of cultural differences on translation'a
The Theory and Practice of Translation in China cross-culturalcommunication event. However complex a culture is, it can
roughly be divided into threecategories: material culture, institutional culture
URI: https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/002224ar and mental culture. Language belongsto institutional culture, which is closely
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7202/002224ar related to mental culture in formation and performance.Differences in mental
culture are what produce the differences in languagesinvolved in translation.
The article first examines the differences between Chinese andEnglish arising
See table of contents
from their respective mental culture, which are mainly manifested inimage
and function, integrity and individuality, covertness and overtness, thought
andform. It then further provides effective methods to solve culture-bound
Publisher(s) problems intranslation from Chinese into English.
Les Presses de l'Université de Montréal

ISSN
0026-0452 (print)
1492-1421 (digital)

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Hongwei, C. (1999). Cultural Differences and Translation. Meta, 44(1), 121–132.
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 Cultural Differences and Translation

chen hongwei
Central China Normal University,
Wuhan, China

RÉSUMÉ
Cet article traite de l’influence des différences culturelles en traduction — un fait de
communication inter-culturel. Peu importe la complexité d’une culture, elle peut être
divisée en gros en trois catégories : culture matérielle, institutionnelle et mentale. La
langue relève de la culture institutionnelle dont la formation et la performance sont liées
intimement à la culture mentale. Ce sont les différences de culture mentale qui mènent
aux différences de langue en traduction. Cet article étudie non seulement les différences
entre le chinois et l’anglais résultant des cultures mentales respectives, se manifestant
principalement par l’imgae et la fonction, l’intégrité et l’individualisme, le caché et le
connu, la pensée et la forme, mais procure également des méthodes efficaces pour
résoudre les problèmes liés dans la culture en traduction du chinois à l’anglais.

ABSTRACT
This article discusses the influence of cultural differences on translation—a cross-cultural
communication event. However complex a culture is, it can roughly be divided into three
categories: material culture, institutional culture and mental culture. Language belongs
to institutional culture, which is closely related to mental culture in formation and perfor-
mance. Differences in mental culture are what produce the differences in languages
involved in translation. The article first examines the differences between Chinese and
English arising from their respective mental culture, which are mainly manifested in
image and function, integrity and individuality, covertness and overtness, thought and
form. It then further provides effective methods to solve culture-bound problems in
translation from Chinese into English.

Culture is an extremely complex concept and an enormous subject. It embraces

almost everything in the world, whether material or spiritual. But however complex,
culture can roughly be divided into three categories: material culture, which refers to
all the products of manufacture, institutional culture which refers to various systems
and the theories that support them, such as social systems, religious systems, ritual
systems, educational systems, kinship systems and language; and mental culture,
which refers to people’s mentality and behaviours, their thought patterns, beliefs,
conceptions of value, aesthetic tastes.
Language, which possesses all the features of culture, belongs to institutional
culture. Like all other aspects of culture, language is not inherited but acquired and
shared by a whole society; like all other aspects of institutional culture, language is
conventional and governed by rules which are acknowledged and observed by all
members of society. Language mirrors other parts of culture, supports them, spreads
them and helps to develop others. This special feature of language distinguishes it
from all other facets of culture and makes it crucially important for the transfer of

Meta, XLIV, 1, 1999

122 Meta, XLIV, 1, 1999

culture. It is no exaggeration to say that language is the life-blood of culture and that
culture is the track along which language forms and develops.
The formation and development of all aspects of a culture are closely related to
one another, and language is no exception. A careful study of the meanings of words
and how these change demonstrates how material culture, institutional culture and
mental culture influence the formation and development of language.  originally
meant “an opening in the wall or roof of a building, etc. to let in light and air.” After
a period of rapid economic growth in China, it came to mean “a thing, a place or
department which can help people acquire information.” A¥— (window on the
world) is a bimonthly magazine which caters to Chinese people’s thirst to know more
about the science, technology, literature and cultural heritage of other countries.
S§ originally refered to the meaning of a word ( SZ), then extended to mean
the implication of words, sentences or discourses (MZ), as well as the intention
of a person seeking to express gratitude to a benefactor with a gift (zS). In
m®XS§R0V (please accept this little gift as a token of my appreciation),
S§ refers to the gift. It is used here as euphemism of Çè, which could help the
recipient save face, given that in China politeness is everything.
Words used in Chinese to address people are closely related to Chinese social
life. In China, it is considered polite to address one’s elders, superiors or people of
importance by their titles, such as
¦( (Teacher Yang), ÃY³ (President Li) and
PÆ (Manager Zhang), and family members by their relation, such as ff
(Uncle Wang), ¨`y (Aunt Xu) and Å (Grandpa Zhou). These honorifics are
troublesome for English-speaking people communicating with Chinese, because
Teacher Yang sounds awkward, Aunt Xu may well be a neighbour of the speaker’s and
Grandpa Zhou is likely not a family member at all. These expressions of respect serve
only to demonstrate a very natural tendency among Chinese to use polite terms.
Chinese chengyu (ؾ ), which approximate English idioms, are the gems of the
rich Chinese cultural heritage. They originate from other, alien cultures. For instance,
Ä©‡ (to consider oneself most fortunate, to make somebody’s acquaintance,
etc.) and ,Ílƒ (spotless) were taken from Buddhism, oÝ (miraculous
cure) and ×%<a (momentary recovery of consciousness just before death; a sud-
den spurt of activity prior to collapse) from Taoism, ÝW×' (of a doctor) to effect
a miraculous cure and bring the dying back to life) and ý‹ (to suit the
medicine to the illness, to suit the remedy to the cause) come from traditional Chi-
nese medicine, ¿Öã³ (to try to help shoots grow by pulling them up—spoil
things through excessive enthusiasm) and Þ/n[În (one who retreats 50 paces
mocks one who retreats 100; the pot calling the kettle black) from classical works.
Having been customarily used for ages in terse terms and with incisive meanings, the
Chinese chengyu carry more historical colour and literary allusions than do English
idioms, features that have made chengyu very popular.
Every component of language—phonetics, vocabulary and grammar—is the
product of cultural development. Grammar, which is essential for gaining control
over language, is a triumph of abstract thought, which is influenced by the ecological
environment and social factors. People speaking Indo-European languages long ago
inhabited dry plains and sea-battered shores, constantly exposed to fierce and ever-
changing elements of nature. The uncertainty and unpredictability of the elements
impelled people to regard nature calmly and objectively as part of their struggle for
 cultural differences titre du chapitre 123
and translation

survival. Nature existed as object in opposition to man, who developed the habit of
observing, analyzing and learning about nature in order to bring it under control.
This opposition between man and nature laid the cornerstone of Western culture
which flourished through scientific observation by analytic minds seeking reason,
freedom and individuality. This defining feature of Western culture is fully demon-
strated in Indo-European languages, especially English, which is a partially synthetic
and partially analytic language characterized by overtness in grammar, hypotaxis in
syntax, comparatively free word order and flexible word formation.
In contrast, the Chinese who lived in the north temperate zone of the fertile East-
Asian continent seemed to be favoured by nature. They were less threatened by the
elements and were content to live in a harmonious ecological environment. Their
semi-closed geographical conditions and natural agricultural economy cultivated an
outlook of being one with nature. This belief gave rise to their simple philosophy of
Man’s Unity with Heaven, which forms the basis of the Chinese dialectical thought
pattern, and emphasizes intuition gained by experience, the concept of the oneness of
subject and object, a strong ethical consciousness, and a practical outlook on a simple
life. Chinese, as an analytic language, mirrors the psychological characteristics of
the Chinese people through parataxis and simplicity in grammar; form is often
neglected, coherence is emphasized, and understanding the meaning of a word and
its relation to other words is largely dependent on context, or to put it exactly, on
one’s intuition.
From the analysis above, we can see that language as an institutional facet of
culture is closely related to and strongly influenced by other facets of culture, and by
mental culture in particular. It is primarily the differences in mental culture between
Chinese- and English-speaking people that lead to the differences between the Chi-
nese and English languages. Therefore it is highly revelatory to study the linguistic
manifestations of differences in these two mental cultures and, in doing so, we hope
to find ways to tackle the culture-bound problems that arise in translation from
Chinese into English.

1. IMAGE AND FUNCTION

Chinese is imageable because the Chinese emphasizes intuition and images; English
is functional because of the Indo-European emphasis on reason and logic.
Chinese is written with characters (also called ideograms), which, in their earliest
form, were pictures of things or ideas. Chinese characters in their present, highly
developed form, are not a system of picture-writing but a complex means of convey-
ing ideas vividly through images. For instance,  (man) is exactly the image of a
man standing with legs parted, ¹ (rain) has four dot strokes symbolizing raindrops,
Å (umbrella) is shaped like an open umbrella. š (sun) and ï (moon) resemble
the sun ( ) and the moon ( ) in the sky. š and ï combine to give æ (bright-
ness). @ (to follow) very vividly depicts one man following another. The meaning of
some Chinese words can be understood directly by their visual presentation, such as
õ) (shingle; bobbed hair), 6) (wig), ‚% (coin), ¦% (note, bill), ׃v
(paper clip), ÄÞa (stilettos; high-heeled shoes), õ{ (socks), Ø¥}3 (tabard),
à™>`3 (poncho-style coat), and G÷ (halter top). ά~ (pleated skirt)
refers to a skirt with many pleats (not necessarily one hundred); ß3~ (overall
124 Meta, XLIV, 1, 1999

skirt) is a piece of clothing that combines a skirt and a blouse. G­R is a nipple-
shaped rubber object without holes; when a baby cries, you give it G­R to suck
so that it feels comforted and stays quiet. The English word “dummy” is an exact
equivalent. Many Chinese words are very vividly presented in images, shapes and
qualities; their English translation can often only convey their meaning and function
in the source text (ST) without preserving the imagery involved.
Images are frequently employed in Chinese as metaphors for abstract ideas or to
express sentiments and ambitions. €4 (to nibble) likens gradual aggression and
occupation to the way silkworms eat mulberry leaves—slowly taking small bites from
the leaves. W•c vividly describes a person doing something in a rush. The
compound depicts a general flurry of activity without specific reference to W and € .
In (™v. (to just miss a person or a golden opportunity), v. means the two
persons are so close to each other that their arms almost touch. In the translation
of these two chengyu the meanings may be completely preserved but the images of
W—€ and . are lost. G¬ÏÚ compares splitting bamboo to successive victories
won without difficulty. It could be translated in English as “with irresistible force,”
“like splitting bamboo” or “like a hot knife cutting through butter;” this last option
borrows an image from Western culture that has similar connotative meaning.
¬š¹) is the description of one who is at the apex of his power or career, just like
the sun at high noon. Since both Chinese and English share this cultural phenom-
enon, a literal translation “like the sun at high noon” or a liberal translation “at the
apex of one’s power, career, etc.” would both be good translations.
A large number of measure words also make Chinese vocabulary very imageable;
for example, , (a pen), ,Pû¦ (a newspaper), , § (a flower), ,Æ?
(a chair), ,ÕÎ (a mirror), ,Þ: (a stick), ,®~ (a horse), ,@’ (a
lamp), ,<x (a tree), ,[} (a coat), ,`{Ç (a cake), ,Q; (a wok), etc.
Their English translations can very accurately convey the meaning and the quantity
of the objects described, but can never succeed in reproducing the vividness of the
Chinese measure words.
As Chinese is an ideographic writing system and a tonal language, every Chinese
character can be regarded as a trinity of pictograph, ideograph and phone. This
unique feature makes Chinese very beautiful. It is indeed a great pity that its beauty of
image and sound is completely lost when Chinese is translated into English, an alpha-
betic writing system with words composed of letters that have no symbolic meaning.

2. INTEGRITY AND INDIVIDUALITY

Influenced by the traditional Chinese philosophy of Man’s Unity with Heaven, the
Chinese believe in a harmonious relationship between man and nature, in the unity
of man’s spirit with nature, and in the continuum between subjective and objective
worlds. In Chinese thought patterns, objects are studied from an overall point of view.
This thought pattern is constantly reinforced through social life. English-speaking
people, like other Westerners, worship individuality, believing that while man lives in
nature, he is independent of nature and must struggle with nature to meet his needs.
As a result, the English thought pattern is based on scientific and quantitative analysis
and strict logical reasoning. The divergence between these two thought patterns gives
rise to many of the differences between the two languages.
 cultural differences titre du chapitre 125
and translation

The meaning of Chinese words is usually general while the meaning of English
words is specific. ókÄ is used to refer to all types of motorcycle (or motorbike). In
English there are other specific terms such as light motorcycle (H‚ókÄ), heavy
motorcycle (Á‚ókÄ), sidecar motorcycle (e‘2ďókÄ) and touring
moped (T…ókÄ). Ä in “ ĊþŒ” may refer to a car, a bus, a minibus, a tram,
a lorry, a van, a taxi—any means of transportation with two or more wheels. It is
possible to distinguish between them in Chinese, but a Chinese person is much more
likely to use a general term Ä than a specific one in daily communication. Ä means
“vehicle” in English, but this general term is rarely used by native English speakers
except in official or legal discourse. Native English speakers prefer to be more specific
in their references to cars, buses, minibuses, trams, lorries, vans, taxis, etc. The devel-
opment of the automobile industry has meant that many more types of vehicle are
available in the West than in China. This phenomenon of material culture is mirrored
in the plethora of English terms to describe vehicles: platform truck, medium van,
light lorry, light cross-country lorry with all-wheel drive, heavy lorry, three-way tip-
per, articulated vehicule, motor coach, two-door saloon car, small three-door car,
three-door hatchback, four-door saloon car, eight-cylinder limousine with three rows
of three-abreast seating, convertible, bucket seat buggy, estate car, sporting coupe, etc.
Although some of these vehicles, and their names, have entered Chinese life, such as
the double-decker bus and limousine, most are still unfamiliar to ordinary Chinese,
who therefore continue to designate vehicles generally as Ä .
ï/ is defined in Chinese dictionaries as “a person who has a particular spe-
cialty and knows a lot about it; a person who is very skilled at doing something,”
which is the exact equivalent to “expert” in English. But Chinese are accustomed to
calling all those who have come to work in China ï/ whether they are truly
knowledgeable in a field, college graduates or simply skilled workers. On the other
hand, an English-speaker prefer to use a specific word for each specific circumstance.
It is more natural in English to describe Li Zhengdao (ϋ) as a physicist, Niu
Manjiang (Nh) as a biologist, and both as scientists, than to call them “experts.”
Therefore, ï/ should be translated differently according to the expert’s particular
specialty, such as physicist, biologist, mathematician, historian, economist, engineer,
doctor, etc.
 is another example. It is quite natural for a Chinese person who wants some-
thing to write with to ask “ ¥ ?” though more specific words like ×Ò—»—
—b are available. The use of  on its own is perfectly normal and satisfac-
tory in Chinese, whereas the use of “writing implement” ( ) in English is not. An
English speaker would ask for a ball-point pen, pen, pencil, piece of chalk or another
specific kind of “writing implement,” rather than asking “Have you got something I
can write with?”
Some Chinese words, however, have very specific referents, arising from the
influence of the environment and material culture. `Æ is the staple food for Chi-
nese. When it is growing, it is a plant called ‰ or ‰Æ ( Ž‰ ); having been
harvested, it is called  or ‰; once the chaff is removed, it is called `Æ , which
can be eaten; it is called Æ@ when it is cooked for food and ‰¿ when it is
employed as seed. All these specific terms can be rendered into one English word: rice.
The Chinese preference for the general is shown not only in Chinese vocabu-
lary, but also in other aspects of the language. Chinese do not much care whether a
126 Meta, XLIV, 1, 1999

noun is singular or plural, definite or indefinite. Hence, “ 0¥ ª” can be

rendered as:
— Have you got a cup? Have you got cups?
— Have you got the cup? Have you got the cups?
— Have you got any cups? Have you got some cups?
Without a context, it is impossible to judge which translation is correct.
Empty words (©7) in Chinese have important grammatical functions, but their
meanings are fuzzy and vary in different contexts. In the following examples the
empty word – bears various meanings which must be translated accordingly.
m N0¸ili–ª(question)
Are you going to have this cup of milk?
mØÒI"¦×C–ª(surprise)
What on earth is this all about?
–—…è(promise)
Well, that’ll do
–—Û‰I0Œ(with a dragging voice, indicating understanding)
Oh, it’s you!
m§ ¯–Œ (admiration)
How beautiful the flower is!
0Ë˙Žý–Œ(assertion)
What your father said is right indeed!
‰–—c‰–Œ (to hurry sb up)
Come on! Come on!
m•ê}E÷–Œ (to remind sb of sth)
The task is tough. Don’t you know?
@~HVy–Œ (to offer advice)
Be careful when you cross the street!
ò3–—–—a–—¸¬íÚ« Ôð—Àþ‹‹,;è
(enumeration) Coats, skirts, shoes and many other things filled the whole suitcase.

3. COVERTNESS AND OVERTNESS

Chinese grammar is characterized by covertness, just as English grammar is charac-
teristically overt.
The classification of Chinese words is not so distinct as in English. Chinese has
only a few suffixes (e.g. —Þ—j, etc.) and auxiliaries (e.g. —¥—Ž, etc.), it has
no formal markers indicating word classes, which must therefore be identified through
the context and the word’s relation to other words.  is a verb in ¨( (rosy
color). Even through it can be converted, the form of the word does not change at all,
which makes it difficult to distinguish between words of different classes. Chinese
verbs have no markers to indicate tense, voice or mood. English, like other Indo-
European languages, has definite and indefinite articles to mark nouns, inflections to
mark tenses, voices and moods, and many suffixes to indicate nouns, adjectives and
adverbs.
 cultural differences titre du chapitre 127
and translation

The function of Chinese sentence elements is often indistinct.õ|ã)—)
N¢ö

(It’s fine on Sunday) is a complete sentence with a clear meaning, but the function of
|ã) is open to dispute. Some consider it adverbial as it indicates the time of a fine
day; some regard it as the subject because it begins the sentence and is described by
the latter part of the sentence, which reveals the relation between subject and predi-
cate. An English translation of this sentence produces no such uncertainty because
the syntactic relationship is crystal clear.
The subjective and objective cases of Chinese nouns and pronouns have the
same form. They can only be distinguished by their grammatical function in the
sentence. For example, in “ Úäé@Ë ” (He has helped me) and “ Ëäé@Ú” (I
have helped him), Ú as subject has the same form as Ú , the object. But “he” and
“him” in English are distinct from each other, because English personal pronouns
have distinct forms in subjective and objective cases.
The development of a paragraph also reflects this difference between Chinese
and English. A Chinese paragraph tends to follow a circular line of development,
which is based on inductive thought patterns. Suspense is usually built all the way to
the end of the paragraph. An English paragraph follows a more direct line of devel-
opment. It often begins with a statement of its central idea, something known as a
topic sentence, which is followed by a series of subdivisions of the central idea. These
subdivisions develop the idea of the topic sentence and prepare for the addition of
other ideas in later paragraphs. In other words, the central idea of a paragraph is
usually clear at the very beginning and is expanded on through a deductive thought
pattern. In translations from Chinese to English, this syntactic feature cannot be
altered for fear that the texture of the ST might be broken. This might explain why
English versions of Chinese literature often read a bit unnaturally.
Indirectness is a feature of good Chinese writing, which might have something to
do with the reserved character of the Chinese people. The following quotation can
serve as an example.
[
Ly

º``éþ—ä”ooS³M%‰èa!¨,+—ÐŒìôÅþ—x'
ò™—ƒáó"—d¥w%®—æ曛ØèïqªBˆWº‘ ”,
àŸm£,€M¯X¬Œ

ÇJþ,à"—ŽìT=èõ@‰—š‚î©öc—ÖďC
Ôñ—åo%ôĦ,µ“Ó—¤¹$ò¬»§"èïmÌ3§"—
ú©"—ð"—I˝[è

As the rain gradually ceased to patter, a glimmer of light began to filter into the room
through the window curtain. I opened the window and looked out. Ah, the rain clouds
had vanished and the remaining raindrops on the tree leaves glistened tremulously
under the moonlight like myriads of fireflies. To think that there should appear before
my eyes such a beautiful sight after the miserable rain on a lonely evening!
Standing at the window for a while, I felt a bit chilly. As I turned round, my eyes
suddenly dazzled before the bright light and could not see things distinctly. Everything
in the room was blurred by a haze of light except the angel in a picture on the wall. The
angel in white was smiling on me with a bunch of flowers in his arms, his wings
flapping. (Bing Xin, Smile, Translated by Zhang Peiji)
128 Meta, XLIV, 1, 1999

These are the first two paragraphs of a text written by the famous Chinese writer
Bing Xin. The story is short, with only 649 characters, and the thematic character [
is the 175th character, appearing only at the end of the second paragraph. The author
first describes the cessation of the rain, the moonlight filtering into the room, the
beautiful view outside after the rain, and the chill she felt standing by the window.
Then, very naturally, she turns to describe the things in the room, which is bathed by
the haze of moonlight. Her description of the angel follows this sequence: first the
white he wears, then the flowers he carries in his arms and his flapping wings, and at
last, his smile. The reader moves along with the author from the room to the outside
and back to the room. The description of the small room proceeds from far to near,
from the ceiling to the floor, from the wall to the angel whose smiling face is at last
highlighted. The reader is led through a long zigzagging hallways before the reason
for his visit appears. This implicitness is usually copied in English versions, but
may not be appreciated by English-speaking readers who are used to more explicit
writing.

4. A UNIQUE CHINESE EMPHASIS ON BEAUTY

THROUGH BALANCE
Influenced by the philosophical idea of the Golden Mean (or Central Harmony), the
Chinese developed their peculiar aesthetic values, one of which is a unique emphasis
on the beauty of balance. For example, antithesis is an important figure of speech in
both Chinese and English; it emphasizes a contrast by presenting contradictory or
similar ideas by using two or more words or sentences in sharp juxtaposition. But
antithesis is much more prevalent in Chinese poetry, folk songs, proverbs and prover-
bial expressions than it is in most English forms.
e.g. ×šd—§×ʍè(proverb)
Man cannot always be fortunate; flowers do not last forever (Tr. Li Dingkun)
‹[ϗ]Wè(Book of songs)
Haughtiness invites losses while modesty brings profits (Tr. Li Dingkun)
The effect of contrast is achieved in both source text (ST) and target text (TT) by
means of antithesis. d and  in this context bear connotative meanings which are
properly translated. “While” in the second sentence connects two contradictory ideas
and emphasizes the contrast. This amplification of words is often found even in the
translation of classical Chinese poems.

’I}6
‘™À

̚1ທÅt°D*è
ÊUÄ—áò,”6è

The white sun sets behind mountains,

The Yellow River flows into the sea.
Go further up one flight of stairs,
And you’ll widen your view a thousand li
(Wang Zhihuan, Mounting the Stock Tower, Tr. Li Dingkun)
 cultural differences titre du chapitre 129
and translation

The first two lines of the ST are sharply juxtaposed with co-ordinate ideas pre-
sented by Åt and ̚—° and 1—D—and à—* and º. So are the first two
lines of the TT. The last two lines of the ST are made cohesive by the implied
relationship between condition and result. “And” is thus amplified to reproduce this
relationship and “You” to make the fourth line a complete sentence. The TT seems to
have changed the form of the antithesis somewhat, but this change is necessary in
order to preserve all the meanings of the ST.
The formation of many Chinese four-character compounds with co-ordinate
relations also reveals this aesthetic value of balance. Balance is so carefully maintained
in these four-character compounds that meaning is often repeated. For example,
)¥ consists of two parts, ) and ¥. ¥ actually repeats the meaning of
) in a similar form. This formation, which can be found in )ØD‚—/ÞÁ—
7ïܗ8¦®# and many others, serves to make compounds balanced in both
form and sound with an emphasis on meaning. In translation, it suffices to translate
the meaning of one part of the compound in order to avoid redundancy. The five
compounds above can be translated, respectively, into be created by nature (ideal), the
ends of the earth (the most remote corners of the earth), practically certain, as the years
go by and prosperity. This method can only be used when a co-ordinate relationship
exists, and it is not the only method available. As to other kinds of four-character
compounds with modifying relationships or subject-predicate relationships, a careful
analysis of the exact relationship should be made before a translation method is
selected.

5. THOUGHT AND FORM

To the Chinese, thought is more important than form. What they care about is the
conveyance of meaning; form is secondary. English-speakers place more value on
form, which is regarded as the product of scientific reasoning and analysis. As a
result, Chinese is a topic-dominated language while English is a subject-dominated
language. A Chinese sentence revolves around a thought pivot, while English sen-
tences rely on a form-pivot (or subject-predicate pivot). Therefore, the subject of a
sentence is not as important in Chinese as it is in English. In Chinese, the subject is
no more than the topic discussed; it can be a noun or a word of an other class; any
word that begins a sentence (thematic position) can be regarded as the subject be-
cause anything can be a topic. In English, the subject is the indispensable element of
a sentence; it should be nominal and has a decisive grammatical function—even a
slight change in the subject may affect the whole sentence. Hence, when translating
from Chinese into English, it is very important to select a suitable subject for the
establishment of the subject-predicate mechanism—the kernel of the translated sen-
tence. Sometimes the subject should be amplified; other times it should be determined
by the context, the logical relationship, or the need for concordance between subject
and predicate. The translations of the following sentences provide some examples.
(1) ,2' —©™‹°,ÛC—ú ,ý„̏ÔôèP"Ajþ—ÙS¹×R
,+ïÚú §"—ð €"—I Í««[è

“Ly¥û[ü”
130 Meta, XLIV, 1, 1999

As I passed along, I somewhat sensed the presence of a child by the roadside carrying
something snow white in his arms. After the donkey had gone by, I happened to look
back and saw the child, who was barefoot, looking at me smilingly with a bunch of
flowers in his arms. (Tr. Zhang Peiji)
The Chinese thought pattern makes it possible to apprehend the subjects of
,2' —“µˆ”‹°,ÛC—ÙS¹×R,+ immediately. In the English
translation, “I” must be added three times in order for English readers to understand
who is doing the action and for the sentences to be complete.
(2) îXãiH‚Ã;ƒ&l‰±n±,è
“3Ë¥ûM•Ñüû-g¹=üœ¤¤Ÿ7¦ä”
Sumptuous banquets, financed by public money, have long been the bane of Chinese
society. (China Today, Feb. 1994)
In present-day China, îXãi does not literally mean “to eat and drink at public
expense”, but bears a connotative meaning that is aptly rendered by the subject
“banquets” and the modifiers “sumptuous” and “financed by public money.” With
“banquets” as subject, “ominous trend,” which would be the exact equivalent of
l‰±n in this context, cannot be used as a subject-complement, as it would create
an improper concordance between subject and predicate. “Sumptuous banquets, fi-
nanced by public money” is a typical manifestation of corruption in China, at which
large sums of money are wasted, principles are abandoned and laws are disregarded.
They have, in fact, almost become the bane of society. The TT is faithful to the ST as
it employs a proper subject and correct subject-predicate agreement.
(3) l°þw>—Æâ>¢Û®ÕŒo¿ªðyÍYŽ þ
“¼k¥û¯Öü”
... Once you have new relatives, don’t forget the old ones. I’ve seen too many such
ungrateful people. (Tr. Jeanne Kelly & Nathan K. Mao)
The first sentence of the ST is subjectless. It is a piece of advice with an imperative
function. Hence the “You” (listener) is added. “I” is selected as the subject of the
second sentence to make the version natural.
(4) F–o£ÛõŏE—@óDÇfˆÂ4u—Ï8¨¬vēFr.von Logan”
ؚ—Æ9ò?|—G!½|ø—m¡­{ó|²è
“¼k¥û¯Öü”

What happened during the next four months, from the retreat from Shanghai to the fall
of Nanking, should be recorded in history, as Fridrich von Longan put it, with a bayonet
dipped in the ink of fresh blood upon the paper made from the skin of the enemy. (Tr.
Jeanue Kelly & Nathan K. Mao)
E is the topic of the ST, refering to enevything that took place in those four months
during the Anti-Japanese War. In those tumultuous days, many things, big and small,
happened. “Event” as subject seems too big, “incident” too small, and “episode” or
“occurrence” lack the dynamism of the subject clause introduced by “what.” The
relationship in the sentence with Æ is very adequately reproduced, making the trans-
lation vivid and fluid.
 cultural differences titre du chapitre 131
and translation

A Chinese sentence does not require concordance between subject and predicate,
whereas English sentences do. Chinese syntax is characterized by parataxis; English
syntax by hypotaxis. Connective words are usually omitted in Chinese and should be
amplified in the translation into English. These differences between the two lan-
guages, coupled with the fact that sentence-making and composition are usually
determined by the author’s intuition or imagination mean that the translator has to
follow the author’s train of thought, and understand the various meanings and rela-
tionships in the ST in order to produce a faithful translation. For example:
,îšj—ii —xxñ—Ó ŒŒ)—ÍIÃh"ò%ɦ2&ªÆ
AA—fÐЏ—­¨™‰ ×2{«¥!l:zH8©@³tþè

“ÕL¥ûg‘ŏ@³tü”
As one looked into the distance, the sparse trees and pale moon set off by the blue sky
offered a view like that at a deserted ferry on a desolated river. Further yonder, the
gloom seemed to hide boundless darkness, which one could hardly believe was still part
of the busy Qinhui River. (Tr. Hu Shiguang)
The ST is like a Chinese ink wash print. The first part of the sentence is loose in form
with ii —xxñ and Ó ŒŒ) as the logical subject of ÍIÃh"
ò%É. Adjustments should of course be made to render the version cohesive. Here,
“set off by the blue sky” connects the sky and the moon, “offered” and “view” are
amplified to achieve cohesion, “at a deserted ferry on a desolate river” conveys the
precise relationship between Ãh and "ò. The artistic concept of the ST is thus
vividly reproduced.
Syntax is a very close representation of style. A translator should be aware of this
point and try to keep syntactic differences to a minimum if he or she expects to
produce a translation close in style to the ST.

CONCLUSION
This contrastive study of Chinese and English focuses on their differences, and we
can conclude from it that differences in language arise from differences in mental
culture. While translation is obviously a transfer of language, it is also a transfer of
mental culture. The process of translation is actually one of mental transfer accom-
plished through language. It is therefore important for a translator to conduct con-
trastive studies in mental culture and acquire a profound insight into the essence of
translation in order to solve culture-bound translation problems effectively.

REFERENCES
Chen, Hongwei (1986): “Cultural Barriers in Translation (with special reference to Chinese and
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tional Symposium on Foreign Language Teaching Proceedings, Wuhan, Huazhong University
of Science and Technology.
Nida, Eugene A. & William D. Reyburn (1981): Meaning Across Cultures, Orbis Books.
Bander, Robert G. (1978): American English Rhetoric, Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
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