从母语负迁移浅析汉英翻译中的中式英语

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Abstract Translation, a bridge among different languages, plays an important role in facilitating the international exchange of politics, economy and cultures. However, in the process of Chinese-English (C-E) translation, Chinglish has existed largely. It could be hard to recognize and correct if we do not find out the causes of Chinglish. Therefore, from the perspective of negative transfer of native language, this paper analyzes the causes of Chinglish at lexical, syntactic and cultural levels. Causes at the lexical level include redundant words and misuse of words; causes at the syntactic level include wrong word order and misuse of connectives; causes at the cultural level include misuse of images of idioms and misuse of courtesy expression. This paper also attempts to explore effective solutions to make students avoid Chinglish, such as keeping aware of differences of Chinese and English, thinking in English and developing all-round English competence.

Keywords: C-E translation; Chinglish; negative transfer of language; causes54289

摘要作为不同语言之间的桥梁，翻译在国际政治、经济和文化交流中起着十分重要的作用。但是，在汉英翻译过程中，中式英语广泛存在。如果不认识中式英语的形成原因，就很难加以注意并纠正。鉴于此，本文从母语负迁移出发，在词汇层面、句法层面以及文化层面分析中式英语产生的原因。词汇层面的原因包括词语冗余和错用，句法层面的原因包括语序错乱和连词误用，而文化层面的原因包括习语形象和礼貌表达的错误。本文同时也尝试探寻能让学生避免中式英语的有效方法，比如认识汉语和英语的差异，使用英语思维和提高综合英语能力。

毕业论文关键词:汉英翻译；中式英语；语言负迁移；成因

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 1

2.1 Previous Studies on Chinglish 1

2.2 An Introduction to Language Transfer 3

3. Detailed Analysis of Chinglish in C-E Translation 3

3.1 Chinglish at Lexical Level 4

3.2 Chinglish at Syntactic Level 6

3.3 Chinglish at Cultural Level 9

4. Strategies of Avoiding Chinglish in C-E Translation 11

5. Conclusion 12

Works Cited 14

1. Introduction

Chinglish originates from Chinese Pidgin English (CPE). It is an English-based Pidgin used in coastal cities in East and South China for the purpose of business activities between China and Britain. Webster Dictionary defines “Pidgin English” as English used in commerce in Chinese ports. CPE got its start in Guangzhou in the 17th century, and became popular in coast cities in the middle and late 19th century.

In the early of the 20th century, Standard English teaching was started to be practiced in Chinese schools. Chinese people’s English proficiency was improved gradually. In the middle of the 20th century, CPE eventually fell out of the use.

Chinglish is considered as the language of post-CPE. With the rapid development of globalization, the communication between China and other English-speaking nations has become more and more frequent. Translation plays a very important role in international information exchange. However, due to the language users’ mother tongue interference, some problems may arise. This can be obviously seen in the emergence of Chinglish in the process of Chinese-English translation.

We are now living in an era of information explosion. The mass media makes Chinglish spread widely. Chinglish has become a very popular term nowadays. It is even jokingly called the “New Second Language of China” by some people. Some expressions of Chinglish are accepted by English-speaking people nowadays. For example, the expression “long time no see” has been included in Urban Dictionary recently. However, we should realize that they are just a few. Chinglish actually cannot be understood by most English-speaking people. It hinders the outside world from knowing China, and it also hampers China from embracing the whole world. Chinglish is a big obstacle in international communication. We should find out the causes of Chinglish and explore the effective solutions to achieve the aims of exchange and publicity.