Search the origin of tourist attractions and scenic spots names.

Characteristics of the names of tourist attractions

As a special translation object, the names of tourist attractions have the following characteristics:

First, the names of tourist attractions are "proper names" and "generic names". In other words, the names of tourist attractions are "famous by surnames". There is a cloud in Zhouyi: "Get close to the body." The names of scenic spots are as famous as people's names. People's surnames have practical significance when choosing: Smith represents the family who is working while the iron is hot; "Under the mountain" means that the home is at the foot of the mountain; Gao is the name of ancient fiefs. From here, we can easily see that the so-called "surname"-generic name-is a sign to distinguish one kind of things from another. Therefore, the hall of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the building of Guangde Building and the bridge of Yongding Bridge are all signs that distinguish this kind of scenic spots from other scenic spots, and houses, buildings and bridges are the surnames of these scenic spots. And "name"-"proper name"-is a sign used to distinguish a particular thing from other things of the same kind. For example, the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Zhonghe and the Hall of Baohe, among which "Taihe", "Hall of Zhonghe" and "Hall of Baohe" are the signs that distinguish these three buildings.

Second, the names of tourist attractions are "short and pithy". Because the names of tourist attractions are mainly used to distinguish them, surnames should not be too long. The names of scenic spots in China are generally limited to four words, and the length of "lakes and mountains on the first floor" is probably the best in China. In the process of translation, the word "short and pithy" has caused great difficulties in translating the names of scenic spots in China: Chinese is a "semantic language". Generally speaking, in the name of a scenic spot, Chinese is mainly content words, such as Juyong Diecui, Lugou xiao yue and so on. And there are few function words such as prepositions and conjunctions. As a hypotactic language, English must use prepositions and conjunctions when dealing with some specific information. So we pay attention to the organization of sentences and the choice of words.

Third, the names of tourist attractions are generally easy to remember. The names of general scenic spots are not difficult to understand, and some words with similar pronunciations are often not used together. I have rarely heard of Fourteenth Floor, Jiuniuju and Bird Fishing Terrace. Although some names use some uncommon words, for example, tourists may not know how to pronounce them, but they are unforgettable.

Classification of tourist attractions names

The characteristics of the scenic spot names listed above are the * * * of the scenic spot names. But different scenic spots have different personalities. According to their personality, the names of tourist attractions can be roughly divided into the following four categories:

(1) can provide basic information about this scenic spot. From the names of such scenic spots, we can directly know the appearance characteristics, surrounding environment and characteristics of the scenic spots. For example, the name of the "Seventeen-hole Bridge" in the Summer Palace indicates that the bridge consists of seventeen bridge opening; The "Eyeglasses Lake" in Xiangshan Park is named after two small lakes connected by a stone bridge. There is no wind on the lake, reflecting the sunlight like a pair of glasses. From the name "Qiandao Lake", we can imagine that there are the largest number of islands in the lake and so on. Therefore, in the process of translating the names of such scenic spots, attention should be paid to covering the information in the target language so as to keep the information contained in the source language and the target language consistent. However, due to the inequality between Chinese and English, if the one-to-one correspondence method is adopted, sometimes the translation of the names of scenic spots is easy to be verbose, so we should pay attention to the specific translation methods and the choice of words.

(2) It can reflect the author's mentality and construction purpose at that time (mainly for human landscape). For example, Tiananmen Square, as the main entrance of the imperial city, has a name with strong political color: the name means "being ordered by heaven and running the country with security". There are two meanings: the first is the divine right of the monarch: the power of the royal family is given by heaven; The second layer shows the desire of the rulers: hope that the country will maintain long-term stability and rule the world forever. Therefore, in fact, we should pay attention to the political nature of scenic spot names when translating. The names of some scenic spots reflect the author's attitude towards the scenic spots. For example, Zhong Yi Temple is the ancestral temple of Guan Yu. The author did not mention Guan Yu's name, but only used the word "loyalty", but everyone knows that it is Guan Yu's ancestral temple. As can be seen from the name of this scenic spot, Guan Yu is respected not only by the author, but also by the people of China. Therefore, whether the author's intention and attitude can be reflected depends largely on the translator's choice of words.

(3) can reflect the local cultural characteristics. As the old saying goes, "There are different winds in ten miles, and different customs in a hundred miles." What's more, two different civilizations located at the two ends of Eurasia? Because China and western countries are in different geographical, cultural and historical backgrounds, there are many "cultural gaps" in these two cultures, and some scenic spot names show some cultural phenomena unique to China, such as taboos. Taboo refers to "feudal kings or relatives, in order to show their majesty, require people to avoid calling their names by their first names or writing their names directly in words, and use other words instead." Therefore, many scenic spots were renamed because of taboos: the north gate of the Forbidden City was formerly called "Xuanwu Gate", named after the northern Xuanwu Emperor. After Kangxi ascended the throne, because Kangxi's name was Michelle Ye, in order to avoid taboo, Xuanwu Gate was renamed Shenwumen. Westerners believe that the best way to remember this person is to continue to name other similar things after her, which is that we can still find many people named after "Washington" and "Lincoln" in the United States today. In the process of translation, we need to pay attention to the change of this name. There is not only a cultural gap between Chinese and western cultures, but also many phenomena of "cultural displacement": that is to say, the same cultural load contains different cultural connotations. As cultural carriers, the cultural connotations of the East and the West are quite different. For westerners, bats are a symbol of evil. It is said that vampires can become bats. In China, because of the homonym of "Bat" and "Fu", there are signs and patterns of bats in many parts of the world. There is a "Bat Hall" in Gongwangfu, Beijing. If it is not handled properly in the translation process, it will easily make westerners "flinch".

(4) It can reflect the author's language level and local language characteristics. Because the naming of scenic spots is purely a subjective social activity, the naming of scenic spots in the world can be said to be "different opinions". When the Grand View Garden in a Dream of Red Mansions was just built, Jia Zheng led Baoyu to enjoy the scenery everywhere, and all the guests and Baoyu's nominations were different. Therefore, how to reflect the author's language level and cultural background is a difficult point in translation. In addition, the language of a place has the characteristics of the local language. As a kind of abbreviation, the names of scenic spots can better reflect the essence of the local language. In order to distinguish the names of many scenic spots, we often play some "word games", such as the above-mentioned "Worm II" on a cliff stone carving west of Pan Lu on the north side of Wanxian Building in Taishan Mountain, which brings difficulties to translation. (Worm 2 implies the word "boundless wind and moon". The traditional writing of "wind" is three words: wind, wind and moon. If you remove the outer frame and the outside, the word "worm 2" is left. So "Bug II" refers to "wind" and "moon".

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