摘要

植物名称及其习语的文化喻义是在人类漫长的历史发展过程中所形成的，它是整个人类文化的一部分。由于受到地理环境，文化传统，思维方式等的影响，同一植物词在英汉两种文化中具有相同或完全不同的联想意义。另一方面，翻译是把一种语言信息转变成另一种语言信息的行为，它的最终目的是为了促进不同文化间的交流。本文通过研究英汉习语中植物词的喻义差异和引起差异的原因，提出在翻译英汉习语中的植物词时，注意理解习语中植物的表层意思以及深层含义，采用直译，意译，代替法等不同方法，使翻译更加地道。

关键词：植物习语，对比，喻义，翻译    

Abstract

The cultural connotation of plant names and its idioms is produced in the process of the long history of human development. It is a part of human culture. Due to the factors of geographical environment, cultural traditions, the mode of thinking, the same plant word has same or different associative meaning in English and Chinese cultures. On the other hand, translation is a kind of behavior that changes language information into another. Its ultimate aim is to promote the communication between cultures. This thesis is based on the study of the reasons for the differences of the connotation between Chinese and English plant idioms. People should understand the surface meaning and deep meaning when translating the plant word between Chinese and English idioms. And translators should adopt different translation methods, such as literal translation, free translation, substitution method and so on to make the translation more authentic.

Key words: plant idioms, comparison, connotation, translation

1. Introduction
  In the process of human social development, a number of rich and colorful words come up, such as idioms and proverbs, including plant idioms. Plant has a close relationship with human beings. They have their unique characteristics. People often extend and apply some plant’s characteristics which they are familiar with to the practice of language. In China, colorful flowers and plants have always been the subjects of writers and poets to expressing their feelings. As a result, many flowers and plants have rich associative meaning and cultural connotation in Chinese. However, English-speaking countries are influenced by western classical mythology, history and culture, westerners have a strong and long emotion on flowers and plants. Because of the different cultural background and traditional customs and so on, the associative meaning of the same plant is often inconsistent.