英语双关语及其翻译
[Abstract] English pun is one of the important figures of speech, and it is widely used in various literary works, such as poems, novels, stories, advertisements and riddles, etc. Based on the definitions of English pun, this paper points out that homonyms, homophones, and homographs are available to construct puns. According to the characteristics and functions of their formation, Lv Xu divided English pun into three types, they are homophonic puns, homographic puns, puns on both pronunciation and meaning. English pun takes advantage of its distinctive features in nature and tries to produce ambiguity on purpose in order to get the effect of aiming at a pigeon and shooting at a crow. English puns can achieve many effects: humor, satire, vivid expression of the characters’ feelings, which can increase the beauty of language and improve readability in order to attract the readers’ interest. However, the translation of English pun is always considered to be extremely difficult. Many people even consider puns as “untranslatable”. Since there is much difference between Chinese and English in phonology and morphology, it is difficult to find equivalence both in sound and in meaning in the target language for a translator. But there is no source text that is absolutely untranslatable; the translation of puns is possible to a certain extent. This paper introduces 3 main types to translate English puns. They are literal translation, free translation, and annotated translation.
[Key Words] English pun; classification; characteristics; function; translation
【摘 要】 双关语是重要的修辞格之一，这种修辞格广泛运用于各种文学作品，如诗歌、小说、故事、广告及谜语中。本文在英语双关的定义基础上提出了同形同音异义词、同音异义词、同形异义词，这3种词可构成双关。并根据其结构成分所起的作用，再仔细地探讨了吕煦把英语双关主要分为三类：同音双关、同词双关、音义双关。英语双关利用其特有的本质特点，故意造成歧义，来达到言在此而意在彼的特殊效果。英语双关语的应用能起到一种诙谐幽默，冷嘲热讽，形象生动的作用并能充分体现人物的性格特征，加强语言的美感，提高该作品的可读性来引起读者的兴趣。然而，英语双关语的翻译又是极其困难的，很多人甚至认为是不可译的，因为英汉两种语言的语音不同，两种语言的多义词并不能一一对应，但英语双关语还是存在一定的可译性。本文主要介绍3种主要翻译方法：直译法，意译法，注释法。
【关键词】 英语双关语；分类；本质特点；作用；翻译
1. Introduction
In a certain context, a word or phrase that is relevant to two or more conceptions, ideas or feelings is often employed to make an expression more effective or humorous. This is achieved when there exists identity or similarity between certain words in such aspects as pronunciation, formation or meaning. This identity or similarity produces double meanings, which enables people to connect naturally the literal meaning with the implied meaning. Of these two meanings, the implied meaning is the principal part.
This is what we call the use of pun. “The use of pun dates back to ancient days. Shakespeare favored pun particularly. It is estimated that there are about 3000 puns employed in Shakespeare’s works [1].” The employment of pun in English novels, poems, speeches, advertisements and riddles makes them highly readable and prompts people to appreciate the beauty of language. And the translation of English puns into Chinese enhances the charm of the original works and the understanding of the version.
2. Definition and classification of puns
2.1 Definition of puns
Looking at the same issue from different perspectives, we may often come up with different definitions of the thing under discussion. And, not surprisingly, pun can be thus defined in many ways. There is such a humorous explanation about pun: “punning – to torture one poor word ten thousand ways (John Dryden)”[2].
In Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, pun is defined as “An amusing use of a word or phrase that has two meanings, or words with the same sound but different meanings”[3] . According to The Oxford English Dictionary, pun is defined as “the use of word in such a way as to suggest two or more meanings or different associations, or the use of two or more words of the same or nearly the same sound with different meanings, so as to produce a humorous effect”[4]. In Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics, pun is defined as “A figure of speech depending upon a similarity of sound and a disparity of meaning”[5].
From the above definitions, we can see that homonyms, homophones, and homographs all are available to construct puns with.
2.1.1 Homonyms
A homonym is a word that is identical to another word in pronunciation and spelling but not in meaning [6].
For example:
(1) Can: n. & v. Put something in a container
Can: modal verb Be able to
(2) Change: v. To become different
Change: n. Money in the form of coins
(3) Bear: v. Sustain responsibility; endure difficulty, etc
Bear: n. A kind of animal, having thick fur and walking on its soles
(4) Book: n. A written or printed work
Book: v. Engage (a seat etc.) in advance; make a reservation of
2.1.2 Homophones
A homophone is a word that is identical to another word in pronunciation but not in spelling and meaning.
For example:
(5) Bale: n. A large bundle
Bail: v. To remove water from a boat
(6) Knew: v. Past of know
New: adj. Of recent origin or arrival
(7) Soul: n. Spiritual or immaterial part of man, held to survive death
Sole: n. Lower surface of human or other foot
(8) Pair: n. A set of two persons or things used together or regarded as a unit
Pear: n. A yellowish or brownish-green fleshy fruit, tapering towards the stalk
2.1.3 Homographs
A homograph is a word that is identical to another word in spelling but not in pronunciation and meaning.
For example:
(9) Minute: n. Sixtieth part of an hour
Minute: adj. Very small; trifling
(10) Digest: v. To change food in the stomach into a form your body can use
Digest: n. A short piece of writing that gives the most important facts from a book, report etc
(11) Lead: v. Guide by the hand, direct movements of
Lead: n. A kind of metal
(12) Wind: n. Air in more or less rapid natural motion
Wind: v. Go in circular, spiral course
2.2 Classification of English puns
Concerning the classification of puns, different linguists have different standpoints. As He Shanfen states in “Contrastive Studies of English and Chinese-Languages”, puns can be roughly divided into three kinds. They are named antalaclasis, paronomasia and syllepsis [7]. Here the author uses two examples to explain the first two parts.
Antalaclasis refers to a word used twice or more, but each time with a different meaning. For example:
(13) To England will I steal and there I’ll steal.
The first “steal” means “to go to England secretly without being noticed”, while the second “steal” is used in its most commonly used meaning.
Paronomasia is the use of two words, which are similar in pronunciation but different in meaning. For example:
(14) Catch the Raincheetahs and cheat the rain.
Here “raincheetahs” is the brand name of the product. It is pronounced similarly to “raincheater” which echoes to “cheat the rain”.
In “English Writing and Rhetoric” written by Prof. WenJun, a more specific means of classification brings about five categories of puns [8] : homophonic pun,
paronomasia, antalaclasis, Sylletic pun and asteimus.
However, according to Li Xinhua, in his work, “A Detailed Study of Figures of
Speech in English”, he points that those five categories classified by Prof. Wenjun are clear but over-elaborate. In summary, it is clearer to divide into these two types: one is homophonic pun, the other is homographic pun. He also points out that, in those five categories, No1 and No2 belong to the homophonic pun; the others belong to the homographic pun, which is the way to bring complication into simplicity. And it is easier to master the characteristics of figure of speech. However, as Lv Xu states in “Practical English Rhetoric”, according to the characteristics and functions of their formation, puns can be divided into three types[9]: homophonic puns, homographic puns, puns on both pronunciation and meaning.
2.2.1 Homophonic puns
It is the use of words with the same or similar pronunciation but different spellings and meanings. It also called phonetic puns, and phonetic pun is the basic form of English pun. In our daily communication, phonetic is the carrier of transferring information. According to psycholinguistics, speech communication is a process of psychological activities from encoding to decoding. When speakers employ the order of ‘thinking-meaning-voice’ to transmit outside, it is called encoding; when ers employ the order of ‘voice-meaning-thinking’ to process and try to understand, it is called decoding. The inter-processing only relies on hearing, lacking visual sense, and it will cause ambiguity in understanding.
For example:
(15) “How is bread made?”
“I know that!” Alice cried eagerly. “You take some flour…”
“Where do you pick the flower?” The white Queen asked. “In a garden or in the hedges?”
“Well, it isn’t picked at all.” Alice explained. “It’s ground…”
“How many acres of ground?” said the white Queen.[10]
(Lewis Carrol: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland)
In this example, “flower” and “flour” have the same pronunciation but quite different in meaning. The adoption of the homophonic pun makes the dialogue more vivid, humorous. Moreover, “ground” can be understood as “solid surface of the earth”, and also can be understood as “the past of grind”.
(16) Drunk drivers often put the quart before the hearse.
Here, “quart” is similar to “cart” in sound, while “hearse” is similar to “horse”. This sentence can construct homophonic pun by borrowing from the idiom “put the cart before the horse”, which means “put or say things in the wrong order”. This pun is driving at warning the addicting drivers that driving after drink is a kind of suicide.
(17) “Waiter, there’s a hair in my soup.”
“So sorry, sir. Did you order it without?”
“Hair” here means “one of the fine thread-like strands that grow from the skin of people and animals”, while the waiter understand it on purpose as “hare”. “Hare” means “an animal cooked as ordered food”. The customer is complaining about the bad condition of the restaurant, but by using the homophonic pun, the waiter is being humorous to ease away the complaint.
2.2.2 Homographic puns
It is the crafty use of the features of homonyms or polysemy to express the double meanings. Take the following as an example,
(18)– Some boys think I’m pretty and some boys think I’m ugly. What do you think, Tom?
- A bit of both.
- What do you mean?
- Pretty ugly
As an adjective, “pretty” means “pleasing and attractive”, therefore, the last sentence can be understood as “she is both attractive and ugly”, while as an adverb, “pretty” means “rather, fairly”, so the sentence also means “she is very ugly”. Tom employs the “pretty” beautifully, it is a polysemy. And we can learn about the humor in the dialogue.
(19) The clerk: Are you engaged?
Augustus: What business is that of yours? However, if you will take the trouble to read the society papers for this week, you will see that I am engaged to Honorable Lucy Popham, youngest daughter of –
The clerk: That isn’t what I mean. Can you see a female?
Augustus: Of course. I can see a female as easily as a male. Do you suppose I am blind?
The clerk: You don’t seem to follow me; somehow, there is a female downstairs, what you might call a lady. She wants to know, can you see her if I let her up.[11]
- G. B. Shaw Augustus Does His Bit
In the play, two puns are employed. First, the phrase “be engaged in sth” means “be occupied or busy”; “be engaged to sb” means “agreed to marry sb”. Second, the verb “see” is understood as “have an interview with sb; meet sb” in the clerk, while Augustus interpret it as “whether he has the power of sight”. “Are you engaged?” here according to the clerk, he wants to ask Augustus whether he is busy or not? But Augustus understands it as “agreed to marry sb”. We can learn from this dialogue sparkling with humorous and wit that Augustus is thinking about women all day long.
(20) The number of attorneys who die without a will is amazing.
Even where there is no will, there is a way. [12]
The first “will” means “statement, document”; the second means “a person’s power can direct his thoughts or influence others”.
Michael Demarest uses this homographic pun to tell us the difference between chronic procrastination and purposeful postponement and make a great satire.
2.2.3 Puns on both pronunciation and meaning
This kind of pun often embodies the special names of figures in the literary work. When the authors want to portray a person, they often employ this kind of pun to give the person a special name in order to reveal the figure’s character, behavior and fate. Lv Xu expounds this kind of pun with originality; he thinks that the use of this kind of pun can be vivid in stressing the figure and portraying the character of the figure. Take the following as an example,
(21) In Shakespeare’s “King Henry IV”, Sir John Falstatff is not a character who thinks and acts in one or the same way. “In appearance, he is kind, noble, wit and brave, however, in fact, he is a selfish, coward, licentious and wicked man – a truly false stuff [13]. And the word “Falstatff” is similar to “false stuff” in pronunciation. Another example goes like this: In Gilbert Highet’s “The Philosopher and the Conqueror”, this sentence “A titter broke out from the elegant Greeks, who were already beginning to make jokes about the cur that looked at the king.”[14] Here “the cur” refers to Diogenes –the philosopher on one hand, Diogenes acted very rudely toward the great conqueror that everyone else respected and admired, and on the other hand, Diogenes is a cynic philosopher. And the origin of the word “cur” is the Greek word kunikos, meaning “a dog”. So “cur” is a typical feature of Diogene, and the image of Diogene is vivid to us. In R.B.Sheridan’s “The School for Scandal”, Lady Sneerwell, Sir Benjamin Backbite and Captain Boastall are famous for their respective features: Sneerwell does well in sneering, Benjamin Backbite usually spreads calumnious rumors behind one’s back; and Captain Boastall likes to talk big.
From the above examples, we can see the feature of this kind of pun is to use an object’s traits to express the object itself. And this feature also can be found in another figure of speech – metonymy. For example,
(22) The boiled lobster walked into the office.
Here “boiled lobster” refers to Britain soldier, because Britain soldiers often wear red uniform.
(23) Soapy stood still with his hands in his pockets and smiled at the sight of brass buttons.
“Brass buttons” is one of the features of American cop uniform, so here it refers to police.
The above analysis indicates that pun is in a certain extent connected with metonymy, about this point; Li Xinhua’s point is good for understanding the interrelation. He thinks, “English pun belongs to the category of metonymy [15]”. Metonymy is a figure of speech that has to do with the substitution of the name of one thing for that of another, in essence, so does pun. Pun is the use of a word with same or similar pronunciation to express the different meanings, or the use of the same word to suggest different meanings. In a word, no matter it is pronunciation or spelling, it always does with the substitution of the name of one thing for that of another. Therefore, “the substitution of the name of ‘A’ for ‘B’” is the common feature of pun and metonymy. However, we can’t mix them up, because the formation of puns possesses the following two characteristics.
3. Characteristics of English pun
The formation of English pun needs two fundamental conditions: ambiguity and
double context.
3.1 Ambiguity
The first characteristic of a pun is that the focus of its meaning lies in its ambiguity. No matter whether they are homophones or homographs, the speaker aims to achieve an ambiguity. Ambiguity can be divided into positive and passive ambiguity. Putting the word in the wrong place to cause ambiguity and impairing the effectiveness is called passive ambiguity, while using the polyseme on purpose to enhance the effectiveness is called positive ambiguity. In our daily communication, we try to avoid the presence of ambiguity, but as for puns we deliberately create ambiguity. That is because the essence of a pun lies in its ambiguity. For example,
(24) - What kind of money do girls like the most?
- Matrimony
we must admit that it is very difficult to translate the pun in this example into Chinese without losing its original flavor. However, it is a perfect example of puns in English. The ending element “mony” of the word “Matrimony” has the similar sound with that of the word “money”, which is considered as a homophonic pun. It is implied to us that girls expect to change their social and economic statuses through marriage. This pun is very humorous and ironic. Let’s look at another example,
(25) King: …my cousin Hamlet, and my son… How is it that the clouds still hang on you?
Hamlet: Not so, my lord, I am too much in the sun.[16]
- Shakespeare, Hamlet
Here “sun” and “son” have the same sound but ambiguity, Hamlet used this ambiguity skillfully to hint his complaining emotion in the indirect way. The king pretended to be intimate with Hamlet and call him “son”, however, Hamlet responded that “I am too much in the sun”. The surface meaning is that he dries in the sun for a long time, but actually, it suggests that Hamlet couldn’t bear to be his uncle’s son any longer.
Keep in mind that the central and basic phenomenon on which puns operates is ambiguity. A pun intentionally employs phonemic or semantic conditions to suggest one meaning on the surface while hiding another. We can find theoretical support for the ambiguity of puns. Li Xinhua maintains that language unit has both form and content, while there is not a one-to-one relationship between form and content, that is to say, one phonemic form does not signify one meaning, and one meaning is not represented by one language form [17]. For example,
(26) Try your sweet corn; you’ll smile from ear to ear.
It is a successful advertisement. One phonemic form “ear” can be interpreted as double meaning, one is organ of hearing”, the other is “seed-bearing part of a cereal, such as wheat, etc.
3.2 The double context
Another characteristic is that a pun contains a double context. According to the American Scholar Archibald A.hill, there are three elements in analyzing and composing a pun: a double context, a hinge and a trigger [18]. Double context, which lays foundations for comprehension of punny sense, is essential for forming a pun. Hinge refers to punny word, and a trigger refers to the intention and background that lurk behind the exploitation of puns, which is often employed when we analyze puns. The exact meaning of a word is determined by its context, and different contexts may lead to different meanings. Take the following as an example,
(27) “Mine is a long and a sad tale!” said the mouse, turning to Alice and sighing.
“It is a long tail, certainly!” said Alice, looking down with wonder at the mouse’s tail; “but why do you call it sad?[19]
( L.Carol: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland )
There is no doubt that this example has a double meaning. Both the Mouse and Alice have their contexts. In this example, the hinge words are “tale” and “tail”, which is a homophone. What the Mouse wants to convey is a story, so, when the Mouse says “a sad tale”, Alice gets confused, because we can’t say “a sad tail”. Another example is as follows:
(28) A man sits down at a table in a restaurant and asks, “Do you serve crab’s here?” The waiter says, “Sure, sit down, we serve anybody.”
Here, the word “crab” is the hinge. On one hand, “crab” means a kind of seafood, on the other hand, it also means “a sour person”. In the customer’s context, he is asking if the restaurant serves the food of crabs, while in the waiter context, he understands “the crab” as “a sour person”, so he tells the customer that they serve everyone even a person who has got bad temper.
(29) After successfully delivering the first child of a Canadian couple visiting Scotland, the doctor popped into the waiting room to tell the anxious husband the good news.
“It’s a boy – eight pounds exactly!”
“Oh,” replied the flustered father. “Will you take a check?”
In the doctor’s context, “pound” is “a unit of weight”, while in the flustered father’s context, “pound” is “a unit of money”. Therefore, he answered, “Will you take a check?”
4. Functions of English pun
Pun is a witticism involving the playful use of a word in different senses or words that differ in meanings but sound alike; it is essentially a device to attract a reader’s attention. In nature, it is a word play. While in essence, it is an ambiguity. That is to say, a word or phrase has a meaning on the surface, but hiding another meaning so as to achieve a specified impact upon some audience. Pun fulfils more functions as humor, wit, satire, entertainment, persuasion, and so forth.
4.1 Producing humorous effect
The major function of pun is to produce humorous effect. These puns enable the
speaker or the writer to express his intention indirectly, improving the tension. Sometimes it can even relieve the embarrassed and create a light and happy atmosphere. For example,
“Here you are, son”
“How dare you call me son?”
“I brought you up, didn’t I?”
The phrase “bring sb up” can be interpreted as “to educate and care for a child until they are grown up” or “take sb here”. We can learn the smart, lively and humorous in this dialogue.
(31) The professor tapped on his desk and shouted, “Gentle men, Order!”
The entire class yelled, “beer!”
Here, “order” means “be quiet” or “to ask for goods or services to be supplied”. When a professor is having class, naturally, he is asking the students to keep quiet. However, the students use the homonym to twist the professor’s meaning on purpose. Both the students and the professor get what they want. We also believe that the professor cannot help laughing when he hears the students’ response – “beer!” At the moment, humor can be produced and relieve embarrassment.
(32) Hopeless widower - “Nothing can mend a broken heart”.
Hopeful Widow – Except re-pairing
In this example, the key word is “repair”. “Repair” is a polysemic word, however, at the first thought, we are easy to realize the original meaning of “repair”, which is “to fix” or “to mend”. But can we “mend” a broken heart in a usual way? Of course not! From the hint of the spelling of “re-pairing”, we can find the intentional meaning of “widow”. The only way to mend a broken heart is to find a spouse again. Here humor goes with wit.
4.2 Making a bitter satire
To produce satirical effect, a pun is mightier than a sword and it is a brilliant one. A satirical pun is the use of wit to make the attack clever, funny or humorous. For example,
(33) I finally figured out how government works. The Senate gets the bill from the House. The president gets the bill from the Senate. And we get the bill for everything.[20]
Here the first and second “bill” means “draft of a proposed law, to be discussed by a parliament”, the third means “written statement of money owed for goods or services supplied”. The author uses the double meaning of the word “bill” to form pun. By contrast, it shows that the citizens are greatly dissatisfied with the government and make a bitter satire to the rules.
(34) My sister, Mrs. Joe Cargery, was more than twenty years older than I, and had established a great reputation with her and the neighbors because she had brought me up “by hand”. Having at the time to find out for oneself what the expression meant, and knowing her to have a hard and heavy hand, and to be much in the habit of laying it upon her husband as well as upon me, I supposed that Joe Gargery and I were both brought up by hand.[21]
(Charles Dickens, Great Expectations)
Here the key phrase is “to be brought up by hand”, when we read the first “brought up by hand”, we know it conveys its original meaning, while through the context, we can know that the second implied that Mrs. Joe Cargery usually beat her husband and her young brother with her hard and heavy hand, which made them suffer a great deal. By making a sharp contrast between what Mrs. Joe Cargery told her neighbors and the truth, the whole passage shows a great satire.
(35) A: What do lawyers do when they die?
B: Lie still.
“Lie” and “still” create double puns in this dialogue. The second sentence can be understood as: “They’re still telling lies after death.” It also can be interpreted as: “they’re lying there silently after death”. It is obviously that the author uses the puns to satirize the lawyers who always do dishonest things in the name of the law when they are alive.
4.3 Expressing character’s feeling
Pun is frequently employed in literary works to portray figure’s character, behavior, and reveal their feeling. For example;
(36) “You’ll have to keep class2 under your thumb.” Said the headmaster. To make this clear, he showed me his own thumb; a huge thing, like a pocket cudgel. I felt very pale. I had reason enough to distrust my thumb [22].
(Edward Blishen, Roaring Boys)
Here the key word of this example is “thumb”. “Thumb” can be understood as “one has ability to do sth” or “short thick finger set apart from the other four”. “To keep sb under one’s thumb” means “completely under sb’s influence or control”. In this example, the author made a sharp contrast between the new teacher’s thumb and the headmaster’s huge thumb, and pointed out their different ability. The bad disciplined phenomenon of class 2 appears before the readers, at the same time, revealing the new teacher’s timid character.
(37) Not I, believe me. You have dancing shoes with nimble soles; I have a soul of lead so stakes me to the ground. I cannot move.
Here “sole” and “soul” is a pair of homophones. “Sole” means “the underside of a shoe”, while “soul” means “the spiritual nature of human being”. They form a strong contrast that others have nimble soles while Romeo with a lead soul, which reflect that Romeo’s suffering mood at the time.
(38) If he do bleed, I’ll gild the faces of the grooms withal; for it must seem their guilt.[23]
(W. Shakespeare, Macbeth)
This example is the use of a word with similar sound. “Gild” and “guilt” belong to paronomasia pun. From these two words, we can see clearly that Mrs. Macbeth attempt to kill a person to prevent him from disclosing a secret, and shift the misfortune onto somebody else.
4.4 Adding vividness to attract attention
As a pun is concise and striking, it is often employed in advertisements, news headlines, slogans, etc. The use of the pun ensures that the message is communication with more “strength”. An advertiser is particularly concerned with the problem of attracting and holding an audience’s attention. And puns function as the stimuli, which remain the most economical and efficient means to attract attention. For example;
(39) Self-Testing Medical kits
No Far-Fetched-Doctor [24]
Here “Far-Fetched” can be interpreted as “(of a comparison) strained; unnatural” and also can be understood as “invite sb from the distant place”. By using the homographic pun, one headline with double meanings, the topic sentence present the best explanation to the headline.
(40) One shop announced: “DARWIN is Right – INSIDE (This was J.R.Darwin’s Everything to wear store) [25].
Here DARWIN can be understood as “a person who own the store” or “a great man who brought up The Theory of Evolution”. As an adj, “right” means “true or correct”; as an adv, “right” means “just, directly”. We can explain it in these two ways: a. The great man – Darwin who brought up the “Theory of Evolution” is correct. b. The ownership called Darwin is just inside. He is waiting for you! Come in and buy! Welcome to our store! This headline is so different and eye-catching, and attracting the audience attention.
4.5 Forming a riddle
Because of the similarity of sound and graph and the disparity of meaning, pun is most easily made into riddles. Moreover, a pun is a kind of humorous and amusing use of words to express wit in a concise way, which is just in line with the properties of riddles. Therefore, a pun is quite an effective means to propose riddles. Take the following as an example:
(41) Why is a river rich?
- Because it has two banks.
Here “bank” can be interpreted as “bank of a river; it can also be understood as “bank where money is deposited and kept”. Humor goes with wit in this riddle.
(42) Why a man never tells his secrets in a cornfield?
- Because it has so many ears.
“Ear” has double meanings here. One is “ear of corn”, the other is “ear of a human being”.
(43) If you had two wires, and you took one away, what would you have?
- A wireless
“A wireless” means “a radio”, while “one wire less” means “with only one wire left”
5. The translation of English pun
5.1 Translatability of puns
The translation of puns is always considered to be extremely difficult. Many people even consider puns as “untranslatable”. Since there have much difference between Chinese and English, for a translator, it becomes almost impossible to find equivalence both in sound and in meaning in the target language. In translating an English homophonic pun into Chinese, there exists a structural barrier. A homophonic pun is a mere coincidence in sound. But when the coincidence is translated into Chinese, it will no longer be a coincidence. It may not be a pun any more. As a result, the original humor or wit in the pun is nowhere to be seen. In translating an English homographic pun, translators will inevitably meet semantic barriers, because there are few expressions, which have the same conceptual and associative meanings both in English and in Chinese.
Of course, the difficulty in the translation of puns is what we have to admit. The barrier in translation exists as long as linguistic and cultural differences exist. However, there is no source text that is absolutely untranslatable. We should try to convert untranslatability into translatability, or make compensation in translation. In a word, the translation of English puns is possible to a certain extent.
5.2 The translating methods of English pun
Based on the above analysis, we can see that although English puns are hard to translate, it does exist a certain translatability extent. Therefore, translators explore many ways to deal with this translation. In summary, it can be divided into 3 types: literal translation, free translation, annotated translation.
5.2.1 Literal translation
Literal translation, generally speaking, refers to the original version is translated literally or directly into the target language, the same punny meanings are retained in the version.
Here goes an advertisement;
(44) After you get married, kiss your wife in places where she’s never been kissed before.
The original version is rendered into “婚后，在你妻子从没被吻过的地方吻她。” This ad contains double meanings: A: After you get married, kiss the parts of your wife where she’s never been kissed before. B: After you get married, go to the places where your wife has never been to and kiss her there. Here “places” is literally converted into “地方”, which is exactly the Chinese equivalent of “places”. The translation successfully conveys “地方” into two meanings “a place to go” and “somewhere of one’s body”, which enables the readers of the Chinese version to learn the intention of this advertisement without difficulty just as the English readers do. The advertiser uses this homographic pun tactfully so as to attract the new couple. In the translated version, the persuasive effect is retained. Another example:
(45) In Honghu day is going to break. [26]
洪湖就要天亮了。
Here “day is going to break” means “first light that appears just when the sun is about to rise above the horizon; daybreak”. This sentence hides another meaning, “The Revolution is going to accomplish”. Both in English and Chinese version, this sentence contain two levels of meanings. However, the readers can immediately read out the double meanings.
(46) Call me a bad doctor if you like. Call me what you will. But don’t call me at a half past three on a December morning for an ear-ache that you have had for two weeks.
叫我坏医生吧，你爱叫就叫吧。但是，千万不要在12月份凌晨3点半叫我去看你已经疼了两周的耳疾。
In this example, this first two “call” means “describe or address sb/sth as, name”, the third “call” means “ask sb to come by telephoning. By using the literal translation, the original meaning appears again in the translation of English pun.
5.2.2 Free translation
Sometimes, for social and cultural difference between English and Chinese, the translators are unable to use literal translation but to use free translation. However, using free translation only can render the general meaning of the original version. The humor, wit, satire or even complicated feelings that are expressed uniquely by the use of puns may not be fully conveyed. For example;
(47) A: His words are as plain as ABC
B: But I’m DEF (deaf)
A: 他的话说得很清楚
B: 可惜我听觉失灵
“DEF” are the letters that come after “ABC”. “DEF” and “deaf” is a pair of homophones. Here “deaf” means “unable to hear at all or to hear well”. In the short dialogue, the implication meaning is “I don’t want to hear you no matter how clear you have told”, so we can see that the translated version is also a perfect one.
(48) Spoil yourself and not your figure.
尽心地吃吧，别担心体重
The phrase “spoil oneself” means “enjoy oneself to heart’s content”, while “spoil one’s figure” means “make a damage on one’s figure”. In this ad, the punny word is “spoil”, the advertiser employs the homographic pun to persuade the Ice-Cream lover to eat to their heart content without worrying about their weight. It achieves a good effect.
5.2.3 Annotated translation
Pun translation has its limitations; it is no doubt that a translator will meet obstacles, more or less, in both language and culture in translating. In such cases, if he cannot make them clear, a translator may resort to other translation techniques, such as, annotation.
Annotation in translation makes the punny sense of the original easy to see and easy to understand. And it offers a chance for the reader to appreciate the beauty of the source language. However, adopting annotation in translation is always the last choice, for the humor in the original version may not be completely converted in the translated version.
For example;
(49) – Why is the figure nine like a peacock?
- It’s nothing without its tail
为什么说“9”像只孔雀？
因为它没了尾巴什么都不是。（注：“9”没了尾巴就成了“0”）
It is an interesting riddle, however, without the annotation, the reader will be confused.
(50) Perhaps from some vague rumor of his college honors, which had been whispered abroad on his first arrival, perhaps because he was an unmarried, unencumbered gentleman, he had been called the Bachelor.
(Charles Dickens, The Old Curiosity Shop)
也许是因为他初来时大家交头接耳传说他在大学里有过学位，也许是因为他是位没有结过婚、无拘无束的绅士，他便被称为光棍学士。
注：原文为同词双关。“光棍”和“学士”在中一词双意。
Here “bachelor” can be interpreted as “an unmarried man” or “the holder of a Bachelor’s Degree in different context”. The translator translates the “bachelor” skillfully and then adds a note to offer the readers a chance to enjoy the beauty of the original pun.
6. Conclusion
Pun is one of the common rhetorical figures in English. It is widely used in our
daily life. The use of English pun can enrich the expression of language and prompt people to appreciate the beauty of language. And homonyms, homophones and homographs provide many chances to use English pun. A pun often has double meanings, one is the surface meaning, the other is the implied meaning, and the implied meaning is often what the author intends to tell us. Therefore, to understand and translate English pun is very difficult. As an English learner, we must learn the characteristics of English pun, only when we master the features of English pun can we use it easily and effectively. In translation of English pun, we must adopt the flexible technique, and try our best to convert the untranslatability into translatability.
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