II. The Relation Between Thought and Language

This chapter is pided into two parts. Firstly, the relation of thought and language will be analyzed. Secondly, on the basis of the first part, the significance of studying Chinese and English thinking modes will be discussed.

2.1 Thought and Language

Language is the medium in which people exchange ideas, and it necessarily has an impact on politics, economy, society, science and technology, and even culture itself. Generally speaking, language is the carrier of thought. Furthermore, in the course of translation, language is not only a tool for us to transmit information and to exchange ideas, but also the tool of thinking, participating in and embodying the thinking process of human beings.

Thought, as a main form of human intellectual activities, is the human brain’s indirect and abstract reaction to the objective world through language. That is to say, thought is a higher stage of human being’s activities and plays a decisive role in language.

The relation between thought and language has been discussed by many linguists, philosophers and anthropologists ever since before. There are rather different views about the general nature of the relationship between language and thought. Some hold that language determines the way of thought, while others think that thought has pervasive effects on language. In addition, there is another point that thought and languages have a mutual impact and penetration in the developmental process. From the definition of language and thought, it can be concluded that language reflects thought and thought works on language. Although the relation of thought and language is hard to answer, the standpoint that thought as the base of language takes a crucial position, and language has to relay on thought for its content has been generally accepted by people.

2.2 The Importance of the Study of Thinking Modes in Translation

Thinking modes, actually, are a way of rational thinking that various elements of thinking, according to certain methods and procedures, are manifested by a relatively stable way. In short, it is the mental structure of people who are observing, analyzing, and solving problems. Affected by many factors, thinking modes is quite different. As mentioned before, geography, history, the way of production and culture all have an influence on thinking modes. Therefore, it is difficult but important to study the thinking mode.

According to the above information, it can be concluded that thinking modes is a cognitive process which is influenced by multiple factors. At the same time, different nations have different thinking modes, and those thinking modes will be represented in language. Thus in the course of translation, understanding and translating the literal meaning is not the hardest part, but those language-specific ways of expression deeply embedded in the thinking modes.

To sum up, different thinking modes are the basis for the persiform languages, similarly, the differences in thinking modes give rise to different language forms. So it is significant enough for the translator to concern the different thinking modes in translating.

III. The Differences Between Chinese and English Thinking Modes

In previous chapter, the article analyzed the relation between thought and language which is conducive to the following discussion. And in this chapter, the differences between Chinese and English thinking modes will be emphatically discussed. However, it is hard for people to summarize all the differences, so we will mainly discussed from the aspects of concrete and abstract thinking, subject and object thinking, and dynamic and stative thinking.

3.1 Concrete Thinking vs. Abstract Thinking

Concrete thinking and abstract thinking, as one of the differences between Chinese thinking mode and English thinking mode, are two typical forms of thinking activities. The idea of “concreteness” is an aspect of communication that means being specific, definite, and literal rather than vague and general. Accordingly, concrete thinking, as well as called imagery thinking, is an important form of thinking that reflects and recognizes the world and, it is a powerful tool for cultivating and educating people. What’s more, people’s competence of considering issues with concrete thinking start from the day they are born. For example, when people recall an acquaintance, his or her features would appear at once in brains. Abstract thinking, which is also called logical thinking, refers to a kind of world view with theorization and systematization. In addition, logical thinking is the summary of natural knowledge, social knowledge, and thinking knowledge, which reaches a common between world view and methodology.