小年是外國的大年嗎（用英語介紹小年的來歷和習俗）

2023-10-20 11:42:07

小年快樂

【編者按】小年是中國傳統文化中的節日，由於各地風俗不同，被稱為小年的日子也不盡相同，中國民間有「官三民四船五」的傳統，官家的小年是臘月二十三，百姓家是臘月二十四，水上人家則是臘月二十五。不過，問題來了，你知道小年的英語翻譯是什麼嗎？

由於外國人不過小年，所以在英文中確實沒有小年的準確詞彙或釋義，多數都是中國人來進行定義和描述的短語或翻譯。

小年的英語翻譯英語教學

off year

這一解釋出於《漢英大辭典》，off year是目前使用最普遍的翻譯，但是這個翻譯卻並不貼切，因為off year在英文解釋中表示「非大選年」的意思，被中國人轉義為「小年」，同時off year在英文中還指果樹、竹子的歉收年，所以off year的譯法與我們中國小年的祭灶習俗等活動完全是風馬牛不相及。

a lunar year

這一解釋出於《上海譯文漢英大辭典》，意思指農曆臘月是小建的年份，也就是說，農曆臘月只有29天，沒有年三十的年份。同時《外研社漢英雙語現代漢語詞典》中也有類似解釋。

在《漢英詞典》中出現的對於小年的解釋：festival on the 23rd or 24th of the 12th month of the lunar year, when sacrifices are made to the kitchen god 意思是節日，臘月二十三或二十四日，舊俗這天祭灶。

Lunar year in which the last month has 29 days is every year lunar calendar in December 23 or 24, it is the start of the entire Spring Festival celebration. There are many famous activities and customs during this time such as sweeping dust, offering sacrifice to the God of the Kitchen, writing couplets, cutting window paper and so on.

小年習俗的英語翻譯英語教學

Offering Sacrifice to the God of Kitchen

祭灶神

Lunar Year (in which the lastmonth has 29 days) is also called the Kitchen God Festival. People will offer candy, fruit, water to the Kitchen God in order to pray for safety and happiness in the coming new year.

Chinese families believe that the Kitchen God returns to Heaven on this day to report on the activities of every household over the past year to his superior, the Jade Emperor, who will either praise or punish the family based on the Kitchen God's report. Families often offer sweet foods like candy in order to "bribe" the Kitchen God into saying good things about the family.

中國家庭相信這一天灶王爺要上天向玉皇大帝稟報這家人的善惡，讓玉皇大帝賞罰。因此人們在灶王像前的桌案上供放糖果等祭品來「賄賂」灶王爺。

Sweeping Dust

除塵

During this time, it's only a fewdays until the Spring Festival. So every family will clean their rooms, whichis called sweeping dust. It is believed that evil things can be swept away by doing this.

In Chinese, the character for "dust" is a homophone of the character for 「the old」. By giving the house a thorough cleanse on the day, Chinese people believe that this would rid them of their poverty and bad luck from the previous year, so as to welcome a prosperous new year.

在中國，「塵土」的「塵」這個漢字與「陳舊」的「陳」同音。中國人相信，當天通過徹底地清掃房子，可以讓他們擺脫過去一年的貧窮和黴運，迎來一個繁榮的新年。

Cutting Window Paper

剪窗紙

Among all the preparation activities for the new year, cutting window paper is the most popular one. The content of the window paper includes animals, plants and famous folk stories.

In the Little New Year, old couplets and paper-cuts from the previous Spring Festival are taken down, and new window decorations, New Year's posters, and auspicious decorations are pasted up.

在小年的時候，上個春節時貼的春聯和窗花被摘了下來，新的窗花、年畫和喜慶的裝飾品會被張貼起來。

Bathing and Cutting Hair

沐浴和剪髮

Both adults and children need to bath and cut their hair at this time. One of the old saying goes, with or without money, cutting hair to celebrate the new year.大人、小孩都要洗浴、理髮。漢族民間有「有錢沒錢，剃頭過年」的說法。這天傍晚，婆姨汝子都用開水洗腳。不懂事的女孩子，大人們也要幫她把腳擦洗乾淨，不留一點汙穢。漢族民間傳有「臘月二十七，婆姨汝子都洗腳。一個不洗腳，流膿害水七個月」的俗語。

The ancient Chinese believed that a haircut in the first month of the Lunar New Year would bring bad luck. People usually wait until the second lunar month to have their hair cut again... In order to fit into the new clothes for the festival, a haircut is highly recommended beforehand.

中國古人相信正月剪頭會帶來黴運，所以人們常等到農曆二月才再次剪髮……因此，為了配合春節穿的新衣服，提前理髮是非常推薦的。

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