| Acknowledgements | 第1-6页 |
| 摘要 | 第6-7页 |
| Abstract | 第7-12页 |
| Chapter I Introduction | 第12-17页 |
| ·The background of the study | 第12-14页 |
| ·The aim and significance of the study | 第14-15页 |
| ·Structure of the thesis | 第15-17页 |
| Chapter II An introduction to idioms | 第17-25页 |
| ·Definition of idioms | 第17页 |
| ·Sources of idioms | 第17-21页 |
| ·Idioms originating from the specific geographic environment | 第17页 |
| ·Idioms stemming from religion belief | 第17-18页 |
| ·Idioms formed by the name of persons and places in religion | 第18页 |
| ·Idioms formed by set phrases and sentences in religion | 第18页 |
| ·Idioms coming from the custom of an ethnic | 第18-19页 |
| ·Idioms about eating | 第19页 |
| ·Idioms about social custom | 第19页 |
| ·Idioms deriving from historical stories | 第19-20页 |
| ·Idioms springing from literary and artistic works | 第20-21页 |
| ·Characteristics of idioms | 第21-23页 |
| ·The nationality of idioms | 第21-22页 |
| ·Identity in figurative meanings but diversity in images | 第21页 |
| ·Identity in images but partial or thorough diversity in figurative meanings | 第21-22页 |
| ·The iconicity of idioms | 第22页 |
| ·Phonetic euphony of idioms | 第22页 |
| ·Semantic unity and structural stability of idioms | 第22-23页 |
| ·Language, culture and translation | 第23-25页 |
| Chapter III Essentials of relevance theory | 第25-38页 |
| ·Researches abroad | 第25-28页 |
| ·Researches at home | 第28-31页 |
| ·Overview on relevance theory | 第31-38页 |
| ·Definition of relevance | 第31页 |
| ·Ostensive-inferential communication | 第31-33页 |
| ·The degree of relevance | 第33-34页 |
| ·Two principles of relevance | 第34-35页 |
| ·Contextual effect and optimal relevance | 第35-38页 |
| Chapter IV The explanatory power of relevance theory to translation | 第38-47页 |
| ·Traditional notions of translation | 第38-39页 |
| ·The advantage of relevance theory over traditional translation theories | 第39-41页 |
| ·Theoretical essence of relevance theory | 第41-47页 |
| ·Translation as a dual ostensive-inferential process | 第41-42页 |
| ·Translation as an interlingual interpreting process | 第42-44页 |
| ·The role of translator from the perspective of relevance theory | 第44-45页 |
| ·Optimal relevance and context in translation | 第45-47页 |
| V Application of relevance theory to the translation of Chinese and English idioms | 第47-68页 |
| ·Untranslatability and translatability | 第47-48页 |
| ·Translatability of English and Chinese idioms observed from relevance theory | 第48-57页 |
| ·Linguistic feature and functional feature | 第48-50页 |
| ·Translatability of the culture-specific idioms | 第50-53页 |
| ·Translatability of the stylistic values of idioms | 第53-55页 |
| ·Optimal relevance as the principle in the translation of idioms | 第55-57页 |
| ·Approaches for the translation of idioms from the perspective of relevance theory | 第57-68页 |
| ·Direct translation | 第58-60页 |
| ·Direct translation plus notes | 第60-62页 |
| ·Direct translation plus paraphrase | 第62-64页 |
| ·Indirect translation | 第64-68页 |
| ·Substitution | 第65-66页 |
| ·Paraphrase | 第66-68页 |
| VI Conclusion | 第68-70页 |
| Bibliography | 第70-74页 |
