On the English Translation of Chinese Neologisms.docx
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On the English Translation of Chinese Neologisms.docx
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OntheEnglishTranslationofChineseNeologisms
OntheEnglishTranslationofChineseNeologisms
1Introduction
AChineseneologismreferstoawordorexpressionthatiswidelyunderstoodandusednowadays,bothnewincontentandform,justenteringintotheChinesevocabularyoroldwordwithnewsenses.(ZhangJian,2001,p.10)ThenewnessofChineseneologismbringsgreatdifficultiestoitstranslation.
AccordingtotheAdaptationTheory,proposedbyVerschueren,“languageuseistheprocessofmakingchoicebyadaptingtocontextandlinguisticstructureinadynamicwayatvariouslevelsofsalience.”(Verschueren,2000,p.9)AndVerschuerenholdsthatusinglanguagemustconsistofthecontinuousmakingoflinguisticchoices,consciouslyorunconsciously,forlanguage-internalorlanguage-externalreasons.Variability,negotiationandadaptabilityarethreepropertiesoflanguagethatcanhelptheuserstomakeappropriatechoicesintheprocessoflanguage-using.Amongthem,variabilityandnegotiationareconditionsandfoundationsoftheprocessofchoicemaking,whileadaptationisthepropermethodofit.Inthecourseoftranslation,especiallyneologismtranslation,itisimportanttogetclearthecognitivecontextofthetargettextandthecross-culturalfactorsinvolvedandchoosethemostappropriateexpressions.
2ChineseNeologisms
2.1SourcesofNeologisms
Chineseneologismslargelycomefromthreesources,namely,newly-coinedwordsandexpressionsandborrowings.
Newly-coinedWordsandExpressions
Languageison-goingchangingwiththepaceofsocietydevelopment.Duringthisprocess,theexistentwordscannotsatisfymodernpeople’sdemandforexpressingvariousnewideas,whicharemushroomingupfromnowherebeyondimagination;therefore,tremendousnewwordsarecreatedtomeetpeople’sneeds:
国家发展与改革委员会已证实政府将采取切实行动,发展低碳经济。
TheNationalDevelopmentandReformCommissionhasconfirmedthegovernmentwilltakeconcreteactionstodevelopalow-carboneconomy.(Guanny,2010,p.59)
市政府希望市民拼车出行。
Thecitygovernmentwantscitizenstoorganizecarpools.(Guanny,2010,p.207)
Borrowings
Withtheeverfasterinterchangeofinformationandideaswithforeigners,wehaveborrowedconsiderablewordsandexpressionsfromEnglish,JapaneseandGerman.
他拒绝签署协议,结果把一个双赢局面变成一个对大家都不利的局面。
Byrefusingtosigntheagreement,heturnedawin-winsituationintoano-winsituationforall.(Guanny,2010,p.258)
有最先进的电脑打印技术作为支持,英国犯罪组织正在策划在欧洲的欧元区假钞闪电战。
Aidedbythelatestcomputerprintingtechnology,BritishcriminalsareplottingtoblitzEuropewithfakeeurobanknotes.(Guanny,2010,p.240)
2.2ClassificationofNeologisms
PoliticalandEconomicNeologisms
中国政府将落实基本法,坚决全面贯彻“一国两制”、“港人治港”的方针。
TheChinesegovernmentisdeterminedtofullyimplementthepolicyof“Onecountry,TwoSystem”,allowingHongKongtobegovernedbythepeopleofHongKonginaccordancewiththeBasicLaw.(Guanny,2010,p.89)
中国人民银行行长表示中国将继续执行扩大内需的政策方针。
ThegovernorofthePeople’sBankofChinasaidthatChinawouldstickwiththepolicyofexpandingdomesticdemand.(Guanny,2010,p.165)
SocialNeologisms
Inadditiontotheabovementioned,neologismsalsoemergeinotherfields,suchashealth,education,mediaandentertainment.
他靠倒卖香蕉起家,按批发价买进,零售价售出,挣个差价。
这在如今是完全正常的生意,可在那时候就太不光彩了,大家都贬损地叫他“倒爷”。
Hebeganbybuyingbananasatwholesalepricesandsellingthematretailprices,earningthedifference.Thisperfectlynormalbusinesspracticewasconsideredsomethingdishonorableinthosedays.Peoplelabeledhimaprofiteer,derogatorily.(Guanny,2010,p.58)
3eseNeologismsintoEnglish
Neologismisanopensystem,whichisconstantlychangingwiththedevelopmentofsociety.Duetoitsactivenessandsensitiveness,neologismalsoservesasabarometerofsocialchanges.Consequently,soundtranslationoftheseneologismsbecomesvitalindemonstratingouruniqueChinesecultureandhelpingforeignpeoplegetabetterunderstandingofthestatuequoofChina.AccordingtothebasicideaofAdaptationTheory--makingchoicebyadaptingtocontextandlinguisticstructureinadynamicway,effortsshouldbemadetoadapttothespecificcontextofthetargetlanguage,ofreader’scognitiveenvironment,andofculturaldiversity.
3.1AdaptationtotheSpecificContextoftheTargetLanguage
Thecontextofthetargetlanguageisthenewenvironmentfortheinformationofthesourcelanguage.Itexercisesastrictconstraintonthetranslation,namely,themessageinsourcetextshouldbeunderstoodonthephonologicallevel,lexicallevel,syntacticallevel,semanticlevelandpragmaticlevelintargettext.Thusacceptabilityisachievedandthetranslationbecomesreadablefortargetlanguagereaders.That’swhywetranslate“油漆未干”、“小心地滑”into“WetPaint”and“WetFloor”,insteadof“Thepaintisnotdry.”or“Takecare.Thefloorisslippery.”Herearesomemoreexamples:
“还有一些人很骄傲,读了几句书,自以为了不起,尾巴翘到天上去了。
”(JiaWenbo,2000,p.12)
Obviously,“尾巴”cannotbeinterpretedliterally.Andwecannotputitas“havetheirtailsup”or“tailup”either,whichareseeminglyreadyphrasesinEnglish,because“尾巴”inthissentencemeansthatsomepeoplearearrogantwhile“haveone’stailup”indicatesthatsomeoneisconfidentorenthusiastic.Therefore,idiomaticexpressionshouldbe“Othersareconceited,havingpickedupsomebook-phrases,theythinkthemselvesterrificandareverycocky.”
“不应给农民发白条。
”(JiaWenbo,2000,p.12)
“发白条’isanativeexpressioninChinaandhasrichpragmaticimplications,butnotinEnglish.Aliteralrenderingthencannotproduceequalimageassociation.However,itconveysanalmostidenticalmeaningwith“IOU”(i.e.Ioweyou.)inEnglish.Sowecanputthesentenceas“WeshouldnotissueIOUstothefarmers.”
Tocertainextent,thedegreeofadaptationtothecontextoftargetlanguagedecidesthedegreetowhichthetargetlanguagereaderscanacceptandunderstandthetransformedinformation.
3.2AdaptationtoReader’sCognitiveEnvironment
Duetothedifferentgeographicalposition,historyandlivingstandardsbetweenChinaandWesterncountries,peoplehavedifferentcognitiveenvironment.Thus,duringtheprocessofneologismtranslation,translatorsaretoooftenencumberedwiththedifficulttasktopresentnovelmessageintermsofthetargetlanguageframeofinterpretationbasedonthepresuppositions.Translationofneologismsreachingforeignreadersmustbe“intelligible”and“comprehensible”.Otherwise,themeaningcannotbeunderstood.Ifneologismsareonlytranslatedliterally,readersfromdifferentlanguagebackgroundsmaygetconfusedormisunderstood.HencesometranslationstrategiesshouldbeexercisedandthemostcommononesareSupplementarytranslationandFreeTranslation.Forinstance:
“实行‘八七扶贫攻坚’计划”。
(JiaWenbo,2000,p.6)
Weshouldbeawarethat“攻坚”cannotbeputas“fight”orsomethinglikethat,becauseitisjustametaphoricalexpression;andifwejusttranslate“八七扶贫”literally,foreignreadersaresuretobeconfounded.Therefore,certainbackgroundinformationisneeded,namely,Supplementarytranslationshouldbeadopted.Thewholephrasethencanbeinterpretedas“Tocarryouttheplantoassist80millionpeopleinhavingsufficientfoodandclothingwithinsevenyears.”
在我国,影响“三农问题”的因素有很多,既有自然因素,又有社会因素。
(JiaWenbo,2000,p.12)
“三农”问题isshortfortheissuesofagriculture,farmerandruralarea.Formallyraisedbyresearchersonruralissuesinrecentyears,theissueswereregardedasofhighimportanceforthecountry’seconomicandsocialdevelopment.Therefore,whenitistranslated,thereader’scognitiveenvironmentshouldbetakenintoconsideration,thespecificinformationshouldbefiguredoutclearly.Thesentencecanbeputas“InChina,theissuesofagriculture,farmerandruralareaareaffectedbymanyfactorsincludingbothnaturalandsocialones.”
heCulturalDiversity
Everynationhasitsownlanguageandculture.TheculturaldiversitybetweenChineseandWesterncountriesresultsindifferentunderstandingofthesamethingandthesameconcept.What’sworse,somemisunderstandingsmaybearoused.Henceinthecourseoftranslation,translatorshouldlearnandhandlesomeculturaldifferences.Thatistosay,translationshouldadapttoreader’sculture,transferringoriginalmeaningwithoutviolatingataboo.
自1978年以来,它的年均增长率接近10%――比起日本货“亚洲四小龙”当年经济启动时相似时期内实现的增长率要高。
(Guanny,2010,p.317)
Since1978,ithasgrownbyanaverageofalmost10%peryear―morethanwhatJapanortheAsianfourtigersachievedoverthesimilarperiodswhentheireconomiestookoff.
4Conclusion
Verschueren’snewlyproposedAdaptationTheoryhasnowbecomeincreasinglypopularincontemporarytranslationstudies.Itviewstranslationasaprocessofchoice-making,whichplaysasignificantroleinneologismstranslation.
AccordingtothebasicideaofVerschueren’sAdaptationTheory,threeaspectsshouldbeunderlinedintranslatingneologisms.Thefirstoneisadaptationtothecontextofthetargetlanguage.Onlywhenthenativewayofvoicingopinionsisfullygrasped,cantranslationbeconciseandintelligible.Thesecondoneisadaptationtoreader’scognitiveenvironment.Inthispracticeoftranslation,foreignreaders’bilingualhabitandtheirknowledgeofthesocialcustomofthesourcelanguageshouldbetakenintoaccount.Thelastoneisadaptationtoculturaldifferences,whichmayleadtomisunderstandingsofthesameconcept.
TheAdaptationTheoryisprovidinguswithabroaderscopetoconducttheresearchandsolvethepracticalproblemsinthisfield.Anditisfoundthat,undertheguidanceofthistheory,withthecombineduseofdifferent
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