Towards a Three-Dimensional Perspective on Tı-An Lating Between Chinese and English
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Structure of Meaning (SOM): Towards a Three-Dimensional Perspective on Tý-an lating Between Chinese and English by Chunshen Zhu, MA Thesis submitted to the University of Nottingham for the degree of Doctor of Fliflosophy, May, 1993 A4 srryuaVý, TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract Dedication Acknowledgments Some Conventions Used in Examples Chapter I introduction: Structure of Meaning (SOM) -- A Three Dimensional Model of Translation and Translating 1.1 Translation in the pre-linguistics period 1.2 Comparativeness and comparabilit\: a point of departure 1.3 Systemic-functional theory and speech act theory: their applicability in translation studies 1.3.1 Systemic-functional theory and translation 1.3.2 Speech act theory and translation 1.4 Structure of Meaning (SOM): a comprehensive three- dimensional model of translation and translating 1.4.1 Linguistic composition: the first dimension of a SOM 1.4.2 Interactional dynamic: the second dimension of a SOM 1.4.3 Aesthetic impact: the third dimension of a SOM 1.5 Relationships between the dimensions of a SOM 1.5.1 SOM and genres 1.5.2 SOM: where form and content merge 1.6 Translating: a three dimensional process 1.6.1 Idiomatic and creative use of language 1.6.2 Restoration of information distribution 1.6.3 Matching the effects 1.7 A few words about the following chapters Notes Chapter II Linguistic Composition: Foundation of the SOM 2.1 Word order: linear sequence of syntactic arrangement and cognition process 2.1.1 A-V-0 sequence and its variations 2.1. " Modification 2.1.3 Function word as syntactic bearer and information carrier - ii - 2 1.4 ý%ord . choice and word order as st%listic marker 2.2 Word and word choice 2.2.1 The Chinese word defined 2.2.2' Componential analysis: modification within a word 2. ýA internal and external modifiers 2.2.4 Unit words: a special case 2.2.4.1 Unit words: form, meaning and translation 2.2.4.2 -Metaphorical use of unit words and their translation 2.2.5 Sound and sense in word choice 2.3 Conclusion: Unit of Translation (UT) Notes Chapter III Interactional Dynamic Dimension: SOM in Action 3.1 Form: to communicate 3.12 (Re-)Presentation of information in translating 3.2.1 The grammatical system and implicit/explicit presentation of information 3.2.1.1 Active versus passi,. 7e presentation: the world in different reflections 3.2.1.2 Zero-pronoun versus full pronoun: a functional analysis 3.2.1.3 Chinese versus English: I markedness' in discourse 3.2.2 Thematic structure and information structure 3.2.2.1 Unmarked and marked theme in English and Chinese 3.2.2.2 Wh-question and yes/no question analyzed 3.2.3 Cohesion and translation 3.3 Textual organization of information in translating: an example 3.3.1 A thematic analysis of the SL text 3.3.2 A thematic comparison between the SL text and its translation Notes Chapter IV Aesthetic impact: Individuality of a SOM 4.1 Discoursal appropriateness: form and effect Images in figuratix -e expressions: function and effect - iii - 4.2.1 The communicative function of figurative expressions 4.2.2 Metaphors: functional classification 4.2.3 Metaphors: comprehension and translation 4 2.4 Reproduction image: . of pros and cons 4.3 Syntax: its aesthetic functions 4.3.1 Foregrounding: syntactic form, information, and memory 4.3.2 Asyndeton and polNsyndeton: two basic means of information organization 4.3.3 Iconicity and enactment: two aesthetic functions of syntax 4.4 Shape, Sound and Sense 4.4.1 Reduplication: an example Notes Chapter V Conclusion: from Style to Stylistic Translating 5.1 Stance: author in the text 5.2 Style: Stance seen through the text 5.3 Stylistic Translating: f StanceSL StanceTL rom Text to Text 5.4 Stylistics, discourse Analysis and translation studies Appendix I Liu Yong: Farewell (Chinese text with English translation) Appendix 11 Li Bai: Perilous Journey to the Land of Shu (Chinese text with English translation) Appendix III Zhu Ziqing: Moonlight Over the Lotus Pond (Chinese text with English translation) Parallel Structures and Reduplicated Words in 'Moonlight Over the Lotus Pond': a brief survey Bibliography Sources of the Sample Texts Annex Graphic Version of the Chinese Text of Some Examples - ix- - Abstract The introductory first chapter begins vvith a brief surveý, of translation in the pre-linguistics period. It holds that comparativeness arid comparison should be the foundation of translation studies. The model of Structure of "eaning (SOM) is thus created by incorporating and extending the two three-dimensional models provided by s,,,,st(, mic- functional grammar and speech act theor. y. It consists of three dimensions of linguistic composition, interactional dynamic and aesthetic impact, for the analysis of the SL text, for the creation of the TL text in translation, and for the comparison of the two in translation studies. In linguistic composition, the word-order is observed in terms of A(gent)-V(erb)-O(bject) sequence and its variations, elaborated by modification in text formation. The functions of linguistic elements are classified as syntactic bearer, information carrier and stylistic marker for analysis. The issue of Unit of Translation is also addressed. Information distribution is analyzed for the interactional dynamic of the SOM in terms of implicit versus explicit presentation of information and how this is dealt with in translating on the basis of thematic structure. Aesthetic impact combines form, function and effect to give a SOM its individuality. This is discussed via the translation of figurative language, and syntactic iconicity and enactment. Attention is also devoted to the relations between Shape, Sound and Sense in translation. The model of SOM, in conclusion, identifies Stance and Style within the conventional meaning of 'style', and proposes the practice ()f stylistic translating in the creation a TL SOM which matches the SI. SO',l in the three dimensions. v- Dedication To the memory of my grandmother. - VI - Acknowledgments like I would to express my warmest thanks to a number of people .vho have helped make my period of study at Nottingham an unforgettable experience. I am particularly grateful to my supervisors, Prof. Walter Nash for the unfailing encouragement and comprehensive guidance he gave me before his retirement in 1991, and Dr. Michael McCarthy for his insightful guidance on all matters, from theoretical issues to the final presentation of the thesis, during the later stages of my research. I owe a particular debt of gratitude to Prof. Christine Fell, whose support has been indispensable in my obtaining sponsorship for the project. I am very grateful to Dr. Allan Rodway for his friendship, interest and advice and in particular his reading of and comments on the early versions of Chapters One, Two and Four and most of my English translations in this thesis. My special thanks are due to Prof. Norman Page and Mrs. Norma Hazzledine for their sympathetic understanding and support which have sustained me over this sometimes difficult period. Also, I wish to thank my father, Lunhuan Zhu, who has painstakingly collected and supplied on request useful materials from China; and my wife Xiulan Wang and my son Xiangzhou Zhu, for their caring support and especially their forgiveness for my unusual timetable during those weekendless weeks. Finally, I would like to acknowledge that the project has been generously funded by a British Overseas Research Student Award (1989- 92), and a University Postgraduate Studentship (1989-92) and a ýNaltcr Nash Bursary (1992), all of the Universitv of Nottingham. - vii - Some Conventions Used in Examples 1. ('x'): x is a translation intended for linguistic comparison, how close it is kept to the linguistic features of the original depends on the purpose of the comparison. 2. ('x: y'): x and y are componential lexical meanings of the word they stand for in the Chinese original. The use of such componential listing depends on the purpose and needs of the exemplification. 3. fxj: x is the co-text of the example, which is not included in the Stu d y. 4. fl: a Chinese text marked as such at the beginning is supplied with a graphic version. 5. Numbering: a. In example number [x. y], x is the number of the chapter; y is the sequential number of the example in that chapter. b. An example number marked with 'tr' means the text is a translation, eg, [3.3 tr] is the translation of [3.31. c. An example number containing a roman number means the text is an altered version for comparison, eg, [3.11 iij is the second altered version of [3.11], and [3.22 tr. ij is the first altered version of [3.22 tr]. Chapter I Introduction: Structure of Meaning (SOM) -A Three Dimensional Model Of Translation and Translating 1.1 TRANSLATION IN THE PRE-LINGt'ISTICS PERIOD The moment human beings found themselves doomed with the gift for possessing more than one language, what would be later called translation was born. Since then, millennia have passed with translations undertaken but underestimated, teased while taught; translators besought then belittled, complimented yet condescended to. Yet in translation as an academic pursuit, there have been too many normative, laconic and frequently contradictory claims from empirical speculation and too few well organized attempts at theorv. The fullness of the discipline, as flexible as language itself, as dynamic as culture and as multifarious as its social contexts, seems yet to be achieved. Despite such an unpromising situation, both in the East and the West, the fact remains that, as Bates (1943: 7) puts it, 'Nothing moves without translation'; and translation has never faded from the foreground of the development of human culture.