（外国语言学及应用语言学专业论文）翻译中的语用对等.pdf

pragmatic equivalence in translation iv 内容摘要内容摘要 语用学是研究语言运用及其规律的学科。自从 1938 年，莫里斯把语用学作为符 号学的一部分提出以来，语用学被广泛认为是语言学研究的一个极其重要的分支。近 年来,语用学的观点和理论得到进一步发展，并与语言、社会、文化、交际密切联系起 来，成为语言和文化交际中的认知科学和社会科学。翻译是把一种语言符号所表达的 信息用另一种语言表达出来的跨文化交际活动。其首要目的是对原文意义的准确传 达，以便使译文读者获得与原文读者相同的效果。问题在于，翻译过程中如何用另一 种形式完全不同的语言再现原文的意义？仅从语言学的角度去考虑这一问题，翻译理 论研究已经出现了一种力不从心的情况。本文旨在将语用学引入到翻译过程中来，回 答这一问题。 文章借助于语用学的基本理论和方法， 探讨了取得翻译对等的理论依据， 语用学与翻译的关系以及语用意义对翻译对等的解释力，并强调语境分析有助于对原 文的语用含义的正确理解。 对等是现代翻译学中的一个基本问题，翻译中的对等不是完全的、绝对的、完美 的等同，而是不同程度、不同层次上的对等，并且受到文化因素的影响。把语用学引 入翻译研究，能够实现翻译中的对等。语用学中的会话含义理论、言语行为理论以及 关联理论能对翻译对等做出语用阐释。翻译工作者只有通过发觉原文的话语含义、言 外之力以及话语的信息和语境假设之间的关联，来理解原文说话者/作者的真正意图， 即原文潜在的语用意义， 才能实现翻译中的语用对等。 同时， 为了实现这一翻译目标， 翻译工作者应该仔细分析语境，灵活运用多种翻译方法，正确扮演接受者和交际者两 个角色，不断加强自己的文化素养，以期翻译出完美的作品。 总之，语用翻译是翻译研究中的一个新的领域和途径。把语用学的理论原则和研 究方法引入翻译理论与实践，能够取得最大程度上的翻译对等。 关键词：语用学；翻译；语用对等；语境 pragmatic equivalence in translation ii abstract pragmatics is the study of language usage and its rules. in 1938, pragmatics was first introduced by charels morris as a branch of semiotics, and it has been widely regarded as an extremely important branch of linguistics. in recent years, great achievements have been made in this field. pragmatics has been correlated with language, society, culture and communication, and it has become a joint science of cognition and society of inter-lingual and cross-cultural communication. translation is a kind of cross-cultural activity to convey what has been expressed in one language in another language. its first aim is to properly convey the meaning of the source text so that the target language readers can have a similar effect as the source language readers. but there is a question arising that how the meaning of the source text can be exactly transferred by another language in totally different form. facing this question, it turns out to be more and more incompetent up to now to study from merely a linguistic perspective. the present thesis is written for the purpose of introducing pragmatics into translating process, so as to answer the question. in the thesis, an effort is made to apply the pragmatic principles in translation，to analyse the theoretical basis to achieve translation equivalence, to explain the relationship between pragmatics and translation and to show the strong explaining power of pragmatic meaning on translation equivalence. in addition, it emphasizes the significance of context analysis for the correct understanding of the implicature of the source text. equivalence is regarded as one of the basic issues in modern translation science. translation equivalence does not mean the total, absolute and perfect similarities between the source language and the target language, but the equivalence on different degrees, levels and ranks. and it is influenced by cultural factors. translation equivalence can be achieved through the introduction of pragmatics into translation study. the three sub-fields in pragmatics, i.e., the theory of conversational implicature, speech act theory and relevance theory can provide pragmatic illustration for translation equivalence. in order to achieve pragmatic equivalence in translation, the translator has to try to find out the implicature, the illocutionary force, the relevance between the contextual assumption and the newly presented information of the utterances, so as to understand the real intention of the speaker / writer, that is, the potential pragmatic meaning of the source text. furthermore, in order to 中南民族大学硕士学位论文 iii produce wonderful translation, the translator should carefully analyze the context, employ flexible translation methods while translating, play proper dynamic roles of audience and communicator, and strengthen his / her cultural knowledge during the period of the practice of translation. in a word, the pragmatic translation is a new field and a new approach to translation study. the optimal translation equivalence can be achieved by introducing the principles and study methodologies of pragmatics into the theory and practice of translation. key words: pragmatics; translation; pragmatic equivalence; context 中南民族大学中南民族大学 学位论文原创性声明学位论文原创性声明 本人郑重声明：所呈交的论文是本人在导师的指导下独立进行研究所取 得的研究成果。除了文中特别加以标注引用的内容外，本论文不包含任何其 他个人或集体已经发表或撰写的成果作品。 对本文的研究做出重要贡献的个 人和集体，均已在文中以明确方式标明。本人完全意识到本声明的法律后果 由本人承担。 作者签名： 日期： 年 月 日 学位论文版权使用授权书学位论文版权使用授权书 本学位论文作者完全了解学校有关保留、使用学位论文的规定，同意学 校保留并向国家有关部门或机构送交论文的复印件和电子版， 允许论文被查 阅和借阅。 本人授权中南民族大学可以将本学位论文的全部或部分内容编入 有关数据库进行检索，可以采用影印、缩印或扫描等复制手段保存和汇编本 学位论文。 本学位论文属于 1、保密，在_年解密后适用本授权书。 2、不保密。 （请在以上相应方框内打“” ） 作者签名： 日期： 年 月 日 导师签名： 日期： 年 月 日 中南民族大学硕士学位论文 1 chapter one introduction translation, as a means of communication, has existed parallel with human history. as long as there are human beings, there is translation activity. what is translation? the definitions can be various, some linguists and translation theorists use the notion of equivalence to define translation, and there are two influential statements. one is given by catford: “translation may be defined as follows: the replacement of textual material in one language (source language (sl) by equivalent textual material in another language (target language (tl).” (a linguistic theory of translation, 1965) the other is given by nida: “translation consists in the reproduction in the receptor language of the message of the source language in such a way that the receptors in receptor language may be able to understand adequately how the original receptors of the source language understand the original message.” (signs, sense, and translation, 1983) the former emphasizes the equivalent transfer of textual material and it is the basic principle of linguistic school of translation. while the latter lays stress on the effect of communication and it is the viewpoint of the functional school of translation. according to a general view by roger t. bell, translation refers to the cultural activity to express in another language (or target language (tl) of what has been expressed in another, source language (sl), preserving semantic and stylistic equivalences. (translation and translating: theory and practice, 2001) so translation is a kind of inter-lingual and cross-cultural communication. to translate is to transfer what is said from one language to another language. a translator should naturally transfer one persons intention over to another, conveying not only what is meant, but also what is said and how it is said. the core of translation is the equivalent transference of the meanings from sl to tl with the purpose of the success of the inter-lingual and cross-cultural communication. therefore, nidas definition deserves more consideration and study effort because it is formulated from communicative perspective. and the pragmatic equivalence in translation discussed in this thesis is just similar to nidas view. because the core of translation is the equivalent transference of the meanings from sl to tl, there are questions arising like that: how to keep the original meaning by using a different form, another language? how to keep the form and content unified? how can pragmatic equivalence in translation 2 translators convey the meanings without distortion? and can the message be transferred exactly to another language? the traditional translation study from linguistic perspective can not answer these questions adequately. in the last decades, when research on language shifted from language itself to exterior factors, translation studies also drew light from other disciplines, for translating involves the transference of messages in languages, cultures, styles and so on and so forth. among the several disciplines, pragmatics, the study of language in use, is the most effective in accounting for some specific phenomena in translation. in translation there seems to be a never-ending dispute whether we should adopt the literal translation or free translation. as a matter of fact, viewed from the pragmatic perspective, the two methods dont contradict with each other at all. as for literal translation, we dont mean word for word translation, or an absolute equivalence between the input and output on the surface level, which in fact is impossible. on the other hand, free translation doesnt mean arbitrary interpretation. the method proposed from the perspective of pragmatics is one that can best convey the real meaning or the speaker / writers real intention, the semantic meaning, the pragmatic meaning and especially the implicature of the sl. in other words, it is desirable to obtain pragmatic equivalence to the greatest possible extent in translation. for example, at a reception in china, the host says to the foreign guests “今天饭菜不好， 请多包涵。 来， 先干上一杯。 ” wed better render it with pragmatic strategies into “these are the best dishes we are able to prepare. please make yourselves at home. now, to everyone, cheers!” so that the equivalence in communication can be attained. pragmatics can supply us with a new perspective to translation, and it treats translation process as a dynamic process, which involves the author, the interpreter and the tl readers. according to pragmatic translation, we can adopt some pragmatic changes and adjustments to convey the real intention of the communicator in the original language, correctly evaluate the cognitive environment of the tl readers so as to find the optimal equivalent in the tl and solve the problems existing in the process of translation. as traditional categorization, translation consists of written translation and interpretation. in this thesis, the author would like to cover both of them two in the scope of pragmatics. the thesis firstly (in the second chapter) examines the origin and important notions of the word “equivalence”, regards it as one of the basic issues in modern translation science, and points out that translation equivalence does not mean the total, absolute and perfect similarities between the sl and the tl, but the equivalence on different degrees, levels and 中南民族大学硕士学位论文 3 ranks. then through the review of translation equivalence studies in the west and china, and the analysis of cultural influence on translation equivalence, the introduction of pragmatics to translation study is regarded as an inevitable tendency. the third chapter, the main chapter, deals with the application of pragmatics into translation. the author firstly reviews the definitions, principles and study scopes of pragmatics. then pragmatic equivalence in translation is illustrated from three sub-fields in pragmatics, i.e., the theory of conversational implicature, speech act theory and relevance theory. in order to achieve pragmatic equivalence in translation, the translator has to try to find out the implicature, the illocutionary force, the relevance between the contextual assumption and the newly presented information of the utterances, so as to understand the real intention of the speaker / writer, that is, the potential pragmatic meaning of the source text. in the last part of this chapter, the function of context is highlighted on the basis of the above analysis. and the context hereby discussed is no longer the traditional linguistic context. it is pragmatic context embracing both linguistic and non-linguistic factors. in the fourth chapter, the author discusses how to realize the pragmatic equivalence in translation. in order to fulfill this aim, a translator should employ flexible translation methods while translating, such as literal translation, free translation, replacement, amplification, omission and explanation. and he / she should also play proper dynamic roles of audience and communicator because there are two ostensive-inferential processes in translation according to relevance theory. at the same time, a translator should strengthen his / her cultural knowledge during the period of the practice of translation in order to produce wonderful translation because translation is undoubtedly influenced so much by cultural factors. pragmatic equivalence in translation 4 chapter two translation studies call for pragmatics this chapter will make a review of the study of translation equivalence and analyze the influence of culture on translation equivalence, so as to make it clear that pragmatics is really the call of translation study. 2.1 literature review of translation equivalence for centuries, linguists in translation studies at home and abroad have been looking for ways to convey the intended meaning of the sl to tl properly and effectively. they have been searching hard and constantly for methods to improve the quality of the translated version. people may ask what a perfect translation is. equivalence serves as an ideal aim and practice principle, and translators all over the world try hard to achieve it. 2.1.1 definition and origin of equivalence equivalence, one of the most important notions in the translation theory, has not only been a basic problem in science for the past 2000 years, but also one of the basic issues in modern translation, so it is necessary to examine the origin of equivalence. the word “equivalence” can be used in both a narrow and broad sense. it is used as a special term in english to refer to some kinds of the scientific phenomena or processes in different science branches. in mathematics and formal logic it indicates a relationship of absolute symmetry and equality involving guaranteed reversibility. at the same time, however, “equivalence” is also used as a fuzzy word in general vocabulary of english. in other words, “equivalence” is a strictly defined scientific term and also has an obscure meaning, that is, similarity or basically the same. since the equivalence theory was put forward, there have been disputes lasting for about 20 years on it because of the two different references of the word “equivalence”. some people think it impossible in translation at all while others regard it as the objective 中南民族大学硕士学位论文 5 and criterion for the quality of translation. in this thesis, the translation equivalence used is in its broad sense. it doesnt mean absolute, complete and total equality or similarity but the rough correspondence, approximation, identity, interchangeability and adequacy on the syntactic, semantic and pragmatic levels. we hold the view that translation equivalence is possible, and we can find equivalence of similar degrees, levels and ranks in the tl to convey what is said and how it is said in the sl. 2.1.2 studies of translation equivalence in the west translation theorists of different schools in the west describe the nature and conditions of equivalence from linguistic and communicative aspects. they try to analyze the translation equivalence elements scientifically, which gives us a much clearer description of this important concept. r. jackobson and c. catford analyze equivalence from a linguistic perspective. r. jackobson analyses equivalence first in the article on linguistic aspects of translation. he believes that there is no absolute equivalence between different signs, and that only through information can translators explain fully the external signs and message. in his opinion, translation means using information in another language to substitute information in the original. c. catfords main contribution is the introduction of “textual equivalence” in the book titled a linguistic theory of translation. in catfords opinion, meaning is a single- language-specific and not universal phenomenon. hence, there is no meaning equivalence but only denotative equivalence. he says translation may be defined as the replacement of textual material in another language (tl). eugene a. nida and peter. newmark analyze equivalence from a communicative perspective. nida holds that language is above all a multi-functional tool of communication, and translation is a kind of two-way activity, and the success of communication is bound to involve the response of readers. in order to communicate efficiently, linguistic utterance must be receptor-oriented. this principle is imperative not only for intra-lingual, but also, maybe even to a large extent, for inter-lingual communication. for translation, nida proposes the term “dynamic equivalence”. in his opinion, translation consists in producing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the sl, firstly in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style. nida regards j.b. philips translating “greeting with a holy pragmatic equivalence in translation 6 kiss” in the bible to “give one another a hearty handshake all round” as a typical example of dynamic example, for it conveys efficiently the pragmatic meaning of the original. another influential concept is nidas dichotomy “formal vs. dynamic equivalence(1964)”. his celebrated example from bible translation is the phrase “lamb of god”, where “lamb” symbolizes innocence, especially in the context of sacrifice. a literal translation (formal equivalence) will cause some problems in a different culture, such as in eskimo culture, where the lamb is an unfamiliar animal and symbolizes nothing. the “dynamic equivalence” translation in this case would be “seal of god”, for the seal is naturally associated with innocence in the eskimo culture. it is this pragmatic, approximate approach that nida has in mind when he formulates the phrase “closest natural equivalent” in his definition of translation quoted above. peter. newmark examines the approaches to translation equivalence from form and content aspects. he divides translation into semantic translation and communicative translation according to the content. he thinks that a semantic translation is always inferior to