英语专业论语言经济原则观下十八大报告的汉英翻译冗余

1、.语言经济原则观下十八大报告的汉英翻译冗余作者：王谦学号：09080817 指导教师：谭晓丽 摘 要: 为了使国家的大政方针不仅被本国人民所了解，也被世界人民所了解，政治报告的翻译成为了一种必须。但由于此类政治报告中不少新概念、新提法都是中国特有的，从英文词典中难以找到现成的对应词，出于政治保险，译员不得不采取字当句对的翻译策略。在此过程中，译员不仅给译作带来了大量的冗余信息，和语言经济原则背道而驰，同时也降低了译作的可懂性和美感。因此本研究将以语言经济原则为基础，从词汇、句法以及篇章三个层面分析探讨十八大政治报告英译本中的冗余现象。关键字：冗余；政治报告；汉英翻译；语言经济原则；十八大Ana

2、lysis of English and Chinese Translation from the Perspective of Frame TheoryAuthor：Yang Qi Number：09080723 Tutor：Xiao SuyingAbstract: Frame Theory is a significant part in cognitive linguistics, which gives a reasonable explanation of translation phenomena from the cognitive perspective. Translatio

3、n work is relevant to not only various languages but different kinds of cultures. Since different languages are networks of different frame systems, sub-frames, and cultural frames, the task of translation is to find in the target language the linguistic expressions which help to activate the cognit

4、ive frames identical or similar to those in the source language. This paper introduces the definition and characteristics about Frame Theory and has a discussion of the application of Frame Theory in English and Chinese translation study with case studies, including the advantages and disadvantages

5、of its application. Consequently, Frame Theory can be applied to wider areas to conduct peoples practice and cognition more accurately in the future.Key words: Frame Theory; English and Chinese translation; cultural frame; applicationI IntroductionSo far, scholars both home and abroad have already f

6、ound links between Frame Theory and translation exist, but overall and systematical discussions on translation phenomena from the perspective of Frame Theory is quite rare. Associating with the definition and characteristics about Frame Theory, this paper, from a brand new angle, introduces methods

7、of English and Chinese translation mainly on three levels (lexical, syntactical and textual) with case studies to find in the target language the linguistic expressions which help to activate the cognitive frames identical or similar to those in the source language. By doing this, discrepancies of f

8、rame systems, sub-frames, and cultural frames between English and Chinese can be minimized to a certain degree, making the target language understood and accepted by readers more easily. Frame Theory is a relatively new theory in cognitive linguistics, namely, it is not perfect. This thesis is going

9、 to summarize characteristics of Frame Theory so that a new path for English and Chinese translation studies and the advantages and disadvantages of its application in translation study can be found. Then through analyzing the present situation as well as the prospects of its application in English

10、and Chinese translation works, Frame Theory can be applied to wider areas to conduct peoples practice and cognition more accurately in the future, which is the original idea of this paper.II Frame TheoryFrame Theory, in this thesis, is employed as the theoretical basis to analyze translation. This c

11、hapter has an overall introduction to Frame Theory about both its origin and development, in which relevant concepts and characteristics about Frame Theory are embodied. 2.1 Definition of Frame TheoryThe concept of "frame" in linguistics was first originated from the memory study of the ps

12、ychologists. It is, to a certain degree, similar to the term "schema" (Bartlett, 1932:11-20) used by Frederic Bartlett, who is a famous psychologist, in his research of human memory in the 1930s. He testified through experiments that people's understanding and memory were influenced by

13、 their expectations which were represented in the mind in the form of schema. In the 1940s, Bateson in his book Steps to an Ecology of Mind discussed the term "frame", and then in 1955 the term "frame" was introduced into cultural sociology. Later on it was used in mass communica

14、tion research by Goffman in 1974. The computer scientist Marvin Minsky later applied the schema theory in psychology to his study of artificial intelligence and believed that knowledge was stored in memory in the form of data-structure thus he coined the term "frame" to replace "schem

15、a." According to his view, frame is induction and abstraction of typical situation in real life. "Frame is a data-structure representing a typical situation.we can see frame as network composed of network nodes and their relationship." (Minsky, 1975:211-275)On the basis of fruits carr

16、ied out in the areas of cognitive science by Bartlett and artificial intelligence by Minsky, American linguist C.J.Fillmore first introduced the term “frame” into linguistics. He proposes this theory for two reasons: one is to overcome the limitations of the “checklist theory of the meaning” in the

17、conventional categorization theory. The other is to find a way to solve some problems within his early Case Grammar theory. He defines it as "any system of linguistic choice-the earliest cases not only being collections of words but also including choice of grammatical rules of linguistic categ

18、ories that can get associated with prototypical instance of scenes"(Fillmore, 1975:124). Later on in Fillmore's publication Frame Semantics, he regarded "frame as a system of categories structured in accordance with some motivating context" (Fillmore, 1982:119), holding the view t

19、hat “frame” is a way to understand the knowledge of the world. To define “frame” in a more practical way in linguistics and make it in accordance with cognitive research, a mainly cognitive interpretation was proposed, that is "Frames are specific unified frameworks of knowledge or coherent sch

20、ematizations of experience" (Fillmore, 1985:223). The definition emphasized more on knowledge or experience already being existence in human's mind. And in 1992 he defined it as "cognitive structures" and "the knowledge of which is presupposed for concepts encoded by words.&q

21、uot;(Fillmore&Atkins, 1992:75). In 2003, Fillmore eventually explained “frame” as the knowledge structure or concept structure which is presupposed for concepts highlighted, including structures with background information." Fillmore is the key figure of Frame Theory. However, some other sc

22、holars have relevant statements about frame.According to Van Dijk, frames are not just chunks of knowledge. They are units of conventional knowledge according to which mutual expectations and interactions are organized. (刘雅芬, 2010:17-20)In the word of Widdowson, frames are crucial to an understandin

23、g of how we project perceptual and conceptual order on reality, and they, furthermore, not only provide a natural means of representing specific exemplars but also of representing general information across exemplars. (刘雅芬, 2010:17-20)Petruck said that frame is any system of concepts related in such

24、 a way that to understand any one concept it is necessary to understand the entire system; introducing any one concept results in all of them becoming available. (Petruck, 1996:7-20)A frame is a type of cognitive model which represents the knowledge and beliefs pertaining to specific and frequently

25、recurring situations. (Ungerer and Schmid, 2001:211)From the above definitions and explanations, it can be concluded that a frame is a whole system which consists of many elements that are closely linked with each other. To some extent, these elements can be easily found as they are preinstalled in

26、human's mind with form of experience and beliefs, and they can be regarded as an entirety. The overall and exact interpretation of a specific element needs to trigger other elements in the whole entirety. 2.2 Characteristics of Frame TheoryFrame Theory possesses certain distinguishable features.

27、Firstly, framework constitutes empirical things which are accumulated in daily life by human beings, and it is established by usage, that is, certain fixed elementary categories are included in each frame. Take the well-known Commercial Transaction Frame as an example, a person A owns some money and

28、 another person B owns some goods that A wants to have; taking for granted that the two participants come to an agreement on the price of the goods, person A gives a certain sum of money to B and B surrenders the goods; the result is that A owns the goods and B owns the money in return. Leaving the

29、agreement aside as some sort prerequisite, we can find that elementary categories in this frame include a buyer, a seller, money and goods. Accordingly, within the "restaurant" frame, cook, waiter, customer, table and so on are the fixed elements. Secondly, all the components and other ele

30、ments forming the entire frame are closely related to each other. Once mentioned, each of the elements would arouse a whole multitude of others within the same frame. Take an example, the word "sell" in Commercial Transaction Frame would activate the whole bundle of other components that b

31、elong to the same Commercial Transaction Frame. Therefore, it is not difficult to draw that, to a greater degree, people understand the meaning of a linguistic phrase on the basis of the stimulation of cognitive frames. (黄倩, 2008:23-24)Thirdly, as is known to all, even though a certain group of peop

32、le belong to the same nation and language community, personal experience differs from each other as a result of various social status, different educational backgrounds and so on. Furthermore, different people even with almost the same social status or cultural background are surely to reveal totall

33、y different understanding about the same object, because even the same object or event can activate many different frames in their internal world. This type of differences is referred to as personal differences, which is also a crucial feature of frame. For this reason, the formation of frames is in

34、evitably influenced by not only mental but also cognitive factors, and we can then draw the conclusion that frames are subjective in nature. Lastly, Frames and culture are linked tightly with each other. All aspects of human life are influenced by culture, which contains cultural background, histori

35、cal background, beliefs, values, and modes of living. As a consequence, frame is a reflector of certain cultural factors in the corresponding nation. But as is universally known, different nations are embedded with different cultural backgrounds, historical backgrounds, beliefs, values, and modes of

36、 living, which are embodied via views and endorsed behaviors and so on. Hence cultural differences are the most distinguishable characteristic of frames activated by concepts belonging to various areas, nations and language communities. Our cognitive abilities, frame structure, frame systems and sub

37、-frames are all influenced by cultural discrepancies. (马琳琳, 2012:21-24) For instance, in the west, "tableware" refers to "knife and fork", while in China, it means "bowls and chopsticks" etc. Take another example, "street women" in Chinese is not prostitutes b

38、ut the housewives in the neighborhood; "child's play" refers to a trifling matter in Chinese culture. Thus we can draw the conclusion that the same expression in English and Chinese languages belongs to different framework. III Frame Theory in English and Chinese TranslationAs is menti

39、oned above, due to different languages are networks of different frame systems, sub-frames, and cultural frames, the task of translation is to find in the target language the linguistic expressions which help to activate the cognitive frames identical or similar to those in the source language. As a

40、n important part in cognitive linguistics, Frame Theory provides new research ideas for the translation study, and translation work includes two stages, that is, digestion of the original language and the generation of the target language, both of which involve stimulating process related to certain

41、 frames. According to his own knowledge, experience and an established frame, the translator can infer the scene described in the original text, through which the translator has to find a suitable frame from the target language. Therefore, in translation studies, Frame Theory provides another dimens

42、ion for it. Fillmore once made an example, that is, in English, the literal meaning of “land” and “ground” is both alleged "land", but they belong to different semantic framework. Land, whose opposite side is sea, belongs to the frame of "region", while “ground” belongs to the fr

43、ame of "space", on the contrary to air. Therefore, “a bird spends its life on the land" means it does not live in water, and “a bird spends its life on the ground” means it cannot fly. In the translation activities, the former is translated as "在陆地生活", and the latter "在

44、地面生活". (朱讴霞,钟守满, 2011:148-150) 3.1 Frame Theory in Word TranslationOne word may form many frames, and all the elements and other components forming the whole frame are related tightly to each other. Any single frame can activate the whole frame it belongs to. However, if the same word appears i

45、n different frames, then the specific language meaning of it can be different. Thus, in the translation process, the exact meaning of a word mainly depends on the frame it belongs to. If we do not take the frame it belongs to into consideration, then mistranslation is inevitable. Here are some examp

46、les:Example 1Experiential Realism (邓国栋, 2012:117-122)Mistranslation: 体验现实主义Proper translation: 体验实在论According to cognitive linguistics, “experiential realism” is put forward on the basis of criticism about “experiential realism” by cognitive linguists. With the constant development of cognitive ling

47、uistics both at home and abroad, this term has been a very popular word in the academical circle. As the philosophical foundation of cognitive linguistics, the importance of this term is self-evident. Based on this, the translation of “experiential realism” should be seriously considered. In accorda

48、nce with Philosophy Theory and Frame Theory, here “realism” activates the frame “实在论”, which is the opposite of “rationalism”. On the basis of the theory of literature, “现实主义” may activate a frame of literary genre associated with romanticism. Obviously, the original translator confused the conceptu

49、al frame. So the version “体验实在论” is more appropriate.Example 2个人主义者 (邓国栋, 2012:117-122)Mistranslation: individualistProper translation: egoistIn the light of Chinese culture, “个人主义” is also called “利己主义”, which activates the frame of “derogatory term”. People often say most of us are “个人主义者”. In wes

50、tern culture, “individualism” which focuses on the concept of “independent”, activates the frame of “commendatory term”. From a superficial view, these two words belong to the same semantic frame, but the truth is not the case. Therefore, we need to adjust the semantic frame in order to get a more a

51、ccurate translation. To sum up, “egoist” is a proper version.Example 3金鸡 (邓国栋, 2012:117-122)Mistranslation: Golden Cock Proper translation: luck and happiness In this example, “金鸡” activates the frame of “luck and happiness” in Chinese, but if a shoe polish brand named “金鸡” is translated into “Golde

52、n Cock” in English, we call it a wrong translation. Because, in modern English, the word “cock” activates the frame “male genital”, so “Golden Rooster” conforms to English culture. 3.2 Frame Theory in Sentence TranslationDifferent sentences present different scenes for readers, thus different concep

53、ts are highlighted and different perspectives are formed. So, the translator can not only think about the conventional meaning of the language symbol, specific language scenes presented by sentences should be consulted more. In these language scenes, frames reflect the context. Once one of the frame

54、s is activated, the meaning of words in this sentence is limited, bringing about a correct understanding of this sentence. Lets take some examples:Example 4We strongly demand immediate payment in full or partial payment with a statement of when you will pay the balance. (邓国栋, 2012:117-122)Mistransla

55、tion: 我们强烈要求你们马上全部付款或者部分付款，并陈述何时平衡。Proper translation: 我们强烈要求你们马上付全款或者部分付款，但要说明何时付余款。In line with the Frame Theory, each element within the whole frame is closely linked. Once any element in the frame is referred to, the whole frame will emerge automatically. In this case, once “payment” is mentione

56、d, it will activate concepts and elements relating to the frame “payment”. Through semantic analysis, we can easily identify the exact meaning of “balance” should be “余款” rather than the so-called “平衡”. Accordingly, an appropriate translation should be: 我们强烈要求你们马上付全款或者部分付款，但要说明何时付余款。Example 5Heavy l

57、iabilities forced the firm into bankruptcy. (邓国栋, 2012:117-122)Mistranslation: 高度的责任感迫使公司破产了。Proper translation: 该公司由于债台高筑，不得不破产了。Here “bankruptcy” activates the frame “破产” in our brain, and thus the meaning of “liabilities”, in this frame, should be “债务”, and “责任感” activates the frame “责任”, which i

58、s apparently not an element of the frame “破产”. Accordingly, an appropriate translation should be :该公司由于债台高筑，不得不破产了。Example 6Their prices are always quoted in dollars(邓国栋, 2012:117-122)Mistranslation: 他们的价格总是被美元引用。Proper translation: 他们的价格总是以美元报价。Here, “price” activates the frame “价格”, so “quote” mea

59、ns “报价” in this frame. “引用” is contradicted to the frame “价格”. Thus the correct version is: 他们的价格总是以美元报价。Example 7Sometimes a person who presents himself as kind and gentle can in private turn out to be a dragon，who breathes fire(邓国栋, 2012:117-122)Mistranslation: 有时，一个人在公开场合显得和蔼可亲、温文尔雅，而在私下里却是个吐火的龙。

60、Proper translation: 有时，有的人在人前表现出一副绅士模样，而在人后却是个魔鬼。 According to the western myths and legends, “dragon” is the symbol of evil, and the devil Satan is considered as “the great dragon”, while “龙” means “noble and theurgy”. So, “dragon” in English evokes the frame “evil, ferocious” , which is absolutely different from “龙” in Chinese. Accordingly, appropriate