What are the translation methods of word meaning extension?

Abstract: Translation is the meaning of translation. Meaning extension is an integral part of translation studies, and it is the most basic and primary task for all people involved in translation practice. To get rid of the "translation cavity", we must use this technique. This paper intends to discuss the motivation, basis and "degree" of word meaning adaptation and g 1 application, and illustrate the specific operation methods of word meaning extension through examples. In the conclusion, the practical guiding significance of these technologies is preliminarily predicted.

Keywords: English-Chinese translation extended meaning translation skills

As Eugene Nida, a master of translation studies, said, translation is translation meaning. If the task of word meaning processing is not completed first in the process of translation and expression, especially the judgment, selection, extension and adaptation of word meaning, translation will become water without a source and a tree without roots, even if the form is changed skillfully. The author believes that this is a "bottleneck" in the process of translation. Only by correctly judging and selecting the meaning according to the context, and then appropriately extending and adapting the meaning, can a proper translation be obtained. This paper intends to discuss the motivation, basis and "harmony" of word meaning extension and adaptation, and illustrate the specific operation methods of word meaning extension through examples, and preliminarily predict the practical guiding significance of these skills in the conclusion.

First, the theoretical basis of meaning extension

The translation activities we are engaged in are often carried out like this: when we get a manuscript, if there are no new words or difficult words, we often search the meaning of each word from the existing vocabulary in our brain, and then choose the most suitable word to translate the original text according to the context. If we encounter new words or difficult words, most of us will look them up in the dictionary and check their meanings. This process is sometimes difficult. Mr. Yan Fu once described the process of racking one's brains and painstaking efforts with "one person stands firm and one sentence hesitates". The problem is that, despite this, the effect is not necessarily ideal: the meaning that we think we have tried our best to choose is strange, ridiculous and even inexplicable and vague in translation. This kind of translation "often has many expressions that are foreign and do not conform to the language expression habits." This is a common problem peculiar to translation, which can be called "translation syndrome". The crux of this disease lies in the translator's preconceived ideas and his changing intentions. When we encounter "old words" in the translation process, we often choose the existing meanings in the brain vocabulary. These meanings are accumulated in memory in the process of learning a foreign language, and are closely related to the learning materials and experiences that constitute a specific context. In translation, whether to choose these existing meanings directly or to adjust and adapt them appropriately can often determine the quality of the translation. When you meet new words, you often have to look up and choose the meanings listed in the dictionary, while the dictionary lists the relatively fixed main meanings or root meanings. Larger dictionaries may add some extended meanings and example sentences. If the context of the original text is consistent with the dictionary use case, it is easy to understand the meaning of the word, and sometimes it can be translated in the way of dictionary use case translation. But in fact, the context in the text is ever-changing and flexible, which often requires the translator to flexibly deduce the best meaning from the root meaning according to the context of the source language and the expression habits of the target language, that is, "the meaning suitable for a specific context."

Some people think that word meaning extension only occurs in the original text, that is, the original author has completed the coding process when using these words. If some words have extended meanings, their extended meanings are first used by the original author, and the translator's task is only to convey this extended meaning. Therefore, they assert that word meaning extension can not even be regarded as a translation skill, and the so-called motivation of word meaning extension does not exist. We admit that before translation, the author of the original text has completed the process of assignment coding, at least establishing the text context, which provides a crucial basis for the translator to judge and choose the meaning of words. However, translation, as a process of decoding and recoding (in the target language), often does not stop at the judgment and selection of word meaning, but enters a dynamic stage that can better reflect the source language information, that is, the proper extension and adaptation of word meaning on the basis of judgment and selection, which is an important way to assign the source language information to the target language vocabulary and realize smooth natural translation. China translation theorists have rich discussions on the motivation of word meaning extension, but Hanyuan wrote in the book Translation Basis: Theory and Method that "the meaning of a word is influenced and restricted by a specific context, that is, its true and detailed meaning can only be determined in a specific language environment. The explanations provided in dictionaries often lack due details and are general and isolated explanations. " Therefore, he asserted that "in order to conform to the actual characters and plots, the wording in the dictionary must be changed or expanded to a certain extent, that is, according to the basic meaning of words and closely following the actual situation of specific texts, more suitable Chinese words should be chosen to express them." Ding Shude also analyzed the reasons for the delay. He pointed out: "Because vocabulary contains the customs and habits of English and Chinese, it is not enough to choose the meaning only by dictionary definition. We must adopt a flexible approach, starting from the basic meaning of a word, extending the meaning according to the context, and expressing the deep meaning associated with this word. " From the perspective of diagnosing the causes of "translation disease", Fan Zhongying believes that this phenomenon is not due to the translator's low cultural level and poor writing ability, but due to the influence and constraints of the source language expression, careful choice of words, or too rigid deduction of the original text, and adopts sentence-by-sentence comparison in translation to strive to be consistent with the original text (form). Such translation (often) does not conform to the language habits and expressions of the target language, which will inevitably lead to translation diseases. The prevalence of translation diseases also provides sufficient motivation for the adaptation and extension of word meanings. The use of such techniques is to try to eliminate the translation cavity; So what is the basis of extension and where should the "degree" of extension be?

Second, the basis and degree of meaning extension

Many translation theorists have mentioned the influence and restriction of context on the meaning of words, and there is a famous saying in translation circles that "without context, there is no meaning", which also expresses this idea. In fact, the basis of word meaning expansion is context. But is there any other basis besides context? According to the above introduction, we can also find another basis, that is, the expression habits of the target language. This point has been recognized in the definition of extension in business English translation, as follows: "According to the internal relationship of context, through the literal meaning of words or phrases in sentences, from the surface to the inside, some expressions that are in line with Chinese habits are used to accurately express the essence of the original text." The internal connection of context mentioned here is the semantic logic of the original text and the starting point of word meaning judgment, selection and extension. "From the surface to the inside" is a process of digging from the literal meaning to the deep implied meaning, and then extending the implied meaning by using expressions that are in line with China people's habits.

Although we say that the translator can maintain an interactive relationship with the original text, in fact we can't exert any influence on the original text at all. The context of the original text does provide a crucial basis for the judgment, selection and extension of the meaning of the word, and provides the premise and foundation for the translator to understand the original text accurately. However, the fundamental task of translation is accomplished in expression, and to accomplish this task, the expression habit of the target language becomes a signpost and basis. This view is consistent with Nida's definition of translation. He argues that "translation" is to reproduce the natural equivalence closest to the source language information in the meaning and style of the target language. So far, this proposition is regarded by many scholars as the most scientific definition of all translations, because it "clearly explains what the information to be translated is, and implies that due to the differences in language and culture, the original text and the translation can only be relatively equivalent, and the acceptability of the translation is also taken into account." According to the above three key words, we can express this proposition as three simple propositions: first, translation is to accurately translate meaning; Second, the translation should reflect the style of the original; Thirdly, translation should conform to the expression habits of the target language. Only by doing these three points, especially the third point, can translation play its role in cross-cultural communication, because "to express certain ideas with certain words, that is, statements, must conform to language habits and be accepted by people." Yan Fu also asserted that "if you care about the letter, you will not reach it. Although you still don't translate, you will achieve it. " In order to emphasize the importance of natural and fluent translation. So many translation theorists put the word "degree" before the word "delay" to express the meaning of proper operation. So where is the "degree"? As we all know, every language has its own expression habits and semantic logic. It is a common phenomenon that two languages have the same meaning but different expressions, or the same expression but different meanings. Native English speakers use the same language to communicate with each other. As long as you have a certain education and culture, unless one or both parties use dialects or dialects to achieve special communicative effects, or deliberately talk nonsense, you will generally not say or write anything that is not in line with the expression habits of your mother tongue. This is because they have fixed expressions. Translation is a cross-language and cross-cultural communication activity, in which two or more languages must participate. The expression of the same source language often needs to be extended because of the different expression habits of the target language. For example, a new report camel can be translated as "a new report has just arrived." But the new father has a proud smile on his face. , and the topic is exactly the same. Because Chinese doesn't say that. This kind of mistake is not uncommon among beginners of translation, because they unilaterally pursue (literally) loyalty, which leads to unacceptable translation readers. From this, we can draw a conclusion that the authenticity acceptable to the readers of the general translation is the "degree" of the extension of the meaning. If reading is not fluent and does not conform to their inherent sense of mother tongue, they must consider retranslation even if there is no problem with the grammatical structure. Of course, "general reader" and "acceptable" are very broad concepts, and the so-called "general reader" is not sufficient in many "special" situations. This is probably the reason why the introduction of reader response theory into translation theory and reception aesthetics have been criticized repeatedly. The best policy is to analyze specific problems.

Third, three methods of meaning extension.

The existing translation courses mainly explain two methods of meaning extension: generalization and specialization. In English-Chinese Business Translation, it is said that "the conceptual scope of words should always be adjusted in specific contexts, or the extension should be expanded to narrow the connotation, or the extension should be narrowed to enrich the connotation." These are two technologies in opposite directions, covering the basic content of extension. However, the author separated a special abstract extension, specializing in research, and named it "generalization" according to its ideographic way. Now give an example to demonstrate the following three methods:

Abstract extension

Words expressing specific meanings in English can often be used to express an attribute or a concept of things, and a specific meaning can be extended to an attribute or an abstract concept in translation. For example,

Example 1. He tries to make a living with his pen.

He makes a living by writing.

Example 2. The penis is stronger than the sword.

Wisdom is better than force.

Example 3. His pen will be more powerful than his pick.

Later, it turned out that his (Mark Twain's) writing ability exceeded his gold panning ability.

Example 1-3 has pen in all three original sentences. It should be said that all people who have been exposed to English know the words, and the meanings listed in the dictionary are simple and clear. However, if the sentences are compared, the translation will retain the image of the original sentence, but the semantics will be blurred. Due to the differences in expression habits, the readers of the translation are likely to be biased. At this time, I'm afraid the translator needs to explain what the pen metaphor here refers to. In the three original sentences, the pen expresses concrete and vivid images, all of which are metony-my. This kind of figure of speech refers to the attributes or prominent features closely related to it by the names of concrete and sensible daily things, and association and extension are the basic mechanisms to understand its meaning. This is a process from concreteness to abstraction, from individual reference to generalization or sublimation of essential attributes. It is this process that determines the accuracy and authenticity of the translation. Although association and extension are open to some extent, such translation is appropriate according to the context of the source language and the expression habits of the target language.

Example 4. On the contrary, an assassin's bullet erased all her shortcomings from the hearts of Americans.

On the contrary, the assassination of an assassin made Americans forget all his mistakes.

Example 5. This engine has always performed well.

This engine has always been in good performance.

Example 6. It's a long story. You are in trouble. Philippians

It's a long story You asked me a difficult question, Phyl.

Example 7. Arabian rubber shoulder jewels have been like this since the early settlement of this territory.

Arabs live next door to Jews, which has been the case since some people settled here.

As far as the headmaster is concerned, at least he has contributed to the ongoing education system. As far as intelligence is concerned, he has at least added luster to the present education system.

In the above five sentences, bullet in Example 4 is extended from the original meaning of "bullet" to "assassination". First, consider the historical facts (that is, President Lincoln was assassinated in the United States, which is also the basis provided by the original context); Secondly, the semantic logic and expression habits of the translation, because it is almost impossible for us to say "... bullets make Americans forget all his shortcomings"; The original meaning of performance in Example 5 is "performance, performance", which is usually used to refer to human behavior in Chinese, so some people think that the original text uses "personification", but I think it is awkward to say that a machine performs well, and the translation is too strong. Of course, it should be good to translate it into "working well". Both Example 6 and Example 7 contain metaphors, which use the similarity of two different things (or behaviors) to emphasize and highlight a certain concept or situation. In English, get into deep water means swimming to deep water, which means getting into trouble. In translation, it means "asking difficult questions" to highlight its vivid image. Someone found a fake friend for RubShoulders in Example 7. Unfortunately, they are similar in appearance, which is almost literal and far from metaphorical. Example 8 is another metonymy, which is consistent with the understanding of pen in the above three sentences.

(b) concrete extension

Words with broad and general meanings that express abstract concepts or general behaviors in the original text are extended to specific meanings or actions. The general trend is to narrow the extension and enrich the connotation, which can avoid the ambiguity and unsatisfactory wording brought by literal translation, ensure the accuracy of the translation and conform to the semantic logic and expression habits of the target language, such as:

Example 9. Dobby Bing has been in the coffee room for more than an hour. He has tried all the newspapers, but he still can't understand them.

Dobbin stayed in the coffee room for at least an hour. He looked through all the newspapers, but read nothing.

Example 9 is quoted from Vanity Fair by Thackeray, and describes a gentleman named Dobbin's nervousness before proposing to his friend's widow. Very vivid. Tried is a common verb, and everyone is familiar with it. There is not a new word in the whole sentence, but the second sentence is really embarrassing. Keeping the original intention of "doing your best" is not suitable for any translation, especially the fact expressed in the second clause. The original meaning of the word needs to be adapted or clarified to ensure that the action is clear and the facts are accurate. The local press questioned the license of the TV station. The local media demanded that the business license of that TV station be revoked. About chullenge, the common meaning is "challenge, explore, test (one's own ability)", but these meanings seem to be unable to translate the original meaning. According to the definition 3 in Longman Modern English-Chinese Dictionary: Questioning the legal completeness or rights of (someone or something) [Questioning the legality of (someone or something)], and further extending it according to Chinese expression habits, we finally chose "demanding cancellation".

Example 1 1. The first step may be to achieve effective disappearance in the area.

Perhaps the first step should be to set up an effective United Nations office in the region.

Example 12. In my childhood memory, she was always a vague and embarrassing existence.

I remember when I was a child, I felt uncomfortable when she came to me for some reason.

In these two sentences (1 1 and 12), the word "presence" needs to be extended and translated into "presence, appearance and attendance". The whole sentence is strange to read and sounds like a translation cavity. It needs extension and flexible skills to make the translation smooth and natural.

Example 13. Even if we grind salt into fine powder, it still smells of salt.

It is still possible to pound salt into powder.

The root of Reduce means "reduce, reduce". This sentence must proceed from this meaning, combined with the daily expression habits of Chinese in a specific context, and derive specific and clear action meanings such as "Dao, Mo, Mo".

Example 14. At the age of 22, he first knew what it meant to black people.

At the age of 22, he got his first taste of being black. (or "know the situation of black people")

Similarly, for most learners, this sentence has no new words and its meaning is concise and clear. I didn't expect to get stuck in translation. The reason is that the original meaning of whatit is is too general to determine the specific meaning. What we can do is to integrate the context of the original text, and then use the language sense of the mother tongue as the criterion. Of course, this is by no means an overnight process. Many times, we need to ponder and consider it repeatedly, and we often need to use "reverse reasoning", that is, in the specific context of the target language, we can infer the accuracy of our understanding and the authenticity of our expression from the corresponding sentences.

Generalization and expansion of proper nouns

English has experienced a long development and entered the contemporary era, in which a large number of proper nouns have been deposited. Initially, they refer to unique people, events, places, etc. However, in the process of long-term use, the meaning of words is gradually generalized, and the unique original meaning is transformed into ordinary meaning, expressing the old and new meanings derived from "Yuan Dian" such as Greek and Roman mythology and Bible. Most of them have become allusions. In English-Chinese translation, most of us will abandon the image of the original text and try to convey the meaning accurately. This is also an extension method to generalize the specific meaning into the common meaning, aiming at making the translation smooth and natural, and reducing the burden on the readers of the translation. For example,

Example 15. I want to be the czar of TV scripts and grammar.

I really want to be the king of TV, and all the programs are in my charge.

The czar originally referred to the czar before the October Revolution in Russia, and was named after Julius Caesar, the ancient Roman emperor. In translation, individual names are summarized into ordinary meanings, and after an expansion process from Caesar to czar to overlord, the meaning is more clear.

Example 16. Churchill, a hunchbacked Pickwick in a blue uniform, looked up at him with a majestic Hummer …

Churchill was dressed in blue, hunched a little, looked like a nice guy, looked up at him (Roosevelt), and looked solemn and kind. ...

Pickwick was originally the Old Gentleman written by British novelist Charles Dickens. Churchill was mentioned in herman wouk's The Storm of War. For readers who are familiar with this literary image, it is better to keep it than to give up. However, if they don't know anything about it, they need to give up or add explanations. We choose to give up the original image and make it a common extension. It seems more concise to translate it into "good old man". Example 17. The Soviet government suppressed all dissent in a thorough way.

The Soviet government eliminated dissidents in a one-size-fits-all manner.

Example 18. This summer vacation, I took a quick adventure on the road trip Railway.

Traveling by train this summer vacation did something to uphold justice and protect the weak.

In the original text, proper nouns sometimes retain their original forms, such as the sentences 15, 16. At this time, it is not so difficult to identify proper nouns through generalization, just need to understand the process of meaning extension. But more often, the word forms have changed. For example, in the sentences 17 and 18, capital letters have become lowercase, and adjective suffixes have been added. This is needed by grammatical structure, but it is equivalent to an extra obstacle for translators, who must trace back the prototype and original intention of words along the track of morphological evolution of words. Example 17 Pro-Crustean comes from Proclus Thes, a giant in Greek mythology. He runs an inn, where there is a bed on which people who stay at night sleep. The short ones are elongated and the tall ones are cut off to be as long as the bed. This word is vivid, but it can only be understood by explanation. It seems better to extend the meaning directly. Don Quixote of Kloc-0/8 comes from Don Quixote, a character written by Spanish novelist Cervantes. He dreams of becoming a ranger, upholding justice and protecting the weak, and only keeps this general meaning when translating, otherwise it may cause difficulties for readers to understand and appreciate.

Four. conclusion

At present, many translation courses in China have shifted from simply introducing the transformation and adaptation skills based on the comparison of bilingual structures to higher-level philosophical research on discourse awareness, stylistic differences, aesthetic feelings and cultural psychology. This is a very important transformation of translation studies, which may represent the development direction of translation studies. However, the author believes that bilingual conversion and adaptation skills are an integral part of translation research, an indispensable goal and task in college translation skills training, and have a strong guiding significance for translation practice. We know that the skills of form transformation in English-Chinese translation, such as gain, ellipsis and part-of-speech transformation, are easy to master, but the skills of word meaning processing are difficult, especially the extension and adaptation of word meaning, which requires strict bilingual and bicultural training. Through this kind of training, at least students can be helped to consciously translate the proud smile on their first father's face into "there is a triumphant smile on their first father's face." Or more elegant, "the new father said with a proud smile. Indeed, these technologies originated from the micro, focusing on case studies, and their conclusions may lack universal guiding significance. However, they are more practical for translation professionals who are still scarce in China's international economic and trade activities and even the whole senior labor market.