4 Untranslatability’s Potential Translatability
4. 1 Language Function
In history, different people put forward their viewpoints to language function from different angles. Social linguists think that language function is closely associated with human behavior. Pragmatic linguists hold that language has three functions: cognitive, performative and affective function.
Language function is closely related with the issue of translatability and untranslatability. Generally speaking, language units or textual elements with cognitive and expressive elements of language are translatable. Those with cultural elements are partly translatable and those who with aesthetic one are untranslatable. In the following, we will discuss them.
4. 2 Language Function and Potential Translatability
4.2.1 Cognitive and Expressive Function and Translatability
The cognitive and expressive function means that language helps people to know objective world and enable us to express and transmit our ideas, viewpoints, intentions, attitudes, and so on. Cognition and expression are two types of behavior. Cognition is sort of internal while expression is external. Although people have different purposes when they express themselves through languages, no matter in written or oral form, the basic function of cognitive and expressive lies there we can not deny. From the angle of translation, the object that people realize is the objective world and the object that people express is the knowledge and experience that they gain in the process of knowing and remaking the objective world. Since different nations face roughly the same objective world and additionally they have basically identical physiological structures and psychological responses, the knowledge and experience that different nations gain in the process of knowing and remaking basically the same objective world is bound to be the same in principle. What is distinct is that they are using different languages. In other words, different nations use different languages to express basically the same knowledge and experience about the same world, and, so to speak, it is entirely within people's capacity to find corresponding forms in one language for the purpose of expressing the roughly identical knowledge and experience in another language. This is actually the fact that people are making use of language cognitive and expressive function to realize and express what they have known. Undoubtly, it must be admitted that since there is partial difference between the objective worlds that different nations are confronted with, so it is inevitably the same with their knowledge and experience. However, because language can exert the function of realizing and expressing new things as well, it is still within people's power to re-realize and re-express the new knowledge and experience, which is unknown to them but is already in another nation's possession. It is on the basis of this truth that nowadays people are constantly encouraged to learn and introduce advanced technology and administrative experience. So to say, language cognitive and expressive function is the basis of interlingual translation between two languages, without which all human communications would be impossible.
4.2.2 Cultural Function and Relative Translatability
The cultural function of language refers to the function that language conveys cultural messages and contents in the form of language. As a matter of fact, language is a manifestation and record of culture. Language is the product of culture, and culture is the fundamental base of any language. Culture depends on language to preserve, spread and inherit. The development of culture promotes and advances the development of language. No matter how backward or civilized the society and languages are, culture is something language carries. Through languages, we can see the culture of a nation. Just like accent betrays personal background, language is also an important channel to betray or reflect the culture of a nation, for language embodies the material and spiritual condition of a nation.
Generally speaking, the cultural function brings relative translatability. The categories due to this function falls into three aspects: In the first case, there exists cultural absence between the source language and the target language. Therefore, there are no corresponding words between them. In this case, we have to coin new words by transliterating to make up the gap between languages. For example, “jiaozi”(饺子), “kungfu”(功夫), “koutou”磕头，which are peculiar expression in Chinese, have become part of vocabularies in English. On the other hands, with social development and international communication, Chinese vocabulary has been enlarging by expressions in English and other languages, such as, “因特网”(internet), “迪斯科”(disco), “汉堡包”(hamburger), “三明治”(sandwich), “热狗”(hot dog), “卡拉ok”(karaok). In addition, names of organizations, places and trademarks also belong to this category, such as WTO, New York and McDonald's.
Secondly, there are some words with transferring meaning. In this case, we have to coin expressions to refer to the specific meaning of expressions from the source languages. For example, “crocodile's tears”, “Pandora's Box”, “Achilles' heel” are of this case. In Chinese we translate them into “鳄鱼的眼泪”, “潘朵拉的盒子”, “阿基尔斯的脚”. As they embody cultural background, the connotative meaning of these expressions will not be reproduced in Chinese. Therefore, they are relative translatable.
Thirdly, something both exists in Chinese and English may differ in their connotative meanings. An example goes like dragon in Chinese and western concept. Color and animal vocabularies are of this case: people share the same color and animals, but show different attitude and feeling to them. For instance, “black tea” is to be translated as “红茶” in Chinese, instead of “黑茶”. They belong to category of relative translatability.
4.2.3 Aesthetic Function and Absolute Untranslatability
Absolute untranslatability refers to the phenomena of untranslatability that language difference itself produces, which is mirrored in the untranslatability resulting from the afore-said phonetic, lexical, syntactical, and rhetoric particularities of source languages. And it is exact on these particularities, i.e. language material forms, that language aesthetic function is built. All of these constitutes an integral part of a writer’s characteristic style. Therefore, it can be said that absolute untranslatability results from language aesthetic function mirrored in a writer's creative performance. As is known to all, people are employing language cognitive and expressive function, they consciously or subconsciously use and display the formal features of their languages so as to produce some rhetoric or aesthetic effects. “Forms in one language are generally information beyond transmission in another language.” And thus when these features of one language are beyond reproduction in another language, their aesthetic function in the source language are difficult to totally manifest in the target text. In the first three sections, enough examples are quoted to illustrate this point. Next is the famous 18th verse excerpted from Shakespeare's sonnets for illustration:
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
These two verses mean that so long as man can breathe and his eyes can see, this poem will live and give life to him. Here the poet expresses his blessings to his lover or bosom friend or his artistic ideals. From the point of its information and content, the function of these two lines is for expression, the reproduction is not a hard nut to crack. Nevertheless, as far as its linguistic forms are concerned, not only are the two lines in rhyme, but also each line includes ten syllables and five feet with each foot iambic, which produces plain rhythm and excellent aesthetic effects. The language formal beauty of this kind is exceedingly difficult to embody in another language. The late Mr. Liang Zung-dai metaphrased the lines as follows:
转贴于 酷文网-论文下载中心 http://www.coolwen.net
共6页: 上一页 [1] [2] [3] 4 [5] [6] 下一页
网摘收藏:
当前位置:
载入中...
-> 在百度中搜索：
-> 在Google中搜索：