认知翻译

4. Sample study


(1) Willy: I don’t play that kid of game! Charley (turning to him): You ought to be ashamed of yourself! Willy: Yeah? Charley: Yeah?(He goes out) Willy (Slamming the door after him):Ignorance!


Gutt and his cognitive approach to translation


Ernst-August Gutt (格特): a pioneer to begin Translation and Relevance: Cognition and Context (1991) Theoretical orientation: relevance theory
P328-329

So Charles has lost his car keys. After all, Charles has lost his car keys.
Wife to husband: Fred has broken a window. Wife to husband: Your son has broken a window. Original utterance Mary: The back door is open. Original context If the back door is open, thieves can get in.



(2)the translation of allusions 夜郎自大 vulgar arrogance, 沉鱼落雁之美 surpassing beauty (with less processing effort)

(3) I learned a great many words that day. I do not remember what they all were; but I do know that mother, father, sister, teacher were among them)words that were to make the world blossom for me, “Like Aaron’s rod, with flowers”.


The cognitive approach to translation The beginning The interdisciplinary contributions (the progress) P302-303 The shift from…to… (p303;307)
(Helen Keller, The Story of My Life)


Aaron's rod 意为“亚伦神杖”，亚伦是传说中创 立犹太教祭司制的第一位祭司，是摩西的哥哥及 代言人，他的神杖的顶端长满了花蕾和花朵。根 据《旧约全书· 民数记》第十七章1-11节，亚伦的 手杖与摩西杖一样具有神奇的能力，而这能力在 出埃及之前的十灾时被赋与。它曾被摩西放在约 柜之前，并因此而发芽、开花和结果子。这亚伦 杖后来成为了犹太教的特殊圣物。后世人利用名 贵的材料仿造，饰之以蓝宝石，并在杖上刻有亚 伦的名，用以代表利未支派。
2. relevance theory

by Sperber and Wilson Emerged since 1980s in the field of linguistic philosophy in the west


Relevance and cognition
Relevance is the universal goal of cognition while cognition is the necessary condition of achieving the relevance. The principle of relevance is a cognitive and communicative principle.





Inspiration for translation

百度文库


First, to search for the optimal relevance and acquire correct and exact understanding of the original. Second, to convey both informative intention and communicative intention. 译者从原文交际者明示的交际行为中寻找 最佳关联，再在译语文本中保持这种最佳 关联（实现最佳关联的传递）。

那一天我学了很多新词,也记不清都有哪些 词了。但是其中肯定有“母亲”、“父 亲”、“姐姐”、“老师”——后来就是 这些词把一个美好的世界展现在我的面前, 就像《圣经》上说的，“亚伦的杖开了花” 一样。



三个个臭皮匠,顶个诸葛亮。 Three cobblers with their wits combined equal Zhuge Liang, the master mind. (Comparison with the next translation version: Two heads are better than one.)

根据Gutt关于直接翻译的理论,原文的音韵、 词汇、结构等都为我们提供了表现其风格 特征的交际线索。在直接翻译中,为了再现 原文的风格特征,译者必须努力保留这些交 际线索。从原词看,在音韵和词汇方面,给人 印象最深的是,词人一口气用了七个叠音词, 其中有四个词的声母含有/i/音(觅/mi/,清 /qing/,凄/qi/.戚/qi/,其中三个是入声,充满 了压抑凄凉的气氛。
(Arthur Miller: Death of A Salesman)




威利：我不打这种牌 查理(转身面对他):你真该为自己感到害臊 威利：你说谁？（说谁呢？） 查理：说你！（说你呢！）（下） 威利：（朝着他的背影摔上门）没知识！ (to translate both the informative and communicative intention)


“这断子绝孙的阿Q!......”
《阿Q正传》



Ah Q,may you die sonless!... Ah Q,may you die sonless!( a curse intolerable to ear in China)... (amplification adopted to guide the search for relevance)



话语是否具有关联性,可从它对认知环境产 生的语境效果来看。 p316 relevance=contextual effects/processing effort

1.4 Principle of relevance Optimal relevance p316


关联原则作为交际的指导原则 关联理论认为所有话语都是有关联的,只是有大有 小的问题。话语的理解就是寻找关联的过程,在较 小的语境总找不到,就得借助大的语境,直到找到为 止。因此,关联是一个相对的概念,它依赖于交际主 体的认知能力和认知语境。 人们的交际是受关联原则指导的。关联原则是人 们交际的指导原则,并不是说,人们总是以其来有意 识地衡量自身的交际行为, 它是一种下意识的行为。 人们总是希望用最小的认知努力获取最大的话语 关联,即追求交际的最佳关联,这是人与生俱来的本 能。

1.3 语境效果与认知努力对交际的影响 Contextual effects and processing effort Processing effort p311-312

Contextual effect 语境效果是话语提供的信息和语境之间的 一种关系。



话语蕴含的新信息和现有的语境假设(旧信 息)有三种可能的关系,产生三种不同的语境 效果: p313 1.新信息和现有语境假设相结合,产生新的 语境含义 2.新信息加强现有语境假设; 3.新信息与现有语境假设互相矛盾,排除现 有语境假设

(5) …I asked whether for him, the arch antiCommunist, this was not bowing down in the House of Rimmon. Mr. Churchill replied, ‘Not at all, I have only one purpose, the destruction of Hitler, and my life is much simplified thereby.’
3. Relevance theory and translation

Gutt用关联理论中的语境概念、最佳关联、 语言的解释性使用等一些基本概念,对翻译 进行阐释.


Question in p332: How do you explain the notion of interpretive resemblance and its application to translation? P326;
Cognitive Approach to translation
1. Introduction

What is cognition? P302;306

Translation and cognition The process of translation is cognitive process.(p302)

(4) 寻寻觅觅,冷冷清清,凄凄惨惨戚戚
(李清照:《声声慢》)


So dark, so dense, So dull, so damp, So dank, so dead.(林语堂译)
analysis

根据Gutt关于直接翻译的理论,原文的音韵、 词汇、结构等都为我们提供了表现其风格 特征的交际线索。在直接翻译中,为了再现 原文的风格特征,译者必须努力保留这些交 际线索。从原词看,在音韵和词汇方面,给人 印象最深的是,词人一口气用了七个叠音词, 其中有四个词的声母含有/i/音(觅/mi/,清 /qing/,凄/qi/.戚/qi/,其中三个是入声,充满 了压抑凄凉的气氛。
2.1认知语境是交际的前提 Context in relevance theory Cognitive context What is it and what does it include? P310-311



2.2 互明（Mutual manifestiness）是交际的 必要条件 由于个体所处外部环境和认知能力的差异， 个体的概念表征就会存在差异。关联理论 指出，成功的交际不是建立在共有知识基 础之上，而是以相互显映为必要条件，即 “互明”。“互明”使交际双方对交际的 认知环境能彼此明白，从而对交际时认知 环境中的事实或假设在心理上做出共同的 认知和推理。




Some basic concepts: The inferential nature of communication (交际的 推理性) Informative intention (信息意图) Communicative intention (交际意图) Semantic representation语义表征 A mental representation (or cognitive representation)心理或认知表征 Propositional forms命题形式 …