Translation Of English Abstract Nouns In Academic Discourse From The Perspective Of Categorization

The material for this translation project covers the first two chapters of Nature,Society,and Justice in the Anthropocene,which mainly discusses the reconstruction of the concept of technology,economy,and universal currency to reduce the negative environmental impacts of global economic development in the Anthropocene.The text is typical of academic discourse,with a significant noun dominance,especially of abstract nouns,which poses a great challenge to translation practice.Based on the theory of cognitive categorization,this study explores and illustrates the translation of four types of abstract nouns in English: inherent abstract nouns,abstract nouns of status,action,and quality.It is found that the translation of inherent abstract nouns is more flexible in terms of equivalence and conversion at the three category levels: the basic,superordinate,and subordinate levels.However,the translation method adopted for the abstract nouns of status mainly relies on literal translation on the basis of category level equivalence.The abstract nouns of action and status are principally based on the category type conversion,i.e.,the conversion of the category of material things into the category of dynamic relations and static relations respectively through the translation technique of lexical conversion.This study explores the translation techniques of English abstract nouns under the guidance of the theory of cognitive categorization,providing a new perspective for the study and practice of translation of English abstract nouns and expanding the scope of application of cognitive linguistics.