On Lexicographical Translation Of Chinese Culture-specific Words In Bilingual Dictionaries

Chinese culture-specific words are language units whose sememe is loaded with one aspect of Chinese culture,be it material culture,institutional culture,or spiritual culture.They are usually referential lacunary units in English(except English words borrowed from Chinese,such as those already recorded in Oxford English Dictionary).How should Chinese-English dictionaries treat Chinese culture-specific words has always been a headache to lexicographers.At present,there are many problems with how Chinese-English dictionaries treat Chinese culture-specific words.For example,there is no scientific standard as which words are to be covered in the dictionary,and important core words are often left out.The lexicographical translation of Chinese culture-specific words is ambiguous,which does not tell the distinctive features of them,failing to meet the differentiation principle of a lexicographical definition.The structure of the meta-language in the translation does not show the relationship of semantically related words within a certain field.In terms of cognition,human experience is more or less similar across cultures.People speaking different languages have much in common in their categorization of the world,which is the premise that communication with each other is possible.Culture-specific words in different languages can be compared and studied in terms of cognitive frames.In order to realize the communicative function of Chinese-English dictionaries,dictionary makers should make full use of cognitive frames to describe the meaning of Chinese culture-specific words.Therefore,frame semantics can serve as a guide in dictionary making.Frame semantics was put forward by Charles J.Fillmore in the 1970s.It emphasizes the continuities between language and experience.In Fillmore's opinion,the meaning of a word is defined by the frame it fits in.When a word is introduced into a conversation or text,it evokes the frame it is in;and at the same time,to understand or explain a word,one needs to invoke the frame.This study argues for a frame semantics approach to the translation of Chinese culture-specific words in Chinese-English dictionaries.Two categories of Chinese culture-specific words are chosen as case study,one being words related to keju and the other being words about Taoist aesthetics.After a survey of how those words are treated in eight Chinese-English dictionaries,I propose that to translate Chinese culture-specific words,first,we need to find out their propositional model and identify the frame they are in,so that dictionary users may be provided with a reference point for their understanding.Then,a minimum of features that need to be defined are extracted based on core frame elements(elements universal in the frame shared by different cultures)to guarantee the accuracy of the sense translation.Furthermore,some core frame elements are specified and some non-core frame elements are made salient to show the culture-specific meaning(elements that are culture-specific)of the words.In this way,the meaning of Chinese culture-specific words is reconstructed.Finally,a KEJU frame and a TAOIST_AESTHETICS frame are built to facilitate the lexicographical translation of keju words and words related to Taoist aesthetics in Chinese-English dictionaries.Besides,the semantic network of Chinese culture-specific words is presented which improves the treatment of them in the macrostucture,microstucture and mediostructure in Chinese-English dictionaries.Through the case study,this dissertation argues that frame semantics is helpful to Chinese-English dictionaries on how they treat Chinese culture-specific words.Semantic frames may evoke similar cognitive experience in target language users'mind to see to it that their understanding is done on the right track.The lexicographical translation based on semantic frames guarantees the understandability of Chinese culture-specific words without the loss of their culture-specific information.Semantic frames also help Chinese-English dictionaries to represent the mental lexicon of the source language users,so that the isolation of semantically related words in traditional dictionaries can be reduced.In addition,a scientific coverage and systematic treatment of Chinese culture-specific words can be anticipated.What's more,the minimum defining features extracted based on frame elements contribute to the accuracy of translation,and the multidimensional structure of the frame lays foundation for the design of the cross-reference network.