Semantic Structure And Translation

Translation is a new discipline which needs to draw on the findings and theories of other related disciplines in order to develop and formalize its own methods. One of the main characteristics of modern translation studies is its use of insights from linguistics to develop a more systematic approach. Different linguistics theories, such as structuralism, transformational grammar, functionalism, sociolinguistics, semiotics, philosophy, and psychology have contributed to new viewpoints, theories, methods, and skills for translation.Semantic structure is an approach to the study of meaning which refers to the meaning abstracted from the actual use of language. It is generated from people s linguistic and non-linguistic knowledge and then encoded in language signs. It is the comprehensive combination of semantics, grammar and pragmatics. Semantic structure has a great deal to offer to the budding discipline of translation studies, as modern translation studies no longer are restricted to the study of language as a system of structure, but rather as it relates to the world and to other disciplines as well to the communicative function of language.This thesis consists of five chapters.The first chapter serves as a survey of translation and translation theories, and makes clear the standpoint of this thesis.The second chapter is the introduction of semantic structure: semantic competence, semantic performance, and the process that semantic structure is generated.The third chapter discusses the lexical semantic structure: semantic field, collocation, and fixed expressions. The similarities and differences between English and Chinese at this level are discussed, and the corresponding translation strategies are given.The fourth chapter discusses sentential semantic structure and translation. The whole chapter is divided into four parts. (1) the evaluation of of individual parts in the sentence.(2) the comparison of English andChinese sentence structures. (3) semantics of grammar. (4) translation strategies.The fifth chapter is on decision-making of the semantic structure of a text. Text is a super language unit with a unified meaning, which is thought as the most ideal unit of translation. Many factors like semantic integrity, semantic compatibility, cohesion and coherence, and pragmatic factors should be considered as textual features which affect the meaning of a text.Translation is a special activity of language which transmits the meaning and achieve communicative value. Translators first of all have to know the language systems: the basic structure and characteristics of source and target languages, and how they function at different levels, so that they can describe and explain the meaning sufficiently and then communicate effectively.