| Indication of definite numbers or quantities is the basic function of numerals. In literary works as well as in daily communication, however, numerals are not always restricted to that basic function. Numerals, as an important part of language, are embodied with different types of cultural information. Language is many times vague, and the same is true of numerals. Numerals often occur in hyperbolic or metaphorical use, in which cases they convey vague concepts. This thesis, on the basis of an introduction of the various aesthetic effects and pragmatic functions numerals perform, is to make a comparison of English and Chinese numerals in the vague use, and to explore the strategies applicable to E-C and C-E translation for a successful realization of the various effects and functions associated with the use of numerals in both languages.The major findings with respect to the similarities and differences between English and Chinese in their use of numerals, discovered in the present thesis, are presented as follows:Because of the features universally shared by different cultures, English and Chinese are similar to each other in their use of numerals for vague meaning. These similarities are manifested in different aspects. They are:1) English and Chinese both use numerals as images in such figures of speech as hyperbole, metaphor, and metonymy. And they both tend to use numerals of large or small numbers as means of hyperbole. In many cases, the same numerals in English and Chinese are used for the same rhetorical function. For example, the employment of numerals helps to make expression effective, emphatic, vivid, and precise.2) In both English and Chinese, numerals indicating round numbers are used to express indefinite great numbers or quantities.3) When two numerals are juxtaposed, connected by 'or/to' in English, and placed one after another in Chinese, they do not denote a definite number or quantity but an indefinite one. |
