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The Application Of Relevance Theory To EST Translation

Posted on:2007-10-13Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:Y H ChenFull Text:PDF
GTID:2155360212999198Subject:English Language and Literature
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
The rapid development of science and technology and the wide international communication result in a great demand for knowledge of English for science and technology and its translation accordingly. Relevance theory in pragmatics is very powerful in accounting for and guiding the practice of scientific and technical translation.Within the framework of relevance theory, translation is a double ostensive-inferential communication process, which involves three parties: the source text author, the translator, and the target text reader. Under the guidance of relevance theory, a translator has to draw inferences from the stimulus to get comprehension of the intentions according to the contextual information of the source text, combine the intentions with the cognitive environment of the target reader, decide what to interpret and how to interpret and choose the appropriate approach.This thesis aims to explore how relevance theory is applied to scientific and technical translation and how useful this theory is for scientific and technical translation practice and how the scientific and technical translation can be accounted for in the relevance-theoretic framework. It falls into five parts: the first chapter is a brief introduction to the thesis; the second chapter mainly deals with such important notions in relevance theory as the inferential nature of communication, context and contextual effects, relevance and the principle of relevance, descriptive and interpretive dimensions of language use; the third chapter offers a general description of the characteristics of English for science and technology and carries out an exploration of relevance-theoretic accounts on scientific and technical translation; the fourth chapter elaborates on the application of relevance theory to translation of English for science and technology at three levels of lexicon, syntax, and discourse. The fifth and last chapter is designed to draw a conclusion of what has been discussed and to give advice on further study.
Keywords/Search Tags:relevance theory, scientific and technical translation, optimal relevance
PDF Full Text Request
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