An Approach To Foreignizing In The E-C Translation Of English Neologisms-From The Perspective Of Arbitrariness Of Linguistic Signs

The problem of cultural differences has always been something difficult for the translators to deal with. As a result of this, how to solve the problem of the existing cultural gap, in particular, which translating strategy to choose—foreignizing translation or domesticating translation has been in dispute in the field of translation during the recent years. This thesis tries to touch on the choice of these two translation strategies in E-C translation of English neologisms from the perspective of arbitrariness of linguistic signs.With the development of the society, neologisms are coming into being at a high speed. As the most widely used language in the world, the English language is changing almost every day with neologisms growing quickly in amount. On one hand, the study of neologisms from the perspective of lexicology is very significant. On the other, when these English neologisms are translated into Chinese, translators should make a choice between the two translating strategies—foreignizing and domesticating. The author's opinion is that a foreignizing strategy is more appropriate than domesticating in the E-C translation of English neologisms. To prove this idea, this thesis first surveys the background knowledge of these two translation strategies in the second chapter. Domestication and foreignization have their respective advantages and disadvantages and they are not contradictory but complementary to each other, but in the E-C translation of English neologisms, a foreignizing translation is more appropriate. One of the supporting arguments is the arbitrariness of linguistic signs.Chapter Three is an introduction to English neologisms, including their definition, sources and word-formation. To clarify why translation strategy is connected with the arbitrariness of linguistic signs, in Chapter Four this thesis gives an overview of linguistic signs and arbitrariness of linguistic signs. The view that the language sign is arbitrary is the core of Saussure's linguistic theory. The relationship between a thing and its name and sound is arbitrary, which makes possible the translation of English neologisms by means of foreignizing. A foreignizing strategy during the translation of English neologisms will bring new elements into the Chinese language, which will not only make our language more affluent and colorful, but also stimulate the positive and healthy development of the communication between the Chinese culture and the English culture. Foreignizing and domesticating translation differ in that they are different culture oriented. Considering the above factors, foreignizing translation is a better choice than domesticating translation in the E-C translation of neologisms.