| This study looks into the realizations of English modal auxiliaries in E-C translation,with modal will and would in focus.As an important cross-language semantic category,modality exists in English and Chinese,and modal auxiliary verbs are the major linguistic means to realize modality in English and Chinese.Therefore,the treatment of English modal auxiliary verbs in E-C translation deserves our attention.According to my research,which is based on the language materials collected,it is found there are various realizations of English modal auxiliaries will and would.However,the research also finds some regularity which hides behind such diversity in realizations.The major findings are as follows:(1) In Chinese,realizations of modal will and would are various,in that will and would can be realized through various linguistic means,including by Chinese modal auxiliaries,by adverbs, by means of omission,with mood elements involved,and some specific use of Chinese verbs; meanwhile,it is also found that would is not used to express deontic modality.In addition,the research finds that Chinese mood elements are often involved in expressing modality of will and would;the most frequently involved mood elements are various Chinese sentence-final particles with occasional involvement of some Chinese mood adverbs.Such phenomena manifest the mood-prominent characteristic of Chinese,in that Chinese features in mood-prominence,with mood and modality being a lot more closely connected in Chinese than what it is in English. Therefore,Chinese mood elements are often involved in expressing modality of English modal auxiliaries.(2) Behind these various realizations,the research finds some regularity as well,which mainly runs as follows:modal will and would are most frequently realized by Chinese modal auxiliaries,and they can also be realized by adverbs and by means of omission in Chinese. Likewise,will and would can also be realized through the involvement of mood elements,and there is also a small part of modal will and would which are realized through some specific use of Chinese verbs.At the end of the thesis,a model for dealing with modal auxiliaries(focusing on will and would) in E-C translation is proposed,which will facilitate the translation of English modal auxiliaries in E-C translation practice.On the whole,this research holds that there are various realizations of will and would in E-C translation,which actually manifests differences between English and Chinese modal auxiliaries. The proposed model can provide guidance and some implications for dealing with modal auxiliaries in E-C translation.Likewise,in terms of this model,translators can handle English modal auxiliaries more flexibly,either in terms of the translator's style and preference or some concrete context so as to better transmit modality in E-C translation practice. |
