Study On Translation Of Description Of Paralanguage: From The Perspective Of Relevance Theory

Paralanguage is a term from communicating corresponding to language. Usually, it is understood in broad and narrow sense. Narrow-sensed paralanguage refers to such vocal features as intonation, stress, crying and laughing sound accompanying speech and nasal sound, etc. broad-sensed paralanguage, in comparison, is composed of all non-verbal signs in human interaction. The narrow sense is referred to in the thesis. Paralanguage not only functions as an indispensable part of communication system, but also abounds in literary works. Such described paralanguage is more complicated and functional than that in actual life. Usually it plays an important role in manifesting the style of a work, portraying a character and creating some context. Naturally, it becomes an important issue for translators to transmit the description of paralanguage into target text, and also attracts many translation theorists'attentionIn the process of translation, what the translator deals with is not live paralinguistic sound but the description. To some extent the translation of paralanguage is composed of three communicating activities: describing, translating and understanding by the target reader. In the thesis the relevance theory is utilized to interpret the translation of paralanguage. Relevance theory, initiated by Sperber and Wilson, is created to convey the essence of communication and the conditions guaranteeing the success of communication. According to the theory, communication is understood as an ostensive-inferential process concerning informative and communicative intention. The success of communication is guaranteed by two conditions: the mutual manifestness of the communicators and relevance. Since its birth, relevance theory has had great influence on many principles including translation. Later, Wilson's student E.A.Gutt introduced the theory into the aspect of translation, and put forward relevance-theory approach which put the translation study to a new height. Based on the approach, translation is considered as a kind linguistic communication related to the inferential function of brain mechanism. It is an ostensive-inferential activity that interprets the original text inter-linguistically or intra-linguistically. In the process of translating, the writer of the original text and the translator constitute the two parts, and the translator and the target text reader form another pair of communicative parts. The writer composes the original text for the translator to read and infer. The translator will form schematic representation in his/her mind which will be then transformed into target text.The thesis is composed of five chapters. Chapter One is introduction which points out the significance of paralanguage and the meaning of using relevance theory to interpret the translation of paralanguage. Chapter Two examines relevant concepts of paralanguage as well as its classification and features. The analysis of description of paralanguage and its function is also included in this chapter. Chapter Three introduces relevance theory and examines its use in the principle of translation. Chapter Four makes a detailed analysis the process of translating paralanguage using relevance-theoretic approach, and does a case study. The last chapter is conclusion.