Fuzzy Equivalence Of The C-e Translation Of Numerals In Tang Poetry

Numerals are characters or signs representing amounts and are generally considered the most precise linguistic forms. Over the years, translation of numerals is simply treated as replacing the numeral in the source language by its equivalent in the target language. However, as a tool for human beings to understand the world, numerals are closely connected with human life. They mark the footprints of the progress of human civilization and thus, have rich cultural connotations. In practical application, in addition to accurate counting function, numerals possess powerful rhetorical function and are always used to voice emotion or enhance language power, which is regarded as semantic fuzziness of numerals (Bao Huinan, 2001). Numerals are also favored by many poets, and the numerals in Tang poetry are often endowed with fuzzy meanings or bear imaginary color. They are not only simply applied to indicate quantities, but to function as rhetorical means to produce artistic beauty, which makes their translation no longer so easy as it seems.Fuzziness is the basic property of language. The theory of fuzzy language put forward by the American professor L. A. Zadeh attracts extensive attention and provides a new way of thinking for the study of language and translation theories and practice. Numeral is a special field of language science, and the theory of fuzzy language opens up a new approach for the translation of numerals.After the general review of literature in this regard, the author finds out that great achievements have been made on the study of fuzzy language and the translation of Tang poetry respectively, but the study on the fuzziness of numerals in Tang poetry and their translation is comparatively inadequate. Therefore, this study takes numerals in Tang poetry as its objects, counts the number of the thirteen basic numerals from one to ten, together with hundred, thousand and ten thousand in Xu Yuanchong's translated versions of 300 Tang Poems, and calculates the frequency of fuzziness of these numerals by the help of theories of fuzzy language. Moreover, comprehensive classification is made on these fuzzy numerals and causes for their fuzziness are probed. Based on the study of a large number of translated versions of Tang poems with numerals, and with the combination of theories of translation equivalence, this study puts forward concept of fuzzy equivalence of numerals'translation in Tang poetry and proposes a few feasible translation strategies to achieve such fuzzy equivalence. The author hopes that the research can provide slight supplement to the study on the translation of Tang poetry and fuzzy language.Specifically, the major findings of this study are shown as follows:Firstly, numerals are frequently used in Tang poetry, and most of the numerals bear fuzzy meanings, which poses obstacles to rendering and makes absolutely equivalent translation impossible.Secondly, according to their performance and functions, the numerals in Tang poetry can be roughly divided into five groups, namely, numerals used to signify uncertain quantities, scopes, distances and time; numerals used for rhetorical effect; numerals used for aesthetic effect; numerals derived from Chinese allusion and numerals used for generalization.Thirdly, the causes for the fuzziness of numerals such as cultural factors, uncertain meanings of numerals, fixed numeral structures, juxtaposition of numerals, and influence of linguistic hedges are analyzed.Fourthly, except for obstacles posed by the fuzziness of numerals, the difficulty for fully equivalent translation of numerals in Tang poetry also derives from the facts that there are differences between Chinese and English numerals in their capacity to construct words, their pragmatic meanings and cultural connotations.Fifthly, by applying fuzzy theories and translation equivalence theories, the author expounds the feasibility of fuzzy equivalence in numerals'translation by taking a few translated versions of Tang poems with numerals as examples.Lastly, on the basis of the three principles—to be national, to be popular and to be vivid—proposed by Bao Huinan (2001) on the rendering of numerals, the study provides a few frequently used strategies that help to achieve fuzzy equivalence by investigating a large number of English versions of Tang poems with numerals. Such strategies are: translating precision into precision, translating fuzziness into fuzziness and translating fuzziness into precision.