Cognitive Reasoning Model And Its Application In Translation

Context exerts great influence on the generation and interpretation of utterance. Traditionally, the study of context mainly emphasizes the functions of the external world from the static angle and ignores the functions of mental activities of human being in communication. On the basis of traditional context theory, the thesis discusses cognitive environment. Cognitive context is a concept which is different from context of traditional views. It is regarded as a psychological structure, made up of a series of assumptions that have to be established and developed in the course of interaction of communicators in order to select the correct interpretation. Translation, as a communicative activity, is mostly interconnected with context. In the process of translation, the translator needs to know the cognitive environments of the speaker of source language and the hearer of target language, and then to choose proper forms of expressions which can transmit the former's intention and adapt the cognition of the latter. Therefore, actually translation is the transference of cognitive environment. In order to get further understanding of cognitive context, the thesis illustrates the cognitive model on the basis of Xiong Xueliang's cognitive theory, and then, it analyses the inferential model on the basis of cognitive context theory. At the same time, it discusses the application of cognitive and inferential model in translation. It aims at revealing the intervening effects and functions of the concept of cognitive context, and emphasizing the significance of this concept in translation theory.