Translation Polysemy From The Cognitive Perspective Choice Of Word Meaning

In the process of translation, the target language and the aim language should reach a kind of equivalence, but this equivalence should neither be a simply formal equivalence nor only a semantic equivalence. On the contrary, translation should reach a functional equivalence which was theorized by Nida. Meanwhile, context plays an important role in translation. Traditional context views that context is determined, already known before the communicative act. Nevertheless, relevance theory views that cognitive context should be dynamic with the feature of instantaneity and selectivity .The paper will attach great importance to the significance of cognitive context when translating polysemy. In the translation process, the cognitive context of both the writer and the reader should be taken into consideration, only in this way can the translation meet the original intent of the author and fullfil the cognition of its readers. Essentially, translation can be considered the convertion of cognitive context. Analyzing polysemy from the cognitive perspective, we find that metaphor and metonymy are the main reasons for the formation of polysemy. Metaphor and metonymy, especially metonymy, are context-dependent. As a result, the effect of cognitive context on translating the polysemy must be taken into account. Cognitive context consists of linguistic context, situational context and cultural context. The dynamics of the cognitive context determines that the translation of polysemy should not be static correspondance, but the choice of the appropriate semantic meaning according to different linguistic, situational and the cultural contexts. Therefore, how to choose the right meaning of a polysemy denpends on the cognitive contexts of both translators and readers. Only by overcoming different cognitive contexts and making up their diversities, can a translator avoid barriers in transferring information and obtain the best translation.