An Analysis On The Translation Approaches Of Lexical Gap Between English And Chinese

There are both commonness and differences among cultures of nations all over the world, which inevitably brings about the phenomenon of lexical gap in languages and thus brings difficulties in translation practice. Translation is not only a language transformation process but also a culture communication process. As a bridge that links up different cultures, translation should constantly transmit the uniqueness of different cultures through filling the lexical gap. In translation practice, whether the translator can deal with the lexical gap correctly and effectively affects not only the translation quality but also the realization of intercultural communication. In order to deepen the understanding of lexical gap and deal with its translation appropriately, this thesis, from the perspective of intercultural communication, has discussed the causes of lexical gap, analyzed difficulties for lexical-gap translation, and mainly discussed four translation approaches to deal with the problem by listing lexical-gap examples in the translation practice, that is transliteration, literal translation, translation with explanation, and free translation. Finally, it points out that a translator should enhance intercultural communication awareness, convey faithfully the conceptual meanings and cultural connotations of words by selecting appropriate translation approaches, and realize the semantic equivalence in real sense. Thus, the cultural exchange can be promoted.