The Vertical Thinking And Horizontal Thinking In Chinese-English Translation

Cognitive linguistics, originating in late1970s, is an approach to language that is based on our experience of the world and the way we perceive and conceptualize it. As an activity of translators, the translation process would involve perception, understanding, experience and subjective creation of translators. This coincides with the research areas of the cognitive linguistics.Based on the mapping mechanisms of metaphor and metonymy and the categorization theory in cognitive linguistics and combining examples gleaned from translation practice, this paper attempts to explore appropriate and feasible strategies to the translation of The Appreciation of Chinese figure painting.The mapping mechanisms of metaphor and metonymy are an important theory in cognitive linguistics. Based on this, a kind of horizontal thinking approach is derived from it, and corresponding horizontal translation strategy, namely parallel mapping, re-mapping, de-mapping and mapping, is produced. Basic level categories theory is another important theory in cognitive linguistics. Similarly, a kind of vertical thinking approach is brought out on the basis of it, and corresponding vertical translation strategy, i.e. same-level categorization, superordinate categorization and subordinate categorization is generated. The paper analyzes the problems encountered in the C-E translation process and uses this two-dimensional thinking approach and relevant translation strategies to solve them.The study demonstrates that this two-dimensional thinking approach and its corresponding translation strategies have a promising future in practice. It is a good fusion of the mapping mechanisms and basic level categorization in the process of translation, providing a new and effective theoretical support for C-E translation and initiating a new stage for translation studies."Advice or examples from others may help one overcome one’s shortcomings," as the saying goes. Comprehensive use of these strategies can achieve better results in C-E translation.