A Comparative Study Of Addressing Terms Used By Wang Xifeng In Two English Versions Of Hong Lou Meng

Hong Lou Meng has been honored as the encyclopedia of Chinese society and language of the eighteenth century. The variety of addressing terms in the dialogues of Hong Lou Meng embodies the interpersonal relationship between characters, and the speaker's mental activity and communicative goal etc. Wang Xifeng is a character that plays a significant role in Hong Lou Meng, a pillar of the intricate interpersonal relationship network of the Jia family.The present study focuses on the addressing terms used by Wang Xifeng in the two English versions of Hong Lou Meng by David Hawkes, Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang.It aims at exploring how the addressing terms used by Wang Xifeng is represented in the two English versions and whether the translation of the addressing terms used by Wang Xifeng in the two English versions is faithful to the original text on the basis of the contextual variables proposed by the English linguist John Lyons.Firstly, according to the contextual variables put forward by Lyons, this paper discusses the addressing terms used by Wang Xifeng in the two English versions from two aspects: social status and degree of formality of the situation. Secondly, through comparison between the two English versions, we find that the translation of the addressing terms used by Wang Xifeng to the superiors and the addressing terms used by Wang Xifeng on formal occasions in the two English versions varies a lot. It is also not faithful on the basis of Lyons' s context theory.This exploration offers a certain kind of perspective for translation evaluation to judge whether the two English versions of Hong Lou Meng have rendered the original work faithfully.