An Analysis Of Semantic Reverse Transfer In Chinese Versions Of Pride And Prejudice

Semantic transfer refers to the influence of one language on the use of another at semantic level.As part of semantic transfer,semantic reverse transfer occurs when the newly-acquired language affects the previously learned language.The phenomenon of semantic reverse transfer universally exists in translated versions,and it is a segmentation of language transfer that has a great impact on expression of the original intention as well as the presentation of the target language habits(Ellis,2008).Translation plays an irreplaceable role in cultural communication.Even though translation has a long history,human beings' understanding of translation is still limited.In academic circles,translation studies have been an independent discipline,and few scholars have done interdisciplinary research from perspective of semantic reverse transfer.Besides,studies on semantic transfer concentrate on forward direction in SLA,with the manifestations of reverse semantic transfer in translation practice almost ignored Thus,the research for reverse semantic transfer in translation practice is not only necessary but also possesses both theoretical and practical significance.In this paper,the present study has made endeavors to explore how semantic reverse transfer takes place and what effects it brings about in translation practice,especially in the case of literary translation,through identifying the pattern of manifestation of semantic reverse transfer and conducting a necessary classification for the transfer phenomenon in translation.The present study first gives an overview of current research on semantic reverse transfer.The multi-competence theory and integrated continuum theory are taken as the core theoretical framework.Both theories claim that bilinguals are totally diverse from monolinguals.There are different levels and types of interconnections between two languages in the same mind where two language systems overlap.Besides,they also indicate that the relationship between L2 and L1 is precarious and dynamic as it is influenced by individual differences,different levels of L2 progress,different perspectives of languages and etc.Therefore,semantic reverse transfer could be interpreted as the misuse of conceptual mode of the non-target language by bilingual or multilingual.The main task of translators in literary translation is to present the possible world of the source text adaptable to a real world of the target language in the process of cross-linguistic transforming.This study classifies the semantic reverse transfer phenomena in literature translation into three aspects:lexical semantic reverse transfer,propositional semantic reverse transfer and conceptual semantic reverse transfer.More significantly,this paper makes a case study of semantic reverse transfer in Pride and Prejudice and its two Chinese versions.Quantitative as well as qualitative analysis is employed to provide statistic support for the findings.The first effort is to sort out the evidence of semantic reverse transfer at 3 different levels,and their proportions are obtained by calculation.Then typical examples are enumerated for each category of semantic reverse transfer and a linguistic analysis of each of them is made to see how semantic reverse transfer can affect the quality of the translation works by comparison between the original work and its Chinese versions.Besides,a contrast of the amount of semantic reverse transfer at each of the three levels between two Chinese versions is made to further analyze causes of semantic reverse transfer from the aspect of cross-cultural communication.After anatomizing of the selected instances,the following major findings are presented:the majority of lexis-semantic reverse transfer phenomena are positive;most of the time,proposition-semantic reverse transfer can bring about bad effects in translation;concept-semantic reverse transfer could occur and vary from translator to translator,according to their mode of thinking,growing background,cultural foundation,influence degree by L2 culture,and etc.It can be concluded that the semantic reverse transfer is not absolutely related to the foreign language user's L2 proficiency.Moreover,among the three kinds of semantic reverse transfer,conceptual semantic reverse transfer accounts for nearly half.In the present cross-cultural communication field,semantic reverse transfer has been an inevitable phenomenon.On one hand,it presents people an unique perspective for deeply understanding and mastering a brand new language.On the other hand,it also offers an opportunity for people to profoundly comprehend their native language.Through analysis,it ought to be clear that as language users,especially translators,it is very necessary to deepen the study of the influence of L2 on L1.Regardless of source language or target language,it should receive the same attention,because it concerns whether the cross-cultural communication can smoothly proceed.Hence,it is quite significant and essential to further study the semantic reverse transfer in translations that are the collision and fusion of two diverse cultures.