A Comprehensive Study Of The E-C Translation Strategies Of Because-Clauses On The Basis Of Figure-Ground Theory

Through the application of the construction mechanism of Figure-ground theory,this thesis probes the E-C(English-Chinese)translation skills of because-clauses on the basis of the cognitive linguistics theory.With reference to Figure-ground theory,we analyzed the phenomena of different types of because-clauses in the course of E-C translation,and found that,besides the deviance existing in objective sequence and position in the original text and the translated one,there also exists deviance reflecting subjectivity.After analyzing the translation phenomena of because-clauses,this dissertation comes up with several translation strategies,in order to have the feasibility of the skills of translation proved.Because-clauses,the subject-subordinate compound sentences,are complex language phenomena because of their multiple semantic relationships.Generally speaking,English follows “consequence-cause” cognitive patterns,while Chinese follows “cause-consequence”cognitive patterns.There is no semantic difference between the original text and the translated one,except that the figure and the ground of a sentence may change.To avoid the change of the figure and the ground in the sentence,translators can employ the Positional Inequivalance Translation Skill to adjust the figure and the ground,so that the translation can achieve functional equivalence.However,in most cases,the target text can be affected by several factors,such as contexts,the intentionality of the speaker and different thinking patterns.All these factors may cause semantic inequivalence,cognitive inequivalence,information inequivalence and functional inequivalence.To tackle these four inequivalences,the author presents several translation skills in order to achieve the equivalent effect of translation.When the cause and consequence sequence does not correspond with the traditional thinking patterns,translators can use Positional Equivalence Translation Skill or Positional Inequivalence Translation Skill to achieve semantic equivalence and cognitive equivalence between the original text and the target one.When the translated text is influenced by the context and the intentionality of the speaker,the translator can use Causal Conjunction Omission Translation Skill,CausalConjunction Transformation Translation Skill etc.,for these two factors are so flexible that it is hard for translators to identify the figure and the ground of a sentence.It is crucial to achieve semantic equivalence and cognitive equivalence in the process of E-C translation.Under different contextual circumstances,the because-clauses can be either the figure or the ground of a sentence.Thus,different aspects,such as the context and the intentionality of the speaker need to be taken into consideration,so that the semantic equivalence,cognitive equivalence and functional equivalence can be achieved by means of various translation strategies.This dissertation classifies different types of because-clauses,explores some effective translation skills and proves its feasibility of these translation skills,which attracts the readers' attention.It may also contribute a lot to translation teaching and translation practice,cognitive linguistics and foreign language teaching and research.