A Contrastive Descriptive Study Of The Two English Versions Of Jen-chien Tz’u-Hua (Volume 1) From The Perspective Of Language Metafunctions

As one of the classical Chinese literary works,Jen-Chien Tz’u-Huais widely accepted from generation to generation and is renowned throughout the world.By adopting a descriptive approach with quantitative and qualitative analyses,this research targets at two versions of Jen-Chien Tz’u-Huaand provides a contrastive analysis of them from the perspective of the metafunctions of language.Based on a contrastive analysis of the metafunctions of the two versions(TT1 refers to Li You’an’s version,and TT2 refers to Ching-I Tu’s version),this research aims to find out the differences between the ST and the TTs.The analysis is mainly done through a comprehensively contrastive analysis of the ideational function,interpersonal function,and textual function.Results indicate that in terms of ideational function,among the six process types of transitivity,the material type is the most frequently occurred in either ST or the TTs,followed by the relational type,and TT1 contains more material processes,mental processes than TT2,but TT2 contains more passive voices than TT1;in terms of interpersonal function,it is achieved mainly through the utilization of auxiliary verbs,and TT1 contains more auxiliary verbs than TT2,but TT2 contains slightly more subjects and finite operators than TT1;in terms of textual function,both the English and Chinese versions contain reference,while the English versions contain more ellipsis.In addition,Chinese text contains far few logical connectors than the English text.As to the two English versions,TT2 contains more logical connectors and ellipsis than TT1.Therefore,in terms of the realization of the three metafunctions of language,TT1 is better than TT2.Research on the two English translations is of great significance in building Chinese confidence and telling true stories of China to the target readers.