Translation Patterns Of Foregrounding Language From The Perspective Of Linguistic Adaptation Theory

Foregrounding language,referring to the language usage that deviates from linguistic rules or social norms,stands out in the text to arouse translators’ attention and becomes a heated topic of translation in recent years.Foregrounding language in"Untitled Piece",a short story written by the American Southern woman writer Carson McCullers,is the key and difficult point for translation.Therefore,this report focuses on the translation patterns of foregrounding language in Carson McCullers’"Untitled Piece" with reference to Jef Verschueren’s linguistic adaptation theory.According to Geoffrey N.Leech’s definition and classification,instances of foregrounding language in the short story can be categorized as dialectal deviation,grammatical deviation and semantic deviation,and the three types can be further divided with a view to the different ways of deviation that the author consciously employs.For each type,contextual correlates,structural obj ects,dynamics and salience are used to analyze the translation process so as to conclude the translation patterns.Briefly,semantic meaning should be firstly inferred from the context because foregrounding language violates standard norms.Next,the author,readers,and characters in the short story as well as their physical world,mental world and social world involved should be taken into consideration to analyze the author’s intention,readers’expectations and characters’ images,especially the implicit meaning and features the author wants intentionally to deliver.In structure,proper words,phrases,sentences,discourse types and styles should be chosen and coherence is the general principle to guide the structuring.Meanwhile,communication principles and strategies vary in translating different types of foregrounding language so that the translation can convey the meaning and deliver the deviation to readers effectively.