Translation Methods Of The Dash From English Texts Into Chinese

The dash is a commonly-used punctuation mark in Chinese and English,which plays critical logico-semantic relations.However,previous studies have shown that a large number of translators generally do not pay attention to the translation of punctuation but copy or abandon the dash,resulting in the deviation or even loss of the relation in the ST and affecting readers’ reading experience.This translation commentary is based on the translation practice of the third and fourth chapters of In the Aftermath of the Pandemic:Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Anxiety,Depression,and PTSD.Based on the challenges in the translation practice,the translator takes the transformation of the dash from English texts into Chinese as the research question in order to explore the corresponding translation methods.The methodology adopted in this commentary is the case study.The translator analyzed the logico-semantic relation of the dash,compared the differences in the dash between English and Chinese,and classified the dashes in the source text based on their different relations after researching on the previous studies in relevant fields.And it is worth noting the dash also has a rhetorical function apart from its logico-semantic relation,which should not be confused.There are a total of 52 examples of the dash within the scope of discussion in this commentary,which are further divided into three categories and nine subtypes,including elaboration(paratactic elaboration:exposition,exemplification,clarification;and hypotactic elaboration:description),extension(addition,variation),enhancement(time,manner,cause).According to different logico-semantic relations carried by the dash,the translator summarized four methods to cope with it:(1)zero translation;(2)substitution;(3)addition;(4)inversion of word order,some of which could be integrated in some examples.Based on the translator’s translation practice,Halliday’s expansion system is an effective tool to the systematic analysis of the dashes from English texts into Chinese.And it is found that the number of the dash that embodies the elaboration relation is greater than that of the other two.When dealing with the dash in English texts,it is necessary to consider the context and its logico-semantic relation.The translation should be polished repeatedly,and various possible appropriate translation methods should be explored to guarantee the translation’s accuracy and fluency.