A Report On The E-C Translation Of Morphology And Lexical Semantics (Excerpts)

This report is based on chapter six and chapter seven from Rochelle Lieber’s linguistic monograph Morphology and Lexical Semantics.The monograph focuses on the meaning of morphemes and how they combine to form the semantics of complex words,such as derivations,compounds and words formed by conversion.As the key chapter and the concluding chapter of the monograph,chapter six mainly discusses mismatches between form and meaning in word formation and chapter seven is a summary of the book.At the lexical level,the source text contains a large number of linguistic terms,polysemy,abstract nouns;At the syntactical level,there are many long and complicated sentences;At the textual level,the emergence of metaphor and metonymy requires the translator to decode their meanings so as to create a coherent reading experience for the target readers.In addition,as a textbook,the source text is strict in logic.Similarly,the translator should ensure the cohesion and coherence of the translation.Obviously,the solution of these problems should be based on a thorough understanding of the source text.Under the guidance of cognitive translatology,the translator explains how the relevant research topics of the theory,such as categorization,conceptual metaphor and conceptual metonymy,figure-ground theory,and cognitive construal,can shed lights on the translation practice.According to the view of categorization and the specificity of cognitive construal,the translator reproduces the categories of polysemy in the source text and concretizes abstractions.Based on the figure-ground theory,the translator clarifies the focus of complex sentences and deletes redundant information in the source text,thus reducing the cognitive effort of the target readers.In addition,the translator transforms the metaphor and metonymy in the source text into specific meanings in accordance with the context of the source text,so as to make the translation more in line with the cognitive habits and reading habits of the target readers.Lastly,in order to achieve cohesion and coherence,the translator adjusts the information unfolding structure of the source text,eliminates lexical ambiguity,and ensures the consistency of terms to enable the target readers to establish mental coherence of the whole text.Inspired by the theory of cognitive translatology,the translator’s understanding of the source text is constantly deepened.Some difficult problems in translation have been solved and the readability of the translation has been improved.