An E-C Translation Report On GIVE: A Cognitive Linguistic Study (Excerpt)

The source text this translation report selects is GIVE: A Cognitive Linguistic Study,written by Prof.John Newman,a famous linguist.This book explores the semantic structure and character of GIVE from cognitive linguistics and makes a deep and systematic study of the cognitive property of the most common ditransitive verb GIVE in nature languages.The translator is responsible for translating Chapter Four of GIVE: A Cognitive Linguistic Study.Chapter Four,entitled “Constructions with figurative GIVE”.The translator primarily applies cognitive construal,iconicity and category shift to this translation practice.Translation is a dynamic process of shift from the category of source language to that of target language.Viewing category shift from cognitive construal renders the cognitive process of shift more clear and specific.Therefore,the translator employs cognitive construal,iconicity and category shift in translation.In dealing with lexical and syntactic difficulties,the translator conducts specific analysis from the four dimensions of construal: specificity,focus,prominence and perspective and constructs the target text by employing category shift.In terms of handling abstract vocabularies and phrases,the translator construes the source text from specificity and perspective and translates them by employing shift of class,paraphrase and amplification.As to the attributive clauses and passive voice,the translator makes category shift of syntax and voice by construing the source text from figure-ground,perspective and distance iconicity.This translation practice enables the translator to know how to treat lexical and syntactic problems by applying cognitive construal,distance iconicity and category shift to translate academic writing.No matter the translation difficulties arise from lexicon or syntax,the cognitive problems behind these difficulties matter.