A Report On The Translation Of Language:the Cultural Tool (Chapter Ⅱ) From The Perspective Of Functional Theories Of Translation

Language: The Cultural Tool by the anthropological linguist Daniel L.Everett challenges Chomsky’s transformational-generative grammar and thus sparks fierce debate among academics.The second chapter reveals his definition of language and reaches out to the origin of language.The report is based on the translation of this chapter.From the perspective of functional theories of translation,the practice adopts Nord’s translation-oriented text analysis to explore the ST’s language features.Based on Reiss’ s text types,the report analyzes the text genres of the ST and the translation emphasis on each genre.With Vermeer’s skopos theory,this paper elucidates the translation purpose: spreading linguistic ideas and helping non-English speaking overseas students learn Chinese.In accordance with the translation practice and the case analysis,the report finds that the TT should(1)fulfill readers’ expectations and presumptions;(2)be faithful and accurate;(3)pay attention to the quality and elegance of the language;and(4)be cohesive and coherent,according to the report.Moreover,conversion,repetition,and four-character structure are effective methods to translate words,and context should be highlighted.Sentences should be dealt with by the four methods of translating long sentences.As for the text,the TT should make full use of cohesive devices,including conjunction,reference,substitution,ellipsis,and lexical cohesion.Through the practice,which is guided by functional theories of translation,the translator discovers general solutions to translation problems in linguistic materials.Hopefully,the report can offer some valuable experience to translation in this field.