the Context in TranslationWord文档下载推荐.docx
- 文档编号:20724292
- 上传时间:2023-01-25
- 格式:DOCX
- 页数:6
- 大小:20.75KB
the Context in TranslationWord文档下载推荐.docx
《the Context in TranslationWord文档下载推荐.docx》由会员分享,可在线阅读,更多相关《the Context in TranslationWord文档下载推荐.docx(6页珍藏版)》请在冰豆网上搜索。
context;
relevancetheory;
optimalrelevance;
cognitivecontext;
dynamiccontext
1.Introduction
translationisaveryspecialkindofcommunicationthatdoesnotalwayshappenamongpeoplefacetoface,anditdependsmuchonthecontext.Understandingthesemanticmeaningofatextisnotsufficient,comprehendingthecontextualmeaningisalsoveryimportantforgoodtranslation.Translatorsdonotengageinthemeretranslationofwords;
donottranslateaccordingtothosestaticandfixedcontextualelements,theirinterpretiveactsdealwithreasoningandexplorationofsituationsthatareconstitutedbyanintenseinteractionoflinguistic,psychological,anthropological,andculturalphenomena.[1]Inthisway,adynamiccontextthatdependssomuchontherelevanceofthelanguageandenvironmentisestablishedintheprocessoftranslating.Soduringtheprocessoftranslation,themaintaskoftranslatoristofindouttherelevance,especiallytheoptimalrelevancebetweenthelanguageandcontext.
2.RelevanceTheoryandOptimalRelevance
2.1.RelevanceTheory
RelevanceTheoryisfirstputforwardbyLinguistsSperberandWilsoninthefamouslinguisticwork'
Relevance:
CommunicationandCognition'
whichexplainslinguisticactivitiesintheframeworkofcognition.IntheRelevanceTheory,thecommunicationincludingverbalandnon-verbalcommunicativeactivitiesisregardedasacognitiveactivity,anditssuccessdependsontheconsensustowardsincognitiveenvironmentbetweenbothsidesofcommunication.Thecognitiveenvironmentalwaysincludeslexicalmeaning,encyclopedicknowledgeandlogicalinformation.Tohaveasuccessfulcommunication,thesearchfortheconsensusandrelevanceisthemostimportant.Accordingtothisconsensusandtherelevance,peoplecanunderstandtheintentionandpurposeofthespeakerortheauthoreasily.
SperberandWilsonalsosuggeststhattheunderstandingoftheutteranceisnotonlyareasoningprocess,butalsoaprocessofostensiveinference.Traditionally,therearetwomodelsofcommunication.Oneisthecodedmodelwhichisaprocessofcodestransformation.Theotheroneisinferentialcommunicationthatdependsmuchonthecontextreasoning.Therefore,tounderstandtheutterance,especiallythoseculture-orientedutterances,simplycodinganddecodingisfarlessthanenough.SoSperberandWilsoncombinedthesetwomodelsandthenadvancedtheconceptof'
Ostensive-InferentialCommunication'
inwhichthecommunicationisregardedasaninferentialprocess,andcontextinferenceplaysanimportantroleinit.'
Strictlyspeaking,relevancetheoryappliednottoallcommunicationinthesenseofanykindofinformationtransfer,butto'
ostensivecommunication'
or,moreexplicitly,to'
:
'
ostensive-inferentialcommunicationconsistsinmakingmanifesttoanaudienceone'
sattentiontomakemanifestabasiclayerofinformation'
thisbasiclayerofinformationbeingthecommunicator'
sinformativeintention.'
[2]
2.2Relevanceanddegreeofrelevance
Incommunication,thesamesentencealwayshasdifferentunderstandingsunderdifferentconditionswhicharenotarousedbythewordmeaning,butbymanyothernon-verbalfactors,suchastime,place,socialbackground,statusandintentionofthespeakerortheauthor.Usually,peopledonotrealizethesefactorsorcannotimmediatelyrelatethesefactorstothecertainutterance,sopeoplecannotunderstandtherealmeaningofasentenceandthecommunicationisblocked.Sopeopleneedtoknowhowthetworelatetoeachotherandhowtoreasonandunderstandthemeaningofanutterance.SperberandWilsonintroduceanddefineintermsofthefollowingconditions:
Extentcondition1:
anassumptionisrelevantinacontexttotheextentthatitscontextualeffectsinthiscontextarelarge.
Extentcondition2:
anassumptionisrelevantinacontexttotheextentthateffortrequiredtoprocessitinthiscontextissmall.[3]
AccordingtoSperberandWilson,thedegreeofrelevancedependsonthecontextualeffectsandprocessingeffort.However,thecontextualeffectscannotbeachievedeasily.Evenifpeopleputinalotofprocessingeffort,theymaynotachievethesufficientcontextualeffects.Theachievementofcontextualeffectsalwaysdependsonthefollowingfactors:
thecomplexityofanutterance,theexplicationofthecontextandprocessingeffortthataremadetoreasonthecontextualeffects.Intheframeworkofrelevancenotallthecontextualimplicationsofagivenpropositioncanbeeasytoobtain.Thosederivedfromsmall,easilyaccessiblecontextswillberelativelycheapinprocessingterms.Thosederivedfromlarge,lesseasilyaccessiblecontextswillberelativelyexpensiveinprocessingterms.
Butrelevanceisacomparativeconcept,foritcontrastswiththecontextanddependsonthecontext;
andalsoitisdecidedbythecommunicators'
cognitivecapacityandenvironment,sothedegreeofrelevancecanbeclassifiedasmaximallyrelevant,veryrelevant,weaklyrelevantandirrelevant.Lookatthefollowingexamples:
(1)A:
Howlongdidtheconferencelast?
B:
Twohours.
Inthisdialogue,thecontextualeffectismaximal,theprocessingeffortsareminimal,therelevanceisthestrongest,sowecansaythatthedialoguehasaveryclearcontext,andneedlittleprocessingefforts.Andtheutteranceandcontextaremaximallyrelevant.
(2)A:
Iamoutofpetrol.
B:
Thereisagaragearoundthecorner.
Inthedialogueabove,sentenceAactuallymeans,'
WherecanIbuypetrol?
'
AndsentenceBmeansthat'
Youcanbuypetrolinthegarage'
.Inthiscase,sentenceAandBseemsirrelevant,but'
wecanbuypetrolinthegarage'
isacommonsensethateverybodyknowsit.Westillcanunderstandtheutterance,butitneedshearersmoreprocessingeffortsthanthefirstexample.Soitisstillaveryrelevantutterance.
(3)A:
Thehostessisanawfulbore.Doyouthinkso?
Therosesarelovely,aren'
tthey?
Inthiscase,BgivesacompletelyirrelevantanswertoA.Theanswerseemsirrelevantsemantically,whileithasrelevancepragmatically.Inthistime,toobtaincertaincontextualeffects,lotsofprocessingeffortsneeded,andthentheutterancewillhaveaspecialconversationmeaning:
let'
snottalkaboutthehostesshereandnow.
2.3.Principleofrelevanceandoptimalrelevance
linguisticcommunicationisrelevance-oriented,and'
cost'
and'
benefit'
aretwoimportantfactorsinthisprocess.However,whetheranutterancehasadequaterelevance,manyfactorssuchastheexpressionstylesofanutterance,thehearer'
scognitiveenvironment,intellectualandsensibility,shouldbetakenintoaccount.'
Thedifferentdegreesofaccessibilityofcontextualassumptionsmakethemselvesfeltbytheamountofefforttheirretrievalrequiresinaparticularactofcommunication.Thissensibilitytoprocessingeffortisoneofthecrucialfactorsthatmakeinferentialcommunicationpossible:
itseemsthatcommunication,nodoubtlikemanyotherhumanactivities,isdeterminedbythedesireofoptimizationofresources,andoneaimofoptimizationistokeeptheeffortspenttoaminimum.'
[4]Duringtheprocessoftheostensivecommunication,bothcommunicatorstrytheirbesttolookfortheoptimalrelevanceofthespeaker'
sutteranceandthehearer'
scognitiveenvironment,tryingtomakesuccessfulcommunication.Butwhatistheoptimalrelevance?
AndSperberandWilsondefined'
thepresumptionofoptimalrelevance'
asfollows:
(a)Theostensivestimulusisthemostrelevantenoughforittobeworththeaddressee'
sefforttoprocessit.
(b)Theostensivestimulusisthemostrelevantonecompatiblewiththecommunicator'
sabilitiesandpreferences.[5]
Thecentralclaimofrelevancetheoryisthathumancommunicationcruciallycreatesanexpectationofoptimalrelevance,thatis,anexpectationonthepartofthehearerthathisattemptatinterpretationwillyieldadequatecontextualeffectsatminimalprocessingcost.Thisfactisbelievedtobepartofyourhumanpsychology,andisexpressedinrelevancetheoryastheprincipleofrelevance:
Everyactofostensivecommunicationcommunicatesthepresumptionofitsownoptimalrelevance.'
[6]
Otherwise,notalltheostensivestimuluscanobtaintheoptimalrelevance.Ifandonlyifanutteranceachievesenoughcontextualeffectthatcanattractthehearer'
sattention,andifandonlyifanutterancemakesthehearerneednogratuitousmentaleffort,theoptimalrelevancecanbeobtained.Thatis,toobtaintheoptimalrelevance,thespeakerimplicitlyandautomaticallyconveystheassumptionthatthehearercanexpecttoderiveadequatecontextualeffectswithoutspendingunnecessaryefforts.[7]Inthepursuitofoptimalrelevanceitturnsfirsttohighlyaccessibleinformation,lookingforadequatecontextualeffects;
ifthisinformationdoesyieldcontextualeffectsadequatetotheoccasioninawaythespeakercouldforeseen,thenitwillassumethatithasusedtheright,thatis,speaker-intended,contextualinformation.'
[8]
inall,therelevanceistheresultoftheinterplaysofthecontextualeffectsandprocessingefforts.Inotherwords,iftheprocessingeffortisminimalwhilethecontextualeffectsaremax
- 配套讲稿:
如PPT文件的首页显示word图标,表示该PPT已包含配套word讲稿。双击word图标可打开word文档。
- 特殊限制:
部分文档作品中含有的国旗、国徽等图片,仅作为作品整体效果示例展示,禁止商用。设计者仅对作品中独创性部分享有著作权。
- 关 键 词:
- the Context in Translation
![提示](https://static.bdocx.com/images/bang_tan.gif)