英语同词反义现象及其翻译初探.docx
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英语同词反义现象及其翻译初探.docx
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英语同词反义现象及其翻译初探
英语“同词反义”现象及其翻译初探
“Enantiosemy”inEnglishandItsE-CTranslation
“Enantiosemy”inEnglishandItsE-CTranslation
Abstract:
Thispaperfirstlyintroducesthedefinitionof“Enantiosemy”andelaboratesthedevelopmentofthephenomenonandtheforeignstudies.Nextitproposesthecausesof“Enantiosemy”accordingtotherecentreseaches.Bylistingenoughinstances,itthenclassifies“Enantiosemy”intothreekinds.Itfinallydiscussessomepossibletranslation-tipsinitsE-Crenderings.
Keywords:
Enantiosemy;classify;E-Ctranslation
英语“同词反义”现象及其翻译初探
摘要:
本文首先引进了关于“同词反义”现象的概念,阐述了“同词反义”现象的发展进程以及一些国外已有研究。
接着依据相关史料记载以及文献背景,提出“同词反义”现象的成因。
根据材料,例证引述,将“同词反义”现象划分为三大类。
最后讨论、提出了关于“同词反义”现象在英汉翻译中应秉持的一些要点及原则。
关键词:
同词反义;分类;英汉翻译
“Enantiosemy”inEnglishandItsE-CTranslation
1.Introduction
TobeginwithIwillprovideanexampletocommencemypaper.“Isawaplayyesterday.It’sterrific!
Thissentencecanbeunderstoodintwoways:
themoviewasexcellentoritwasterribletosee.Here,thekeypointwhichcausesthedistinctnessistheword“terrific”,whichcontainstwoentirelyoppositemeanings.Also,there’reanarmyofthesewordsusedwidelyinpeople’sdailylife.
Thewordsofthiskind,inEnglishlinguistics,called“Enantiosemy”.Itreferstoawordwhichcontainstwooppositemeanings.InEnglish,linguistsalsogavetheexistenceanamecalled“Enantiosemy”inEnglish.Nowadays,accordingto牛津语言学词典(1997),itisdefinedas“Acaseofpolysemyinwhichonesenseisinsomerespecttheoppositeofanother.”
Inordertoreducethefrictionsduringtheintercourseortranslationbetweenpersonshavingdissimilarcultures,thispaperwillfirstdiscussthesourcesoftheformationof“Enantiosemy”,thenexaminetheclassificationof“Enantiosemy”,andfinallyexplorethetranslationtipswhilefacingsuchcasesindailylife.
2.SourcesofFormationof“Enantiosemy”
“Enantiosemy”,asaspeciallinguisticphenomenon,isoneofthenotableformatsinsemantics.Itisanexceptionalforminthesystemofsemantics,especiallyinpolysemyandambivalentwords.AstheancientChinesepeoplefirstlystudiedFanxuntobeasubject,itmightbethefirstandoldestnameof“Enantiosemy”.
Itisalingualphenomenon,trulyexistsinalmosteverylanguage-system.TheancientChinesepeoplehavealreadycapturedthefactandpaidmoreattentiononthisaspect,whichhasitsnameof“Fanxun”inChinese.ButIdoubtedwhatthepropertermforthisphenomenonis,andmadeacallforotherexamplesofthisphenomenoninEnglish,Chinese,andotherlanguages.Additionally,Iaskedwhetheraphenomenonthatcanberightfullyclassedwithotherregularformsofpolysemy(metonymy,metaphor)andlanguagechange,orisitalwaysacuriousaccident.
Finally,Icollectedsixestablishednamesfor“auto-antonymy”,whichchristenbytheformerlinguists:
DirkGeeraertswritesthatthephenomenon“isknownintheoldertraditionofhistoricalsemanticsas‘antiphrasis’or‘enantiosemy’’’.MiriamSchlesingerandM.LynneMurphynotedthatsuchwordsaresometimescalled“JanusWord”,afterthetwo-facedGreekmythicfigure;LarryHorn,renownedhistorianofnegation,saidthephenomenonhadbeendubbed“antilogy”byJohnTraininhis1980book“remarkableWordsWithAstonishingOrigins”and“enantiodromia”,whichwasgivenfromDavidGamon,wasofferedforthediachronicprocessofacquiringan“opposite”meaning.AlltheinformationaboveIgotwasfromMr.AlexEulenbergbyemail.
Inthefirstplace,let’sreviewsomerelevantdiscoversrelatedtotheearlyperiodof“Enantiosemy”:
StIsidoreofSevillemaywellbethesourceof“lucusanonlucendo,”asPaulWerthsuggests;Lepschy,inhisbookwhentakingcommentsontheideasofAbel’s,describedthecoincidencesofthewordswhichwereparticularlyfrequentintheearlystagesoflanguageshadalreadygotitsplaceduringthelongtraditioninalmosteverylanguagesystems:
tothemedievalJewishgrammarians’discussionsonparallelphenomenainHebrew,toChristianbiblicalscholarswhoatleastsincethe17thcenturyexaminecasesof“enantiosemy”intheSacred,classical,andmodernlanguages,Hebrew“berekh”means‘heblessed’and‘hecursed’;Greek“argo’s”means‘swift’and‘slow’;Latin“Altus”means‘high’and‘deep’;theGermanromantics,inthefirstpartofthe19thcentury,meditatedonoppositemeanings,“aufheben”,Hegel’scommentsonakeyterminhislogic,meansboth‘toeliminate’and‘topreserve’(Lepschy,ASurveyofStructuralLinguistics:
FaberandFaber28-29).
Doesithappenbypurechancesorcoulditbeexplainedintermsofcognitivemapping?
Asconcerningonthecausesofformation,thereareseveralscholarswhohavediscussedandsummarizedthisfacetbefore.Bysumminguptheirachievementsasawhole,however,thegeneralsourcescanbeunifiedinfouraspectsasfollows:
Firstofall,thedialecticunity,whichmeanstheonenessinthecontradictoryofanobject,isabasicconceptofthephilosophicalcategories.Therulemakestheessenceof“Enantiosemy”aspecialanddistinguishablerepresentationandtellstheorigin.
Thesecondisfromthewords’meanings.Whenwelookupanywordinadictionary,wewillfindthatalmosteverywordhasseveralitems,atleastmorethanone.Buteachwordonlyhasoneprimarymeaninginthebeginning.Asthesocietyandcivilizationprogresses,thewords’significationsenlargealot,andaremorediversiformthanitusedtobe.Theverykeyliesinthatsomewordsprimevallyhavetheiroriginalmeaningsveryindistinct.Aftersuchlongtime,theitemsofsomewords,especiallytheEnantiosemy,turnintothecurrentformsweseetoday.
Table1.Someexamplesinvariancesofthemeanings(Webster'sRevisedUnabridgedDictionary(1913)[web1913]
Originalmeaning
Itemslistinthedictionarynow
Terrific
Verybad:
frightful
Verybad:
frightful;Extraordinary;magnificent
Deserve
Tobeworthyof:
merit
Tobeworthyof:
merit;Tobeworthyof(somethingdue,eithergoodorevil)
Inhabited
Nothabitable
Nothabitable;Havinginhabitants,livedin
Furthermore,thedirectinducementsofsuddenlanguagesituationsmakesit,“Enantiosemy”,becomesarealexistentfarther.Suchdirectinducementsimpulsethewords’meanings,whichhavealreadymentionedabove.
Alsothecausesofformationweresteeredbyhumanpsychologicalfactors,suchasmores,habits,andhumans’instantaneousfeelingsetc.
Tracetoitssource,objectivitydominatesthesubjectivethinking.Hence,wecansaytheinherentheadspringof“Enantiosemy”inbeinganddevelopingcomesfromcontradictoryunity.Wecouldnotchangetheindwellingcharacterdeeplyintheheartof“Enantiosemy”andsomeirreformablefacets,suchascustoms,moresetc.butwecouldalterthechangeableexteriorconditionstoovercomethem,whichwouldbeenreferredtoinsection4.
3.Classificationof“Enantiosemy”
Thissectiondevotedontheclassificationsofthisphenomenon.Therehavebeenalotofeditionsontheaspectof“Enantiosemy”,whicharedependingondifferentstandardsandconsiderations.Aboveall,abriefreviewofthegreatformeracademician,JulesLevin,isgivenwithgreatregardtothetypeortheclassof“Enantiosemy”withatleastthreemembers:
1)Wordsthatmeanbothmovementandinabilitytomove.Exampleslikefast,bolt,andbound;
2)Thelastwordyieldedoneoftheall-timegreatmoviesonglyricpuns,fromtheTitleof“RoadtoMorroco”:
“LikeWebster’sDictionary,we’reMorroco-bound…”;
3)Alsothefollowingwordhasnotbeenmentioned:
Itnowseemstomeantobothilluminate,clarify,andalsotocastashadowover……
WithaviewtotheEnglishlinguisticscholarsinChina,theyputmoreattentionsandpivotsonthedistinguishabilityofthepartofspeech,theoppositemeaningsinawordandtheusagesetc.
Forinstance,itwasonceclassedintofourpartsbythestandardofthepartofspeech:
thetermofnoun,verb,adjective,andthecombinationbetweenprepositionandadverb.Itlistedlotsofinstancestosupporttheview,suchas“kindness”(theuseof‘kind-hearted’and‘cold-blooded’intheproverb“asclodascharity”);“hit”(withthemeaningof‘Tocomeintocontactwithforcefully;strike’in“Hitamanwhenheisdown”butwhileintheproverb“Hititoff”itchangedintothesenseof‘happyandcomfortableineachother’spresence’);“up”,hasthemeaningof‘beabouttodosomething’,like“Thesunisup”,however,whileinthesentence“Yourtimeisup.”themeaningturntotheoppositesidemeaning‘attheend,till…’(林家修etal274-275)
Also,itcouldbetypedintorightaspectsforasmuchasthesourcesofformation:
1)Wordswithsubjectiveemotionsandexternaljustness.
Taking“appropriate”foraninstance,ithastwolevelsofmeanings:
useproperlyandtopeculate.
2)Wordsthatisrelatedbytheinherentlogic.
“Drinkingtothedregs”(enjoymentorhavinghardtime),whileinthesamephrase,themeaningwillchangeiftheobjectsaredifferentorthepartofspeechisnotthesame.
3)Thefunctionofirony.
4)Wordsdecidedbythevocationalcharacters.
5)Wordsdecidedbytheobjects’specificallyattribute.
6)Therelativityofthenotionoforientation.
7)Thelocalizationinthedevelopmentoflanguage.
8)Wordsastheproductofthehistoricaltransitionalsociety.(冯凭103-104)
Unitedallthematerialsontheclassificationof“Enantiosemy”Ihavesearchedbefore,Iconcludemythoughtintheaspectwiththreepartsasfollows:
3.1TheAngleofSynchronicLinguistics
Beforethepartbegins,firstlylet’sdefiningtheexactsignificationofSynchronicLinguistics.Itisthedescriptionofalanguageatsomepointintimeandisasynchronicstudy.Inthecaseofsuchsynchronicangle,let’stakeexamplesfromOxfordEnglish
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