摘要
Word meanings change with time. This paper analyzes the meanings of three language units from Jane Austen＇s Pride and Prejudice and their Chinese renderings by seven translators. These three units are recollect, handsome, and come upon the town. By studying the linguistic, situational, or cultural contexts of each language unit, the analysis shows that of the renderings of these three language units, the accuracy rate is three out of seven, one out of seven, and two out of seven respectively. The paper points out that one of the most important causes of the low accuracy rates is that these language units denote old-fashioned meanings. Another cause of the low accuracy rates is that some of the translators are not careful enough in their identification of the meanings of these language units. The paper suggests that in the translation of a classic novel like Pride and Prejudice, translators need to analyze carefully the linguistic, situational, or cultural contexts of a tricky language unit in the novel for very likely it denotes an old-fashioned meaning. Translators could also consult and compare what a tricky language unit means in other places of the novel, use an encyclopedic dictionary instead of a dictionary of contemporary English, and study the notes on tricky words in the novel made by established scholars.
