汉语文化典籍中的链式转喻及其英译研究

On Chained Metonymies in Chinese Classics and Their Translation into English

无论是修辞学还是认知语言学的转喻和转喻翻译研究,均为数不多,且存在不少问题。本文采用理论梳理和经验实证的研究方法,探讨汉语文化典籍中的链式转喻及其英译方法。研究发现,链式转喻的名称、界定、分类等尚需进一步厘清;汉语文化典籍中的转喻多数是链式转喻,这些转喻在英译中单独保存的程度很低,大多数需要译出喻体,以明确意义;而结合其他方法,链式转喻的本体也可以在翻译中得到较高程度的保存。

Both rhetorical and cognitive linguistic approaches to metonymy and its translation have produced only a small amount of literature and quite a few problems have been found in researches of this aspect. Adopting the methodology of theo- retical examination and empirical investigation, this paper makes an attempt to explore chained metonymies in Chinese classics and their translation into English. It is found that such issues as naming, definition and classification of chained metonymy have to be addressed further; that most metonymies in Chinese classics are chained ones; that most of them cannot be pre- served by themselves in C-E translation and their targets must be made explicit in translation to ascertain their meanings; and that the vehicles of most can be preserved to a considerable extent in translation with proper combination of other translation methods.