基于语料库的《西厢记》三个英译本翻译风格对比研究

A Corpus-Based Comparative Study on the Translation Styles of Three Translations of The Western Chamber

本文运用语料库的方法,选取《西厢记》三个英译本作为研究内容,聚焦词汇、句子和语篇三个层面,对比分析三个英译本翻译风格的异同。研究发现:1) 共性:三个译本总体用词难度相近,都能运用显性连词将原文所隐含的语义关系体现出来。2) 个性:熊式一译本强调译文的完整性,解释性话语多、句式更为复杂;West和Idema译本强调译文的准确性,用词丰富,文本正式程度高;许渊冲译本注重向读者传达原文的文化内涵,用词准确且达意,句式简练,追求译文的“意美”。造成这些差异可能的原因是译者不同的翻译目的和翻译策略。

Employing a corpus-based approach, this study selects three English translations of The West Chamber as the research objects. Focusing on the levels of vocabulary, sentences, and discourse, this study conducts a comparative analysis of the translation style among the three translations. The findings are as follows: 1) Similarities: The overall lexical difficulty in the three translations is simi-lar, and explicit conjunctions are used in three translations to reflect the implicit semantic relations present in the original text. 2) Differences: Xiong’s translation emphasizes the integrity of the translation, featuring explanatory discourse with more complex sentence structures. West and Idema’s translation emphasizes accuracy, utilizing rich vocabulary and maintaining a formal textual tone. Xu’s translation focuses on conveying the cultural connotations of the original to readers, using precise and expressive language with concise sentence structures, aiming for a “meaningful and el-egant” translation. These differences may arise from distinct translation purposes and strategies employed by the translators.