Translating Metaphor in the Perspective of Cognitive Linguistics

摘要：從認知語言學視角下來看，隱喻是從源域向目的域的映射。隱喻是語言的一種普遍現象，體現了語言與文化的緊密聯系。不同語言在隱喻使用上有很大的差異，這給隱喻的翻譯帶來困難。本文擬從認知語言學角度，來探討隱喻的認知性、可翻譯性及其翻譯策略。

關鍵詞：隱喻認知翻譯

[中圖分類號]：H059[文獻標識碼]：A

[文章編號]：1002-2139(2011)-20-0162-02

1.Introduction

It is believed in cognitive semantics that translation is not solely the switch on language symbols from the source domain to target domain， but also a complicated cognitive mental activity， which involves the correspondence and conflicts of the cognitive patterns between the source domain and the target domain. This paper would discuss the translating strategies of metaphor on the cognitive point of view under the framework of cognitive linguistic theory.

2.Cognition of Metaphor

The study of metaphor has been an important site for research within the cognitive paradigm; a significant landmark in this respect was the publication of Metaphors We Live By in 1980 by Lakoff and Johnson.

Cognitive linguists and philosophers have shown that metaphors are not just a way of expressing ideas by means of language， but powerful cognitive tools for our conceptualization of the world. They believe: “Metaphorical ideation is a kind creative thinking ability that came to birth with the development of the human beings’ cognitive ability; it is the high-level stage of human beings’ cognitive development and especially it is the necessary ability for human beings to observe abstract things.”(Zhao， 2001) Fauconnier (1998) points out that “mappings between domains are at the heart of the unique human cognitive faculty of producing， transferring， and processing meaning”. Many abstract concepts are organized with specific or well-known images by using metaphor.

3.Translatability of Metaphor

In cognitive linguistics， metaphor is a way of thinking and cognition， which mirrors cultural characteristics and ways of thinking of a certain speech community (Zhang， 2010). Translating metaphor means translating the connotation of two languages and transforming the cultural images to the largest extent.

As human have something in common in physiology and psychology， various nations obtain similar experience to a large extent to the identical objective world， which results in a lot of identical metaphor in different languages. For instance， castle in the air has a reciprocal idiom in Chinese “空中樓閣”.

As metaphor in different cultures may have similarity and difference， one’s understanding of metaphor is realized through the mapping from a source domain to a target domain. It is a key factor for a successful translation of a mapping to achieve cognitive equity， which requires the translator to make use of appropriate translating strategies.

4.Translating Strategies of Metaphor

In his book Approaches to Translation， Newmark (1981) put metaphor into six categories and offered seven ways to translate metaphor according to his own practice， which also presents four translating strategies as follows: the equity strategy， the transforming strategy and the transplanting strategy.

Equity Strategy. Different nations have great similarities in experience and cognitive understanding， which makes it possible to translate. The metaphorical concept TIME IS MONEY would be taken as an example. Based on it， many expressions turn up: You are wasting my time. In Chinese， there is also a metaphor concept “時間就是金錢” and metaphorical expressions:“一寸光陰一寸金”. This strategy adjusts to those metaphors in which the cognition equals in English and Chinese.

Transforming Strategy. When there is no equity to convey the English metaphor， an appropriate and relevant expression should be found and transformed to express the meaning in the English expression. Transforming strategy always includes two situations: When the same target domain would be mapped through different source domains， it is proper to transform the source domain of metaphor in the original language; whereas， if the source domain in the original language is definitely strange to the target readers or it brings about different imagination， it is wise to translate its meaning only.

Transplanting Strategy. It is a good choice to transplant the metaphor in one language to another to keep the unique cultural connotation of the original language. In this situation， the original meaning would deteriorate if the metaphor is not translated. There is much transplanted metaphor in Chinese， e.g. 特洛伊木馬 (Trojan horse). While in English， such transplanted metaphor from Chinese as paper tiger (紙老虎) also exists.

5.Conclusion

Since， on the one hand， certain experiences are presumably common to all normal， healthy human beings， while others are strongly conditioned by culture and environment; it comes as no surprise that we find both considerable cross-language similarities in metaphorical expression， and cross-language diversity.

References:

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[2]Lakoff Johnson. Metaphors We Live By [M]. University of Chicago Press，1980.

[3]Newmark. P. Approaches to Translation [M]. Oxford: Pergamon Press Ltd， 1981.

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