A Pragmatic-Functional Model for Assessment of Translation Quality-A case Study of Two Chinese Versions of David Copperfield

Abstract

Translation quality assessment presupposes a theory of translation. Thus different views of translation itself lead to different concepts of translation quality, and different ways of assessing it. The following discussion of various approaches to translation will focus on a functional—pragmatic model for translation assessment. This tentative study will focus on a functional—pragmatic model for assessment of the quality of translation.As this study in this paper is tentative, since the writer is a beginner in the field of translation. She compares the two Chinese versions of Charles Dickens' novel David Copperfield (translated by Dong Qiusi and Zhang Guruo respectively), first, against the original under the functional— pragmatic model for translation assessment. And finally, a report is formed to show the two translators' translation styles and which version is relatively better by exhibiting their comparative strength and weakness, and above all, to explain the possible causes of the differences between the versions. function of the translation (as derived from an analogous analysis) match the profile and function of the original is the degree to which the translation is adequate in quality. (2) In evaluating the relative match between original and translation, a distinction is made between dimensional mismatches and non-dimensional mismatches. Dimensional mismatches are pragmatic errors that have to do with language users and language use; non-dimensional mismatches are mismatches in the denotative meanings of the original and translation elements and breaches of the target language system at various levels. The final qualitative judgment of the translation consists of a listing of both types of errors and of a statement of the relative match of the two functional components. Thus, in order to formulate hypotheses about why, how and to what degree one translation is better than another; large corpora of translations from and into different languages must be analyzed. As this study in this paper is tentative, since the writer is a beginner in the field of translation. She compares the two Chinese versions of Charles Dickens' novel David Copperfield (translated by Dong Qiusi and Zhang Guruo respectively), first, against the original under the functional—pragmatic model for translation assessment. And finally, a report is formed to show the two translators' translation styles and which version is relatively better by exhibiting their comparative strength and weakness, and above all, to explain the possible causes of the differences between the versions.