Linguistic analysis of translation of Chinese phraseologisms in the Analects of Confucius (论语)

Abstract

The object of this research is 56 phraseologisms of the treatise “Analects of Confucius”, and versions of their translation into the Russian language by L. S. Perelomov, selected for the analysis using the method of continuous sampling, as well as such method of linguistic studies as structural-semantic. The translation of phraseologisms of Confucius is described and analyzed within the framework of the concept of V. N. Komissarov; phraseological units are classified in accordance with the five types of equivalence of translation. The goal of this work is consists in determination of conditions that allow  preserving the semantic accuracy in translation of  phraseologisms of Confucius from Chinese to Russian. The research is carried out at the intersection of linguistics and philosophy. The novelty consists in the fact that this article is first to examine V.  N. Komissarov’s translation of phraseologisms of Confucius. Insufficient study of the translation of this philosophical text into the Russian language defines the relevance of this research. Based on the quantitative analysis it is concluded that phraseologism of Confucius are usually translated into Russian in accordance with the fifth type of the concept of V. N. Komissarov; i.e. literal translation of hieroglyphs into Russian, equivalence is founded on preservation of the meaning contained in the original. First and foremost, the translator tries to convey and preserve the pragmatic focus of the text.