Study on explicitation in English translation of TCM pathogenesis terms

Abstract

English translation of TCM pathogenesis terms was investigated in this paper from the perspective of universal features of translation. Small-sized Chinese and English parallel corpus of TCM pathogenesis terms was built to examine whether English translation of TCM pathogenesis terms bore the features of explicitation. Further study was conducted to investigate expliciatation revealed in different versions. Results showed that explicitation exists in the English translation of this field, consistent with Blum-Kulka’s （1986） Explicitation Hypothesis. At the same time, explicitation in English translation of TCM pathogenesis terms possesses its own characteristics. First, its pattern is different from that of literary works. There are mainly three types of explicitation, i.e. adding words, specifying, and explicitation of analogy/metaphor. Among these types, adding words is the most frequently used. In addition, more cases of explicitness are found in Chinese translators’ versions than those of foreign ones, which might be due to the different translation principles held by different translators. The unique philosophy of TCM is substantially different from that of western medicine, thus its unique way of expression may lead to the phenomenon of explicitation in English translation of TCM pathogenesis terms. The present study provides fresh evidence for the Explicitation Hypothesis. Key words: Explicitation; TCM pathogenesis terms; English translation