Translation: Mapping and Reconfiguration of the Language World

Abstract

The article discusses using the tenets of the linguistic world picture theory in terms of translation by analyzing the methods of interpreting the inscription on a public sign in a Chinese forest park. When the original and translated fragments of the language pictures of the world are the same or similar, the word-based translation is justified from the standpoint of conveying the pragmatic, semantic and grammatical value of the text. When the language pictures of the world are different and do not correspond to each other, the word combinations phrases of the source language cannot be literally translated into the target language. The word-based translation in such cases is a dead translation that will cause translational errors. Using the semantics of the source language, the translator must reconstruct the picture of the world in the target language in order to convey the pragmatic value of the original. The difference between languages is the manner they reflect the picture of the world. Various languages fix various worldviews. The characteristics of each particular language are limited by the linguistic consciousness of people who use the language. This individual worldview is also a unique view of the world. The theory of the language picture of the world contains a linguistic study of the relationship between the language, the thinking and the reality from a cognitive point of view. It begins with linguistic facts and refers to the cultural characteristics of peoples and differences in their thinking, expressed in the linguistic facts. Its essence lies in the cognitive reproduction of the objective world in the human mind, which is the subject of knowledge based on his own perceptual experience and the language of his national culture. The theory of the language picture of the world lies in the fact that it interprets the cultural heritage of the certain people from the point of view of the language. The characteristics of each particular language are limited by the language consciousness of people. Different languages are, in fact, different worldviews, which is an expression of the unique language pictures of the world.