What do we leave behind when failing to translate a Chinese dead metaphor?

Abstract

Almost everyone agrees that the mastering of Chinese measure words is a difficult point within the teaching and learning of Chinese. But what seems to be even more challenging is grasping and accurately translating them into other languages. The fact that they do not exist as an independent category in Western grammars probably explains why linguists have neglected them for so many years. We also believe that the different linguistic approaches used so far have failed to provide satisfactory data relevant to translation purposes. Nowadays, there are three facts jeopardising good translation practices concerning Chinese measure words, namely, the widespread belief that they are unique to Chinese and thus cannot be translated into Western languages, the habit of providing only one word in a foreign language for a given Chinese measure word, as if there was a fixed linguistic equivalent, and the idea that they are redundant. From our point of view, these approaches are too simplistic, but unfortunately are too common. Just recently a few works highlighting the importance of this linguistic phenomenon have been published: 汉语里有一类词，它们的表达功能是很特殊的: 有了它们，形象描 写得更为生动;有了它们，感情抒发得更为深切;有了它们，色彩表 现得更为鲜明;有了它们，文笔显得更为简练。(张向群 1995). This completely new approach is a promising one, since it sets up the basis for a more holistic approach including all levels of language and aspects related to discourse, instead of considering this phenomenon as a superfluous, merely morphological one, as many uninformed people do. Zhang Xiangqun adds: 量词是具有艺术个性的词类，它主要使语言充满视觉的光辉，以自 己的艺术力量生动地显示汉语的风采，因此它的修辞作用是不可低 估的。我们要说好话，写好文章，对量词需要给予足够的重视。当 然，这种重视，决不是号召人们滥用只会造成混乱，有损于语言的 健康。量词用好了，我们的语言将会表达得更准确，更鲜明，更生 动。（张向群 1995）. In this paper we will show with numerous examples in Catalan and English how measure words are used in Chinese discourse and why more attention should be paid to them, both in teaching and in translating.