Chinese-English Translation Research Articles

Translation of the Shanghai School Exhibition: Re-establishing Evocative Resonance and Situational Context

The Shanghai School (海上画派), a style of Chinese art present in the late 19th century and centered in Shanghai, is the witness and contributor to the advancement of modern Chinese art, embodying all the facts and specimens from that time, and regards the process of Chinese painting from ancient to unique and distinct style as the corresponding modernization. Inspired by the translation project of the grand opening exhibition of Cheng Shifa Art Museum, this paper discusses how to reestablish evocative resonance and situational context in the translation process. Guided by the aesthetics of translation and the psychology of art, the translators try to reemerge the context, connotation, artistry, and creativity of the works of the exhibition in the Chinese-English translations, and to reach the dialogue between the audience and the artists featuring bilingual compatibility, emotional connection, and aesthetic isomorphism.

Optimization of Translation Techniques between English and Chinese Literary Works in the Information Age

Abstract Under the background of cultural globalization, English-Chinese literary translation plays an important role in which it is not only a process of language conversion, but also a process of cultural conversion. In this paper, the BiGUR-LM-Attention optimization model is fused and constructed using the WordNet semantic similarity model, GRU-LM one-way gated similarity model, and BiGR-LM two-way gated similarity model. The LDA theme model is selected to generate the 3-layer Bayesian network structure of literary works’ paragraphs, themes and words to obtain the probability information that represents the highest attention of the work’s text theme, which constitutes the attention mechanism feature word vector. Finally, five classic literary works are selected as the training corpus to compare and analyze the translation quality between machine translation and human translation in the mutual translation of English and Chinese literary works. The results show that the number of errors and the total score of machine translation are 95 and 275, which are significantly lower than those of manual translation, 105.37 and 360.19. The new model has outstanding translation performance in semantic recognition, dialect, and special nouns, which effectively improves the translation quality of literary works and is of great significance for the dissemination of cultural works.

“Sprinkling Death”: Using the Subversive Humor of Mock-Translation in the Classroom

Four students in the third-year undergraduate course CHN 3003: Reading and Translating Chinese at the University of Malta worked together to create a mock-translation of a fast-food menu. This article examines this collaborative task and evaluates its strengths and weaknesses against the theoretical framework of mock-translation, while also taking into account the socio-cultural particularities of the Maltese context. Malta is a small island nation in the Mediterranean and a former British colony. Students at the University of Malta, including those who study Chinese, are often bilingual in English and Maltese (a Semitic language) or another European language. Instructors working in the Chinese-English translation classroom may find the collaborative translation exercise a useful tool for getting students to consider the intersection between theory and practice.

The correlated influence of semantic types, L1 translation equivalents and language proficiency on EFL learners' production of polysemous words.

The current research investigated the influencing factors of the full mastery of L2 (English) polysemous words with a Chinese-English translation test. The concepts of "meaning" and "L2 equivalent" were strictly distinguished when designing the test. The manipulation of variables came to a mixed design of 2 (semantic types: core meaning, periphery meaning) × 2 (types of L1 translation equivalents: dominant L1 translation equivalent, non-dominant L1 translation equivalent) × 2 (language proficiency: low proficiency, high proficiency). The results showed that: (1) The semantic types and L1 translation equivalents had significant influence on the production of polysemous words in that the core meanings and the dominant L1 translation equivalent helped the learners access the words quickly and produce them more efficiently; The dominant L1 translation equivalents could facilitate the production of the words presented with their periphery meanings; (2) On the whole, there was no significant difference of the productive competence between the two groups of participants. Comparatively, the high proficiency learners performed better in the production of words presented in their periphery meanings corresponding to non-dominant L1 translation equivalents. And they showed a less degree of dependence on L1 translation equivalents in the process of language production.

Differential Analysis of Stylistic Features in Chinese-English Interpretation Based on Natural Language Processing

Abstract In this paper, after researching the natural language processing model, we use the knowledge representation technology to construct a knowledge base and use the sequence comparison algorithm to compare the sequences of Chinese and English translations, analyze the similarities and differences between the two sequences, and analyze the entropy of information between English and Chinese translations through the probabilistic theory and mathematical statistics method. On this basis, we analyze the differences between Chinese and English translations in terms of lexical dimension, syntactic dimension and articulation dimension and explore the differences in lexical richness and thematic concentration between Chinese and English based on “entropy”. The results show that Chinese is significantly higher than English translations in terms of language output length, sentence complexity, subordinate structure and phrase structure (p<0.001), and Chinese is significantly higher than English translations in terms of articulation (p<0.05). This paper provides an important reference value for studying the differences in stylistic features in Chinese-English translation.

Applying machine translation to Chinese–English subtitling: Constraints and challenges

Focusing on the topic of applying machine translation (MT) to Chinese–English subtitling, the subject of the present study, this article first analyses the current literature and introduces the general constraints in Chinese–English subtitling from three perspectives: technical, cultural, and textual. Technical constraints are imposed by the limited time and space available for each subtitle; cultural constraints relate to the disparities in the beliefs, values, customs, behaviours, and artefacts of different cultural groups; and textual constraints predominantly manifest in the differences between the source and target languages and the segmented nature of subtitles. In order to respond to these constraints and to achieve conciseness, comprehensibility, and coherence in the translated subtitles, this study highlighted condensation, context, and coordination as the key strategies to adopt. However, these strategies pose considerable challenges for MT in Chinese–English subtitling. First, the common practice of full translation by most MT tools tends to work against making subtitles concise. Second, the lack of relevant contextual knowledge limits the ability of MT to generate appropriate translations. Third, the segmented display of subtitles makes it challenging for MT to capture and reflect the logic in the source text, on the one hand, and to produce coherent output in self-contained segments, on the other. To illustrate these constraints and challenges, this article provides examples of bilingual subtitles from American Factory (Bognar & Reichert, 2019), an Oscar Winner for Best Documentary Feature, and compares the official subtitles with those generated by three popular MT tools in Chinese–English translation. The study investigated the efficacy of MT subtitling and its potential to produce quality subtitles; and this article proposes possible solutions and suggestions for improving the quality of MT in subtitling.

Chinese-English Translation Teaching in the Context of "Understanding Contemporary China": Problems and Countermeasures

Translation is a typical cultural communication behavior. Enabling college students to spread China's voice in English is an important purpose of translation teaching in the context of "Understanding Contemporary China". But the problems existing in the current Chinese-English translation teaching are also obvious: the teaching purpose is mainly exam-oriented; translation materials are CET-4 and CET-6 related; Teaching method equals to sentence analysis. Thus, only by constructing a translation teaching model with the purpose of communication, contemporary "China stories" as the main translation materials, and interpretation as the leading training, can it meet the requirements of the new context.

Probability distribution of dependency distance and dependency type in translational language

As a “third code”, translational language attracts considerable attention in linguistics research due to its distinctive features. Adopting the quantitative linguistic approach, the current study examines its features by investigating the mean dependency distance (MDD), as well as the probability distribution of the individual dependency distances (DDs) and distribution of a high-frequency dependency type in translational language. The MDD and the distributions were tested in a self-built corpus which contains parallel and comparable language materials in both Chinese-English and English-Chinese translations. The results show that: (1) compared with source texts and native texts, translated texts in both translation directions yield an MDD in between; (2) both the distribution of DDs and that of the dependency type nsubj follow the Zipf-Alekseev distribution in translated texts, as in source texts and native texts; (3) the in-between feature is further confirmed by parameters a and b in Chinese-English translation materials when fitting the distribution of DDs to Zipf-Alekseev distribution; (4) translational texts in both directions show higher a and lower b than their source and native texts when fitting the DD Distribution of dependency type nsubj to Zipf-Alekseev distribution. These findings suggest that, on the one hand, dependency distance minimization (DDM) occurs in translational language, which is consistent with native language and reflects a general tendency of natural languages to reduce cognitive load; on the other hand, translational language presents distinctive feature in nsubj type, but in most cases, it is subject to the gravitational pull of both source and target language systems, exhibiting a “compromise” feature in between. The current study highlights the contribution of syntactic quantitative methods to deeper understanding of the complexity of translational language and its cognitive underpinnings.

A Study on Intercultural Competence Cultivation of Chinese English Translation Majors Based on Needs Analysis

A Study on Intercultural Competence Cultivation of Chinese English Translation Majors Based on Needs Analysis

Retracted: Analysis of the Needs of English-Chinese Translation Courses and Research on Teaching Strategies under the Background of Wireless Communication and Big Data

Retracted: Analysis of the Needs of English-Chinese Translation Courses and Research on Teaching Strategies under the Background of Wireless Communication and Big Data

A Case Study on Improving MTI Students’ Translation Competence in Project-Based Teaching

The present research taps into the development of a female Chinese MTI student’s translation competence in the course a medical English-Chinese translation project. Following a qualitative approach, we collected her various translation drafts, memos and interviews as the research data. By referring to the translation competence model containing five parts proposed by Zhang and Wang (2020), we conducted detailed analyses on her translation drafts and memos. It is found that her overall translation competence shows an upward trend, with her specialized knowledge competence and instrumental competence improving the most rapidly. Her linguistic abilities and cognitive abilities, particularly in translating complex sentences, have also demonstrated a significant progress. The interview transcripts have been used to explore her identification with the translator’s role. It is hoped that this study would contribute to discussion on translation competence development and shed light on project-based teaching for MTI programs in both China and the world.

Analysis of Domestication and Foreignization in Chinese-English Subtitle Translation—A Case Study of Hi, Mom

Analysis of Domestication and Foreignization in Chinese-English Subtitle Translation—A Case Study of Hi, Mom

English-Chinese Translation of Names of Racehorses: A Case Study of Four Translation Strategies about the Hong Kong Version

This paper examines the translation of horse racing names, focusing on the Hong Kong translation version as a case study. It explores four distinct translation strategies employed in rendering these names into the target language. The prime principle guiding the translation process is the overarching purpose of the translational action. The four strategies discussed are: transliteration, which focuses on reproducing the sounds of the name in the target language; literal translation, which aims to preserve the phonetic and semantic aspects of the original name; free translation, which involves modifying the name to conform to linguistic and cultural conventions; and mixed strategies, which are combination of the previous and can invent new names that capture the essence of the original. By analyzing these strategies and their application in the context of horse racing names, this paper provides insights into the complexities and considerations involved in translating such names. It highlights the importance of understanding the purpose, cultural context, and target audience in order to effectively convey the meaning and impact of horse racing names in the target language.

Research on English Foreign Propaganda Translation and External Communication Paths Based on Multimodal Analysis Approach

Abstract In this paper, a multimodal phrase corpus is created, enabling phrases to be searched automatically. The phrase structure is constructed through phrase centroids, and multilevel linguistic measurements are obtained for vocabulary, syntax, and parts of speech styles. A joint feature analysis model for the automatic conversion of English-Chinese machine translation is constructed through distributed feature fusion and joint parameter analysis. Linear statistical features and feature analysis detection are utilized to compute the optimal solution for English-Chinese machine automatic translation text. The graph embedding technique was used to pretrain the knowledge graph and obtain information about the network structure. Combined with the graph convolution technique, deep semantic information mining was carried out to achieve efficient content matching and cultural dissemination. It has been proved that the method of this paper has an AUC value of 0.921 and a satisfaction rate between 80% and 95% in English-translated movie data. The proposed method can accurately translate information from English to foreign propaganda content, which further promotes the development of international cultural exchange and communication.

A Study of Linguistic Gender Differences in English-Chinese Translation—A Case Study of The Chinese Version of The Little Prince by Lin Zhenni and Li Jihong

A Study of Linguistic Gender Differences in English-Chinese Translation—A Case Study of The Chinese Version of The Little Prince by Lin Zhenni and Li Jihong

Analysis of Translation Errors in English-Chinese Translation Practice

Analysis of Translation Errors in English-Chinese Translation Practice

Analysis of Translatability in Classical Chinese Poetry from the Perspective of Translation Strategies Taking Xu Yuanchong's Translations of the Lyrics "Everlasting Longing" as Examples

Classical Chinese poetry is an important literary genre in Chinese literature, of which the Tang poems and Song lyrics are two of the highest artistic achievements in ancient Chinese poetry. The study of classical poetry translation has become a hot topic in Chinese literary translation. This paper aims to study the translatability of Chinese classical poetry from the perspective of the translation strategies of Xu Yuanchong by selecting lyrics titled everlasting longing in the Chinese-English Translation of 300 Chinese Tang and Song Lyrics authored by Xu Yuanchong, an outstanding translator. In the translation of Xu Yuanchongs poems, he emphasized the beauty of meaning, form and sound. Through a theoretical overview of important translation strategies and case study of the translation strategies adopted by Xu Yuanchong, the following conclusions are drawn: Xu Yuanchongs translation strategy of creative translation has greatly improved the translatability of classical Chinese poetry. Due to the particularity of the poetry style and literary form, the semantic meaning loss can be caused to a certain extent, so the translation strategy oriented by functional equivalence and aesthetic pursuit can provide the reference for the translation of Chinese classical poems and lyrics.

Performance and perception: machine translation post-editing in Chinese-English news translation by novice translators

Machine translation has become a popular option for news circulation, due to its speed, cost-effectiveness and improving quality. However, it still remains uncertain whether machine translation is effective in helping novice translators in news translation. To investigate the effectiveness of machine translation, this study conducted a Chinese-English news translation test to compare the performance and perception of translation learners in machine translation post-editing and manual translation. The findings suggest that it is challenging for machine translation to understand cultural and semantic nuances in the source language, and produce coherent structural translation in the target language. No significant quality difference was observed in post-editing and manual translation, though post-editing quality was found to be slightly better. Machine translation can help to reduce translation learners’ processing time and mental workload. Compared to manual translation, machine translation post-editing is considered as a preferred approach by translation learners in news translation. It is hoped that this study could cast light on the integration of machine translation into translator training programs.

English-Chinese and Chinese-English Translations of Literary Texts: The Influence of Stylistic Features on the Translation Process and Eyetracking Technology.

This study is based on an experimental method of eye-tracking to investigate how translators perceive and understand translated literary texts and how different stylistic features influence their perception. This methodology allowed us to observe which parts of the text translators focused on the most, providing valuable data on their reading patterns and cognitive processes. Among English-Chinese translators, 95 out of 120 participants (79%) showed a tendency to prioritize faithfully conveying the source text's meaning over crafting a target text that aligns with Chinese stylistically. In the specific context of Chinese-English translation out of the 120 instances examined, the translators exhibited a reduced fixation duration on words in the source language, accounting for 34 instances (28%). This suggests a greater concern for preserving the source text's meaning rather than adapting it to the target culture. This research can assist translators and linguists in translating the stylistic features of English and Chinese literary texts more effectively. Future studies can explore other language stylistic features that may impact translation and compare translation styles across various literary genres and language pairs.

Cultural Differences in Chinese-English Translation in Tourism

With the continuous enhancement of China's influence in the world, more and more foreign tourists come to various regions of China for tourism, but due to the differences between Chinese and Western cultures, there are still some problems in Chinese-English translation in tourism that need to be effectively handled. The cultural differences in Chinese-English translation in tourism are analyzed, and the impact of these cultural differences on translation is discussed, and then the treatment of in Chinese-English translation in tourism is proposed for the reference of relevant personnel.