Study on the Translation of Four-Character Structures in Tao Hua Yuan Ji from the Perspective of Embodied-Cognitive Linguistics

Abstract

Tao Hua Yuan Ji, as a representative prose of ancient Jiangxi literature, its English translation has attracted much attention from Chinese academia. There are single translation version research and comparative studies of multiple versions all with different perspectives, but little attention is paid to the version of American Sinologist Hightower. The rich expressions of four-character structures is one of the noticeable features of the original text of Tao Hua Yuan Ji, but at present, there lacks study of its English translation, especially in-depth cognitive analysis. Therefore, starting from the Embodied-Cognitive Linguistics, guided by its kernel principle “Reality-Cognition-language”, this paper explores the choices of Hightower’s translation of four-character structures from the three levels of language, cognition and reality, and analyzes the translation-induced cognitive processes and their pragmatic effects when the rendition takes place on different levels. It is found that among the 33 four-character structures in the original text, Hightower chose 23 on the level of language, mainly using complete literal translation and the method of combining literal and liberal translation, and 10 on the levels of cognition and reality, adopting complete liberal translation and contextual liberal translation. Hightower’s three-level choices of the translation of the four-character structures in Tao Hua Yuan Ji reflects the cognitive bases of embodied-cognition, namely universality, distinctness and deficiency.