A Pragmatic Study And The Translation Of English And Chinese Address Forms

Address forms, though not a new topic in academic research, is still worth studying for its importance in use. On the basis of former researches on the static analysis of address forms, the thesis develops an analysis of English and Chinese address forms from the perspective of pragmatics. The purpose of the pragmatic analysis is to gain a thorough understanding of English and Chinese address forms with the hope of getting some hints on the feasibility of dynamic equivalence in the practice of address form translation. Because of the conspicuous characteristics of English and Chinese address forms, a method of comparative analysis is employed in the whole thesis. By the comparison of different categories and pragmatic functions of English and Chinese address forms, a rather clear picture of address forms appears gradually. Different origins and cultural backgrounds of English and Chinese sometimes hinder the translation of address forms either from English to Chinese or from Chinese to English, yet understanding the nature of English and Chinese address forms from a pragmatic perspective will be helpful and meaningful to the successful translation of address forms. Two important pragmatic theories: speech act theory and politeness principle are mentioned and used as a guide to the understanding and ideal translation of English and Chinese address forms. Besides the analysis of address forms from their cultural origins, to analyze English and Chinese address forms pragmatically might also be a good choice. It does provide some hints in the address form translation and makes it a feasible attempt to translate address forms with the guideline of dynamic equivalence.