Semantic Reconstruction Of EST Translation Under Cooperation Principle

The Cooperative Principle(CP),which was first put forward by H.P.Grice on the basis of verbal communication,consists of four maxims: Quantity Maxim,Quality Maxim,Relevant Maxim and Manner Maxim.It has ever since been widely used to analyze the conversational implication of verbal communication in daily life.However,as a text communication,the translation also abides by the Cooperative Principle.Zhang Peiji pointed out that translation was to use one language to re-express the thinking content expressed in another language accurately and completely(Zhang Peiji,1980).The English for Science and Technology(EST),which features widely using nominalized structure,passive sentences,long and complex sentences,and focuses on recounting facts and logical reasoning,has a high degree of fitness with the four maxims of CP.Due to the significant differences between Chinese and English in sentence structure and semantic forms,in the process of translation,one should reconstruct the semantic meanings of source text on the basis of fully perceiving the source text and following the four maxims,in order to ensure the target text is in line with the expressive custom of Chinese andincreaseitsreadability.Therefore,taking Military Mountaineering(Para.2.10-Para.2.16,Chapter 2-Chapter 4)as an example and conforming to the CP in the process of translation,this report summarizes eight translation skills: hidden information manifestation,transformation for part of speech,logical relations reconstruction,shift between active and passive structure,confirmation of modifying scope,participle structure processing,adjustment of recounting manner,time sequence reconstruction.During translation,each skill was not used alone.However,in order to highlight some certain skill,this report will illustrate the application of each skill in EST translation with respective examples in Military Mountaineering(Para.2.10-Para.2.16Chapter2-Chapter 4).The author hopes to strengthen the understanding and application of CP and the eight translation skills through this translation practice,to fully exercise and improve them in future translation work and researches.