An E-C Translation Report On Grammar And Meaning:A Semantic Approach To English Grammar

The materials used for this translation project are selected from the book Grammar and Meaning : A Semantic Approach to English Grammar,by Howard Jackson,which was first published by Addison Wesley Longman Press in Oct.,1990.Specifically,the report is based on the Introduction section and the three chapters that follow.The target readers of the translation are students who major in linguistics or teachers who teach linguistics at colleges or universities.By analyzing the source text,the translator finds out some characteristics as follows: first,rich terminologies are found,especially semantic and grammatical terms;second,many long and complex sentences with a colon or involving the use of verb phrases are used;third,a similar argumentation pattern is employed for the writing in each chapter.According to Katharina Reiss and Hans J.Vermeer(1984: 156),a translator makes use of text typology theory in determining the appropriate hierarchy of equivalence levels which are essential for a particular translation Skopos.And most importantly,the end determines the means.Under the guidance of Skopos theory,the translator shows problems and offer solutions from three levels including lexical,syntactic and textual levels.To be more specific,at lexical level,accurate and standardized translation of terms from the perspectives of meaning and grammar is determined by the translator’s consulting linguistics dictionaries and online academic resources alike.To solve the problems found at syntactic level,while facing so many complex sentences with a colon,the translator adopts two measures.One is to replace the colon with a comma,and the other is to retain the colon,which well match the two similar functions of a colon in Chinese.For long and complex sentences involving the use of verb phrases,the translator employs the techniques of omission and conversion.At textual level,a similar translation model is employed to manifest the stylistic features of the source text.After finishing the translation,the translator asks her classmates and peers for help by proofreading it,which increasingly improves the quality of the target text.Then,the supervisor is invited to proofread the translation so that the quality of thefinal version is much guaranteed.In the end,benefits and inspiration brought forth by this translation project are explicitly listed out in the Summary section by the translator.