On E-C Translation From The Perspective Of Iconicity

As an essential theory of cognitive linguistics,iconicity has a long history of research and has been widely disputed and concerned.Those who stand for iconicity theory hold that there is a specific verifiable and well-founded connection between the form and meaning of language signs.Pierce(1902)brings forward the trichotomy and divides language signs into icon,index,and symbol.After that,scholars at home and abroad put forward iconicity principles such as distance iconicity,quantity iconicity,sequence iconicity,thesis iconicity,sentence structure iconicity,and cultural regulations iconicity based on the previous classification.This thesis aims to study the guiding significance of different principles of iconicity theory mentioned above to translation practice,including translators’ understanding of the original text and choice of translation methods.There are two reasons for applying iconicity to translation studies.The first reason is the theoretical basis.With the development of cognitive linguistics based on experiential philosophy,iconicity has gained the foundation of cognitive science.Cognitive linguists believe that language is the “mapping” of the “source domain” of human experience and feeling.Suppose the original text is regarded as the “source domain” and the translated text as the “target domain”.In that case,the “mapping”relationship from the original text to the translated text is similar to the connection from the “source domain” to the “target domain” of people’s cognition.Therefore,it is feasible to use iconicity to study translation.The second reason is the practical significance.In recent years,scholars at home and abroad begin to conduct interdisciplinary research on iconicity,trying to combine iconicity with translation studies,which expands the perspective of iconicity research and promotes the development of translation theory and practice.This thesis not only illustrates the definition of iconicity and its different principles with examples,but also takes The Sun King co-translated by the author and Professor Yang Jing as the research object to explore the practical guiding significance of the different principles of iconicity to translators’ understanding of the original text and selecting of translation methods through translation comparison.It is found out that the study of iconicity theory in translation will not only enhance the application of iconicity,but also promote the research of translation practice and provide a new possibility for translation at the same time.