Abstract:In the process of translating English into Chinese, it is difficult to make the translation fully correspond to the original in terms of word or sentence structure due to different means of expression of the two languages. To produce a fluent, expressive and natural translation, which can match Chinese expressions as well, we usually make some changes of parts of speech of the English texts conditionally upon being faithfully to the original material. Shift of parts of speech, one of the frequently adopted translation techniques, means the change of parts of speech, which can not only help faithfully convey the original meaning, but also produce a fluent translation. Word-forming differences between English and Chinese, which are considered as the theoretical foundation of shift of parts of speech, are therefore worth being studied further and summarized systematically. Chinese scholars began to notice the construction rules of Chinese words at a very early time; as time goes on, the theoretical research on word-formation was gradually systematized. As for researches in this respect overseas, the subject of lexicology was simply put aside and paid little attention to for a long time. It was not until the 1980s that linguists abroad conducted their studies on word formation from different points of views: phonetic, synchronic and semantic respectively, hopefully to find out a universal grammar through their studies on the formation of words. This paper studies and analyses four ways of English and Chinese word-forming (derivation, compounding, abbreviation, most important of all, conversion). Through comparison, effects of word-forming differences between English and Chinese on the shift of parts of speech in E-C translation will be found.

Keywords: E-C translation, lexical shift as translation, shift of parts of speech, word-formation

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

Chapter 1 Introduction-1

1.1 Background of the Research-1

1.2 Significance of the Research-1

Chapter 2 Literature Review-3

2.1 Word-forming Studies at Home and Abroad-3

2.2 Shift of Parts of Speech in Translation-3

Chapter 3 Word-forming Categories and Their Effects on the Shift of Parts of Speech-5

3.1 Word-forming Categories of and Differences between English and Chinese-5

3.1.1 Derivation-5

3.1.2 Compounding-6

3.1.3 Abbreviation-9

3.1.4 Conversion-10

3.2 Effects of Word-forming Differences between English and Chinese on the Shift of Parts of Speech in E-C Translation-10

3.2.1 Conversion-10

3.2.2 Derivation and Compounding-11

Chapter 4 Case Studies of Shift of parts of speech in E-C Translation-13

4.1 Shift into Verbs-13

4.1.1 N→V Shift-13

4.1.2 A→V Shift-14

4.2 Shift into Nouns-15

4.2.1 V→N Shift-15

4.2.2 A→N Shift-15

Chapter 5 Conclusion-17

5.1 Summary-17

5.2 Contributions and Limitations of the Research-17

References-19

Acknowledgements-20