Jun 2026· English Language Teaching and Linguistics Studies· 0 citations
Abstract
As a highly expressive rhetorical device in classical Chinese poetry, reduplicated words possess unique aesthetic value in semantic connotation, phonological rhythm and morphological presentation. However, due to the fundamental differences between Chinese and English linguistic systems, the English translation of Chinese reduplicated words has long been a difficult task in translation practice. This paper looks at two English translations of the famous reduplicative opening in Li Qingzhao’s Slow, Slow Tune. Using eco-translatology as its theoretical lens, it compares the translators’ choices, examining how each navigated the constraints of language, culture, and communicative effect. What emerges is a picture of translation as a dynamic balancing act—a process in which the translator constantly adjusts, compromises, and seeks the best fit within a complex web of forces. The findings offer a systematic way of thinking about how reduplicated words in classical poetry might be translated and evaluated more thoughtfully.
Domestication and foreignization are two common strategies for translators to deal with cultural differences. Based on Berman’s translation ethics and twelve deformations, this paper takes Bai Juyi’s the Everlasting Regret (selected sentences) as the object of study, adopts close reading and comparative analysis, and selects the English versions of Xu Yuanchong, Xu Zhongjie and W. J. B. Fletcher for comparative analysis, focusing on the different degrees of domestication and foreignization in the aspects of word choice, syntax, rhetorical organization, cultural transmission and so on, as well as the effects caused by these differences. The study found that in the English translation of classical Chinese poetry, in addition to the necessary domestication adjustment, the translator should retain the cultural background and aesthetic logic of the original poem as much as possible, so that the translation can achieve the purpose of conveying the cultural nature of this special literary genre. Therefore, in the English translation, foreignization enjoys ethical priority.
Chenfan Wang· English Language Teaching an...· 0 citations
Tang Tri-colored Glazed Pottery represents a pinnacle of ancient Chinese ceramic art. Its specialized terminology poses significant challenges for English translation due to its deep cultural and historical connotations. This paper applies Eugene Nida's Functional Equivalence Theory to analyze the translation strategies employed for Tang Tri-colored Glazed Pottery terminology. Through a comparative examination of existing translations in museum catalogues, academic publications, and official documents, the study identifies four major strategies—transliteration, literal translation, free translation, and transliteration plus annotation—and evaluates their effectiveness in achieving communicative and functional equivalence. The findings suggest that a flexible, multi-strategy approach, guided by the target audience and communicative purpose, best serves the cross-cultural transmission of Tang Tri-colored Glazed Pottery.
Hong Chen· Scientific Journal Of Humani...· 0 citations
Building on the theoretical approach of Eco-translatology, the paper analyses the translation strategies used by Huang Yuanshen in his Chinese translation of 《归宿》 (To the Islands) through linguistic, cultural, and communicative dimensions. It can be found that, linguistically, Huang uses a multi-dimensional strategy that involves syntactic domestication together with imagistic foreignization via Chinese paratactic constructions for the poetic features of the source text. Culturally, Huang applies a combination strategy of “domestication in the title and foreignization in the main text” in dealing with the Indigenous Australian cultural references and Christian discourses, while Taoism views about nature are indirectly incorporated into the Chinese translation. Communicatively, ritual-like sentences with repetitive rhythms are utilized for bridging the writer’s intention with the audience. The study demonstrates that Huang achieves dynamic adaptation between the source-language and target-language ecologies, enabling the original work to successfully “survive” and “grow” within the Chinese literary ecosystem.
Yu-Hang Gu, Zhu-Lin Han· Journal of Education and Edu...· 0 citations
This study examines the patterned formation and interactional functions of
amn
-series (e.g.,
bamn
,
samn
,
tamn
) in contemporary Chinese social media. Drawing on a corpus of 2,095 tokens from Weibo, the analysis investigates morpho-phonological patterning, analogy-based semantic anchoring, and cross-script integration. The findings suggest that a stylized rendering of the English word
damn
becomes stabilized in writing as a prosodically salient template and refunctionalized into a productive phonosemiotic construction in Mandarin. These forms are systematically integrated into Mandarin grammar and interaction, where they serve affective, evaluative, interpersonal, and metalinguistic functions. The study contributes to translanguaging research by demonstrating that what circulates across languages and platforms may include prosodically salient patterns, not only lexical or script-based resources. It further shows how such patterns are structured through analogy and embedded in local linguistic practices, highlighting prosodic templating as a key mechanism in digitally mediated communication.
Jianxin Yang, Yililan Wang· Discourse & Communicatio...· 0 citations
Translation is considered the fifth dimension of language, a composite of the other four main language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The translation of culturally laden texts found in movies is an asset that connects cultures and communities by breaking down language barriers. This study attempts to identify and analyze the translation procedures applied to culturally-bound sentences in the Arabic subtitles of the animated movie: Hotel Transylvania: Transformania. The research used a descriptive qualitative method to analyze the Arabic subtitles, and thereafter, classified the translation based on Newmark’s taxonomy of translation procedures. Six translation procedures were identified in this movie: literal translation, paraphrase, compensation, cultural equivalent, shifts/transpositions, and descriptive equivalent. The study's findings indicate that one effective way to convey intended meaning, especially for concepts related to cultures that are foreign to the target audience in the case of movies is through frequent use of literal translation of dialogue. This can only be achieved by employing intensive and precise translation procedures. This research underscores the importance of adopting a flexible and procedurally focused approach to translation to preserve the entertainment and narrative value of the film and accommodate cultural diversity. The study’s findings are likely to be useful to all stakeholders in the field of translation.
A. Y. Alharbi· Theory and Practice in Langu...· 0 citations
The aim of this research was to identify the features of translating culture-specific units in literary translation between the Kazakh and Chinese languages, with an emphasis on semantic and pragmatic equivalence. The study applied a linguocultural and comparative methodology, qualitative content analysis, lexical-semantic analysis, pragmatic analysis, and interpretive comparison of annotated parallel fragments. A typology of cultural connotations in Kazakh and Chinese prose was developed, including four main groups: realities, ethnospecific terms, phraseological units, and metaphors. Kazakh texts predominantly contained units related to nomadic culture, social organization, and ceremonial practices, while Chinese texts mainly reflected Confucian values, symbolic imagery, and concepts of family hierarchy. Differences in the frequency and pragmatic functions of culture-specific units were identified. The analysis of translation strategies revealed the predominance of foreignization and descriptive translation when rendering Kazakh units into Chinese, whereas domestication was more common in translations from Chinese into Kazakh. Typical semantic transformations included meaning shifts, splitting, and partial loss of meaning. Pragmatic equivalence was often achieved through cultural explanation, contextual adaptation, and the use of connotative elements. The practical significance of this research lies in the development of a classification model for analyzing cultural connotations. This model may support translation decisions aimed at preserving semantic accuracy and pragmatic relevance when conveying nationally marked units. The novelty of this article lies in its comparative linguistic and cultural analysis of Kazakh and Chinese literary discourse, proposing a typology of cultural connotations and a two-way study of translation strategies that identifies asymmetries, semantic discrepancies, and compensatory mechanisms in translation.
Gulzhanar Haliolla, N. Abdurakyn, Samal Beisenkhan· The International Journal of...· 0 citations