Analysis of the Positive Transfer of Chinese Dialect on English-Chinese Translation.doc

AcknowledgementsThere are many people to whom I owe a special thanks to express myappreciation for their help in my study of English language and the writing of thispaper.My heartfelt gratitude first goes to my respected advisor,Ms.Xu,who hasgiven me a lot of valuable instructions and advice that will definitely be of greatbenefit for my paper.Her constructive suggestions and great efforts in the revision areall indispensable to the accomplishment of this paper.And I know from the bottom ofmy heart that this thesis could not have been completed without her sincere help.I am also greatly indebted to my teacher,Mr.Qin,who helped me a lot inobtaining the relevant documents and abundant materials on the new literary criticism.Without his generous help,this paper was not able to be polished.Last but not least,I want to take this opportunity to show my warm thanks to mydear parents.During the four years of my college study,they have always supportedme with love,help and everything they can give me.I owe them a lot and I knowwhat I can give in return is nothing but my sincere thanks and a loving heart.摘摘要要众所周知，母语对于英语学习的迁移影响是不可避免的。而在语言习得的过程中，母语会对英语学习产生正迁移和负迁移，而作为中国人的母语，中文也同样会在英汉翻译的过程中产生正迁移，中国是一个有着 56 个少数民族的大国，各种方言构成了中文语言，因此在英汉翻译过程中，方言对于语言的正迁移现象也不可忽视。本文通过分析中文方言，研究其在英汉翻译中的正迁移现象，目的在于通过方言在英汉翻译中的体现，进一步分析方言的正迁移对于正确翻译的帮助。总之，方言的正迁移让翻译更接地气。关键词：关键词：语言正迁移；中文方言；英汉翻译AbstractAs we all know,transfer influence of mother tongue to English learning isinevitable.In the process of bilingual study and application,mother tongue will havepositive and negative transfer in English learning process.As mother tongue ofChinese,it also has positive transfer in English to Chinese translation.China is a bigcountry with 56 nations,all kinds of dialects compose of Chinese language,so in theprocess of English to Chinese translation,positive transfer of dialect to language issignificant.By studying Chinese dialect,this paper researches the positive transfer of dialectin English to Chinese translation.It aims at analyzing the help of dialect positivetransfer to accurate translation.In a word,the positive transfer of dialect makestranslation more authentic.Key Words:Positive transfer of language;Chinese dialect;English-ChinesetranslationContents1.Introduction.12.Literature Review.22.1 Research status at home.22.2 Research status at abroad.33.An Overview of Chinese Dialect.33.1 The Definition of Dialect.33.2 The Definition of Chinese Dialect.43.3 Functions of Chinese Dialect.54.Analysis of the Positive Transfer of Chinese Dialect on English-ChineseTranslation.64.1 Positive transfer of Chinese dialect in noun translation.64.2 Positive transfer of Chinese dialect in verb translation.74.3 Positive transfer of Chinese dialect in adverb translation.74.4 Positive transfer of Chinese dialect in adjective translation.84.5 Functions of positive transfer of Chinese dialect on English-Chinesetranslation.85.Conclusion.9Bibliography.1011.IntroductionLanguage transfer is commonly found in foreign language learning.The transferis dichotomized into positive transfer and negative transfer.The positive transferpromotes study in foreign language,but the negative transfer affects the process oflanguage acquisition.Chinese as our first language in China,it is very important forus.Recent years,researchers find that positive transfer of Chinese dialect also occurs.As for this kind of phenomenon,people have different sayings.In this paper,analysison positive transfer of Chinese dialect will be carried out.This paper aims atunderstandingintroductiontoChinesedialectanditspositivetransferinEnglish-Chinesetranslation,andthenwecangivesomesuggestionstoEnglish-Chinese translation with Chinese dialect.Language transfer is an important affective factor in language acquisition andtranslation.It has two kinds,including positive transfer and negative transfer.However,negative transfer is the main factor that influences second language learning.It mainly influences fossilization in the aspects of phonology,vocabulary and syntax,which hinder the further improvement of learnersforeign language proficiency.(Ellis,1994:35)So the study and analysis on language transfer is very necessary.The analyticalinvestigation in the psychological phenomena of language learners can help us knowmore about the nature of translation strategies.Besides,the importance of noticing asa cognitive process in the translation has been increasingly recognized by manytranslation researchers in the past decade,especially in English-Chinese translation.Ina word,analysis on positive transfer in Chinese dialect is beneficial to know theprocess and law of English-Chinese translation.It can also provide implications forforeign language teaching.This paper has five parts.In chapter one,it is introduction about researchbackground,significance and paper structure.It will give people a brief understanding2about why the author chooses this topic to study.In chapter two,it is literature review.In this part,the author will review research status of language transfer in China andachievements of research.As for some professional words,the author will giveexplanations.Chapter three is introduction to Chinese dialect and its function.Chapterfour is analysis to positive transfer of Chinese dialect on English-Chinese translation.Last chapter is conclusion.2.Literature Review2.1 Research status at homeLanguage transfer has been always a controversial in the field of secondlanguage acquisition.However,research shows that language transfer has exactlyinfluence greatly on second language acquisition.(Ellis,1994:46)Among the keyissues that linguistics have been studying is the influence of mother tongue transfer onforeign language learning which is also one of the focuses about which they dispute.When the language habits of two languages are similar,the positive transfer will beproduced.On the contrary the negative transfer appears.According to cognitive psychology,learning is a continuous process.The newlearning is always established on the basis of previous study.Second languageacquisition based on the principles of cognitive psychology is a psychological processof understanding and outputting second language.“Transfer”is a kind of cognitiveactivity,and it reflects individual mental processing for learning and thinking.Inpsychology,“transfer”is defined as the influence of a kind of study on another kind(James C,2001:129).It widely exists in the learning of knowledge,skills,attitudesand norms of conduct.Also,it has positive and negative transfer.The positiveinfluence is“positive transfer”.On the contrary,it is“negative transfer”.32.2 Research status at abroadIn Linguistics Across Cultures written by American linguistics Robert Lado in1957(1993:93-95),in the environment of foreign language acquisition,learners werewidely depend on grasping mother tongue.They tended to make language form,meaning and cultureof mother tongue associated with the study of foreign language.Odlin defined“transfer”as one kind of influence.It was from commonalities anddifferences between previously acquired language(maybe error acquisition)andtarget language.In 1994,Rod Ellis concluded language transfer as the following 4aspects in his Studies in Second Language Acquisition:positive transfer,negativetransfer,avoidance and overuse.All the studies about language transfer show thatmore and more linguistics focuses on research of language transfer and strategies todeal with negative effect of negative transfer.(1994,78-79)3.An Overview of Chinese DialectAs we all know,China is a big city with the largest population.There are 56national minorities and 34 provinces,different nations and province result in manykinds of dialect,it is important part of Chinese language.Before studying the positivetransfer in dialect,we should have an overview of Chinese dialect.3.1 The Definition of DialectThe term dialect is used in two distinct ways.It refers to a variety of a languagethat is a characteristic of a particular group of the languages speakers.The term isapplied most often to regional speech patterns,but a dialect may also be defined byother factors,such as social class.A dialect that is associated with a particular socialclass can be termed a sociolect,a dialect that is associated with a particular ethnicgroup can be termed as ethnolect,and a regional dialect may be termed a regiolect.4According to this definition,any variety of a language constitutes“a dialect”,including any standard varieties.The other usage refers to a language that is sociallysubordinated to a regional or national standard language,often historically cognate tothe standard,but not derived from it.In this sense,the standard language is not itselfconsidered a dialect.A dialect is distinguished by its vocabulary,grammar,and pronunciation,wherea distinction can be made only in terms of pronunciation(including prosody,or justprosody itself),the term accent may be preferred over dialect.Other types of speechvarieties include jargons,which are characterized by differences in lexicon;slang;patois;pidgins;and argots.(https:/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialect)3.2 The Definition of Chinese DialectWords like fangyan,putonghua,Hanyu,Guoyu,and Zhongwen have been thesource of considerable perplexity and dissension among students of Chinese languagein recent years.The controversies they engendered are compounded enormously whenattempts are made to render these terms into English and other Western languages.Unfortunate arguments have erupted,for example,over whether Taiwanese is aChinese language or a Chinese dialect.In an attempt to bring some degree of clarityand harmony to the demonstrably international fields of Sino-Tibetan and Chineselinguistics,this article examines these and related terms from both historical andsemantic perspectives(Wang Qing,2002:35).By being careful to understandprecisely what these words have meant to whom and during which period of time,needlessly explosive situations may be defused and,an added benefit,perhaps thebeginnings of a new classification scheme for Chinese language may be achieved.Asan initial step in the right direction,the author proposes the adoption of“topolect”asan exact,neutral translation of fangyan.China is a big country with 960 thousand square kilometers,so our country hasmany dialects.These dialects composed of Chinese and each of them represents akind of regional culture in China.Now,our mandarin is according to Beijing dialect.According to The Law of the National Commonly-Used Language and Script issued5in 2000,Chinese dialect is divided into 7 dialects:Mandarin dialects,Wu dialect,Xiang dialect,Gan dialect,Hakka dialect,Yue dialect and Min dialect.Also,itcontains some controversial dialects and contact mixed dialects.Mandarin dialects include Northeast mandarin language area,Beijing mandarinlanguage area,Ji Lu mandarin language area,Jiao Liao mandarin language area,Central Plains mandarin language area,LanYin mandarin language area,Southwestmandarin language area,Jiang Huai mandarin language area etc.3.3 Functions of Chinese DialectDialect is regional variety of one kind of language.Function of dialect topeoples development composes of individual development.Properly speaking,dialect is an important factor of influencing individual development level.An ordinarymust firstly contact with dialect from the moment of birth,so function of dialect isdeep-rooted.Now,researches to dialect are only limited to negative transfer influence,for example,acquisition of dialect hinders second language study.This view in dialectis reasonable.However,also some researchers think that language as tool ofcommunication,it should be convenient;language is tool of culture expression,itshould be colorful.It is also beneficial for native culture and regional culture tocommunicate with each others,so it is necessary for us to not only confirm dominateposition of mandarin,but also protect dialect.(1)Function in literatureLanguage in literature is the best situation of language,and literature languageshould learn from dialect.Hu Shi once said in his introduction to Gu Jiegang:“方言的文学越多，国语的文学越有取材的资料，越有丰富的内容和活泼的生命。老实说，国语不过是最优胜的一种语言；今日的国语文学在多少年前都不过是方言的文学，正因为当时的人肯用方言作文学，敢用方言作文学，所以一千多年中积下了不少的活文学，其中那最有普遍性的部分遂逐渐被公认为国语文学的基础，我们自然不应该仅仅抱着这一点历史上遗传下来的基础就自己满足了。国语的文学从方言的文学里出来，仍须要向方言的文学里去寻它的新材料、新血液、新生命。”6(Zhao Yuanren,1980:72)As pioneer in the Vernacular Movement of May 4thMovement,Mr.Hu Shi fully concluded the important function of Chinese dialect inliterary creation.(2)Function of cultural identityMr.Li Guangyao has said that he wanted Chinese as Singaporeans mothertongue instead of the dialects of Fujian and Guangdong,so he promoted Chinese for20 years,dialect group has decreased largely and Chinese with English as the firstlanguage have increased to 50%(Yu Liming,2004:19-20).It seems that his policy isnot a success.According to the data show that,Chinese people acquired Chineseteaching,are more likely to use language of their own mass organization,so currentlythere are a little organizations speak Chinese in daily life.In the perspective of cultural identity,the choice of Chinese education is veryimportant.Language has great effect on cultural identity,it is more difficult to adaptin than manner,religion,customs and habit.If teaching language can enhance theacquired language,it will produce resonance on psychology and culture,or it willcause disturbance.If teaching language is family language,then culture in studentfamily will be strengthened.On the contrary,if it is difficult to communicate inteaching language,family language and origination language,the mandarin cannot belearnt well,even it will influence the nest generation.4.Analysis of the Positive Transfer of Chinese Dialect on English-ChineseTranslationTranslation is a activity of information convey between two language,and thepositive transfer of language will be help and guidance for communication actively.4.1 Positive transfer of Chinese dialect in noun translationLanguage transfer occurs when one person conclude his experience or7knowledge.The better summary he does,the better transfer he will get in the newlanguage environment,so as the effect of positive transfer.It will help to express moreaccurate meaning of dialect in English-Chinese translation.People must use positivetransfer of dialect in translation and improve translation quality so that we can reflectnational characteristics(Jiang Zukang,1990:12-13).For example,(1)“I keep it from her arter I heard on it,”said Mr.Peggotty,“going on nigh ayear”.We was living then in solitary place,but among the beautiful lest trees,andwith the roses a-covering our Bein”to the roofHere is Dong Disis translation,“起那时俺听了消息后，”辟果提先生说：“瞒她快一年了。俺们那时待的地方挺背，前后八方的树林子说不出的最漂亮，屋顶尽是蔷薇花儿 ”4.2 Positive transfer of Chinese dialect in verb translation“do”is one of the most important words in English,it has region characteristicsin translation of the North and South in China.“doing some cooking”in the North ofChina means“做饭”,but it is“搞饭