Pragmatic Meaning in Translation

• Translation is transforming discourse from one language to another while maintaining its meaning
• Meaning consists of semantic meaning and pragmatic meaning
• Focus is on the translation of pragmatic meaning, using the translation of Chinese kinship terms into English as an example

Kinship Terms

• Chinese kinship terms like "爷," "妈," and "妹" have specific meanings as kinship terms, but their usage can change and carry pragmatic meanings
• Language users employ these terms with specific pragmatic intentions
• Understanding these pragmatic meanings by the audience is crucial, and correct translation at this level is also crucial
• Using Lao She's Rickshaw Boy and its English translations, among other materials, to investigate this point
• Rickshaw Boy has three English versions: Evan King (1946), Jean M. James (1979), and Shi Xiaoqing (1981)

Translating "爷" (Grandfather/Sir)

• "爷" is used in two main contexts: referring to Huniu's father as "刘四爷" (Old Man Liu) and Xiangzi referring to himself
• "爷" combines with "刘四" (Liu Si) to form an honorific for an older male
• Translators render "刘四爷" as "the Fourth Master" (Evan King), "Master Liu" or "Liu" (Jean James), and "Fourth Master" (Shi Xiaoqing)
• Translators equate "爷" with "Master"
• Translating "爷" as "Master" is appropriate in this context, aligning the language user's (Lao She's) and interpreter's (translator's) understanding of the language
• Using "Master" conveys the meaning of "爷" to English speakers

Alternative Meanings of "爷"

• "此处不留爷，自有留爷处" (If you don't keep me here, someone else will) requires more nuance
• "爷" is not an honorific but a self-reference, similar to "老子" (I), with a sense of resignation
• Evan King's translation omits this phrase
• Jean James translates it as "'When one place isn't fit for a gentleman like me, there's always another place that will do.'"
• Shi Xiaoqing translates it as "'if one place didn't want him, another would.'"
• Translating "爷" as "master" is clearly inappropriate here
• Translating it as "gentleman" sounds like Xiangzi is boasting and "him" lacks nuance
• If the translator understood Lao She's intention, the translated meaning differs from the author's original intention
• One solution is to add a note after translating it as "him," explaining the meaning of "爷"

Translating "妈" (Mother/Ma)

• The basic meaning of "妈" is a kinship term, with clear denotation
• "妈" combines with a surname to form a title, like "高妈" (Ma Gao) or "杨妈" (Ma Yang), referring to a female servant/housekeeper
• Lao She uses "高妈" with this meaning
• Translators render "高妈" as "Kao Ma" (all three translations) and "杨妈" as "Yang Ma"
• It is questionable if combining "ma" with a surname conveys "female servant/housekeeper" in English
• Translators render "张妈" (Ma Zhang) as "Amah Chang" (Evan King), "Chang Ma" (Jean James), and "Nanny Zhang" (Shi Xiaoqing)
• "Amah" is an Indian-English term for a female servant, especially a nanny
• "Nanny" means nanny
• These two translations are generally accurate, but it's unclear why the translators treat "高妈" and "杨妈" differently

Translating "老妹子" (Young Woman/Sister)

• A wealthy woman in Rickshaw Boy says, "你这是怎么了，老妹子!" (What's wrong, young woman!)
• From the context, "老妹子" is an informal way to address someone familiar, to create intimacy
• Translators render the phrase as "What's this? sister!" (Evan King), "Don't be silly, sister." (Jean James), and "What, old girl?" (Shi Xiaoqing)
• The first two options are better, conveying the pragmatic meaning of addressing someone familiar. "Old girl" is awkward

Pragmatic Meaning in Translation

• Translating pragmatic meaning is difficult
• Translators must understand the original's pragmatic meaning, then express it in the target language
• The denotations of words in the source and target languages may be asymmetrical
• Finding the similarities and differences in the scope of pragmatic meaning is important, especially the overlapping areas, to find a conditional symmetry
• Disparities in the scope of pragmatic meaning are varied and require flexible handling
• The three methods proposed in section 1 can be applied. Examples of the first two have been given and two examples of the third are given below

Example 1

• "Vasco da Gama and Columbus enlarged the world, and Copernicus enlarged the heavens."
• A literal translation might suggest Da Gama and Columbus were gods, so the pragmatic meaning is missing
• Xu Guozhang translates this as "达伽玛绕好望角抵印度,哥伦布西行发现新地,而世界为之扩大。 哥白尼立日中心之说，而宇宙为之扩大". (Da Gama traveled around the Cape of Good Hope to reach India, Columbus traveled west and discovered new lands, and the world was enlarged because of it. Copernicus argued for heliocentrism, enlarging the universe.")
• The translation creates context
• The meaning becomes clear

Example 2

• "The Donation of Constantine was rejected as a fable, and overwhelmed with scholarly derision. By the help of the Byzantines, Plato came to be known, not only in Neoplatonic and Augustinian version, but at first hand."
• The first sentence is not difficult to translate, but the second half is less so
• The difficulty is in how to arrange the translation and create the context
• The phrase "not only... first hand" requires careful consideration

Understanding and Expressing Meaning

• Qian Zhongshu points out that Lin Qinnan added a "wrist" without reason
• The passage was "... the doctors considering it doubtful whether he will ever recover the use of his legs which prevents his holding a pen”
• Lin translated this as “先生足下：吾父命我以书与君。医生言吾父股必中断，腕不能书，故命我书之” (Sir, my father ordered me to write to you. The doctor said that my father's thigh must be broken, so he cannot write with his wrist, so he asked me to write it)
• The addition of a "wrist" is unnecessary
• Listeners understand pragmatic meaning through context
• Context includes the participants, time, location, beliefs, knowledge, intentions, etc.
• Context also includes the text
• When reading an article, one generally understands through the context
• Knowledge of academic subjects and specific situations are also needed to understand the context of an article
• It is difficult to fully understand the subjective factors included such as "beliefs, knowledge, intentions"

The Role of Context

• How should we understand and translate the line “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” spoken by the three witches in the first scene of the first act of Shakespeare's Macbeth
• Zhu Shenghao translates it as "美即丑恶丑即美 (Beauty is ugliness and ugliness is beauty)", Bian Zhilin translates it as "美即是丑，丑即是美" (Beauty is ugliness, ugliness is beauty)
• Fang Ping thinks the translation can translate to "吉即是凶，凶即是吉 (Good is ominous, ominous is good)", eventually settling on "祸即是福，福即是祸 (Calamity is fortune, fortune is calamity)"
• Later in the text, a line appears - “So foul and fair a day I have not seen”
• Zhu translates this as “我从来没有见过这样阴郁而又光明的日子” (I have never seen such a gloomy yet bright day)
• Bian translates this as “我从未见过这样坏、这样好的一天 (I have never seen such a bad, such a good day)”, Fang translates this as “还没见过这么坏又这么吉利的一天” (I have never seen such a bad and auspicious day)
• All have their own justifications, but what is more faithful to Shakespeare’s original intention is unknown.
• This is because we cannot know Shakespeare’s subjective intentions
• Not knowing this is okay because it allows future generations to understand and translate the line in many ways
• The difficulty lies not in understanding but expressing the thought in the target language

Final Thoughts

• Wang Shouren explains that the poet had heard someone analyze the poem Dreams by Langston Hughes
• Wang said that the poem's "dreams"' connotations were "ideals" and "dreams", and that the two meanings are one
• there is no corresponding equivalent to it in Chinese, because the two meanings in Chinese are separated
• Similar situations are not uncommon
• The above are examples, and the three translation techniques mentioned are merely principles
• In practice, translation is ever-changing and has few fixed methods
• From the perspective of pragmatics, the essay attempted to explore translation
• Pragmatics is a worthwhile area of study, even with its limitations
• Expanding it to include social and cultural communication will be even more beneficial