Abstract

As contact between different languages increases, borrowing has become a common phenomenon. Up till today, Chinese has borrowed numerous words from English, and the proper translation of the borrowings is of great importance. This paper aims to study the translation of borrowings from English into Chinese and argue that semi-transliteration is the best method to translate borrowings from English. After an examination of the history of borrowing in Chinese, especially borrowing from English, this paper focuses on some fundamental differences between Chinese and English, including differences in word formation processes, in morphemic and syntactic structures, and in semantic and contextual aspects, the paper goes on to introduce three major methods of translating borrowings from English, namely transliteration, free translation and semi-transliteration. The differences of these methods are distinguished by their various emphases on sound imitation, meaning, etc. Transliteration maintains the phonetic features of the original language, free translation pays more attention to the semantic features, and semi-transliteration keeps both of them. It is important for the translator to be aware of restrictive factors during translation, such as restraints from grammatical structure, phonetic or semantic aspects, so as to choose the best translation method. But in view of Adaptation Theory, semi-transliteration is the best method to translate borrowings from English for it may keep phonetic and semantic features of the original word at the same time. 

Key words: borrowing; transliteration; free translation; semi-transliteration

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1 Introduction-1

2 Literature review on borrowed words from English-2

3 A sketch of loanwords from English-4

3.1 Main periods of borrowing from English-4

3.2 Difficulties in translating borrowings from English-6

3.3 Assimilation of English into Chinese-8

4 Major methods of translating borrowings from English-9

4.1 Transliteration-10

4.2 Free translation-11

4.3 Semi-transliteration-11

4.4 Translation of borrowings from English from the perspective of Adaptation Theory-13

5 Conclusion-14

References-17