Cover not available
Article published In:
Translation and Interpreting Studies
Vol. 12:1 (2017) ► pp.162–179

A relevance-theoretic account of the use of the discourse marker well in translation from Chinese into English

| Beijing International Studies University
Discourse markers are a special category of words or expressions which have been shown to pose challenges during the translation process. This article adopts a relevance-theoretic perspective and, based on the two English translations of the Chinese play Leiyu (Thunderstorm), explores the use of the discourse marker well in translation from Chinese into English. The findings show that the discourse marker well in translation from Chinese into English is added in two scenarios: to intensify weaker forms of a similar Chinese discourse marker or as an addition when omitted in Chinese. Moreover, interlingual pragmatic enrichment will ensue and the English translations, in comparison with their Chinese originals, become more determinate. Based on this study, we can conclude that discourse markers are important pragmatic elements in translation from Chinese into English. Likewise, contrastive pragmatics is shown to be of potential in the process of translation.
Keywords: relevance theory, discourse marker, well , Chinese-English translation
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Studies on the translation of discourse markers and the discourse marker well
    • Translation of discourse markers
    • The discourse marker well
  • Relevance theory and translation
  • A case study: The translation of the Chinese drama Leiyu (Thunderstorm) in English
    • Well as a marker of insufficiency in translation from Chinese into English
    • Well as a face-threat mitigator in translation from Chinese into English
    • Well as a frame in translation from Chinese into English
    • Well as a delay device in translation from Chinese into English
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References


This article is currently available as a sample article.

Published online: 13 April 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/tis.12.1.08gua
References (48)
References
Aijmer, Karin. 2002. English Discourse Particles. Evidence from a Corpus. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2008. “Translating discourse particles: A case of complex translation.” In Incorporating Corpora: The Linguist and the Translator, edited by Gunilla Anderman and Margaret Rogers, 95–116. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Aijmer, Karin and Marie Simon-Vandenbergen. 2003. “The discourse particle well and its equivalents in Swedish and Dutch.” Linguistics 411: 1123–1161. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Alo, M. 2010. “A pragmatic appraisal of the translation of Yoruba discourse markers into English.” African Journal of History and Culture 21: 55–63.Google Scholar
Andersen, Gisle. 1998. “The pragmatic marker like from a relevance-theoretic perspective.” In Discourse Markers: Descriptions and Theory, edited by Andreas Jucker and Yael Ziv, 147–170. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bazzanella, Carla and Lucia Morra. 2000. “Discourse markers and the indeterminacy of translation. In Argomenti per una linguistica della traduzione, edited by Iørn Korzen and Carla Marello, 149–157. Alessandria: Edizioni dell'Orso.Google Scholar
Blakemore, Diane. 1992. Understanding Utterances. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
. 2002. Relevance and Linguistic Meaning. The Semantics and Pragmatics of Discourse Markers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2004. “Discourse markers.” In The Handbook of Pragmatics, edited by Laurence R. Horn and Gregory Ward, 221–240. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Brinton, Laurel. 1996. Pragmatic markers in English. Grammaticalization and discourse function. Berlin and New York: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Brown, Penelope and Stephen Levinson. 1978. “Universals in language usage: politeness phenomena.” In Questions and Politeness: Strategies in Social Interaction, edited by Ester Goody, 56–289. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Cao, Yu. 2001. Leiyu (Thunderstorm), translated by Wang Zuoliang and Barnes. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press.Google Scholar
. 2009. Thunder and rain, translated by Yao Hsin-nung, T’ien Hsia Monthly. Beijing: National Library of China Press.Google Scholar
Chaume, Frederic. 2004. “Discourse markers in audiovisual translating.” Meta 49 (4): 843–855. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Erman, Britt and Ulla-Britt Kotsinas. 1993. “The case of ba´ and you know.” Studier i modern språkvetenskap 101: 76–93.Google Scholar
Fraser, Bruce. 1990. “An approach to discourse markers.” Journal of Pragmatics 141: 383–395. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fuller, Janet. 2003. “Discourse marker use across contexts: A comparison of native and non-native speaker performance.” Multilingua 221: 185–208. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fung, Loretta and Ronald Carter. 2007. “Discourse markers and spoken English: Native and learner use in pedagogical settings.” Applied Linguistics 281: 410–439. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gutt, Ernst-August. 2000. Translation and Relevance: Cognition and Context. Manchester: St. Jerome.Google Scholar
Hale, Sandra. 2004. The Discourse of Court Interpreting. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hansen, Mosegaard. 1998. The Function of Discourse Particles. A Study with Special Reference to Spoken Standard French. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hölker, Klaus. 1991. FranzÖsisich: Partikelforschung. Lexikon der Romanistischen Linguistik 51: 77–88.Google Scholar
Hussein, Miri. 2006. “Two accounts of discourse markers in English.” (accessed 26/8/2014). [URL].
House, Juliane. 2006. “Text and context in translation.” Journal of Pragmatics 381: 338–358. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Iten, Corinne. 1998. “The meaning of although: A relevance theoretic account.” UCL Working Papers in Linguistics 101: 1–29.Google Scholar
Johansson, Stig. 2006. “How well can well be translated? On the English discourse particle well and its correspondences in Norwegian and German.” In Pragmatic markers in contrast, edited by Karin Aijmer and A.-Marie Simon-Vandenbergen, 115–137. Amsterdam: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Jucker, Andreas. 1993. “The discourse marker ‘well’: A relevance-theoretical account.” Journal of Pragmatics 191: 435–452. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jucker, Andreas and Yael Ziv (eds). 1998. Discourse Markers. Description and Theory. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lam, Phoenix. 2010. “Discourse particles in corpus data and textbooks: The case of well .” Applied Linguistics 311: 260–281. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lewis, Diana. 2006. “Discourse markers in English: a discourse-pragmatic view.” In Approaches to Discourse Particles, edited by Kerstin Fischer, 43–59. Amsterdam: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Li, Qiaolan. 2004. “A study on the pragmatic fossilization of discourse markers among English learners.” Journal of PLA University of Foreign Languages 31: 53–57.Google Scholar
Lian, Shuneng. 1993. Contrastive studies of English and Chinese. Beijing: Higher Education Press.Google Scholar
Ma, Xiao. 2003. “Translation of discourse markers between English and Chinese: A pragmatic perspective.” Chinese Translators Journal 51: 36–39.Google Scholar
Mattsson, Jenny. 2009. The subtitling of discourse particles: A corpus-based study of well, you know, I mean and like, and their Swedish translations in ten American films. Ph.D. dissertation. University of Gothenburg.Google Scholar
Östman, Jan-Ola. 1995. Pragmatic particles twenty years after. In Organization in Discourse. Proceedings from the Turku Conference, edited by Brita Wårvik, Sanna-Kaisa Tanskanen and Risto Hiltunen, 95–108. Turku: University of Turku.Google Scholar
Rühlemann, Christoph. 2007. Conversation in Context. A Corpus-driven Approach. London: Continuum.Google Scholar
Schourup, Lawrence. 2001. “Rethinking well .” Journal of Pragmatics 331: 1025–1060. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sequeiros, Xose. 2002. “Interlingual pragmatic enrichment in translation.” Journal of Pragmatics 341: 1069–1089. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schiffrin, Deborah. 1987. Discourse Markers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sperber, Dan and Deidre Wilson. 1986/1995. Relevance: Communication and Cognition. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
. 2001. Relevance: Communication and cognition. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.Google Scholar
Svartvik, Jan. 1980. “ Well in conversation.” In Studies in English linguistics for Randolph Quirk, edited by Sidney Greenbaum, et al., 167–177. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Tornqvist, Egil. 1991. Transposing drama. London: Macmillan Education Ltd. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wang, Chao. 2012. Translation Studies of Discourse Marker well in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone . M.A. Thesis, Chongqing University.Google Scholar
Watts, Richard. 1986. “Relevance in conversational moves: A reappraisal of ‘well.’” Studia Anglica Posnaniensia 191: 37–59.Google Scholar
Wierzbicka, Anna. 2003. Cross-cultural Pragmatics: The Semantics of Human Interaction. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wilson, Deirdre and Dan Sperber. 1993. “Linguistics form and relevance.” Lingua 901: 1–25. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 1988. “Representation and relevance.” In Mental Representations: The Interface between Language and Reality, edited by Ruth M. Kempson, 133–53. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar