Keywords: Cooperative Principle; Second-Person Deixis; Corpus
Abstract: Deixis constitutes a crucial component of pragmatics, with person deixis—primarily manifested through personal pronouns—serving to demarcate the relationship between participants in linguistic activities and the discourse itself. This study holds significance for linguistic communication in two aspects: First, it conducts a pragmatic contrastive analysis of the similarities and differences in the usage of second-person deixis between English and Chinese, alongside their resultant pragmatic effects. Second, grounded in Grice’s Cooperative Principle under the framework of conversational implicature, this paper examines second-person deixis in English-Chinese translation phenomena through analysis of spoken language corpora from the CCL parallel corpus.
Abstract: Both “má”(麻)and “mā”(嫲)are ancient Chinese characters whose meanings have undergone a long process of development and change, giving them a certain research value. The study conducts a semantic comparative analysis of 麻 and 嫲 in Mandarin Chinese and Hakka. By reviewing authoritative dictionaries and utilizing the CCL corpus (Center for Chinese Linguistics, PKU), the study systematically examines the semantic meanings of both words. The findings reveal that: (1) Mandarin and Hakka share five common meanings of 麻: “crop”, “hemp products”, “loss of sensation”, “tangled and messy”, and “quick”. Yet Hakka uniquely features action-oriented meanings such as “to lie down” and “sagacious”, the latter contrasting with the meaning of “foolish” in Mandarin. (2) Both Mandarin and Hakka share the general meaning of “female” in 嫲, but Hakka lacks the semantic usage of 嫲 as an address form. Instead, Hakka uses it to denote “female” or “female animals”, and even to refer to feminine characteristics in non-living objects. (3) While 嫲 reflects inter-generational relationships and respect within the family structure in Mandarin, Hakka emphasizes gender characteristics more explicitly.
Keywords: Stray Birds; Zheng Zhenduo; Feng Tang; Modern Chinese Function Words; Literary Translation; Newmark’s Communicative Translation Theory
Abstract: As a great work of Indian literature introduced to China during the May Fourth Movement, Stray Birds brought a breath of fresh air to the turbulent literary scene of China in that era, aiming to propagate the gospel of peace and love. Its ideas of sympathizing with the oppressed, opposing violence, extolling the spirit of patriotism, praising the beauty of nature, and human emotions aligned with the aspirations of intellectuals of the time. The renowned literary figure Zheng Zhenduo’s translation of Stray Birds into vernacular Chinese provided innovative inspiration to literary translation and creation in that period and even for future generations.
In an era dominated by scientific rationalism, the widespread incorporation of modern Chinese function words into poetry became a distinct feature in the transformation of Chinese poetic forms. Translating function words involves a profound understanding of language and cultural contexts. As language evolves with societal changes, understanding contemporary characteristics becomes crucial for accurate translation. In current academia, there is a growing trend to do research on modern Chinese poetry with linguistics, yet the exploration from the perspective of modern Chinese function words remains limited.
Therefore, this essay will analyze and compare the translation of function words in Stray Birds by Zheng Zhenduo and Feng Tang spanning across a century, taking into account the characteristics of their respective eras and translation philosophies by using Newmark’s Communicative Translation Theory. It will also summarize the developmental trends in the translation of English function words into Chinese, explore the profound meanings behind the evolution of function words, and discuss the challenges and responsibilities faced by translators in the current social and cultural context.
Keywords: The “Going Global” of Chinese Culture; Culture-loaded Terms; The New Year’s Sacrifice
Abstract: As pivotal elements of cultural transmission, Chinese culture-loaded words encapsulate rich historical and cultural connotations, profoundly manifesting the profound heritage of Chinese civilization. Confronted with the mission of international communication and cultural dissemination, translators must accord meticulous consideration to these culturally specific expressions, striving to accurately present the essence of traditional Chinese culture to global audiences, thereby effectively enhancing the global propagation and influence of Chinese culture. This study examines Yang Xianyi’s English translation of The New Year’s Sacrifice to explore translation strategies and methods for culture-loaded words under the framework of the “Going Global” Chinese Culture initiative, specifically analyzing material culture-loaded terms, social culture-loaded terms, and religious culture-loaded terms. The research aims to contribute modestly to scholarly discourse in this field.
Keywords: market competition; Rural kindergartens; Elementary school; Case study
Abstract: In the process of marketization of kindergartens, the phenomenon of elementary school in rural early childhood education still exists. This study uses the qualitative research method to deeply describe the current phenomenon of elementary school in rural kindergartens, explore its social structure motivation, and then analyze the survival path dependence of rural kindergartens. The study found that rural kindergartens have social realities such as losing educational goals, paying attention to parents’ education requirements, and seeking parents’ satisfaction through teaching activities. It also found that the social structure motivation of the phenomenon of elementary school in rural kindergartens and the survival strategy of kindergartens showed dynamic changes and cross-field characteristics, and based on this, the internal mechanism of the phenomenon of elementary school in rural kindergartens was constructed.