Cadernos de Tradução (Jun 2022)
An RCG-based analysis of the Translation of Polysemous Verb ‘Yao’ in A Dream of Red Mansions
Abstract
This research investigates the applicability of a relatively new concept from cognitive linguistics, Radical Construction Grammar (RCG) (Croft:2001), as an analytical model in the study of the translation process. Based on the fundamental concepts of RCG, this article puts forward a construction-oriented view of translation and the following six construction-based translation principles: the semantic function priority principle, the conceptual space-based principle, the gestalt principle, the interactivity principle, the taxonomic principle, and the prototype priority principle. These RCG-based translation conceptions and principles will be detailed and verified in translation examples with the Chinese polysemic word 'yao' in different constructions, selected from the translation of the Chinese classic A Dream of Red Mansions (Cao & Gao:1994). The results of this study show that RCG can provide an innovative linguistic model for translation studies, particularly for the issue of polysemy.
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