The Application of the Theories of Pragmatics in Translation

The Application of the Theories of Pragmatics in Translation

刘家瑛

山东现代学院，山东 济南 250000

Abstract: Pragmatics was first seen in the American philosopher Morris’s book Foundation of the Theory of Signs(1938). Pragmatics is a discipline to study the usage and understanding of a language. With the development of pragmatics and its influence on translation from different perspectives, the research on pragmatics and translation has been attached more and more attention. What is more, pragmatics has developed its own way of development which provides theoretical and methodological instruction to the construction of translatology.

Key Words: Pragmatics；Translation；Context；Speech Act Theory；Indirect Speech Act Theory

Pragmatics is a discipline to study the usage and understanding of a language. It is not only about the process in which the speaker expresses his or her intention with the help of a language and outer context but also the process in which the hearer decodes and guesses the speaker’s words. It also studies the meanings the communicator expresses and understands in a particular communication context as well as its process. In 1938, the American philosopher Morris first put forward the conception pragmatics. And in the following years, the English philosopher Jane Austen’s speech act theory, the American lingual philosopher John Searle’s indirect speech act theory as well as the American philosopher P. Grice’s cooperative rule all play a significant role to the development of pragmatics. On the other hand, the three famous philosophers’ contributions also have made great influence on the development of translation.

1.0 Context and Translation

Pragmatics studies how an utterance attains its meaning in a context. To put it more clearly, what it studies is what an utterance means in a specific context. A context is the environment of speech, and its main function is to restrain language. The applications and communications of all languages are always restricted to a certain context. To understand the whole meaning of a sentence fully and accurately, we need to get a deeper understanding of the sentence itself, that is to say, the meaning in a deeper sense. To cite an example:

How did it go?

If we need to explain this sentence, we can translate it into “结果怎么样？”from the perspective of pragmatics, which is also its surface meaning. However, if the context of the sentence is taken into consideration, for example:

A: I just came back from my summer camp in Shanghai.

B: How did it go?

From this context, the sentence “How did it go? is obviously about A’s wonder about B’s camp. And it is not about the general result. If we change to another context, for example:

A: I have just finished an operation, I am very tired now.

B: How did it go?

Obviously, this conversion happens between a doctor and his or her colleague and his or her colleague asks about the progress of the operation. If we consider about the context, we will find that a context can restrict the meaning of it and it will also have an effect on its translation.

2.0  Speech Act Theory and Translation

According to Jane Austen’s speech act theory, when a person speaks, he or she does three acts at the same time:

The first is the locutionary act. It refers to the surface meaning of an utterance, that is, the literal meaning of it.

The second is the illocutionary act. It refers to the true meaning the utterance implies, that is, the meaning be concluded between the lines.

The third is the perlocutionary act. It refers to the effect of an utterance to the hearers. In communications, we need to understand the true meanings of the speaker. Let us analyze the following example carefully:

Husband: The telephone is ringing. Wife: I am in the bathroom now.

Husband: Ok.

Let us start analyzing the dialogue with the locutionary act. Here is the translation:

丈夫：电话响了。   妻子：我在浴室呢。     丈夫：好吧。

This version of translation is stiff and lifeless. Now let us analyze it from the angle of the illocutionary act:

丈夫：电话响了。(言外之意是让他妻子去接下电话)

妻子：我在浴室呢。（言外之意是我正在洗澡不能接，你去接吧）

丈夫：好吧。（言外之意是好吧，我去接）

Seen from this analysis, this translation is different from the first version of translation. It is more vivid and it also accomplishes its perlocutionary act, that is, the husband answers the telephone.

3.0 Indirect Speech Act Theory and Translation

The American lingual philosopher John Searle put forward the indirect speech act theory. When a speaker uses an indirect speech, he or she accomplishes two acts at the same time, that is, the primary speech act and the secondary speech act.

The primary speech act refers to the intention of the speaker while the secondary speech act refers to the way to reach his intention.

Student A: Let us go to the cinema tonight.

Student B: I have to study for an exam tomorrow.

As to the surface meaning：学生A: 我们今天晚上一起去看电影吧。学生B：我今晚要准备明天的考试。A advises B to go to the cinema with him, but B does not give him a definite answer. Instead, he turns down his advice in an euphemistic way by saying “ 我要准备明天的考试”。A has to think about B’s meaning to know his answer.

4.0 Conclusion

In the process of translation, to reach an accurate understanding and expression of the translated text, we need to pay attention to the pragmatics. The pragmatic implicature is not telling people what a sentence means, but what it implies. In the recent 10 years, the relationship between pragmatics and translation is more and more closer.The achievements of pragmatics in various fields provide scientific methods of analysis to the research of translation and are put into the research and practice of translation.

Bibliography:

[1]George Yule, The Study of Language[M].

[2]Leech, G. Principles and Pragmatics[M]. London: Longman, 1983.

[3]Newmark, P.A Textbook of Translation[M]. New York: Prentice Hall, 1988.