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Article published In:
Target
Vol. 8:2 (1996) ► pp.301–324

Translation of Modifications

About Information, Intention and Effect

| National University of Singapore

Our study adopts a broadened concept of modification and discusses textual functions of modification in translating between Chinese and English. Our attention is firstly on information distribution realized by elaboration of a basic transitivity pattern through modifying a noun- or verb-head, and on matching in translation the textual effect thus created. We also illustrate some differences in using function words in the two languages, and analyze how they may affect translation. The logical nature of modification enables us to identify and observe internal modifiers within the meaning structure of a word, as against sentence and word modifiers as external modifiers. Consequently, the article argues for the importance of word and sentence translation in the practice and process of textual translating.

Article outline
  • Introduction
  • 1.Modification and Foreground/Background Information Distribution
  • 2.Function Word as Information Carrier as well as Syntactic Bearer
  • 3.Word: Its Semantic Value for Translation
  • 4.Componential Analysis: Modification Within a Word
  • 5.Internal and External Modifiers
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Refrence
Published online: 1 January 1996
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/target.8.2.06zhu
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