Publications

Publication details [#13049]

Li, Chris Wen-chao. 2007. Foreign names into native tongues: how to transfer sound between languages — transliteration, phonological translation, nativization, and implications for translation theory. Target 19 (1) : 45–68.
Publication type
Article in jnl/bk
Publication language
English
Journal DOI
10.1075/target

Abstract

The transfer of sound from one language into another is not a uniform process, but rather, takes different forms depending on the orthographies and phonological properties of source and target languages, the less common of which involve processes significantly different from transliteration between European phonetic scripts. This paper pools techniques commonly used in loanword phonology and second language acquisition to illustrate complications that arise when translating names from English into languages such as Japanese and Chinese, which differ significantly from the source language in syllable structure and orthographic convention. Competing strategies of adaptation and accommodation are placed in the context of lexical retrieval and compared with experimental studies of nativization in interlanguage. The article shows that for names to be perceived as similar-sounding across language boundaries, it would be desirable to look beyond segmental equivalence and consider stress, syllable count and other suprasegmental factors that play a greater role in phonological memory.
Source : Based on abstract in journal