A comparative multidimensional study of the English translation of Lunyu (The Analects): a corpus-based analysis

Although Lunyu (The Analects) is well-known and often mentioned in Confucian scholarship, there have been no focused examinations of the comprehensive linguistic features of its English translations. This study seeks to report a comparative multidimensional investigation into the similarities and...

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Main Author:	He, Mengyu
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2017
Online Access:	http://journalarticle.ukm.my/11640/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/11640/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/11640/1/16332-57782-1-PB.pdf

id	ukm-11640
recordtype	eprints
spelling	ukm-116402018-05-06T14:03:06Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/11640/ A comparative multidimensional study of the English translation of Lunyu (The Analects): a corpus-based analysis He, Mengyu Although Lunyu (The Analects) is well-known and often mentioned in Confucian scholarship, there have been no focused examinations of the comprehensive linguistic features of its English translations. This study seeks to report a comparative multidimensional investigation into the similarities and differences in the lexico-grammatical features of Lunyu (The Analects) translated by James Legge and Ku Hungming. The comparison is made along five functional dimensions (involved versus informational production, narrative versus nonnarrative concerns, explicit versus situation-dependent reference, overt expression of persuasion, and abstract versus non-abstract information), and the prominent lexicogrammatical features (based on a 67-item feature set) in the two texts are singled out. It is found that there are more private verbs, present tense verbs, be as main verb, past tense verbs, third-person pronouns, and public verbs in Legge’s The Analects of Confucius, whereas Ku’s The Discourses and Sayings of Confucius uses nouns, adjectives, long words, nominalisations, and time adverbials more often. The identified differences in lexico-grammatical patterns are related to the distinct goals of the two translators. The results demonstrate that the multidimensional (MD) approach is effective in differentiating the linguistic features of the two translation versions and motivating a micro-analysis of the texts, seeking to discern the translators’ underlying assumptions about the relations of Confucius and his followers. It is considered that these findings may have implications for the understanding of the translations of The Analects. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2017-08 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/11640/1/16332-57782-1-PB.pdf He, Mengyu (2017) A comparative multidimensional study of the English translation of Lunyu (The Analects): a corpus-based analysis. GEMA: Online Journal of Language Studies, 17 (3). pp. 37-54. ISSN 1675-8021 http://ejournal.ukm.my/gema/issue/view/999
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	Universiti Kebangasaan Malaysia
building	UKM Institutional Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English
description	Although Lunyu (The Analects) is well-known and often mentioned in Confucian scholarship, there have been no focused examinations of the comprehensive linguistic features of its English translations. This study seeks to report a comparative multidimensional investigation into the similarities and differences in the lexico-grammatical features of Lunyu (The Analects) translated by James Legge and Ku Hungming. The comparison is made along five functional dimensions (involved versus informational production, narrative versus nonnarrative concerns, explicit versus situation-dependent reference, overt expression of persuasion, and abstract versus non-abstract information), and the prominent lexicogrammatical features (based on a 67-item feature set) in the two texts are singled out. It is found that there are more private verbs, present tense verbs, be as main verb, past tense verbs, third-person pronouns, and public verbs in Legge’s The Analects of Confucius, whereas Ku’s The Discourses and Sayings of Confucius uses nouns, adjectives, long words, nominalisations, and time adverbials more often. The identified differences in lexico-grammatical patterns are related to the distinct goals of the two translators. The results demonstrate that the multidimensional (MD) approach is effective in differentiating the linguistic features of the two translation versions and motivating a micro-analysis of the texts, seeking to discern the translators’ underlying assumptions about the relations of Confucius and his followers. It is considered that these findings may have implications for the understanding of the translations of The Analects.
format	Article
author	He, Mengyu
spellingShingle	He, Mengyu A comparative multidimensional study of the English translation of Lunyu (The Analects): a corpus-based analysis
author_facet	He, Mengyu
author_sort	He, Mengyu
title	A comparative multidimensional study of the English translation of Lunyu (The Analects): a corpus-based analysis
title_short	A comparative multidimensional study of the English translation of Lunyu (The Analects): a corpus-based analysis
title_full	A comparative multidimensional study of the English translation of Lunyu (The Analects): a corpus-based analysis
title_fullStr	A comparative multidimensional study of the English translation of Lunyu (The Analects): a corpus-based analysis
title_full_unstemmed	A comparative multidimensional study of the English translation of Lunyu (The Analects): a corpus-based analysis
title_sort	comparative multidimensional study of the english translation of lunyu (the analects): a corpus-based analysis
publisher	Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
publishDate	2017
url	http://journalarticle.ukm.my/11640/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/11640/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/11640/1/16332-57782-1-PB.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T20:00:48Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T20:00:48Z
_version_	1777406835302596608

A comparative multidimensional study of the English translation of Lunyu (The Analects): a corpus-based analysis

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