Title: A Study on the English Translation of Interrogative Words in A Dream of Red Mansions from the Perspective of Construal Theory

Abstract: Translation is essentially a kind of bilingual activity in which language and cognition interact. Under the influence of “cognitive interpretation”, different translators form meaning construction or conceptualization from different angles or dimensions according to their own knowledge and experience. The semantic meanings of interrogative words in A Dream of Red Mansions are complex and blended, and there are intersections in inquiry items. The representations of non-interrogative meanings are rich and complex. The two classic English versions have effectively understood the interrogative words in the original text. However, due to the different motives and creativity of the two translators, there are differences in the understanding of interrogative words in level of specificity, focus selection, selection of highlighting and suppression methods, so they have carried out various translations of interrogative words. Based on construal theory, this paper makes a more in-depth interpretation of the translation of interrogative words, and more clearly presents the cognitive translation process of the two translators.

Keywords: interrogative words, construal, A Dream of Red Mansions, English translations of Chinese Classics

Author: Shuang Huang, Ph.D. Candidate, Foreign Language Studies, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan, China; Lecturer, School of Foreign Languages, Changsha University, Changsha, Hunan, China; Yanling Tang, Professor, Foreign Studies College, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan, China.

DOI: 10.19967/j.cnki.flc.2022.03.015