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A Study on the English Translation of Plant Metaphors from the Perspective of Embodied-Cognitive Linguistics: Taking Yang Xianyi’s Translation of Wild Grass as an Example

Author(s)

Qiudi Qin, Xueqin Li*

Affiliation(s)

School of Foreign Languages and Cultures, Xihua University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China *Corresponding Author

Abstract

This study introduces the “Reality-Cognition-Language” tripartite view of Embodied-Cognitive Linguistics into the study of plant metaphors translation. Taking Lu Xun’s Wild Grass (Ye Cao) and its English translation as a corpus, it explores the translation strategies and embodied-cognitive mechanisms of plant metaphors. The results indicate that the translation of plant metaphors at the linguistic level accounts for the highest proportion. Driven by the universality of embodied cognition, literal translation is predominantly employed at this level. Conversely, the translation of plant metaphors at the cognitive and realistic levels is primarily motivated by the differences in embodied cognition between Chinese and English speakers. Specifically, translation at the cognitive level generally adopts the strategy of rendering the prototypical cognitive meaning of the source language while reconstructing the imagery in the target language. Meanwhile, translation at the realistic level employs the strategy of supplementing real-world contextual information.

Keywords

Embodied-Cognitive Linguistics; Plant Metaphor; English Translation; Wild Grass

References

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