1、1Logic and EST TranslationAbstract. Logic is a science of the study of thought, and language itself is a reflection of thought. It is of great importance to study language from the viewpoint of logic. Translating involves the thought shift between the SL and TL, and it can be understood as a logical
2、 thinking. Therefore, translation is closely knit with logic. EST, as a special variety of language, has its prominent logical characteristics. It will be fruitful to apply logic to EST translation. Key words: logic; thought; EST translation 1. Introduction Views on the Nature of Translation The las
3、t century sees achievements the circle of translation studies has reached on translation theory and practice and it has been described as “the age of translation“ (Newmark 1981: 3). The prosperity of translation studies, whether at home or abroad, is reflected to some extent by the tendency of drawi
4、ng supports from other disciplines. In this situation, a large variety of translation theories have emerged depending on their own discipline. Among the theories, Nida 2(1982) distinguished four approaches, namely philological approach, linguistic approach, communicative approach and semiotic approa
5、ch, and his generalization is even beyond sufficiency. The diversification in translation studies impels this discipline forward but, in the meanwhile, it arouses a variety of definitions of translation and interpretations of its nature. The definition of “turn one language into another“ does not ma
6、ke much sense for it is too general and everyone knows it involves transformation of form. Nida holds that “translating consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of source-language message, first in terms of meaning and second in terms of style“. The nature by t
7、his definition boils down to “transformation of message“. A famous former Soviet expert, JI.C.apxyao, defines translation as “a process of transmitting the product of a language into another of another language with the content or meaning preserved“. Besides these above, there are still others: “Int
8、ersemiotic translation of transmutation is an interpretation of verbal signs by means of signs of nonverbal sign systems.“(Schulte when one writes a translation one is thinking all the time.“(Newmark 1981: 58) This statement is definitely true. Whatever types of text are translated and whatever 4the
9、ories are drawn from, translating cannot be isolated from thinking. Understanding translation as logical thinking firstly requires an insight into the close link between language and thought. According to Marx, language is the immediate actuality of thought (Getmanova 1989:23). The whole set of lang
10、uage is the reflection of thought of human beings. “Thought is the reflections of objective existence into humans brain, more specifically, a process of analysis, generalization, judgment and inference based on images and notions“ (Getmanova 1989: 32). It is a special cerebral activity of humans bas
11、ed on social practice. In the process of social practice, “the stimulus of thought comprises materials of practicalities and symbols“.7 Language, as a system of symbols, is a tool for communication of emotions, wills, ideas, etc., performing the function of stimulating and making humans thinking mor
12、e intensive and extensive. Conversely, creative thinking makes language more colorful and this is one of the reasons why scientific fictions bring before us non-existents at a time when they are created. However, as far as the relationship between language and thought is concerned, people cannot rea
13、ch agreement. On account of the link between language and thought, the 5word “thought“ is repeatedly used in translation studies for translation involves transformation between two languages, each conveying the content of thought. Newmark (1981:20) describes one of the tendencies of translation stud
14、ies: “lastly, translation theory attempts to give some insight into the relation between thought, meaning and language“. According to philosophy, thought is generally divided into inspiration thinking, pictorial thinking and logical thinking. In actual use of language, logical thinking is involved o
15、n most occasions. In this sense, logical thinking is indispensable in translation. Generally speaking, the process of translating comprises understanding of the SL, expressing in the TL and checking of the TL. During the whole process, each step becomes impossible if it is separated from thought. Be
16、sides the first two steps which require thinking as mentioned above, the third one is not less important. The translator is required to compare and judge, by the use of different forms of thought, whether his translation derivates from the SL. Based on the strong link between translation and thought
17、, it is understandable that translation is defined from the angle of thought. It is on account of the link between thought and translation that the concept of “logic“ draws attention of some 6experts and scholars in translation studies although their research may be not so systematic or deep-going.
18、According to a Hungarian translator, “translation is some kind of logical activity, and the product of translating is the result of logical activity“. Newmark even holds that there must be translation laws and principles for guidance and translation theories should provide some for translators to fo
19、llow, and some laws and principles should be loaned from logic, philosophy, and linguistics. 3. Logical features of EST As discussed above, translating is a process of thinking and this viewpoint is generally appropriate to a large number of text types for thinking is involved in whatever text type.
20、 However, In contrast to literary language, science language, as a reflection of practical existence, corresponds to logic to a greater extent owing to the logicality of science and technology. Taking logic as the starting point first requires an insight into the logicality of EST. This logical feat
21、ure in EST is reflected by the compactness of thought, including clarity, accuracy, consistency, coherency, etc, and this feature is firstly reflected in the language by employment of a large 7variety of language forms, such as referents, synonyms, definitions, logical connectives, etc. It is requir
22、ed by the objectiveness, explicitness and accuracy of scientific language. The second point of the compactness of thinking comes to its consistency, which means that the basic concepts and judgments cannot be altered without forewarning and they do not contradict each other. For example, an identica
23、l concept is denoted by a single word on one occasion and it is interpreted by another word or even a long description on another. In understanding, it cannot be replaced by another. The logicality of science demands consistency in thinking for avoidance of logical error. In spite of various languag
24、e forms, the contents they convey are consistent. Cohesion and coherency is not less important. In the process of writing, all scientific facts are well organized to reach a conclusion. On the one hand, the cohesion in EST can be maintained by external forms such as logical connectives: because, con
25、sequently, although, but, moreover, either or, etc; on the other hand , coherence can be realized by internal relations in a sentence, between sentences and among the text. However, in EST, many sentence structures are frequently simplified by use of nominal phrases, 8non-finite verbs, and other for
26、ms, and connectives are not employed on many occasions for the requirement of simplicity. The simplicity of EST does not mean loose coherence. Despite lack of connectives, the thought in the writing is still compact, realized by the internal logical coherence that is often implied at different level
27、s among the descriptions. 4. Significance of Application of Logic in EST Translation In view of the traits of thought in EST and the understanding of translating as a process of rethinking in the TL, it is necessary and significant to apply logic that deals with correct thinking into its translation
28、. When a translator turns the SL into the TL, he is required to observe the original facts, trace the original thinking, and transplant the original thought into his version. If he finds his version illogical or contradicting objective existence, there must be something wrong with his thinking eithe
29、r in understanding the SL or expressing in the TL. That is to say, in the whole process of translating, he should basically follow the laws and principles of logic for correct thinking or logical thinking. According to logic, the basic forms of thought include concept, judgment and inference. The or
30、iginal writer has used these three forms to organize his own thinking and what a 9translator will do is to follow them, using these forms of his own in translating. Therefore, from the logical point of view, the process of translating means transplanting the content of thought denoted by concept, ju
31、dgment and inference into the TL. Concept, as a form of thought, reflects the attribute of the crux of a matter, by which one thing is distinctive from another. It is shared by all human beings from different language environment. Scientific language is intended for description of the objective worl
32、d and exposition of the varieties of concepts whether it is pure science or applied science. The translator, first of all, is supposed to understand each concept in the SL without deviation and express them in accordance with the original. However, a concept that a word or words denotes may vary in
33、distinctive contexts and distinctive words or other forms can represent an identical concept. In this case, the translator should determine what the real concept is, based on his knowledge concerning concept-denoting rules of logic and on his logical analysis and inference, and then find its corresp
34、onding TL denoting the original concept explicitly and accurately. As for another two forms of thought, application of logic is of same significance. In the universe, objects are reflected into 10humans brain by the form of concept and then, based on concept, judgment and inference are formed. Scien
35、tific language performs the function of revealing various objective existences and establishing some logical connection among them. Therefore, it is essential to understand what judgments are made and what the logical relationship between them is. Generally speaking, the logical relationship is expr
36、essed by logical connectives, by which the translator is easier to understand these relations between different facts in EST. However, a connective can probably represent quite several relationships and, on some occasions, the language is unified by logical coherence without any connectives. In this
37、 case, the application of logic is more helpful in guiding the translators insight into the relationship between the judgments and into the process of logical inference. In perceiving the logical relationships, the translator can firstly analyze what judgments (or called facts) are contained in the original text; then he can make his own judgment on the logical relationship between the judgments; finally he evaluates the truth value, which means whether his understanding is logical according to his knowledge about formal logic and science. Take the following sentence as an example:
