Abstract

In the disciplines of Translation Studies and Linguistics, metaphor has been discussed prevalently; while in the context of interpreting, this is a subject less studied. This thesis explores the subject of whether metaphors can be interpreted in the context of interpreting and to what degrees can they be interpreted. Translation theories of written text are also employed in elaborating the interpreting techniques.

Based on the theoretical studies and field interpretation tests, this study proves that metaphors can be translated in interpreting but within limits. The degree to which metaphors can be translated depends on different sentence structures, ways of expression, semantic nuances and cultural backgrounds of source language and target language.

The thesis further classified the translatability of metaphors into five levels (total equivalence, high translatability, medium translatability, low translatability and the untranslatable). Case study is adopted in analyzing different translatability levels and interpreting strategies. Some implications drawn from the examples are summarized and commented. Accordingly, several strategies are suggested for the interpreters and interpretation learners.


Key words: interpreting, metaphor, translatability, degree

摘        要

现实生活中, 隐喻在口语表述，诸如演讲，交谈等日常场合中极为常见。翻译理论和语言学研究者对隐喻也给予了普遍关注。隐喻的传译本身就涉及复杂的理解过程，口译员更是需要能够在短时间内完成对隐喻的接收、理解、转换、传达等多重任务。因此，能否对源语中关键性隐喻进行准确流畅的传译，成为隐喻传译成败至关重要的条件。

本论文首先认为隐喻在口译中是可译的。在理论探讨分析的基础上，本论文进一步得出隐喻的可译度呈层级分布的结论。此外，本文结合诸多翻译评估的标准，对口译中隐喻的可译度进行了评估及分类，选取了具有可操作性的口译文本进行具体分析，从现实角度提供了立论依据。论文也为译员及口译学习者提出了应对不同隐喻的技巧及策略。


关键词：口译，隐喻，可译性，可译程度