Coherence and Translation

中央财经大学英语系 卞晓云

     Abstract：To translate means to induce a target text from a source text．Translation and text are closely related with each other．By exploiting the inherent property of the text－coherence，the thesis aims at illustrating the importance to reestablish coherence at different levels in the target text to satisfy readers' requirement of cognitive coherence．Then"the readers of a translated text could be able to understand and appreciate it in essentially the same manner as the original readers did"．

   Key Words：coherence，translation

      Introduction

      The last sixty years or so have seen a slowly but steadily increasing interest in text linguistics．With the development of text linguistics，the focus of language study has changed from the word，the sentence to the text．Entire text rather than clause and sentence is considered as the basic unit of information．Text is the ultimate linguistic unit to do with communication in any language．

    Translation is a process that operates on texts（rather than words or sentences）and hence its products also need to be studied within the framework of text linguistics．The new trend of translation theory is text oriented．Catford（1978：20）defines translation as"the replacement of textual material in one language by equivalent textual material in another language"．Albrechet（1973：26）reminds us that"what is being translated are not'code'or language but'message'or'text'"．1 Nida（1984：100）holds that in translation the ideal unit to analyze is text．Neubert（1992：10）points out that"translation is a textual process in which linguistic form and process are incorporated．Texts are the building blocks of communication in general，and of translation in particular．The text has to be considered the primary object of translation study．"

      Coherence is the essential property of a text．It acts as a yardstick to measure a text．Coherence needs to be maintained if communication is to be successful．Therefore the topic coherence is the most useful constituent of text linguistics applicable to translation．

    "Text－based translation is to establish in the target text a coherence functionally parallel to that of the source text．"（Neubert1992：93）"The maintenance of coherence should be established as a criterion for adequate translation"．（Neubert 1992：99）

    Coherence

       Although different linguists believe that coherence is the essential property of a text，they approach the concept from different angles．Van．Dijk interprets coherence from the perspective of semantics．He believes"coherence is a semantic property of discourse，based on the interpretation of each individual sentence relative to the interpretation of other sentences"（1973：）．Halliday's full attention is given to those cohesive devices such as reference，substitution，ellipsis，conjunction and lexical cohesion．Widdowson（1978）believes coherence is a pragmatic concept．Coherence is the relationship between illocutionary acts．Following Beaugrande（1981），coherence is defined as the procedures which ensure conceptual connectivity，including（1）logical relations，（2）organization of events，objects and situations，（3）continuity in human experience．It concerns"the way in which the components of the textual world which underlie the surface text are mutually accessible and relevant"（1981：4）In Brown and Yule's opinion（1983），coherence is the result of the interaction of the text and the receiver．It is provided by readers' processing of the text．

     Coherence from different angels has been discussed by almost all text linguists．But scholars have different points of view about the unit and the level which is involved in coherence discussion．Up to now there is no well－defined concept of coherence．

     Enlightened by their opinions，I believe that coherence should be defined in a broader sense．Coherence is a general notion for the overall connectedness in texts．Coherence should be detected and rendered by referring to the interplay of syntactic，semantic，pragmatic and stylistic devices．It is a network governing the syntactic level，semantic level，pragmatic level and stylistic level paradigmatically．Syntagmatically，coherence concerns all individual information units：morphemic units，lexical units and sentential units．Coherence on the higher level builds on the coherence on the lower level，which involves the whole text．   

     Coherence is also a feature of the readers' perception of text．It is a facet of the reader's evaluation of a text．Coherence is dependent on its receivers' processing．As Beaugrande puts it，"coherence is clearly not a mere feature of text，but rather the outcome of cognitive processes among text users"（1981：16）．It is wrong to separate the receiver from the text since each comes into being through the other．

     Coherence and Translation

     The study of coherence is of great significance in text－approached translation．Generally speaking，an already existing text is coherent both within the text and between the text and the real world．Because the translator produces the target text on the basis of an existing one，coherence must be captured in translation．

1．Morphemic Coherence and Translation

Morphemes within a lexical item should be coherently combined．At the same time，there are coherent relations between the coherent morphemes and concept in people's minds，the object in the real world．That is to say，semantic and pragmatic coherence should be established through the public's association with concepts or things．We can build up a referential picture in our mind by the coherent combination of morphemes． In recent years，Papegaaij and Schubert（1988）discuss morphemic coherence in machine translation．They believe that"a complex word，a sentence etc．and ultimately a text would have to mean nothing but the sum of the morphemes in it"（1988：161）．"What is translated are essentially morphemes and their relations．"（1988：162）"．．．，the translated text is an arrangement of appropriately related target language morphemes that together represent the same content as the source text．"（Papegaaij，1988：160） Coca－Cola is rendered into"可口可乐"which means appealing to tastes and conductive to pleasure．The translated lexical item does not sound like a translation but an original brand name．What's most important，the literal meaning of the name and the public's association derived from this name are coherent with the property of the sweet soft drink．The mental model constructed by the Chinese represents the entity which is introduced to China． When this soft drink was first introduced into China，it was translated into"可渴可腊"、"可口可拉"．The morphemes are less compatible and coherence between the signifier and the signified cannot be perceived by consumers．It is somewhat difficult to associate this brand name with the object which is intended to sell．The brand name which has been changed later，to some extent，brings the popularity of this soft drink and helps the sale of thousands and millions of the particular commodity．Coherence is established between the brand name and its commercial function．Coherence of morphemes helps the brand name perform an excellent social and cultural function． Morphemic coherence which builds on the semantic and pragmatic level goes hand in hand with the textual coherence．So the effects of morphemic incoherence in translation are not weak．The translator must select those lexical items which are morphemically coherent to contribute most effectively to the overall coherence of the text．In translation，too much morphemic incoherence is intolerable and unacceptable．

2．Lexical Coherence and Translation

Werth（1984）discusses collocation from the viewpoint of lexical coherence．Translation is sometimes a continual struggle to find appropriate collocations to be coherent in the target text．Recognizing whether or not a collocation is coherent，natural，and acceptable in a certain contextis one of the most important problems in translation．The following serves as an example． Original：Emma Woodhouse，handsome，clear，and rich，with a comfortable home and happy dispostion，seem to unit some of the best blessings of existence，and have lived nearly twenty －one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her．（Emma，Jane Austin） Version：爱玛·伍德豪斯简直是个得天独厚的人，又美丽、又聪明、又有钱、不但家里生活舒适，而且性情开朗，眼见要满21岁，还几乎没尝过苦恼、忧愁的滋味。 Analysis：Generally speaking，the translation is appropriate．The target text，which is based on the Chinese way of thinking：from general to particular，is adapted to be coherent syntactically．But the combination of lexical items in the general statement does not occur naturally in Chinese．The collocation"得天独厚的人"in the introduction sentence is never actualized in Chinese．So I prefer to render it as"爱玛·伍德豪斯简直是个条件得天独厚的人"．"条件"instead of"得天独厚"labels the property which"人"possesses．Then the lexical coherence is reestablished． Like morphemic coherence，lexical coherence is also a micro －coherence．The micro－coherence contributes to the overall impression that a text"hangs together"．So in translation，lexical coherence should not be overlooked．When translating，we should make a rigorous analysis of words and then select the most appropriate items according to the context to keep coherent．Otherwise，the absurd collocation will thwart readers and cause a momentary disruption in their process of reading．The reader's tolerance to unnatural and incoherent rendition is not limitless．

3．Sentential Coherence and Translation

Sentential coherence occurs both within the same sentence and between sentences．It means that there are not only formal connections but also logical relations between clauses and between sentences．Besides the local coherence between adjacent sentences，there is also coherence between sentences which are far apart in a text． When translating，translators should bear in mind the coherent model in the original and transfer it with appropriate strategies to guarantee that the target text are coherent at all levels of comprehension． Examples： 1"There's certainly too much pepper in that soup！"Alice said to herself，as well as she could for sneezing． There was certainly too much of it in the air．Even the Duchess sneezed occassionally；and as for the baby，it was sneezing and howling alternately without a moment's pause．The only two creatures in the kitchen that didn't sneeze，were the cook，and a large cat．．． Version："我看那汤里的胡椒一定搁得太多了！"阿丽思说着就觉得要打喷嚏。 实在那空气当中的胡椒面儿是不少，连那公爵夫人自己也有时候要打喷嚏；要说小孩，那就不是打喷嚏，就是叫，不是叫，就是打喷嚏，那厨房里只有两个不打喷嚏的，一个就是那做饭老妈子，一个是只大猫。（方，1999） Analysis：The coherent relations in the original are quite transparent．And it is obvious that there is no loss of coherence in the translation．Suitable coherent markers in the source and the target text help to establish the logical relationship．The rendering is proper enough to function as equivalent to the source sentence sequences．
2 Original：恰逢山外集会，猎手一不做二不休骑着自行车驮着四只狼崽上了路，四只狼崽当作四只狼狗崽很快就出了手，每只60元，四只240元，一卷票子塞进了猎人的腰包。 Version：It happened to be the time of the county fair outside the mountain．In for a penny，in for a pound．The hunter put his game on his bike and set out on his journey．The four whelps were soon sold as for baby wolfhounds，60 yuan for each，140 yuan in all．A wad of money was squeezed into his pocket．（李运兴，2000） Analysis：Every information in the original are placed in relation to one another．The progression is with a constant topic：fair time－go to the fair－make a trade in the fair．The time and situation require the translation follows the sequence in the original．The problem here is that the underlied clause in the translation destroys the semantic coherence，because journey has nothing to do with the time mentioned in the previous sentence and event in the following sentence．The underlied part had better be translated into"journey to the fair"．Then the flow of meaning is smooth． The above examples demonstrate that the incoherence in translation is not merely restricted to morphemic and lexical items．The overall translation process should be done in an interplay of rules and units on various levels．The violence of sentential coherence might have disastrous effects．Coherence of sentences helps to express the major theme，intended meaning，even style of the text．The underlying global arrangement is what the translator must reproduce in the target text． Coherence must be recreated in translation．To some extent，translation means to achieve local and global coherence，micro－and macro－coherence in the target text to guarantee readers'correct understanding． Conclusion It is persuasive to make a research on translation from the perspective of coherence．To the translator，negotiation of coherence marks the transition from understanding of source coherence to the crucial re －establishment of equivalent coherence in the target text．It seems safe for translators to relay the coherence relation constant in translation．But it is not possible to cover all aspects of the relationship between coherence and translation in such a short passage．Just as we have frequently suggested，more work in this area is needed．