A Study of English Translation of Naxi Dongba Script from the Perspective of Eco-Translatology
This paper applies Hu Gengshen's eco-translatology (生态翻译学) to the English translation of Naxi Dongba scripture. It surveys existing Chinese translation practice, contrasting Li Lin-ts'an's classic "four-column" format (original Dongba text, IPA transcription, Chinese translation, annotation) with Fu Maoji's more labor-intensive "character-gloss" method, and notes that English translation has barely begun, proceeding either via an intermediate Chinese translation (which compounds inaccuracy) or directly from Dongba script (hampered by the shrinking pool of Naxi speakers and Dongba-literate specialists, and by cultural background loss). It argues eco-translatology's "three-dimensional transformation" (linguistic, communicative, cultural) and its principle of translator-centered "adaptive selection" are well suited to Dongba translation, since Dongba texts are semantically underspecified and require translators to draw on broad cultural knowledge to supply implied meaning. It recommends that translators vary register by text type — literal transliteration for sacred texts like the Creation Genesis, a lighter tone for humorous prayers like Repaying the Tree Debt.
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