The Cognitive Process of Chinese-English Metaphor Translation from the Perspective of Cognitive Linguistics

Abstract

Metaphor transfer is a general problem of cross-cultural communication. Although the previous research has paid more attention to changes in linguistic forms, cognitive linguistics has recently begun to study the phenomenon of metaphor translation. Based on the general theories of cognitive linguistics, this paper will systematically study the cognitive process of Chinese-English metaphor translation and present the dynamic cognitive mechanism translators use to identify source-language metaphors and analyze conceptual structures, cross-linguistically map them, and finally reconstruct them in the target language. Divide the stages of cognitive operation in metaphor translation and then put forward new translation rules based on conceptual integration, cognitive equivalence and cognitive economy, as well as special methods, image retention and image reconstruction. Therefore, the main reason for the poor translation is a lack of cognitive ability in translation. Help people better understand what is meant by metaphor translation in this paper and provide a theoretical basis for applying Chinese-English translation and teaching in other areas.