A Dissertation by GRACE HUI-CHIN LIN Submitted to the Office of ...

Jiun Sheng Chang
Jiun Sheng thought meaning replacement and “generalization” were too
similar for him. Additionally, he believed, when translating Chinese idioms, that the
meaning replacement strategy should be applied. In the first interview, Jiun Sheng
thought “generalization” could be a type of usage in meaning replacement strategy:
Meaning replacement and “generalization” were similar strategies. They both
suggested that I should use a word with a broader meaning to express. For
example, I could use “fruit” to replace and generalize different specific types
of fruits. I found these two strategies both made the intended meaning
expressed and a vague meaning received.
In the second interview, Jiun Sheng perceived that the Chinese idiom could be
translated through the meaning replacement strategy. He observed when translating
idioms from Chinese to English, the Chinese people would have higher
comprehension due to the cultural knowledge background:
I would use meaning replacement to translate Chinese idioms into English.
Using it was as if I considered in Chinese and then translated my thought into
English. It was tough to translate accurately Chinese idioms associated with
Chinese culture into accurate English. I noticed the listeners who were people
with a Chinese background like Chinese people or foreigners studying
Chinese would be able to grasp my idiom translated from Chinese with
meaning replacement strategy.
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