从关联理论的角度看翻译中的语境问题

　　从关联理论的角度看翻译中的语境问题从关联理论的角度看翻译中的语境问题从关联理论的角度看翻译中的语境问题
　　〔Abstract〕
　　SperberandWilsonfirstputforwardtheRelevanceTheory，whichexplainslinguisticactivitiesintheframeworkofcognition。TheirstudentErnstAugustGuttappliedittotranslationstudiesandgotanencouragingresult。Hepointedoutthattranslationisnotonlyacommunicativeactivity，butalsoacognitiveactivity。Contextplaysaveryimportantroleinourunderstandingoftheutteranceandtext。Asuccessfultranslationrequiresthetranslatortoreasonaccordingtothedynamiccontext，whichdependssomuchontherelevanceofthelanguageandenvironment。Infact，theprocessoftranslationisaprocessofcontextreasoningandselecting，whichisalwaysdynamicanddevelopingasthecircumstanceschange。Duringtheprocessoftranslation，themaintaskoftranslatoristofindouttherelevance，especiallytheoptimalrelevancebetweenthelanguageandcontext。Accordingtotheprincipleoftheoptimalrelevance，thetranslatorcouldunderstandtheoriginaltextcorrectly，andthentranslateitintotargetlanguageappropriatelybycomposingandreasoningthemostsuitablecontext。Discussingoncontextintheperspectiveofrelevancetheoryprovidesanewviewtostudyandpracticetranslation。
　　〔KeyWords〕Translation；communication；relevancetheory；optimalrelevance；cognitivecontext；dynamiccontext
　　【摘要】关联理论是由SperberandWilson最早提出的，它从认知的角度解释了许多的语言活动。随后，Wilson的学生Gutt最早把这一理论运用于翻译研究中，并取得突破性的进展。他还指出，翻译不仅仅是一项交际活动，更是一项认知活动。在我们理解一段话语或文字的时候，语境往往起着非常重要的作用。成功的翻译往往要求翻译者能够根据动态语境进行推理，而动态语境又依赖于语言与环境的关联。实际上，翻译的过程就是一个语境推理和选择的动态的，不断发展的过程。因此，在翻译的过程中，译者的主要任务就是找出语言与语境之间的关联，特别是最佳关联。根据最佳关联理论，翻译者就能通过构建最适合的语境，准确地理解源语文章，并且比较贴切地把它翻译成目的语。因此，从语用关联的角度探讨语境问题为我们的翻译研究和翻译实践提供了一个全新的视角。
　　【关键词】翻译；交际活动；关联理论；最佳关联；认知语境；动态语境
　　1。Introduction
　　Translationisnotonlyalinguisticactivitythattransformsthemeaningfromonelanguagetoanotherwithwordsasitsmedium，butalsoacomplicatedthinkingactivitythatcontainsmanylinguisticandnonlinguisticcomponents。Somanyproblemsontranslationmaynotbesolvedbytheonlylinguisticapproach。Afterthebirthofpragmatics，manytranslationscholarsapplieditintotheresearchoftranslationstudiesandgotsomeencouragingresults。Becausepragmaticsstudiesfocusontherelationsbetweenlanguageandcontext，thepragmaticapproachoftranslationemphasizesontherelationsbetweentextandcontext。Inthisway，pragmaticsprovidesusanewandbeneficialviewtostudytranslation。Accordingtomanylinguistsandtranslators，translationisaveryspecialkindofcommunicationthatdoesnotalwayshappenamongpeoplefacetoface，anditdependsmuchonthecontext。Understandingthesemanticmeaningofatextisnotsufficient，comprehendingthecontextualmeaningisalsoveryimportantforgoodtranslation。Communicationisacontinuousanddynamicprocessofchangesanddevelopment，andsoiscontext。Translatorsdonotengageinthemeretranslationofwords；donottranslateaccordingtothosestaticandfixedcontextualelements，theirinterpretiveactsdealwithreasoningandexplorationofsituationsthatareconstitutedbyanintenseinteractionoflinguistic，psychological，anthropological，andculturalphenomena。〔1〕Inthisway，adynamiccontextthatdependssomuchontherelevanceofthelanguageandenvironmentisestablishedintheprocessoftranslating。Soduringtheprocessoftranslation，themaintaskoftranslatoristofindouttherelevance，especiallytheoptimalrelevancebetweenthelanguageandcontext。
　　2。RelevanceTheoryandOptimalRelevance
　　2。1。RelevanceTheory
　　LinguistsSperberandWilsonfirstputforwardtheRelevanceTheoryinthefamouslinguisticworkRelevance：CommunicationandCognition，whichexplainslinguisticactivitiesintheframeworkofcognition。IntheRelevanceTheory，thecommunicationincludingverbalandnonverbalcommunicativeactivitiesisregardedasacognitiveactivity，anditssuccessdependsontheconsensustowardsinco从关联理论的角度看翻译中的语境问题从关联理论的角度看翻译中的语境问题从关联理论的角度看翻译中的语境问题gnitiveenvironmentbetweenbothsidesofcommunication。Thecognitiveenvironmentalwaysincludeslexicalmeaning，encyclopedicknowledgeandlogicalinformation。Tohaveasuccessfulcommunication，thesearchfortheconsensusandrelevanceisthemostimportant。Accordingtothisconsensusandtherelevance，peoplecanunderstandtheintentionandpurposeofthespeakerortheauthoreasily。
　　SperberandWilsonalsosuggestedthattheunderstandingoftheutteranceisnotonlyareasoningprocess，butalsoaprocessofostensiveinference。Traditionally，therearetwomodelsofcommunication。Oneisthecodedmodelthatregardslanguageasacodesystem。Andinthecodedmodel，thecommunicationisaprocessofcodestransformation。Theotheroneisinferentialcommunicationthatdependsmuchonthecontextreasoning。Therefore，tounderstandtheutterance，especiallythosecultureorientedutterances，simplycodinganddecodingisfarlessthanenough。Bothofthemodelsonlypartiallyexplainthecommunication，butcannotrevealthenatureofcommunication，whichismorecomplicatedthanjustcodinganddecoding。SperberandWilsoncombinedthesetwomodels，andthenadvancedtheconceptofOstensiveInferentialCommunication，inwhichthecommunicationisregardedasaninferentialprocess，andcontextinferenceplaysanimportantroleinit。Strictlyspeaking，relevancetheoryappliednottoallcommunicationinthesenseofanykindofinformationtransfer，butto‘ostensivecommunication’or，moreexplicitly，to‘OstensiveInferentialCommunication’：‘ostensiveinferentialcommunicationconsistsinmakingmanifesttoanaudienceone’sattentiontomakemanifestabasiclayerofinformation’，thisbasiclayerofinformationbeingthecommunicator’sinformativeintention。〔2〕
　　2。2。Relevanceanddegreeofrelevance
　　Incommunication，thesamesentencealwayshasdifferentunderstandingsunderdifferentconditions。Thesedifferentunderstandingsarenotarousedbythewordmeaning，butbymanyothernonverbalfactors，suchastime，place，socialbackground，statusandintentionofthespeakerortheauthor。Usually，peoplecannotunderstandthesefactors，sopeoplecannotunderstandtherealmeaningofasentenceandmanymisunderstandingsoccur。Sometimes，peoplecannotimmediatelyrelatethesefactorstothecertainutteranceandthecommunicationisblocked。Sopeopleneedtoknowhowthetworelatetoeachotherandhowtoreasonandunderstandthemeaningofanutterance。Thuspeopleintroducethenotionofrelevance，whichSperberandWilsondefineintermsofthefollowingconditions：
　　Extentcondition1：anassumptionisrelevantinacontexttotheextentthatitscontextualeffectsinthiscontextarelarge。
　　Extentcondition2：anassumptionisrelevantinacontexttotheextentthateffortrequiredtoprocessitinthiscontextissmall。〔3〕
　　Thusweseefirstlythatrelevanceisdependentontheinterplayoftwofactors：contextualeffectsandprocessingeffort，whicharecrucialfactorsthatmakeinferentialcommunicationpossible。Secondly，sinceboththesefactorsarecontextdependent，thenotionofrelevanceitselfiscontextdependent，too。Thirdly，relevanceiscomparativenotionutterancescanvaryaccordingtothedegreeofrelevancetheyachieveinsomecontext。〔4〕
　　AccordingtoSperberandWilson，thedegreeofrelevancedependsonthecontextualeffectsandprocessingeffort。However，thecontextualeffectscannotbeachievedeasily。Evenifpeopleputinalotofprocessingeffort，theymaynotachievethesufficientcontextualeffects。Theachievementofcontextualeffectsalwaysdependsonthefollowingfactors：thecomplexityofanutterance，theexplicationofthecontextandprocessingeffortthataremadetoreasonthecontextualeffects。Intheframeworkofrelevancenotallthecontextualimplicationsofagivenpropositioncanbeeasytoobtain。Thosederivedfromsmall，easilyaccessiblecontextswillberelativelycheapinprocessingterms。Thosederivedfromlarge，lesseasilyaccessiblecontextswillberelativelyexpensiveinprocessingterms，becauseoftheadditionaleffortrequiredtoputintoreasoningandselectingthemostsuitablecontexttothecertaincontext。Sotheuniversalaimincontextprocessingistoobtainthemaximumofcontextualimplicationinreturnforanyprocessingeffortexpended。
　　Butrelevanceisacomparativeconcept，foritcontrastswiththecontextanddependsonthecontext；andalsoitisdecidedbythecommunicators’cognitivecapacityandenvironment，sothedegreeofrelevancecanbeclassifiedasmaximallyrelevant，veryrelevant，weaklyrelevantandirrelevant。Lookatthefollowingexamples：
　　（1）A：Howlongdidth从关联理论的角度看翻译中的语境问题从关联理论的角度看翻译中的语境问题从关联理论的角度看翻译中的语境问题econferencelast？
　　B：Twohours。
　　Inthisdialogue，thecontextualeffectismaximal，theprocessingeffortsareminimal，therelevanceisthestrongest，sowecansaythatthedialoguehasaveryclearcontext，andneedlittleprocessingefforts。Andtheutteranceandcontextaremaximallyrelevant。
　　（2）A：Iamoutofpetrol。
　　B：Thereisagaragearoundthecorner。
　　Inthedialogueabove，sentenceAactuallymeans，WherecanIbuypetrol？AndsentenceBmeansthatYoucanbuypetrolinthegarage。Inthiscase，sentenceAandBseemsirrelevant，butwecanbuypetrolinthegarageisacommonsensethateverybodyknowsit。Westillcanunderstandtheutterance，butitneedshearersmoreprocessingeffortsthanthefirstexample。Soitisstillaveryrelevantutterance。
　　（3）A：Thehostessisanawfulbore。Doyouthinkso？
　　B：Therosesarelovely，aren’tthey？
　　Inthiscase，BgivesacompletelyirrelevantanswertoA，andgivesnoinformationaboutquestion。Theanswerseemsirrelevantsemantically，whileithasrelevancepragmatically。Inthistime，toobtaincertaincontextualeffects，lotsofprocessingeffortsneeded，andthentheutterancewillhaveaspecialconversationmeaning：let’snottalkaboutthehostesshereandnow。
　　2。3。Principleofrelevanceandoptimalrelevance
　　Thelinguisticcommunicationisrelevanceoriented，andcostandbenefitaretwoimportantfactorsinthisprocess。Allofthecostandbenefitofbothcommunicatorsarealltakenintoaccount。However，whetheranutterancehasadequaterelevance，manyfactorssuchastheexpressionstylesofanutterance，thehearer’scognitiveenvironment，intellectualandsensibility，shouldbetakenintoaccount。Thedifferentdegreesofaccessibilityofcontextualassumptionsmakethemselvesfeltbytheamountofefforttheirretrievalrequiresinaparticularactofcommunication。Thissensibilitytoprocessingeffortisoneofthecrucialfactorsthatmakeinferentialcommunicationpossible：itseemsthatcommunication，nodoubtlikemanyotherhumanactivities，isdeterminedbythedesireofoptimizationofresources，andoneaimofoptimizationistokeeptheeffortspenttoaminimum。〔5〕Duringtheprocessoftheostensivecommunication，bothcommunicatorstrytheirbesttolookfortheoptimalrelevanceofthespeaker’sutteranceandthehearer’scognitiveenvironment，tryingtomakesuccessfulcommunication。Butwhatistheoptimalrelevance？AndSperberandWilsondefinedthepresumptionofoptimalrelevanceasfollows：
　　（a）Theostensivestimulusisthemostrelevantenoughforittobeworththeaddressee’sefforttoprocessit。
　　（b）Theostensivestimulusisthemostrelevantonecompatiblewiththecommunicator’sabilitiesandpreferences。〔6〕
　　Thecentralclaimofrelevancetheoryisthathumancommunicationcruciallycreatesanexpectationofoptimalrelevance，thatis，anexpectationonthepartofthehearerthathisattemptatinterpretationwillyieldadequatecontextualeffectsatminimalprocessingcost。Thisfactisbelievedtobepartofyourhumanpsychology，andisexpressedinrelevancetheoryastheprincipleofrelevance：
　　Everyactofostensivecommunicationcommunicatesthepresumptionofitsownoptimalrelevance。〔7〕
　　Otherwise，notalltheostensivestimuluscanobtaintheoptimalrelevance。Ifandonlyifanutteranceachievesenoughcontextualeffectthatcanattractthehearer’sattention，andifandonlyifanutterancemakesthehearerneednogratuitousmentaleffort，theoptimalrelevancecanbeobtained。Thatis，toobtaintheoptimalrelevance，thespeakerimplicitlyandautomaticallyconveystheassumptionthatthehearercanexpecttoderiveadequatecontextualeffectswithoutspendingunnecessaryefforts。〔8〕
　　Inthesearchforadequatecontextualeffects，thehearerwillalsoassumethatitisnotbeingputtoanygratuitousexpenditureofprocessingeffort。Anditofferstheanswertothequestion：howdoesahearermanagetoselecttherightsetofcontextualassumptionsfromallheknows？Inthepursuitofoptimalrelevanceitturnsfirsttohighlyaccessibleinformation，lookingforadequatecontextualeffects；ifthisinformationdoesyieldcontextualeffectsadequatetotheoccasioninawaythespeakercouldforeseen，thenitwillassumethatithasusedtheright，thatis，speakerintended，contextualinformation。〔9〕
　　Peoplecannotgivetherelevanceacleardefinition。Whenpeopledefinitetherelevance，theynotonlyshouldthinkaboutcontextualeffects，butalsoshouldthinkabouttheproc从关联理论的角度看翻译中的语境问题从关联理论的角度看翻译中的语境问题从关联理论的角度看翻译中的语境问题essingeffortthatthehearershaveputinto。Thatis，therelevanceistheresultoftheinterplaysofthecontextualeffectsandprocessingefforts。Inotherwords，iftheprocessingeffortisminimalwhilethecontextualeffectsaremaximal，theutterancehastheoptimalrelevanceandvisevisa。Therelevancetheoryisbasedontheeconomicalprinciple。Duringtheprocessofthecommunication，peoplealwayshopethattheycanobtainasmuchcontextualeffectaspossiblewithaslittleprocessingeffortaspossible。
　　3。Discussiononcontextintheperspectiveoftherelevancetheory
　　3。1。Importanceanddefinitionsofcontext
　　Translationisthereplacementofcontextualmeaningsinonelanguagebytheequivalentmeaningsinanotherlanguage。Unlikeotherkindsofcommunicativeactivities，translationbasesonthetexts，whichisquitedifferentfromconversations。Intranslation，thewordtextisusedtorefertoanarticle，orthemainbodyofabook，whichreferstotheoriginaltextorthetranslatedtext。Andatextisnotisolated，foritalwaysstaysinarelevantlanguageenvironmentthatwenameitcontext。Contextisveryimportanttotranslation。Generallyspeaking，textexistswithincontextandcontextalwaysaccompaniestext。Itisthecontextthatmakesthetextcometolife。
　　Nowthatcontextplayssoimportantaroleintranslation，beforefurtherthediscussion，themostimportantthingistomakeclearaquestion：whatiscontext？InEnglish，contextoriginatedfromtheLatinwordcontextus，whichmeans，ajoiningtogether。AccordingtotheWebster’sNewWorldDictionaryoftheAmericanLanguage，contextmeansthepartsofasentence，paragraph，discourseetc，immediatelynexttoorsurroundingaspecifiedwordorpassageanddeterminingitsexactmeaning。Italsoreferstothewholesituation，background，orenvironmentrelevanttoaparticularevent，personality，creationetc。〔10〕Thesearethedictionarymeaningsofcontext，andonthebasisofthem，manylinguistsandtranslationscholarsdevelopedtheirowndefinitionofcontext。
　　Somesimplyusethewordcontext；somepreferthetermsituationalcontext，contextofsituation，andsomeothersproposesuchtermsascontextofculture，contextofutterance。Besides，quiteafewpersonschoosethewordenvironmentandproposesometermslikethefollowing：languageenvironment，pragmaticenvironment，socialenvironment，naturalenvironmentetc。Upuntilnow，themeaningofcontextisextendedtoalargescale，butnocleardefinitionshavebeengivento。〔11〕
　　Althoughpeoplehavenotyetcometoagreementonusingthetermcontext，allthepeopleknowtheimportanceofcontextinunderstandingthetext，especiallyintranslation。Manytranslatorsrealizethatoneshouldneverunderstandasinglewordwithoutconsideringitscontext。Hereisasimpleillustrationmaymakethepointclear。
　　（4）Outinthewestwheremenaremen。Thesetwomenwilldefinitelypuzzlemanypeopleifthebackgroundorthesituationofthisphraseusedisnotclear。AndifpeopledonotknowthatthiswestrefertothewesternpartoftheUnitedStates，theywillnotbeabletoknowthatthesecondmenrefertoChineseword男子汉aswellascowboyswhoareasortofmenworkingonhorseback，employedtolookaftercattleintheWesternpartoftheUnitedStates。
　　Inaword，contextisasystematicconstructconsistingoflinguisticandnonlinguisticfactorsdeterminingtheunderstandingandinterpretationoftext。Furthermore，bothlinguisticandnonlinguisticcontextarecomposedofvariouskindsofcontextualfactors，suchaslanguagesystems，geographicalfactors，socialbackgroundsandculturedifferencesetc。
　　3。2。Classificationsofcontext
　　Traditionally，peopleclassifycontextindifferentperspectives。Somejustsimplyclassifyitaslinguisticcontextornonlinguisticcontext。Linguisticcontextisalwaysrelevanttothephonology，lexicology，grammar，semantics，pragmatics，rhetoric，logic，discoursesetc。Andnonlinguisticcontextalwaysconsistsofsocialenvironment（includingculture，customs，socialbackground，etc）andnaturalenvironment（includingtime，place，audience，etc）。
　　LinguistsDurantiandGoodwinsuggestthatcontextconsistsoftext，situation，behaviorenvironment，andimmediatebackgroundknowledge。Textreferstophrasecontext，sentencecontextanddiscoursecontextthatarecloselyrelatedtolinguisticfactors。Situationreferstospaceandframeworkoflanguagecommunication，whichisalsocalledsituationalcontext。Utterancefeaturesrefertothecodeofcommunicators。〔12〕Inbilinguisticandmultilinguisticsociety，peopleintentiona从关联理论的角度看翻译中的语境问题从关联理论的角度看翻译中的语境问题从关联理论的角度看翻译中的语境问题llytransferlanguagecodestoachievetheirpurposeofcommunication。Gumperzgivesutterancefeaturesanothername，whichisconceptualizationcues，includingstress，intonation，rhythm，smile，habitualexpressionsandsoon。Behaviorenvironmentreferstothegesturesandbodylanguagesthatcommunicatorsusetoexpresstheirmeaningsandfeelings。Immediatebackgroundknowledgereferstoencyclopedicknowledge，accidentsandtheusageofbackgroundknowledge。〔13〕
　　Onthebasisofpreciousclassification，ChenZhi’angandWenxumadeagoodconclusion。Theyclassifiedcontextasfollows：broadsensedcontextandnarrowsensedcontextsituationcontextandtextobjectivecontextandsubjectivecontextimplicitcontextandexplicitcontextactualcontextandinventedcontextverbalcontextandnonverbalcontext。〔14〕
　　Inabroadsense，contextreferstothewholenatural，socialandculturalbackgroundthatrelevanttocommunication，anditisthebigcontext；inanarrowsense，contextisthesmallcontextwhichreferstolinguisticcontext，includingwords，sentences，paragraphs，discoursesandgrammars。Situationcontextmeansrealsituationthatlinguisticactivitieshappenin，includingcommunicators，time，place，topic，medium，theformalityofcommunicationandsoon。Subjectivecontextreferstocommunicators’subjectivefactors，suchaspersonality，interest，feelingandmood；objectivecontextreferstotheobjectiveexistenceintheobjectiveworld，whichismadeoftheplaceandtimeofcommunication，andvariouscomplicatedsocialandculturalenvironment。Explicitcontextisthelinguisticandnonlinguisticenvironmentthatobviouslyshowsinthecommunication，includingtime，place，audiencestyleetc；implicitcontextisthehiddenmeaningandencyclopedicknowledgethatisrelatedtobuthiddenfromtherealsituation。Actualcontextistherealenvironmentofcommunication，whileinventedcontextisthefabricatedenvironmentthatalwaysappearsinfictionsandpoems。Verbalcontextisthecontextthatexpressesinlanguage，andnonverbalcontextalwaysreferstogesturesandbodylanguages。
　　Fromtheaboveclassifications，onecaneasilyfindthatdifferentclassificationshavemanysimilaritiesandoverlaps。Bothoftheseclassificationsarereasonableinsomeaspects，butimperfectinsomeotheraspects，sowecannotsaywhichoneisbetterthananother。Butalloftheseinterpretationsofcontextarestaticandfixed，andallofthecontextualcomponentsareregardedasstatic，fixedandisolated。Asthedeepeningofthecontextstudy，asthecombinationofthecontextstudyandcommunicationstudy，traditionalandstaticcontextstudycannotmeettheneedsofdevelopingcommunicationanymore。Peopleneedtodiscusscontextinanewperspective。
　　3。3。Discussiononcontextintheperspectiveofpragmaticsandrelevance
　　3。3。1。Staticcontextanddynamiccontext
　　Aswhatisdiscussedabove，thetraditionalviewsofcontextarestaticandfixed。Butthestaticstudyoncontextcannotmeettheneedofdynamiccommunicationprocess。AccordingtoThomas，meaningisnotfixedonlydecidedbywords，andthespeakeralonealsodoesnotarouseit；meaningisdynamicanditdependsonthenegotiationofcommunicators。Andsheconsideredthepragmaticsasthestudyofinteractivemeaning。Inherview，contextisdynamicandchangingallthetimeaccordingtoallthefactorsrelevanttocommunication。〔15〕Mostofthecontextualfactorsaredeveloping，andallthedevelopingfactorswouldprobablybecometheelementsofcontext。
　　Asweallknow，therearemanycomponentsformingthecontext，andthesecontextualcomponentsarethepoolofsharedknowledge，whichareveryimportanttounderstandtheutteranceortext。Butnotallthecontextualcomponentscanbeseenascontext，onlythosecloselyrelatetothecurrentcommunicationcanformthecontext。ProfessorLiuHuanhuipointedoutthatalltheprobablecontextualcomponents，objectiveorsubjective，wouldnotformthecontextiftheylosetherelevancetothelinguisticcommunication。。〔16〕
　　Commonly，peopleregardthelinguisticcommunicationasarprocessofcircular，whichalltheparticipatorsplaytherolesofspeakerandheareralternatively。ButFrankDancesuggestedthattheprocessofcommunicationisaprocessoftwistingascendance，andthelinguisticcommunicationisacontinuouslydevelopingprocess。〔17〕Everysuccessininformationandmeaningtransformationmeansthatthecommunicationwouldbeuptoanewheight。Otherwise，ifaparticipatordoesnotunderstandormisunderstandoftheotherparticipator’sintentionalmeaning，thecommunicationwouldbeblockedordrawnback。Inanotherword，thelinguisticcommunicationisdynamic，从关联理论的角度看翻译中的语境问题从关联理论的角度看翻译中的语境问题从关联理论的角度看翻译中的语境问题thepreciousinformationistheforewordofthelatterinformation，andthenthelatterinformationbecomestheforewordofthenextlatterinformation。Inthisway，thecontextischangingasthecommunicationisdeveloping。Hence，contextisadynamicconceptaswellascommunication。
　　Intheperspectiveofpragmatics，staticcontextisbynomeansunimportant，butweattachmoreimportancetodynamiccontext，becausecommunicationisbasedoninteractivemeaninggenerationandinterpretationontheonehand，andondynamicnegotiationandinterpretationofcontextontheother，andallcommunicationstartsfromacertainrelevantgivencontext，andfollowingtheostensiveinferencemodel，dynamicallyandeffectivelyarrivesattheinvisibleimplicitpremiseandimplicitconclusion。〔18〕Actually，theprocessofunderstandinganutteranceoratextisaprocessofcontextpropositionandselection。Thehearershouldselectsomerelevantcontextualcomponentstoformacommunicationenvironmentwithinlimitedtime，sothatonecanunderstandtheutteranceortextmorequicklyandeffectively。
　　Undertheframeworkofdynamiccontext，contextisnotstaticallyseenasthepoolofsharedknowledgerelatingtoanutterance，butseenasacontinuouslydevelopingprocess，whichreflectsthedynamicrelationsbetweencommunicatorsandenvironment。Ononehand，thecommunicatorsshouldberestrictedbycontext，thatis，anutteranceismeaningfulonlyifitcanadjusttoacertaincontext。Ontheotherhand，thecommunicatorscanintentionallymanipulatethecontextualcomponentstoformacontextthatisbeneficialtotheirlinguisticcommunication。Inotherwords，thecommunicatorsarenotonlycontrolledbycontext，theyalsocontroltext。
　　3。3。2。Cognitivecontext
　　（5）。A：Doyoulikerugby？
　　B：IamaNewZealander。
　　Inthisexample，Aasksasimplequestionthatjustneedthehearergiveananswerofyesorno。ButBgivesaconfusingandirrelevantanswersothatAcannotunderstandimmediately。SoAneedssomeeffortstoguessorreasontheactualmeaningofB。Afteraseriesofassumptionsandretrievesinthememory，Amaygetinformation：RugbyisaverypopulargameinNewZealand；almosteveryNewZealanderlikesthisgame。Upuntilthen，AprobablyknowstheactualmeaningofB：OfcourseIlikerugby。
　　（6）A：Wouldyoulikesomecoffee？
　　B：Coffeewouldkeepmeawake。
　　Inthiscase，AwantstoofferBacoffee，soAasksthequestionhopingtogetadefiniteanswer。However，BdoesnotgiveAanobviousanswer，butgivesanirrelevantanswertoA’squestion。Ofcourse，Awouldfeelpuzzled：whatisthemeaningofB？Doeshewantcoffeeornot？Atthistime，AshouldguessandreasontheactualmeaningofBaccordingtosomecontextualcomponents，suchastime，place，situation，characterandmoodofB，therelationsofAandB，etc。IfBisverytiredandwantingtosleepwellatnight，thentheintendedmeaningofBis：No，thanks！IfBhasalotofworktodoandneedtostayupallnight，thentheintendedmeaningofBis：Yes，please！
　　从关联理论的角度看翻译中的语境问题从关联理论的角度看翻译中的语境问题从关联理论的角度看翻译中的语境问题Astheaboveexamplesshow，asamesentencehasmanydifferentunderstandingsandmeanings。Thecrucialproblemis：howtochoosetherightorsuitablemeaningofasentenceinthecertainsituation。AndSperberandWilsonholdtheopinionthatanyutteranceshavedifferentmeaningindifferentsituation；thespeakershouldexpressthecrucialemphasisbythewayofostensiveinference，guidingthehearertoreasontheactualcontextinthecorrectdirection。
　　Humanbeingshaveanaturalinterestinimprovingtheirunderstandingoftheworldaroundthem，thisunderstandingconsistingoftheassumptionsabouttheworld，whichtheyhavestored，inmemory。〔22〕Thatis，humanbeingsliketointernalizetheexternalenvironment，andtheirownexperiencetoformacognitivecontextthatishelpfulfortheirunderstandingoftheutteranceortext。Sothecognitivecontextisnotestablishedbeforetheunderstandingofanutterance，butestablishedduringtheprocessofunderstandingbycontinuousselection。
　　Theprocessofprocessingandselectingtheoptimalcontextisaprocessoflookingfortheoptimalrelevanceofutteranceandcontext。Moreover，cognitivecontextistheconsequenceofassumptionsselecting。However，theselectionofcontextwoulddefinitelyenlargethecontext。Inrelevancetheory，cognitivecontextisnotstaticandfixed；itisadevelopingdynamicconcept。Inordertogivearelevantinterpretationtoanutterance，peoplehavetoaddsomemorerelevantassumptionstocontext。
　　Thecontextisdynamicandcognitive；itiscomposedofaseriesofassumptions，whichpeopleputintomindforunderstandingtheutterancecorrectly。Thecontextiscloselyrelatedtothehumanthinkingactivities；thekeymotilefactorthataffectstheunderstandingofanutteranceispeople’scognitivecompetencetowardstheworld。Therealizationsofthedynamicpropertiesofcontextenableustotakeanewlookatthenotionofcommunicativecompetence，whichmeansmorethanthepossessionofknowledgeandabilitytoproduceappropriatecommunicativebehaviors。Tobecommunicativelycompetent，oneshouldalsobecapableofactivelymanipulatingaspectsofcontexttoadvancehisorhercommunicativegoalsandeffectivelyinterpretmeaningbycreatinganappropriatecontextfortheinterpretationprocedure。〔23〕Tosumup，intheperspectiveofrelevancetheory，thecontextincommunicationisdynamic，andthekeyofutteranceunderstandingistolookforrelevanceinthecognitivecontext。
　　4。Contextandtranslation
　　Translationcanbeseenasalinguisticcommunicationactivitythataimsattransferringmeaningformonelanguagetoanotherlanguage，anditdependssomuchonthecontext。Fortheunderstandingofcontextwouldrestrictthesuccessoftranslation。Inrelevancetheory，translationisaprocessofreasoningandperceiving，anditbasesoncognition。Translationcannotbetermedpurely‘linguisticoperation’，butrathermustbethoughtofasapsycholinguistic，sociolinguisticandpragmalinguisticprocess，whichlendsitselftoanexhaustivescientificdepictiononlywiththegreatestdifficult。〔24〕Sointheprocessoftranslation，notonlylinguisticfactors，butalsomanyotherfactorsneedtobetakenintoaccount。Andmostofthesefactors，linguisticornonlinguistic，areimportantcomponentsofthecontext。Whetheratranslationissuccessfulornotalwaysliesonfullunderstandingofthecontext。Nocontext，notranslation。
　　4。1。Theimportantrolethatcontextplaysfortheunderstandingoftheoriginaltext
　　Infact，translationisasubstitutetopeoplewhocannotreadorunderstandtheoriginallanguage。Hencethemaintaskoftranslatorsistochangetextsfromthesourcelanguagetothetargetlanguagewithoutchangingtheoriginalmeaningevidently。Inthisregard，atranslatoristheconnectionbetweentheauthorandthereaderoftargetlanguage。Inthisconnection，thefundamentalrequirementtoatranslatoristounderstandtheoriginaltextcorrectlysothatthetranslatorcanfollowtheprinciplefaithfulnesstotheoriginaltextduringtranslation。〔25〕Tounderstandtheoriginaltext，onehastofirstunderstandeveryword，theneverysentence，everyparagraphandeverytext。However，understandingofwords，sentence，paragraphsandtextsisnotenough。Moreover，onecannotunderstandthemcorrectlywithoutconsideringthecontext。Theexactmeaningexpressedbythewordsorsentencesintheoriginalisconstantlyrestrictedbythecontext。
　　4。1。1。Thelinguisticcontextrestrictsourunderstandingoftheoriginaltext。
　　InEnglishvocabulary，therearealargenumberofwordshavingmorethanonemeaning，thatis，thesamewordmayhavedifferentmeaningsusedi从关联理论的角度看翻译中的语境问题从关联理论的角度看翻译中的语境问题从关联理论的角度看翻译中的语境问题ndifferentsentences。Whenawordwithmanymeaningsisusedininadequatecontext，translatorshavetoreasonandchoosethecorrectmeaninginChineseaccordingtothewordsthatoccurtogetherwiththewordinthesentence。Lookatthefollowingexamples；airhasdifferentmeaningsineachsentence。
　　（7）。Hehadtogetsomeair，gethisbreath，andgetoutofthecrowd。
　　他得呼吸点空气，透透气，闯出重围。
　　（8）。Thenameofthechild，theairofthemother，thetoneofthevoice，andallawakenedatrainofrecollectionsinhismind。
　　孩子的名字，母亲的神情，以及她说话的腔调，这一切都在他脑子里引起了一大串回忆。
　　（9）。Butastheoldmanwatched，asmalltunaroseintheair，turnedanddroppedheadfirstintonewwater。
　　然而老人盯着，只见一条小金枪鱼跃到空中，一个转身，头朝下，扎进了水里了。
　　Thefirstairmeans空气inChinese，thesecondonemeans神情andthelastonecanbetranslateinto空中。Itisthecontextthathelpsthetranslatorsnarrowdownthemeaningsandfindouttheexactmeaningoftheword。
　　Seeingthewordgreen，manypeoplewillimmediatelymatchittotheChineseword绿色。However，itsChinesemeaningsaremuchmorethanthat，andonlycontextwilldetermineexactlywhichChinesephrasecanmatchit。Thefollowingphraseswouldshowthispoint。
　　（10）agreenChristmas温暖无雪的圣诞节
　　agirlgreenfromschool刚出校门的姑娘
　　agreenoldage精力旺盛，老当益壮
　　greenwithenvy十分嫉妒
　　ingreentree处于佳境
　　keepthememorygreen永记不忘
　　Theexampleshowsthat，tounderstandandtranslateawordcorrectlyisnoteasywork。JustasFirth，afamousBritishlinguist，remarks：Eachwordwhenusedinanewcontextisanew。Sothecontextisveryimportantfortranslatortochoosethecorrectmeaningsforthewordsusedindifferentsituation。Inotherwords，itisthecontextthatdeterminestheexactmeaningsofaword。
　　Furthermore，therearemanylanguagesintheworld，andeachlanguageisfundamentallyasystemofconventionalsymbolsbywhichpeoplecommunicatewitheachother。Thereexistdifferencesinthethinkingpatterns，culturesandlanguagesindifferentcountries。Toatranslator，thesedifferencesaresoimportantthatitwoulddeterminethecontextandtheexactmeaningofaword。Forexample，inChinese，differentrankshavedifferentname，suchas大伯，叔叔，舅舅，姑父，姨父forwhichthenativespeakersofEnglishjusthaveonenameuncle。
　　（1
　　1）UncleTomwasalightweightfleetboxingchampion。Ifpeoplejustlookatthissentencealonewithoutconsideringthecontext，peoplewouldnottranslateitintoChinesecorrectly。Butifonelooksthroughthewholearticle，andfindsanothersentenceMymother’syoungestbrotherAndofcourse，onecouldimmediatelyrealizethatUncleTom，mother’syoungestbrothershouldbe舅舅inChinese。
　　Asisshownbytheaboveexample，contextisrelatednotonlytothetranslationofasingleword，butalsotothetranslationofaphrase，asentence，aparagraph，aswellasatext。Todeterminetheexactmeaningofanytexts，onemustinevitablylookthroughthewholetext，andthenchoosethemostsuitablemeaningofawordaccordingtothewholecontext。Commonly，whenpeopletalkaboutcontext，peopleusuallythinkoflinguisticcontext，hardlyrealizetheimportanceofnonlinguisticcontext，whichoftenhasgreaterinfluenceonthetranslationthenwerealize。Sometimes，wecanseethatcluestotheexactmeaningofonepartoftextmaybefoundinanotherpartoftext。Butinmanycircumstances，thecluetotheexactmeaningofatextistobefound，notintheimmediatelinguisticcontext，butinitsnonlinguisticcontext。〔26〕Aswhatismentionedabove，nonlinguisticcontextconsistsofsomanyfactors，rangingfromthephysicalbackgroundtothepsychologicalbackground。Intranslation，allofthesenonlinguisticfactorsarecrucialforourunderstandingofthetexts，especiallythose从关联理论的角度看翻译中的语境问题从关联理论的角度看翻译中的语境问题从关联理论的角度看翻译中的语境问题cultureorientedtexts。
　　（1
　　2）Quickly，Mark！Micksaidandswungthecarintotheleftlane。AtranslatortranslateditintoChineselikethis：快点儿，马克！迈克一边说，一边把车子拐进了左边的巷子。Thisversionmaypuzzlemanypeople，andsomewouldask：Whydidheswingthecarintoasmallalleyratherthananexpresswayinsuchastateofemergence？Infact，carsarealwaysdrivenontheright，andtheleftlanemeans，fasttrafficlaneonastreetinAmerica。Obviously，thetranslatordidnotknowthisruleinAmerica，sohemisunderstoodtherealmeaningoftheleftlane。AndtheChinesecorrespondenceoftheleftlaneshouldbe快车道。Thus，itisnecessaryandimportantforatranslatortospendmoretimeinmakingclearsomesocialcustomsandrulesintranslation。
　　Then，takethewordgrassforanotherexample。
　　Toonepersonitmaymeansomethinginfrontofthehousethatisgreen，hastobewateredandmustbemowedoften。Sotherealmeaningofsentence，
　　（1
　　3）Donotwalkonthegrass！is勿踏草坪inChinese。
　　Toanotherpersongrassmaymeansomethingthatisrolledinpaperandsmoked，thatis，tobacco。Lookatthissentence：
　　（1
　　4）Tomsatonthegrassandlightedhisgrass。Inthissituation，thetwograsshavedifferentmeanings。Thefirstonerefersto草坪inChinesewhilethesecondonemeans香烟。
　　Soitiseasytofindthatthereisnorealmeaningwithoutknowingthecontext。Everypersondecidesthemeaningofawordfromhisownpersonalbackground。Thefollowingisanotherexample：
　　（1
　　5）。TheUnitedStateshasnowsetupalonelinessindustry
　　Lookatthissentenceatthefirstsight，manyquestionsmayoccur。Whatisthemeaningoflonelinessindustry？Doesitmean孤独产业inChinese？Allofthesequestionsmaypuzzlemanytranslatorsiftheydonotknowthesocialbackgroundofthelonelinessindustry。DepartingfromthesocialsituationoftheUnitedStates，itisverydifficulttounderstandandtranslatethissentencecorrectly。Infact，thelonelinessindustryreferstoapartofAmericansocialwelfareproject。IntheUnitedStates，alargenumberofoldcitizenslivelonely，withlittlecarefromtheirrelatives，whichhasbeenaserioussocialproblem。SothegovernmentoftheUnitedStatessetsupasocialwelfareprojectnamedlonelinessindustry。Knowingthissocialbackground，wecaneasilyunderstandtheexactmeaningofthesentenceandtranslateitas美国政府建立了一种为社会孤寡老人服务的社会项目。
　　4。2。Reasonandselectthecontextaccordingtothelanguageandtheenvironment
　　Theunderstandingoftheoriginaltextundertheimpactofcontextualfactorsisonlythefirststepintranslation。Inthisstep，translatorsmaymakemanyassumptionsaccordingtodifferentcontextualfactors。Andthenextstepistheselectionofthemostsuitablecontextandthebesttranslationaccordingtotheprincipleofrelevancebetweencontextandtext。Andinthisstep，thetranslatorshavetomanagetomaketheexpectationoftargetlanguagereaderaccordwiththeintentionoftheauthor。Duringtheprocessoftranslation，thetranslatorsneedtoanalyzeandreasonthecontextdynamically，andmakethetranslationasclosetotheintendedmeaningoftheauthoraspossible。
　　Fromwhathasjustbeensaid，anyaspectofinterpretationortranslationdependsoncontext：
　　Contextdeterminesthedisambiguationoflinguisticallyambiguousexpressions：wrongcontextualassumptionscanleadtothechoiceofthewrongsemanticrepresentationofsuchexpressions。
　　Contextisusuallyneededtodeterminetheprepositionalformofanutterance：againmismatchesofcontextcanleadtothederivationofawrongpropositionalform。
　　Contextisneededtoderivetheimplicaturesofanutterance。Useofthewrongcontextcanleadtothederivationofimplicaturesnotintendedoritcancauseintendedimplicaturestobemissed。
　　Contextisneededtodeterminewhetherapropositionalformisintendedasanexplicature，orwhetheritservesonlytoconveyimplicatures。Sincethisdependsonthecontextualassumptionsavailable，theuseofinappropriatecontextcanleadtomisunderstandings。〔27〕
　　Considerthefollowingexample：
　　（1
　　6）。Sheopeneditcarelessly。Oh，Uncle，whydoyoucarrysomuchcashwhenyouhaveaDinner’sCard？Shesaidsarcastically。
　　Sometranslateditlikethis：她粗心地打开钱包。啊，叔叔，你既然有一张用餐卡，为什么还要带这么多现金啊？她讥讽道。
　　SeeingthephraseDinner’sCard，manypeoplewouldconnectitwiththemeaningacardusedfordining。IfpeopledonotknowthebackgroundknowledgeofDinner’scard，theywillmakeawrongassump从关联理论的角度看翻译中的语境问题从关联理论的角度看翻译中的语境问题从关联理论的角度看翻译中的语境问题tionthatleadstothewrongtranslation。AfterlookingitupintheAmericanencyclopedia，onecaneasilyfindoutthatDinner’scardisakindofcreditcard，whichcanbeusedforpurchasinginthestorewithoutpayingincash。Sotherealtranslationofthesentenceshouldbe：她满不在乎地打开钱包。哎呀，大叔，你有迪纳尔信用卡，为什么还要带这么多的现金呢？
　　Hereisanotherexample：
　　（1
　　7）。Mygrandmotherpassedawaylastsummer。
　　ThissentencecanbetranslatedintoChineseintwoways：我祖母是在去年夏天去世的or我祖母是今年夏天去世的。Inthiscase，itneedtranslatortoreasonaccordingtotheexacttimethatthissentencesaid。Ifthesentenceissaidinthetimebeforethesummer，thenlastsummermeans去年夏天inChinese；butifthesentenceissaidinthetimeafterthesummer，thenlastsummermaymeans今年夏天or去年夏天。Inthiscase，totranslatethesentencecorrectly，thecontextualfactorsliketimeshouldbetakenintoaccountduringtheprocessoftranslation。
　　Sometimes，thelanguageexpressionscaninfluencetheinterpretationsofpeoplebyguidingthesearchforrelevance，thatis，byimposingconstraintsontherelevanceoftheutteranceinwhichtheyoccur。Thiscanbedone，forinstance，bytheuseofwordsormorphemesthatindicatehowthepropositionexpressedistoachieverelevance，say，astheconclusionorapremiseofanargument。〔28〕
　　Considerexamples
　　（1
　　8）and
　　（1
　　9）：
　　（1
　　8）。SoCharleshaslosthiscarkeys。
　　（1
　　9）。Afterall，Charleshaslosthiscarkeys。
　　Thesetwoutteranceshavethesamepropositionalforms，referringtothesameinpidualcalledCharles，thesamecar，thesamesetofcarkeys；butonewouldstillfeelthatthesetwoutterancesdiffersignificantlyintheiroverallinterpretation。Thedifferenceis，ofcourse，duetothepresenceoftheconnectivessoandafterall。Andtheseconnectivesconstrainthewaythattheutteranceisrelevant：thusthesoinutterance
　　（1
　　8）indicatesthatthisutteranceisrelevantastheconclusiontoacontextuallyassumedargument，buttheafterallin
　　（1
　　9）indicatesthatthisutteranceisrelevantasapremiseinacontextuallyassumedargument。Inotherwords，twoutteranceswithidenticalpropositionalformsmaydifferintheirinterpretationspreciselybecausetheformistoberelatedtothecontext，andhenceonwhatcontextualeffectsitistohave。JustasSperberandWilsonremark：
　　Iftwothoughtsorutterancehavethesamepropositionalform，andhencesharealltheiranalyticimplications，theyalso，ofcourse，sharealltheircontextualimplicationsineverycontext。〔29〕
　　Inaword，translationrepresentsacontinuousmakingofchoicesrangingfromreasoningthesuitablecontextaccordingtothelanguageandenvironmenttoselectingthecorrectcontextaccordingtotherelevanceofthelanguageandenvironment。Inthewholeprocessofreasoningandselecting，thecontextisalwaysadynamic。
　　4。3。Tofindouttheappropriateexpressionaccordingtothesuitablesituationandcontextinthetargetlanguage
　　Translation，asacaseofinterlingualactivity，therefore，achievesrelevancebyinformingthetargetaudienceofwhattheoriginalauthorsaidorwroteinthesourcelanguage。Sotoasuccessfultranslator，understandingtheoriginaltextisthefirststep。Andafterdoingthat，themaintaskoftranslatorsistoexpresstheoriginalmeaningintargetlanguagewithoutchangingtheauthor’sintention。Thefollowingpartswoulddiscusshowcontexthelpstranslatorstotransfertheoriginaltexttothetargettext，rangingfromwordsandphrases，thesentencestructure，tothestyleofthewholetext。
　　4。3。1。Disposingproperwordsandphrasesinpropersituation。
　　Themeaningofasingleisimportantintranslation，foritisthebasisofthemeaningofthewholetext。Butsuccessfultranslatorsnevertranslateisolatedwords，forwordsareallmoreorlessboundbytheirsyntactic，situational，cultural，andsocialcontexts。
　　Lookatthefollowingexamples：
　　（20）。Likechargesrepel，unlikechargesattract。
　　相同电荷相斥，不同电荷相吸。
　　（2
　　1）。HelikesEnglishmorethanChinese。
　　他喜欢英语甚于喜欢语文。
　　（2
　　2）。Likeknowslike。
　　英雄识英雄。
　　Thewordlikehasdifferentmeaningswhenusedindifferentcontexts。Thefirstoneshouldbetranslatedinto相同，thesecondlikemeans喜欢，andthelastonereferstotheChinese英雄。Withoutthecontext，thesinglewordwould