The transfer of expressive meaning in the translation of Thai amplifiers in the literary works into English

Abstract

This study explores cross-language intensification in affirmative sentences by examining the translation of standard and strong amplifiers, words that scale upward from an assumed norm to emphasize a quality of any entities, from Thai into English, the types of shifts involved, as well as similarities and differences in the translation of amplifiers by native and non-native translators. The data comprises 1,254 source text amplifiers, which were drawn from a corpus of eight works of fiction in Thai and their English translations translated by professional translators. Research inquiries were made with two translators to identify decisions behind their translations.

The analysis of the data revealed 13 linguistic devices through three processes in the English translation: morphological, lexical, and syntactic processes. The findings suggest the tendency to transfer standard and strong amplifiers through lexical choices (e.g., intensifiers, lexical coloring, emphasizing adjectives, and multiple intensifiers), followed by syntactic processes (e.g., exclamatory constructions, idioms, and rhetorical question). Two types of translation strategies were found to be used: translation with shifts including Modulation, Mutation, and Modification, and translation without shift (Absence of shift). The results indicate that most Thai amplifiers were not literally translated, but realized through shifts. The results also reveal the similarities in the translation of Thai amplifiers by Thai and non-Thai translators, which confirm that directionality and their background may not strongly affect their choices. Their selection was made in accordance with the context and register. The findings can provide pedagogical implications in translation courses and offer a varied repertoire of linguistic forms that can be selected in transferring the source text intensity