International Journal of Language & Linguistics

An Analysis of Translating Cultural Specific Terms in Bawden’s The Mongol Chronicle Altan Tobci
Jinyu Liu, Ph.D.; Wurihan

Abstract
The paper attempts to study the translation of the cultural specific terms in The Mongol Chronicle Altan Tobci, the Text, Translation and Notes, which is translated by Chareles Bawden under the guide of Aixela’s theories about cultural specific terms. The research extracts 199 cultural specific terms from the original work and their corresponding English and Chinese translation. The finding of the study shows that the frequencies of the conservative translation strategy add up to 179 times, occupying the 62.4% of the total. However, the substitutive translation strategies appear 108 times, taking only 37.6%. The paper holds that the conservative translation takes the dominant position of the whole translation strategies, which shows the translator’s desire to convey as much genuine Mongolian culture as possible to the western world and keep the exotic flavor of the original text. The frequent use of Linguistic (non-cultural) translation, extra texutual gloss, and repetition reveals Bawden’s effort to keep the minimum difference from the original text and offer every necessary piece of information that the target readers need. Absolute universalization is adopted when Bawden does not find a better known cultural specific term or prefers to delete any foreign connotations and chooses a neutral reference for the target readers.

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