Nominalization in the translation of literary prose from Chinese into English: based on the three English versions of Hong lou meng

This study aims to investigate the use of nominalization in the translation of literary prose works from Chinese into English. Following the definition of English nominalization as a nominalized transform of a finite verbal form and based on complex condensation, this study describes English nominalization as adverbial and in the position of subject and object, condensing finite clausal structures. -- Explicitation in translation, as a potential candidate for the status of translation universal, is currently claimed as one of the most thoroughly studied phenomena in translation studies. However, there is less research on implicitation in translation as a main objective of study. Therefore, this research project decides on implicitation in translation as a direct point of departure. Since English nominalization condenses finite clausal structures, this justifies its analysis in translation as a manifestation of implicitation. -- Based on the use of nominalization mainly in the three English versions of the eighteenth century Chinese classical novel Hong Lou Meng (or Dream of the Red Chamber), and in the English versions of some other Chinese (classical and modern) novels, this study concludes that nominalization in the translation of literary prose from Chinese into English is predominantly used as adverbial, in the form of gerundive nominal, and in narrative. This study also concludes that the use of nominalization in literary prose translation from Chinese into English is potentially triggered by various factors including the grammatical characteristics of the Chinese language, lexicalization, the context and co-text of Chinese source texts, the translator's stylistic considerations, the translator's considerations of syntagmatic economy, social and cultural factors, and the content of the Chinese source texts.