Kiinan kielen nelimerkkisten chengyu-ilmaisujen suomentamisen käännösstrategiat

This article examines how different translation strategies contribute to transferring the factual meaning and other various meanings of the Chinese four-character specific expression known as chengyu in the Finnish translation of Yu Hua’s (余华) Xu Sanguan mai xue ji (许三观卖血记). A total of 99 chengyu were identified. The strategies analyzed are free translation, literal translation, abridged translation, omission, using a Finnish saying, and translation by using a figurative expression. The study demonstrates that the use of these translation strategies can cause shifts in meaning at different levels. Depending on how the factual meaning is derived, using free translation can cause the loss of the chengyu’s etymological and literal meanings or, for example, make the chengyu’s factual meaning contextually more exact. Both literal and abridged translations can cause a loss of connotative meaning, while an abridged translation can lose part of the chengyu’s literal meaning. Omission causes the loss of chengyu’s meaning, while using a Finnish saying can transfer the chengyu’s factual meaning and keep its metaphorical feature but may still cause a loss of connotative meaning. Using a figurative expression may not only transfer the factual meaning of a chengyu but even add an additional connotative meaning.