Logical Connectives

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Reading Task: Logical Connectives

Summary of the Content:
This passage follows on from the previous one and focuses on another core means to achieve logical coherence in English, logical connectives. First of all, the author restates that various methods for ensuring logical coherence among ideas in English writing were explored in the previous chapters. These methods aim to establish clear and reasonable connections within or between sentences. Then, the author points out that Chinese translators sometimes fail to use these conjunctions correctly, and the root cause lies in the fact that the original Chinese text often lacks equivalent expressions. Chinese is accustomed to omitting certain elements that are regarded as necessary in English. Chinese readers can rely on the context to understand logical relationships, while native English speakers highly depend on the author to explicitly provide logical clues. Therefore, the author emphasizes that the translator must manifest the implicit logical relationships in the original text.

Evaluation:
The author has clearly and forcefully demonstrated the fundamentality and necessity of logical connectives for the logical coherence of English, especially in response to the pain points in translation practice.
Furthermore, the author has a profound insight into cultural differences, precisely points out the fundamental differences in logical expressiveness between Chinese and English languages, and explains the core challenge that such differences bring to Chinese translators, namely, the lack of equivalent characters in the original text. This is the key to understanding the difficulties in translation.
Meanwhile, the author also emphasizes the initiative of the translator and explicitly states that the translator has the responsibility to externalize the implicit logical relationship. This is a key strategy to go beyond literal translation and achieve functional equivalence, and it has significant guiding value.

Reflection:
This passage has profoundly strengthened my understanding of the characteristic of heavy conjunctions in English. English not only relies on context and word order, but also on explicit grammatical markers, especially connectives, to construct logical networks. This forms a sharp contrast to the characteristic of the Chinese language that emphasizes the combination of meaning.
Besides, I have also deeply realized the role of the translator as a bridge. Translation is not only the transformation of language, but also the transformation of thinking patterns and expression habits. In Chinese-to-English translation, actively adding and choosing appropriate conjunctions is the core task to ensure the readability of the translation and conform to the habits of the target language. It is by no means "disloyalty" to the original text.
We should always remind ourselves that when writing in English and translating from Chinese to English, we must consciously use logical connectives. Not only be content with using "and" or " but, but also consider whether there are more precise words to express specific logical relationships. It is necessary to deeply understand the implicit logic in the context and express it in the translation with appropriate English connectives or structures. This is the key to ensuring that the translation is clear and fluent.