What’s that got to do with anything? Coherence and the translation of relative clauses

Abstract

Non-defining relative clauses in Chinese pose a particular problem for the translator. Employing a right-branching relative clause in English is almost never appropriate. Instead, connectives such as conjunctions have to be used to ensure the English is coherent. This article discusses how concepts of coherence and parataxis/hypotaxis can elucidate one way in which Chinese discourse differs from English.