Untranslatability and the method of compensation

Abstract

This paper discusses the problem of untranslatability between Chinese and English, including linguistic and cultural untranslatability. English belongs to the Indo-European language family, and Chinese belongs to the Sino-Tibetan language family. The phonemic system, character structure and figure of speech are all completely different, and most of these in one language do not have equivalent in the other language. This causes linguistic untranslatability. But untranslatability is not absolute, we should understand the co-existence of translatability and untranslatability. Based on this, we can use some methods to compensate in order to reduce the barrier in translation and promote language and culture communication. © 2012 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland.