Translation Practice and Cross‑Cultural Communication

Construction-based Shanxi Merchants Residence Couplets Translating

Junfang Chen — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0800

As the quintessence of Shanxi Merchants culture, Shanxi Merchants couplets reflect the way of merchant success, so their translation and spreading are of great significance. However, so far there has been no related research results. The approach to construction-based translation is an efficient way to couplet translation. It’s because the two lines of the couplet have same number of characters, part of speech, syntactic structure, harmonious rhythm, related meanings, shared purpose, rich culture, and approach to construction-based translation stresses taking multiple elements of construction into consideration and balance them. In this paper a multi-dimensional couplet analysis frame has been designed and applied to criticize and better existed Shanxi Merchants couplet translations.

A Bibliometric Analysis of Large Language Models in Machine Translation: Trends and Advancements (2020-2024)

Yulong Li, Ling Jiang, Jianjie Wang, Fumeng Gao — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0800

This bibliometric analysis of 460 peer-reviewed articles (2020–2024) maps the rapid evolution of Large Language Models (LLMs) in machine translation. The study reveals a significant surge in research, driven by advances in transformer architectures and characterized by robust international collaboration. Key themes identified include pre-trained models, neural machine translation, and specialized applications in domains like healthcare, highlighting the field’s interdisciplinary nature. The findings offer valuable insights into current trends and future trajectories for LLM-driven translation.

A Functionalist Perspective on Translating Traditional Chinese Patterns: A Comparative Analysis of Large Language Models vs. Human Translation

Jing Guo, Yueyan Pan, Zixuan Ye, Mengyuan Dou — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0800

Grounded in the functionalist Skopos Theory, this study systematically compares the English translations of traditional Chinese patterns produced by professional museum translators and Large Language Models (LLMs). It constructs a four dimensional evaluation system covering cultural information accuracy, visual imagery fidelity, cultural adaptability, and linguistic expression quality.

The findings indicate that human translation significantly outperforms LLMs in in-depth cultural transmission, systematic symbolic interpretation, and reader reception. By flexibly employing strategies such as annotation, cultural adaptation, and free translation, human translators effectively achieve the cross-linguistic transfer of cultural functions. Conversely, while LLMs demonstrate high linguistic fluency and efficiency, they struggle with highly culture-loaded symbols, often leading to metaphor loss, contextual dislocation, and cultural simplification, revealing a lack of genuine interpretive capabilities.

Based on these insights, this paper proposes an optimized “human-led, LLM-assisted” collaboration model to enhance both the quality and efficiency of pattern translation. This study provides a theoretical basis and practical strategies for the international dissemination of traditional cultural symbols.

Risks and Strategies in the Translation of Scientific and Technical Texts: A National Security Studies Perspective

Qingxue Li, Luyao Ma — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0800

Science and technology security is a vital component of national security. Currently, the rapid advancement of AI technology has led to widespread issues such as data breaches, mistranslation of information, and algorithmic biases. These problems pose a significant threat to security in the translation of scientific and technical texts. This paper studies the current security risks in the target texts on China’s leading science and technologies in the era of AI. From the perspective of the theory of ruling by both law and morality, this paper explores strategies to address security risks in terms of translator’s subjectivity, translation media, risk assessment, and security guarantees. It is hoped to be of some help for the improvement of national translation security.

Current Status, Characteristics, and Future Research Perspectives on the Translation and Dissemination of Chinese Calligraphy Culture

Junhu Lu, Jie Gao — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0800

In response to the various “bottlenecks” faced in the research on the translation and introduction of Chinese calligraphy culture abroad, this paper briefly reviews the current research status of Chinese calligraphy culture “going global” from two aspects: overseas dissemination and development, and domestic inheritance and translation. It summarizes the basic characteristics of research on the translation and introduction of Chinese calligraphy culture. Furthermore, it looks forward to research on Chinese calligraphy translation from three perspectives: communication studies, cultural translation, and terminology translation. The paper aims to further open up new ideas for the smooth advancement of research on the translation and introduction of Chinese calligraphy culture abroad.

Translation Strategies and Multidimensional Functional Analysis of Political Metaphors

Bingqing Yan, Yin Guo — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0800

Conceptual metaphors in cognitive linguistics are an effective means of political communication in political texts. They can not only serve as a rhetorical device to enrich the expression of texts but also act as a thinking tool to assist in the transmission and reception of political information. This paper focuses on analyzing the bilingual texts of the 2024 Government Work Report by using AntConc, and studies the working mechanisms of metaphor translation from Chinese to English in political texts. It is found that structural metaphors often necessitate explanation strategies, orientation metaphors tend to entail retention and interpretation strategies, and ontological metaphors demand replacement strategies. It prominently presents the functions and values of the following metaphors: information simplification and screening, emotion arousal and persuasion, concretization of political metaphors, symbolism of political metaphors, and cultural nature of political metaphors, which deeply reflects the importance of the people in political life. Such findings further provide reference for metaphorical expressions in the writing of political official documents at all levels, enhancing the effectiveness of political communication.