Pronoun Translation from English into Thai

Abstract

This article analyzes English to Thai pronoun translation with the aims to analyze translation techniques and to document pronoun translation in order to enhance the teaching of translation and Thai usage. The data comes from translations by five different translators by five different best-selling novels published from 2000 to 2010. The theoretical frameworks are from the theories of translation, language documentation, language description, and sociolinguistics. The 8 techniques found in English to Thai pronoun translation are : 1) pronoun to pronoun, 2) pronoun to substituted word, 3) explicit pronoun to implicitness, 4) pronoun to kinship terms, 5) pronoun to formal pronoun, 6) pronoun to informal pronoun, 7) pronoun to role designation words, and 8) pronoun to editorial pronoun. Examples of pronoun translation are shown to demonstrate the translation techniques and to describe Thai pronoun usage according to language documentation and descriptive linguistic frameworks. The translation techniques are discussed and suggestions on the implications of the techniques are offered for translators and linguists.