Translation of Classical Chinese Conjunctions into Thai

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to study the translation of 20 commonly used Classical Chinese conjunctions in Thai. The data were collected from pre – Qin and Han texts. The research found that Classical Chinese conjunctions can be translated into many Thai equivalents depending on the context; but some conjunctions have no Thai equivalents due to the differences in syntax and semantics between the two languages. To decode the meanings of the conjunctions in the source text, a translator requires thorough knowledge about syntax and semantics of classical Chinese. In addition, the translator needs to know the semantic relation between sentences in the source language and also needs the same in – depth knowledge to reencode their meanings into Thai.