Translation of medical concepts in West-East knowledge transmission in nineteenth century China: a case study of grammatical de-metaphorization

This study explores translation shifts in medical knowledge transmission in nineteenth-century China, through a perspective focused on grammatical metaphor observed in a parallel corpus of medical texts. It uncovers the role of de-nominalization encoded in noun-to-verb or noun-to-adjective shifts in the translation process. Further, such linguistic shifts may be viewed as cultural adaptations necessary for the smooth transmission of disciplinary knowledge across cultures and developmental stages in the evolution of scientific knowledge. The study provides empirical evidence that shifts from nominalized to de-nominalized expressions occurred during the infancy of knowledge transmission from the West to the East. Further, the study finds that the period of medical knowledge transmission in late nineteenth-century China emphasized the comprehension of concepts, rather than term formation. It highlights the importance of language and historical context in shaping the perception and representation of ideas and concepts in medical discourse.