Faithfulness, Expressiveness, Elegance
Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-30
CORE DEFINITION
Faithfulness: being faithful to the original meaning, accurate and error-free. Expressiveness: being smooth and fluent, easy to understand. Elegance: having beautiful and refined language with taste. Source: Yan Fu's 'Translator's Remarks' in 'Evolution and Ethics'. Scaffold role: a three-tier standard for translation/expression. It is not just about 'right or wrong' (faithfulness), but also 'easy to understand' (expressiveness) and 'beautiful or not' (elegance) - a progressive quality requirement.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
A three-tier standard for translation/expression. It is not just about 'right or wrong' (faithfulness), but also 'easy to understand' (expressiveness) and 'beautiful or not' (elegance) - a progressive quality requirement.
Anchor fast decisions
The three-character standard proposed by Yan Fu in 'Evolution and Ethics: Translator's Remarks' is a three-tier progression: faithfulness (being faithful to the original meaning, without addition, deletion, or distortion) is the bottom line; expressiveness (being smooth and fluent, understandable to readers) is the conveyance; elegance (having beautiful and appropriate wording) is the elevation. The tension among the three: over-pursuing elegance or expressiveness may harm faithfulness, so faithfulness should be the foundation, with expressiveness and elegance as the means.
MINIMUM ACTION
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Source support: Explicit
- zh.wikipedia.orghttps://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BF%A1%E8%BE%BE%E9%9B%85verified
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