A Comparative Study on the Lexicon of 'The Village in the Jungle' and its Sinhalese Translation 'Beddegama'

Abstract

Translation is not just a translation of words but it is a creative act of translating the whole idea of source language into target language. The aim of this research is to compare the lexical meanings of Leonard Woolt's 'The Village in the Jungle' which is based on Sinhalese folk life and 'Beddegama' which is translated by A. P. Gunarathna. 'The Village in the Jungle' is also an influential work of Sri Lankan Literature. Data were collected by comparing a selected chapter of the translation with the corresponding chapter of the source text. Dialects, registers, styles, cultural words, discriminative words and slangs are focused on examining the lexical meanings. Through the analysis of the data collected, it can be proved that the colonial administration had been affected to the Sri Lankans who lived in that period and it can be seen through the lexical meanings. The story of the novel "Village in the Jungle" is full of acrimony. Thus, a soothing, delicate lexicon from both the books cannot be expected. Further, semi-civilised villagers and the differences of their attitudes are also affected to the lexical meanings of the books. By this research, it is discovered that the social background of the composed season of these books is immensely affected to the lexical meanings.