TITLE:
A Corpus-Based Study of Musicality in Zhu Shenghao’s Translation of Shakespeare’s Four Great Tragedies
AUTHORS:
Yang Liu, Yimin Luo
KEYWORDS:
Corpus, Musicality, Zhu Shenghao, Translation, Shakespeare’s Four Great Tragedies
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.14 No.1,
January
22,
2026
ABSTRACT: This study examines the musicality of Zhu Shenghao’s translations of Shakespeare’s four great tragedies through the analysis of rhyme, rhythm, and intonation via a parallel corpus. The findings reveal that Zhu’s translation employs alliteration, internal rhyme, alternating-line rhyme, end rhyme, and other rhetorical devices to relive the original meter in William Shakespeare’s four great tragedies. It features prominent pause syllabiques and sonic rhythms, with rich manifestations of semantic group rhythms, though the use of tonal patterns remains relatively limited. Drawing upon his profound understanding of textual musicality and grounded in his extensive knowledge of classical Chinese poetry, Zhu Shenghao creatively adapted and innovated the original Shakespearean meter and rhythm. Zhu’s approach forged a distinctive translation style, making an outstanding contribution to the Sinicization of Shakespeare.