Abstract: Lexical gap is the term linguists use to describe a situation in which no single word exists in a language to denote a particular concept, which always brings about great obstacles in intercultural communication. This paper first analyzes the types of lexical gap from two aspects: referential meaning and pragmatic meaning. Then the reasons of this phenomenon are explored: differences in living environments and experience; differences in customs; differences in religious belief; differences in perceiving the world. And finally the author proposes three effective translation strategies to cope with the problem caused by lexical gap: transliteration, literal translation and free translation. It is hoped that this research will be helpful in making the phenomenon of lexical gap better understood. It is also hoped that this research can be beneficial to people engaged in intercultural communication and help them communicate smoothly with people from different cultural backgrounds.
Key words: lexical gap; types; reasons; translation strategies
摘要：当一种语言不存在单个词语来表达一个特定的概念时，总是会对跨文化交际造成巨大障碍，语言学家用术语“词汇空缺”来描述这种情况。本文首先两个方面分析词汇空缺的类型：指称意义和语用意义。然后探索词汇空缺现象的产生原因：生活环境和生活经验的不同；风俗习惯的不同；宗教信仰的不同；对客观世界的认识不同。最后提出三个有效的翻译策略来处理词汇空缺产生的问题：音译法，直译法和意译法。希望本文能有助于让词汇空缺现象得到更好的理解，也希望本文对参与跨文化交际的人们有所帮助，帮助其与来自不同文化背景的人顺畅交流。
关键词：词汇空缺； 类型； 原因； 翻译策略
