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Unit3
Unit3
Equivalenceatwordlevel
内容提要:
1translationproblemsarisingfromlackofequivalenceatwordlevel
2variousstrategieswhichcanbeusedfordealingwiththem
学习目的:
Bylearningtranslationproblemsarisingfromlackofequivalenceatwordlevel,thestudentslearnthespecifictypesofnon-equivalenceandthevariousstrategieswhichcanbeusedfordealingwiththem.
重点:
variousstrategieswhichcanbeusedfordealingwithnon-equivalenceatwordlevel
难点:
variousstrategieswhichcanbeusedfordealingwithnon-equivalenceatwordlevel
教学内容:
ThisUnitdiscussestranslationproblemsarisingfromlackofequivalenceatwordlevel;whatdoesatranslatordowhenthereisnowordinthetargetlanguagewhichexpressesthesamemeaningasthesourcelanguageword?
THEPROBLEMOFNON-EQUIVALENCE
Wecannowbegintooutlinesomeofthemorecommontypesofnon-equivalencewhichoftenposedifficultiesforthetranslatorandsomeattestedstrategiesfordealingwiththem.First,awordofwarning.Thechoiceofasuitableequivalentinagivencontextdependsonawidevarietyoffactors.Someofthesefactorsmaybestrictlylinguistic.Otherfactorsmayheextra-linguistic.Itisvirtuallyimpossibletoofferabsoluteguidelinesfordealingwiththevarioustypesofnonequivalencewhichexistamonglanguages.ThemostthatcanbedoneinthisUnitistosuggeststrategieswhichmaybeusedtodealwithnon-equivalence‘insomecontexts’.Thechoiceofasuitableequivalentwillalwaysdependnotonlyonthelinguisticsystemorsystemsbeinghandledbythetranslator,butalsoonthewayboththewriterofthesourcetextandtheproducerofthetargettext,i.e.thetranslator,choosetomanipulatethelinguisticsystemsinquestion.
Non-equivalenceatwordlevelandsomecommonstrategiesfordealingwithit
Non-equivalenceatwordlevelmeansthatthetargetlanguagehasnodirectequivalentforawordwhichoccursinthesourcetext.Thetypeandlevelofdifficultyposedcanvarytremendouslydependingonthenatureofnon-equivalence.Differentkindsofnon-equivalencerequiredifferentstrategies,someverystraightforward,othersmoreinvolvedanddifficulttohandle.
EnglishandChineseareofgreatdifferencebecausetheybelongtodifferentlanguagefamiliesandhavecompletelydifferentcultures.Therearealotoftranslationproblemsarisingfromlackofequivalenceatwordlevel.Non-equivalenceatwordlevelmeansthatthetargetlanguagehasnodirectequivalentforawordwhichoccursinthesourcetext.
3.1Commonproblemsofnon-equivalenceatwordlevel
3.1.1Culture-specificconcepts(文化特色词汇)
Thesource-languagewordmayexpressaconceptwhichistotallyunknowninthetargetculture.Theconceptinquestionmaybeabstractorconcrete;itmayrelatetoareligiousbelief,asocialcustom,orevenatypeoffood.Suchconceptsareoftenreferredtoas‘culture-specific’.
Example1:
狗
Englishpeoplelovedogsverymuch.Forthem,dogsareman’sbestfriends,sotheykeepthemaspetsandtakegoodcareofthem,andevenusetheword‘dog’todescribepeople’slife.‘Aluckydog’referstoapersonwhoislucky,while‘topdog’refertoapersonwhoisveryimportant.However,traditionally,Chinesepeopledon’thavethesamefeelingtodogs,andtheyoftensetdogsagainstotherpeople,suchas狗腿子(adog’sleg)meaningabadpersonfollowinghisorherbadsuperiorand狗血喷头(topourthedog’sbloodtosomebody’shead)meaningtopouroutafloodofinvectiveagainstsomebody.Therefore,whendoingtranslation,weshouldavoidusingtheword‘dog’directly,ortousethesuper-ordinateoftheword‘dog’.Forexample,狗嘴里长不出象牙(ivorycan’tgrowinadog’smouth)canbetranslatedas‘afilthymouthcan’tutterdecentlanguage’,while狗急跳墙(adogwilljumpoverthewallifpushedtoohard)canbetranslatedbyusingtheword‘beast’(thesuper-ordinateof‘dog’):
acorneredbeastwilldosomethingdesperate.
Example2:
文房四宝
Sinceitisculture-specific,thereisnoequivalentwordinEnglish,andwealsocallitSemanticZero(词义空缺).
Suggestedtranslation:
thefourtreasuresofthestudy(writingbrush,ink-stick,inkstoneandpaper)
Example3:
privacyandSpeaker
AnexampleofanabstractEnglishconceptwhichisdifficulttotranslateintoChineseisthatexpressedbythewordprivacyandSpeaker(oftheHouseofCommons).Bothofthemhavenoreadyone-to-oneequivalenceinChinese.Thewordprivacyisavery‘English’conceptwhichisrarelyunderstoodbypeoplefromothercultures.Speaker(oftheHouseofCommons)hasnoequivalentinmanylanguages,suchasRussian,Chinese,andArabic.ItisoftentranslatedintoRussianas‘Chairman’,whichdoesnotreflecttheroleoftheSpeakeroftheHouseofCommonsasanindependentpersonwhomaintainsauthorityandordertoParliament.
3.1.2Onewordwithmultipleequivalents(一词多义)
Example1:
man
1manandhiswife丈夫和妻子
2officersandmen官和兵
3hismanFriday他的仆人礼拜五(《鲁宾逊漂流记》)
4Beaman!
要像个男子汉!
Example2:
sophisticated
1sophisticatedman老于世故的人
2sophisticatedwoman狡黠的女子
3sophisticatedcolumnist老练的专栏作家
4sophisticatedelectronicdevice高度精密的电子装置
5sophisticatedweapon尖端武器
Example3:
时间
到达时间arrivingtime工作时间workinghours停留时间durationofstay
Example4:
意识
自我意识self-consciousness竞争意识competitivespirit
Example5:
一次性
一次性付款1ump-sumpayment一次性拖鞋disposableslippers
Example6:
恶性
恶性肿瘤malignanttumor恶性循环viciouscircle
3.1.3Wordswithoutequivalents(无对等词语)
ThetermsexpressConfuciusmorality“三纲五常”cannotfinditscorrespondentwordinEnglish.“三纲”thethreecardinalguides:
rulerguidessubject,fatherguidessonandhusbandguideswife;“五常”thefivevirtues:
benevolence,righteousness,propriety,wisdomandcredibility.
糖葫芦:
Tanghulu,asuger-coatedfruitonthestickwhichisakindofchildren’sfavouritefoodinwinter
Teenager:
13至19岁的青少年
Commuter:
家住郊区、乘公交车到市内上班的人(上班族)
3.1.4Differentassociationofmeaning(联想意义不同)
Thecommoncharactersofcultureshavegiventhesameassociatedmeaningtosomewords,whilethedifferencebetweencultureswillleadtodifferentassociationofmeanings.
Forexample,foxhasbeencommonlyconsideredasakindofcunninganimalscomparedwithallotheranimals,whichisreflectedbothinChineseandEnglishfables.InChinese,therearesayinglike狡猾的狐狸(cunningfox),whileinEnglishtherearealsoexpressionslike‘asslyasafox’.
However,eachculturehasitsspecificcharacters.Thedifferencesbetweenculturesintradition,value,custom,religion,wayofthinkingandevengeologywillleadtothesamewordhavingdifferentassociatedmeaningindifferentcultures.
Forexample,thechineseword‘月亮’hasbeengivenveryniceassociatedmeaninginChinese,suchas‘团圆,爱情,故乡’,whileforEnglishpeople,‘moon’willbeassociatedwith‘inconstancy’.inconstantaffections;aninconstantlover;swearnotby...theinconstantmoon-Shakespeare.
变化无常的爱情;反复无常的爱人;不要以反复多变的月亮起誓——莎士比亚。
Chineseculturehasmuchtodowithagriculture,sopeopleliketouse‘ox’todescribesomephenomenaindailylife.Forinstance,whendescribingapersonwhoisverystrong,Chinesepeoplesay身壮如牛(asstrongasabull),whileEnglishpeoplesay‘asstrongasahorse’.Whendescribingapersonwhoisverythirstyandisgobblingupwater,Chinesepeoplesay像牛饮(drinklikeanox),whileEnglishpeoplesay‘drinklikeafish’.
3.1.5Conflictinconnotation(内涵意义/涵义冲突)
Connotationisanimpliedmeaningofaword.ThereissomethingthatappearsinbothChinaandtheEnglishcountries,buttheyhavedifferentmeaning,whichcausestranslationproblems,too.
IntheChinesesentence‘中国是块肥肉,谁都想吃’,thereistheword‘肥肉’.ItdoeshaveanequivalentwordinEnglish‘fat’,buttheymeandifferentlyinthetwocultures.ItwillbeverydifficultforEnglish-speakingpeopletounderstandwhyweshouldusetheword‘fat’tomakethiscomparison,andintheircountries,fewpeopleliketoeat‘fat’much.Inthepast,whentwoChinesemeetwitheachother,theyliketosay‘你胖了!
’.ThisservesasacomplimentinChina,butforWesternpeople,thisservesasawarningofthenecessityoflosingweight.
InBothEnglishandChinese,womenarereferredtoas‘flowers’.However,withdifferentcollocation,‘flower’canmeanverydifferentlyinChinese.‘Flower’in‘拈花弄草’and‘花街柳巷’referto‘towngirls’or‘prostitutes’.
Iftheword‘玉’isusedtorefertowomen,Chinesepeopleassociateitwith‘beauty’,‘noblequalities’,whileEnglishpeopleassociateitwith‘dishonour’.
3.1.6Theuseofloanwordsinthesourcetext(外来词语的使用)
Theuseofloanwordsinthesourcetextposesaspecialproblemintranslation.Quiteapartfromtheirrespectivepropositionalmeaning,loanwordsareoftenusedfortheirprestigevalue,becausetheycanaddanairofsophisticationtothetextoritssubjectmatter.Thisisoftenlostintranslationbecauseitisnotalwayspossibletofindaloanwordwiththesamemeaninginthetargetlanguage(MonaBaker).
Loanwordsalsoposeanotherproblemfortheunwarytranslator,namelytheproblemoffalsefriends(假朋友).Falsefriendsarewordsorexpressionswhichhavethesameformintwoormorelanguagesbutconveydifferentmeanings.Onceawordorexpressionisborrowedintoalanguage,wecannotpredictorcontrolitsdevelopmentortheadditionalmeaningsitmightormightnottakeon.Somefalsefriendsareeasytospotbecausethedifferenceintheirmeaningsissogreatthatonlyaveryinexperiencedtranslatorislikelytobeunawareofit(MonaBaker).
ExamplesofFalsefriends:
密码password(not‘secretcode’)
洗牌toshuffletheplayingcards(towashtheplayingcards)
牛仔裤jeans(notcowboytrousers)
课堂测验pop-quiz(notclassroomexam)
流动资金workingcapital(notcirculatingcapital)
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