英语翻译实践与理论.docx

1、英语翻译实践与理论 Translation What is translation? (definition) What is a good translation? (criteria) Nida: Translating consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source-language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style. 许钧： 翻译是以符号转换为手段，意

2、义再生为任务的一项跨文化的交际活动。E.g. He is suggestively silent. 他一声不吭，似有隐衷。 He managed to raise a crop of 200 miracle tomatoes that weighed up to two pounds each. 他居然种出了二百个神奇的西红柿，每个重达两镑。 e.g. 1. 了解过去有助于了解现在，了解现在有助于预知未来。 2. 她一想到那次交通事故，就双腿僵硬，难以走路。 1. An acquaintance of the past is helpful to the acquaintance of the

3、 present, which is in turn helpful to the prediction of the future. 2. The thought of the traffic accident made her legs become stiffened under her and unable to walk.e.g. One of the most startling pieces of evidence that shows people are not in touch with whats really going on in their partnerships

4、 is the fact that the majority of people who file for divorce say they didnt think there was a relationship-threatening problem just six months prior to breaking up. 大多数申请离婚的人都说，就在感情破裂的六个月前，他们都还没有感到什么情感危机。这一令人惊讶的事实表明人们对自己的婚姻状况还不甚了解。 严复：信达雅faithfulness/expressiveness/elegance. The “three character gu

5、ide” is regarded as a plumb-line of long standing to measure the professional level of translating.傅雷：神似spiritual conformity, Emphasizing the reproduction of the spirit of the flavor of the original. 强调原作神韵再现。钱钟书：化境sublimed adaptation. Focus on the translators smooth and idiomatic Chinese version fo

6、r the sake of the Chinese reader.刘重德：信、达、切faithfulness / expressiveness / closeness.鲁迅：宁信而不顺-rather to be faithful than smooth。 梁实秋、赵景深：宁顺而不信-rather to be smooth than faithful鲁迅目的：引入英文句式的表达法梁实秋目的：可读性强，便于交流。 信 faithfulness ? 达 expressiveness? 雅 elegance ? Equivalence: (1) semantic equivalence (2) sty

7、listic equivalenceSome Categories of Translation Criteria 直译vs 意译 Literal translation vs Liberal translation 形似vs 神似 Formal conformity vs Spiritual conformity 异化vs 归化 Foreignization vs Domestication Advantages and DisadvantagesFactors Influencing Your Translation Your competence and your temperament

8、 Context (textual and cultural) Expected readersReference Books 陆谷孙英语大词典上海译文出版社 吴光华汉英大词典上海交通大学出版社 冯庆华实用翻译教程上海外语教育出版社 陈宏薇新实用汉译英教程湖北教育出版社 郭著章英汉互译实用教程武汉大学出版社 刘宓庆文体与翻译中国对外翻译出版公司 柯平英汉与汉英翻译教程北京大学出版社 Choice of word meaning Examples 1.她正在梳头。 2.让我从头讲起吧。 3.这还是我头一次来杭州呢。 4.最近镇上来了几个有头有脸的人物。 5.我们对待事情不能只顾一头。Exampl

9、es 1. The dinner cost us five dollars a head. 2. The lecture was above my head. 3. Heads or tails? 4. Lets discuss the question under five heads. 5. He headed straight for the bar.跑runExamples 1.他十多岁就学会了杂耍，已经跑江湖数十年了。 2. 你在公司里不过是个跑龙套的角色。 3. 车胎跑气了。Examples run into / run down / run after / run against

10、 / run in / run out run a fever / run a car / run into debt / run a factory / run for presidency / run oil / run the risk of / run sb. into difficultiesExamples 1. The idea runs in his mind. 2. The news runs rapidly in the town. 3. The machine runs well. 4. The street runs north.Man Be a man! man an

11、d his wife officers and menSophisticated sophisticated man sophisticated woman sophisticated driver sophisticated electronic device sophisticated weapon To Choose a Word Meaning in a Wider Context 1. Please tell me if you can help us. 2. Im sure Ill beat John this time. 3. We have no spring here.Exe

12、rcises 1. In every Chinese city, we got into the streets, shops, parks, theatres and restaurants. 2. yet, as sometimes happens that a person departs his life, who is really deserving of the praises the stone-cutter carves over his bones; who is a good Christian, a good parent, a good child, a good w

13、ife or a good husband; who actually does have a disconsolate family to mourn his loss 2. Extending the Word Meaning ( differences in CULTURE and WORD-FORMING)2.1 Concrete Abstract Theoretical Basis: SL TL culture image no culture image Examples 鸡毛蒜皮 狗急跳墙 单枪匹马 生龙活虎 开门见山Examples eat like a bird lick s

14、bs boots walk on air break the ice 他万万没想到在他前进的道路上竟会出现这么多拦路虎。 这是他们夫妻之间的事情，你去插一脚干嘛？ Ill break my neck to get this done by Friday, but I cant promise for sure. He is a rolling stone, I dont think he can lay up any money. Everyone is for bread and butter in life. 2.2 Abstract Concrete Theoretical Basis:

15、 SL TL no culture image culture image Examples very timid keep quiet accelerate the speed be full of anxiety and worry be very anxious to return homeExamples 简言之 鲁莽的人 截然不同 觉得可疑 他每天都要处理许多棘手的问题。 我们决不能姑息坏人。 Although they decided to go in opposite directions, they had not cut off relations completely.Ab

16、stract Concrete (2)Theoretical Basis Synthetic Vs. Analytic English Chinese 形态变化、词序和虚词是表达语法意义的三大手段。Definition A synthetic language is characterized by frequent and systematic use of inflected forms to express grammatical relationships. Websters Ninth New Collegiate DictionaryDefinition An analytic l

17、anguage is characterized by a relatively frequent use of function words, auxiliary verbs, and changes in word order to express syntactic relations, rather than of inflected forms. The Random House College DictionaryEmotional Particle in Chinese 下雨了。 下雨了吗？ 下雨了吧？ 下雨了啊! 你带上这本书。 你带上这本书吗？ 你带上这本书吧!Auxilia

18、ry Verb He can finish the task by Monday. He must finish the task by Monday. He should finish the task by Monday. Can you open the window? Could you open the window? Will you open the window?Example He astonished us by moving rapidly. He astonished us by his rapid movements. He astonished us by the

19、rapidity of his movements. A very important question A question of great importance There is no inconsistency in what he said. There is nothing inconsistent in what he said.Some Affixations in English Prefixes: Inter- 相互 Trans- 跨 Multi- 多 Ultra- 超 Meta- 超越、超出 Pre- 之前 Suffixes: -ment 行为的结果、手段、工具、过程 -

20、ness 性质、状态 -tion 动作、状态、结果 -ism 主义、学说、信仰、行为 -ship 情况、身份、职业 -hood 身份、资格、性质、状态 -ing 动作或动作的过程、结果、产物、对象、与某一事物有关的动作 -ance 性质、行动、过程、程度 -ence 动作、性质、状态Examples He was described as impressed by Dengs flexibility. What they wanted most was an end of uncertainties. He discussed greatness and excellence. We were

21、 greatly moved by his loftiness. His far-sightedness and perseverance has yielded a rich harvest. The stars twinkled in transparent clarity. I talked to him with brutal frankness.Tip With category words, concrete words, images, etc., you can translate abstract words in English into concrete Chinese

22、ones.More Examples Disintegration Ardent loyalty Perfect harmony With great eagerness Lack of perseverance Feed on fancies There had been too much violence in that region. The black people were fighting against the segregation of the government. The pharmacologists are making a careful study of the

23、allergy of the medicine.Exercises To help myself live without fault, I made a list of what I considered the 13 virtues. These virtues are 1 Temperance, 2 Self-control, 3 Silence, 4 Order, 5 Firmness of mind, 6 Savings, 7 Industry, 8 Honesty, 9 Justice, 10 Cleanliness, 11 Calmness, 12 Morality, 13 Hu

24、mbleness. Benjamin FranklinNominalization in English andConversion of Parts of Speech1. Warming up 1) 要想知道布丁的滋味，就要亲自尝一尝。 2 ) 别人劝说也好，恳求也好，他都无动于衷。 1) 要想知道布丁的滋味，就要亲自尝一尝。 C.f. If you want to know the taste of pudding, you need to eat one yourself. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. 2 ) 别人劝说也好，恳求

25、也好，他都无动于衷。 C.f. However other people persuaded him or entreated him, he was not to be moved. He was not to be moved by either persuasions or entreaties. 2. Typical Chinese Sentences as Contrast 他想办法摆脱了困境。 连动式 我们请她唱歌。 兼语式 你去教室把他叫回来。 把字式+兼语式 我被老师叫到办公室去作检讨。 被动式+连动式 达到理想境界要靠辛勤劳动。(主、宾) 他不停地来回走动，激动得说不出话来。

26、(状、补) 革命不是请客吃饭。(表) E: STATIVE noun adjective C: DYNAMIC verb adverb4. Translation Approach Analysis The doctors extremely quick arrival and uncommonly careful examination of the patient brought about his very speedy recovery. ？医生极其快速的到达和对病人不同寻常的细致检查带来他的迅速康复。 The doctor arrived extremely quickly and

27、examined the patient uncommonly carefully; so he recovered very speedily. Dynamic Adjustment5. Examples (EC) 5.1 (Noun Verb) This novel defies easy classification. C.f. 这部小说违背简单的分类。 这部小说不好分类。 It was only my capacity for hard work that saved me from early dismissal. C.f. 我干重活的能力使我免于早早的解雇。 要不是我能干重活，早就

28、被解雇了。5.2 ( Prep. Verb) 1. He has someone behind him. 2. Millions of the people in the mountainous areas are finally off poverty. 3. He was between sheets by eleven.5.3 ( Zero Verb) After the football match, hes got an important meeting. He dismissed the meeting without a closing speech. See. Textboo

29、k P58.6.1 ( Verb Noun)仔细比较一下，就能看出他们的不同。C.f. If we compare them carefully, we can find their difference. Careful comparison will reveal their difference. 他能吃能睡。 C.f. He eats well and sleeps well. (Is he very rich?) He can eat and sleep. (Who cannot?) He is a good eater and good sleeper. 我儿子拉洋车。 C.f.

30、My son pulls rickshaw. My son is a rickshaw puller. 你们今天老是看着表等下班啊。6.2 ( Verb Prep.) 1. 许多学生反对他。 2. 我永远支持你。 3. 这趟火车是开往芝加哥的吗？7. Appreciation 经过学校的门口，也改换了名称和模样，于我很生疏。(在酒楼上) When I passed the gate of the school, that too had changed its name and appearance, making me feel quite a stranger. 空气是这样的清香，使人胸脯里感到分外凉爽、舒畅。( 创业史) The air was fresh and fragrant; it gave people a feeling of exceptional coolness and comfort. 街