巧用汉语四字格.docx

1、巧用汉语四字格第二节 巧用汉语四字格词语四字格是中国语言艺术的结晶，它是中国古典文籍中重要的叙事表情形式。虽然古文作为一种文化传递载体已不具鲜活力，但四字格表达结构却得以在白话文中耀耀生辉。汉语拥有纷繁的“四字格”词组。它涵意深刻，构型短小，生命力旺盛，表现力强。四字格有两大类（冯树鉴，1995：304）：一类是汉语成语，因袭定型，词序固定，不能随意拆散或组合；另一类是普通词语，结构松散，可以根据一定的语境灵活组合。本节所讲的“四字格”词组，是广义的概念，包括成语和非成语。从内容上讲，“四字格”词组言简意赅；从形式上讲，它整齐均称；从语音上讲，它顺口悦耳。由普通词语形成的“四字格”比用五字词语

2、和三字词语要精彩得多，如“振笔疾书”、“满脸堆笑”、“洗劫一空”。“四字格”在译文中如果运用得当，不但使译文大为增色，而且能发挥“锦上添花”的作用。朗读起来抑扬顿挫，起落跌宕，可以享受语音上的和谐美感。这种通过增强音感给人留下深刻印象的效果，是普通的二字词组、三字词组或五字词组、六字词组所不能得到的。但要注意的是，原文语言正规、行文流畅，尤其是在使用对偶、排比和平行结构等情况下，我们可用四字格来传达原文的语言效果。在译文中运用四字格时，我们还必须充分考虑到感情色彩、语言特征、人物塑造等方面的问题。一使用“四字格”词组的语言优势1）有助于笔墨经济，以少胜多“四字格”词组是经过反复锤炼、相沿习用而

3、成型的。寥寥四字，言简意赅。在忠实于原文的内容和风格的前提下，恰当采用，译文就显得凝炼、贴切，具有高度的概括力。1 Over the past several weeks, she had grown increasingly restless.过去几周，她越来越六神无主。2 Scientific exploration, the search for knowledge has given man the practical results of being able to shield himself the calamities of nature and the calamities

4、imposed by other man.科学的探索，知识的追求，使人类获得了避免天灾人祸的实力。评析：原句末11个词，译成四字格“天灾人祸”，何其精炼贴切。3 The nation at large was exhausted from the searing effects of the Civil War and Reconstruction.由于南北战争和“重建”造成的百孔千疮，举国上下被搞得筋疲力尽。4 With ten years of Sorbonne and the prospect of a Nobel, Pierre was a rising star in the gal

5、axy of scientists.皮埃尔居里在巴黎大学任教十年，并有希望获得诺贝尔奖金，因而在科学界名流中是后起之秀。评析：a rising star如译为“正在成长的名家”，不免啰嗦。5 The fact that a plane is up in the air and cannot stop if anything goes wrong, makes it perhaps a matter of life or death that its performance is absolutely dependable.飞机在空中飞行时，如果任何部件发生故障，它是不能停下来的，因此，其性能必

6、须绝对可靠，这是一个生死攸关的问题。评析：在科技翻译中同样可以运用“四字格”。关键在于它能否忠实于原文。6 The list of chiral objects could go on, but examples of two kinds of sea-shells tell the story.手性物不胜枚举，但以两类海贝为例，即可盖其全貌。评析：两个“四字格”正确、贴切地表达了用其它字眼难以表达的原文含义。2）有助于译文通顺流畅，雅俗交融由于英汉语表达习惯迥然不同，对号入座的死译，常违反汉语表达的“约定俗成”，使译文生硬别扭，难以达到确切和通顺。因此，根据上下文的内在联系和关联，由表及里，

7、恰当运用“四字格”，就能收到良好的效果。7 Eisenhower later recalled, when MacArthur felt slighted he was capable of expressing himself in “an explosive denunciation of politics, bad manners, bad judgment, broken promise, arrogance, unconstitutionality, insensitivity, and the way the world had gone to hell.”William Manc

8、hester, The Glory and the Dream艾森豪威尔后来回忆往事时说，只要麦克阿瑟感到有人对他不够尊重，就“发起脾气来，破口大骂人家好耍权术，不懂礼貌，乱出主意，出尔反尔，狂妄自大，违反宪法，神经迟钝，麻木不仁，如今世道真是见鬼，等等。”评析：译文中连接使用八个四字格。8 Wartime Marseilles was such a bubbling stew of political double-dealing, financial corruption, racial and nationalist crisscrossings, refugee agonies and

9、 tragedies, and Mediterranean finagling dating back to Phoenician times, that compared to Gaithers daily grind, melodramas and spy yarns paled. -Herman Wouk, War and Remembrance战争年头的马赛本来就已成一锅上下翻腾的大杂烩：政治上狗苟蝇营，钱财上的巧取豪夺，种族和国籍的混淆纠缠，离乡背井的难民们的苦难和悲剧，以及从腓尼基人时代以来就已盛行在地中海沿岸的尔虞我诈、勾心斗角，所以和盖瑟的例行公事相比起来，什么离奇曲折的剧情和

10、阴险诡谲的故事都要黯然失色。评析：译文中用了十一个四字格。这些四字格既忠于原文，也显得异常生动，更加有效地表达了原文的意义。试想，假如把这些四字格都改换成参差不齐的二字、三字、五字或六字词组，那么译文的表达效果就必然要逊色得多。9 In the savage fighting, Germany itself was laid waste, the towns and countryside were devastated and ravished, the people decimated. William Manchester, The Glory and the Dream德国全境受到了野

11、蛮战争的洗劫，市廛萧条，田野荒芜，生灵涂炭，十室九空。10 Drew Pearson, a thirty-four-year-old reporter, described them as “ragged, weary, and apathetic,” with “no hope on their faces.”- William Manchester, The Glory and the Dream有一位三十四岁的记者，名叫德鲁皮尔逊，他描写那些退伍军人，说是“衣衫褴褛，筋疲力尽，神情木然，满脸愁容。”11 One of Eisenhowers friends was Moseley, wh

12、om Eisenhower later described as “a brilliant” and “dynamic” officer “always delving into new ideas.” - William Manchester, The Glory and the Dream莫斯利是艾森豪威尔的朋友。艾森豪威尔后来说他是个“才气横溢”、“生气勃勃”、“富于创见”的人。12 He was canny, openhanded, brisk, candid, and modest. - William Manchester, The Glory and the Dream他为人聪明

13、大方，生气勃勃，忠厚耿直，谦虚谨慎。13 Although lonely in a new land, Matzeliger was described by his fellow workers and students as cheerful, of a friendly nature, honest, and modest.虽然马泽利格单身一人，又生活在异乡客地，但正如他的同事和学生所描述的那样，他为人活泼开朗，温文尔雅，诚实谦虚。14 Since modern Western culture is highly diverse, something that has faded com

14、pletely from one segment of a society can still flourish in another.鉴于现代西方文化千差万别，有些事物在某个社会的一部分地区已经完全销声匿迹，而在另一部分地区可能仍然方兴未艾。15 Alberts thoughts whirled, and he was thrilled and excited. For the first time, he sensed that there were things in nature could not been seen, could not be touched, could hard

15、ly be imagined.阿尔伯特思潮起伏，心情激动。他第一次意识到自然界里还有看不见、摸不着、几乎不可思议的东西。3）有助于译文生动活泼，形象鲜明“四字格”成语，很多是凭借一定的积极修辞手段而构造的，以实指虚，具体生动，形象鲜明。运用恰当，有助于再现原文的语感、情态和形象，增加译文的感染力。16 You may have read stories in which the hero gets into his spaceship and “blasts off” into the outer reaches of space without a worry about fuel.你大概读

16、过这样一些故事吧。它们描写一位英雄坐上飞船，“风驰电掣”，直冲九霄云外，毋须为燃料担心发愁。17 Many men have recognized the similarity of plants to the behavior of animals, and have dreamed wistfully, but forlornly, upon some method or source of rejuvenation such as Ponce de Leon sought in the Fountain of Youth several centuries ago.许多人认为，植物的习性与动物相似，于是梦寐以求地去探求什么“返老还童”的“灵丹妙药”，就像数百年前彭斯德利昂在青春泉祈求仙水一样，结