How to Translate from Chinese to
English
汉译英翻译技巧
课程教案
Foreign Language Teaching and Research Department
Heilongjiang University
Foreign Language Teaching and Research Department
Chapter One
I.Teaching Objectives
On completion of this chapter, students should be able to:
1.be well acquainted with the basic method and techniques needed for translating from Chinese
to English
2.be well informed with the basic rules concerning translating from Chinese to English.
II.The Points to Be Highlighted
1.verb without subject changed into verb with subject.
2.paralleled sentence without connections changed into complex sentence with connections.
3.implied cohesion changed into clear cohesion.back conclusion changed into front conclusion. III.T eaching Procedures and Contents
1.Greetings
Talking about the Weather
2.Warm-up
1) 天气不错,是吧?
2) 今天天气看上去不错。
3) 看来天气要放晴。
4) 雪开始下小了。
5) 现在已经开始掉小雨点了。
1) Lovely day, isn’t it?
2) It looks to be a promising day.
3) It seems to be clearing up.
4)The snow is beginning to let up.
5) I can feel some small drops of rain now.
3.Body
翻译的方法
“词词对应,句句对应”是把直译绝对化,事实上很难办到,勉强这样做时往往弄得文字别扭,意思歪曲。
另一方面,意译如果离原意太远就不能称之为翻译,是不受欢迎的。“语言是翻译之敌”。在翻译的具体过程中,语言时时都在束缚着译者,不少译者眼中只盯着原文的词,句和结构这些属于语言层次的东西,成了它们的奴仆,难以从中解放出来。结果,翻译出来的东西只是一种文字层次的转换,徒具形式,而原文的意义和精神却没有得到很好的传达。翻译的方法应该是:译者在读第二遍原文时,不是逐词逐句分析,而是对全段意思作深层次的掌握,以便从整体上进行翻译,像口译那样把原意尽量传达出来;具体翻译时虽然也适当考虑原文结构,形势却可于原文大不一样。然后再对照原文复核,使之更加切合原意。
规律
汉语是意合式语言而英语是形合式语言,从汉语译成英语便是从意合改为形合。所谓规律也就是指进行这种转变时通常会遇到的问题及处理方法。
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先举几个译例如下:
⑴一夕归,见二人与师共酌。(“崂山道士”)
⑵只盼着早些回家,洗去一身的疲劳,泡上一杯清茶,点上一炷檀香,打开半卷的书卷,一任轻柔的旋
律把我带进一个美丽的境界……(“恋家”)
⑶外人巧言令,意在图我台湾,此世人所共知者。(“致蒋经国的公开信”)
规律一:动词无主句→主谓句
例一和例二都是典型的动词无主句。句子主体是动词,由一连串以动词为轴心的短句构成所谓连绵句,例二尤为突出。汉语句可以把一切可省的词均省去,如:
⑴ 一夕归,见二人与师共酌。
一夕归→One evening when the disciples came back to the temple
汉语三个字的短句竟需要英语九个词来表达,可见其省意的程度。这是汉语意合的一个重要内容,只要上下文明白,用词可减至最低限度。最值得注意的是省略主语,一般来说所省略的主语可从上下文推知。英语句子中主语是不可缺的,所以这句的英译文加了主语。
⑴ 一夕归,见二人与师共酌。(“崂山道士”)
One evening when the disciples came back to the temple, they saw two men drinking with the master.
规律二:平行无连接→层次有连接
汉语多采用平行结构,例二尤为明显;英语多采用层次结构,因此汉译英多半要改平行为层次。汉语意合的另一重要特征是在平行的各部分间不加连接词语,只靠意思粘连。改为英语层次结构时必须加连接词语(conjunctions)和关系词(relative pronouns and adverbs),如例一中的when,例二中的and和or,例三中的as, who, 句中还大量使用介词(prepositions),这样便层次分明了。
例二“只盼着早些回家,洗去一身的疲劳”和所给的译文并不对应,就是因为原文还有上下文,不是孤立的。如果孤立地译,本可译成:I am always longing to be home to get rid of a day’s fatigue by a nice wash. 但是联系上下文来考虑,现译文便是合适的,尤其是后半另加的,可以使前后的语意很好的连贯起来。这种语意连贯也可以称为逻辑联系。汉语句中不予明示的情况很多,如果英译不明示便会造成读者理解上的障碍。
⑵只盼着早些回家,洗去一身的疲劳,泡上一杯清茶,点上一炷檀香,打开半卷的书卷,一任轻柔的旋律把我带进一个美丽的境界……(“恋家”)
To be home means to end a day’s fatigue and enjoy myself in a world of my own. With a nice cup of tea and a burning sandalwood stick by my side, I can either resume my suspended reading, or listen leisurely to a soft melody and let myself be carried away to a fairyland of beauty…
规律三:暗示连贯→明示连贯
汉语往往采用暗示的办法来实现上下文的语意连贯(cohesion),这是汉语意合的第三个特征。例三的第一部分“外人巧言令”,实际上是和前文意思(台湾必回祖国)相连的,“巧言令”不是孤立的表意,是针对前文而言,所以不能单纯译为talk glibly, 必须是talk glibly against it (it 指的就是前文意思),against it 便是明示与上文的联系。
⑵ 外人巧言令,意在图我台湾,此世人所共知者。
As is known to all, outsiders who are talking glibly against it have designs on our Taiwan.
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规律四:结论后置→结论前置
这是汉语与英语在语序上非常明显的差别。汉语喜欢把结论放在句子末尾,英语恰好相反,要放在一句的开头,例三的情况便是如此。此句也可译成:It is well known that those outsiders who…, 成为典型的结论前置句。如译者一定要按汉语原文顺序进行翻译,他就不得不把这一部分从句中割裂出来另成一句,因为结论后置违反英语句子规律。
sort of up to造句Foreign Language Teaching and Research Department
Chapter Two
I.Teaching Objectives
On completion of this chapter, students should be able to:
1.know how to treat the target articles when they translate from Chinese to English.
II.The Points to Be Highlighted
1.how to analyze the logical relation between sentences of the target article, how to treat the
specific word of the target article when translating.
III.T eaching Procedures and Contents
1.Greetings
Usual Expressions of Asking Favors
2.Review
Review the knowledge learnt last time.
3.Warm-up
1) 你能为我买一只玩具吗?
2) 能帮我一把吗?
3) 若能借给我五十元,不胜感激。
4)可以和您谈谈吗?
5)若能帮我解决这件事情,我将不胜感激。1) Would you mind buying a toy for me?
2) Could you give me a hand?
3) I’d appreciate it if you could loan me fifty Yuan.
4) Is there any chance of having a word with you?
5) I’ll regard it as a favor if you could help me sort it out.
4.Body:
对待原文的问题
有人认为原文是神圣不可侵犯的,译时不可作任何改动,必须字字对应。这是绝对直译论者的看法。这种看法理论上站不住脚,实践中行不通。翻译本身就意味着改变,尤其是英语和汉语不属于同一语系,差别很大,怎么能“字字对译”的起来呢?
何况原文本身并非无懈可击,可能存在词语是否恰当,逻辑是否融贯的问题。这两类问题即使是名家作品有时也在所难免。对于原语读者来说,此类缺点均可忽略,但译者却必须考虑如何处理。必须认识到,如把此类缺点照搬进译文,势必破坏译文的可读性。下面举例说明:
(一) 逻辑性问题
定语与中心词的搭配:
⑴ 尚年轻的莫老那时在镇上教书。(“银元”)
汉语读者可能认为主语“莫老”与其定语“尚年轻的”二者没有矛盾,因为中国人把“莫老”看作一个尊称,对“老”字不敏感,译者如译“老”为old就很难与“尚年轻的”协调了。其实原句只要改成“莫老年轻时在镇上
教书”就讲得通了。但“莫老”这个中国的荣誉称呼英美人却不能苟同,他们并不喜欢被称为“老”,所以还不如译成General Mo ,这句话可译为:
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