翻译技巧1-diction

TranslationTechniquesTranslationTechniquesSpeakingoftranslationtechniques,wedifferfromthosewhotendtoignorethem,ordismissthemlightlyassomethinginconsequential.Ontheotherhand,wealsodifferfromthosewhotendtoexaggeratetheimportanceoftranslationtechniques,ortolookuponthemas“panacea”(万灵药).Generallyspeaking,thebasictranslationtechniquesthatmeritourattentionandaretobeappliedinEnglish-ChineseorChinese-Englishtranslationsinclude:DictionAmplificationOmissionConversionRepetitionRestructuringNegationvs.AffirmationDivisionTheDisposalofPassiveVoiceTheRenderingofTechnicalTermsTheRenderingofLongandInvolveSentence1.DictionBy“diction”wemeantheproperchoiceofwordsandphrasesintranslationonthebasisofaccuratecomprehensionoftheoriginal.Inthepracticeoftranslation,whatperplexesusmostfrequentlyishowtofindanequivalentinthelanguagetobetranslatedinto.Greatcareiscalledforinthetranslationof“familiar”EnglishintoChinese,astheirmeaningvarywiththechangeincollocationorcontext.Warming-upexercises:1.TheSchooloftheAir(theschooloftheair)2.LasteveningIwenttoadoheldbyourChinaStudyGroup.3.TheseeofSydney4.He’sunhappynow,becausehehadabluewithhisfriendjustnow.5.Shetoldmethather18-year-oldsonwasthebaby.6.HermotherisasisterinaMelbournehospital.7.王教授精通小学和《大学》8.毛泽东同志的思想和学说是永存的;关于社会注意建设总路线的基本思想;破除迷信,解放思想;毛泽东军事思想的一个重要组成部分,是关于人民战争的思想;政治问题和思想问题。1.广播学校（通过电台对各地的学生授课的学校）误：空军学校2.昨晚我去参加了我们中国研究组的集会。（do:n.socialfunction集会，娱乐宴聚活动）误：把do译成了“从事活动”3.悉尼教廷（see:n.theofficialseat,orcentreofauthority,ofabishop教廷）4.他正闷闷不乐，因他刚才和朋友吵了架。（blue:n.anargument,quarrelorfight争吵或干架）5.他对我说她那18岁的儿子是她子女中最小的。（baby:n.apersonofanyage,whoistheyoungestofafamilyamongbrothersandsisters兄弟姐妹中最小的）6.她母亲是墨尔本一家医院的护士长。（sister:n.seniornurseinahospital护士长或者市资历高的护士）7.ProfessorWangisamasterofthestudyofancientforms,phonologyandmeaningofwrittenlanguagesaswellasthebookTheGreatLearning.小学不能译为primaryschoolandelementallyschool,《大学》不能译为university之类。因为“小学”的意思“指研究文字古字形、训诂、音韵的学问；《大学》时我国的古代经典著作《四书》之一。”8.ComradeMaoZedong’sthoughtandteachingswillliveforever.Theideasunderlyingthegenerallineforbuildingsocialism.Doawaywithallfetishesandsuperstitionsandemancipatethemind.AnimportantcomponentofchairmanMao’smilitarythinkingishisconceptofpeople’war.PoliticalandideologyquestionTensionisbuildingup.Withoutcontext,both“tension”and“buildup”mayhavevariousexplanations.ThusthissentencemaybetranslatedintodifferentChineseexpressionsaccordingly:形势紧张起来。/电压在加强。/张力在增大。/压力在增强。1CorrespondenceBetweenEnglishandChineseatWordLevelInmostcases,thereisnoexistingpatternforsentencetranslation,noraretherefixedrulesforwordtransformation.Generallyspeaking,thecorrespondencebetweenEnglishandChineseatwordlevelmaybecategorizedasfollows:1)Word-for-wordCorrespondence2)OneWordwithMultipleEquivalentsoftheSameMeaning3)OneWordwithSeveralEquivalentsoftheDifferentMeanings4)EquivalentsInterwovenwithOneAnother5)WordswithoutEquivalents1)Word-for-wordCorrespondenceThisismostevidentlyshowninpropernounsandtechnicalterms.Eg.Marxism马克思主义Aspirin阿斯匹灵Laser激光Leukemia白血病2)OneWordwithMultipleEquivalentsoftheSameMeaningwife：妻子、爱人、夫人、老婆、老伴、媳妇、堂客、内人……potato：马铃薯、洋芋、土豆、山药蛋……人：humanbeing,man,people,person...犬：dog,hound,spaniel,mastiff,pointer,setter,retriever,terrier...3)OneWordwithSeveralEquivalentsoftheDifferentMeaningscousin堂兄、堂弟、堂姐、堂妹、表哥、表弟、表姐、表妹、卿……president总统、总裁、主席、董事长、议长、会长、社长、校长……carry搬、运、送、提洪、挑，担、抬、背，扛、搂、抱、端、举、夹、捧……walk,saunter,amble,stride,trudge,shamble,prance,tiptoe...走machine,engine,plane,aircraft...机sheep,goat,ram,ewe,lamb...羊4)EquivalentsInterwovenwithOneAnotherSay说Speak讲Talk谈Tell诉这可说不得。我代他向你说话。他说他很忙。他说英语。别胡说。我说不好。Itmustnotbementioned.Iappealtoyouonhisbehalf.Hesaysheisbusy.HespeaksEnglish.Don’ttalknonsense.Iamunabletoexpressmyself.5)WordswithoutEquivalents这种情况必须改变。现在的情况不同了。他们的情况怎么样？前线有什么情况?我们可能去那里，那得看情况而定。Thisstateofaffairsmustchange.Nowthingsaredifferent.Howdomattersstandwiththem?Howisthesituationatthefront?Wemaygothere,butthatdepends.2Distinguishthemeaning总体说来，在英汉翻译中要真正准确地理解英语词语的意义，往往要从以下四个方面入手：（1）根据上下文进行判断；（2）根据搭配来进行判断；（3）根据语法形式来进行判断；（4）根据词在句中的词类来进行判断。1)DistinguishtheoriginalmeaningofanEnglishwordbymeansofcontext词的正确选择首先取决于对原文词义的确切理解，而对原文词义的确切理解又取决于对原文上下文的推敲。用词要忠于原文，不能凭“大概”“差不多”。这就要弄懂汉语的意思和所用英文词汇的真正准确含义。如：1他们省吃俭用，为的是替国家多积累资金。Theysavefoodandexpensestoaccumulatemorefundsforthecountry.(savefood:“把食物放起来”)改译：Theylivefrugallytoaccumulatemorefundsforthestate.Note:不要进行字对字的死译。要考虑中英文的真正含义。2)DistinguishtheoriginalmeaningofanEnglishwordbymeansofcollocation（根据搭配来确定词义)Delicateskin娇嫩的皮肤Delicateporcelain精致的瓷器Delicateupbringing娇生惯养Delicateliving奢侈的生活Delicatehealth虚弱的身体Delicatestomach容易吃坏的胃Delicatevase易碎的花瓶Delicatediplomaticquestion微妙的外交问题Delicatedifference讲不大清楚的差别Delicatesurgicaloperation难做的外科手术……3)DistinguishtheoriginalmeaningofanEnglishwordbymeansofsyntax（从词的语法形式判断）agreement同意anagreement协定people人民apeople民族hostility敌意hostilities战争use使用uses用途4)DistinguishtheoriginalmeaningofanEnglishwordbymeansofitspartofspeech（根据词在句中的词类来进行判断）Fromwhatyousay,shesoundsliketherightpersonfo