第三讲:英汉语言对比
Leamas guessed she must have been briefed to
take that way and that they were followed by another car. 利玛斯心想,一定有人向她交待过走这条路, 后面还有一辆车相随。 Never had she so honestly felt that she could have loved him as now, when all love must be vain. 她从未像现在这样真切地感到她会爱上他,只 可惜如今纵有千情万爱,也是枉然。(when引 导的从句是不是译得灵活、传神?) Hence English sentences are long and complex, while Chinese sentences are short and simple.
Frollo had tried to set Quasimodo’s tongue
free,but Quasimodo made it silent . 弗罗洛曾试图让卡西莫多自由讲话,但 卡西莫多却沉默不语。 The criminal was hanged. 犯人被绞死了。 Hadn’t the reservoir been built,there would have been a terrible flood. 假如没修这座水库,就会发生可怕的水 灾了。
英汉词类(parts of speech)对比: 以名词为例
有些名词的单数形式和复数形式意义不同:
custom 习惯 customs 海关,关税
economy 节约 economies 节约措施 damage 损坏 damages 赔偿费 ground 场地 grounds 理由 export 出口 exports 出口货物 对某些抽象名词采用具体化译法,有时需增加 “现象”、“状况”、“情绪”等词 unemployment 失业现象 tension 紧张局势 arrogance 骄傲情绪 shortage 短缺情况
At eleven minutes past 1 A.M. on the 16th of October,
1946, Ribbentrop mounted the gallows in the execution chamber of the Nuremberg prison. 一九四六年十月十六日凌晨一点十一分,里宾特洛莆 走上纽伦堡监狱死刑室的绞架。(英语时间状语从小 到大,汉语从大到小) The Negro’s shadow was huge and it moved on the wall as the breeze moved the lamps. (Ernest Hemingway: The Old Man and the Sea) 海观译:……黑人的影子庞大无比,当风把灯吹得摆 来摆去的时候,他的影子也在墙上往来移动。 吴劳译:黑人的影子非常大,随着微风吹动挂灯,这 影子也在墙上移动着。 张爱玲译:黑人的影子很魁梧,风吹焰动,人影随着 晃悠。
Contrast in word
English belongs to Indo-European
language, alphabetic language (拼音文 字);Chinese belongs to Sino-Tibetan language, ideographic laபைடு நூலகம்guage.( 表意 文字) 英语词义比较灵活多变,汉语词义相对 稳定严谨。
一九四六年十月十六日凌晨一点十一分,里宾
特洛莆走上纽伦堡监狱死刑室的绞架。(英语 时间状语从小到大,汉语从大到小)
2.Contrast in syntactic structures
In English , clauses or phrases are
coordinated with or subordinated to one another syntactically. English is hypotaxic( 形 合). In Chinese sentences are placed one after another without coordinating connectives.Chinese is parataxic( 意合). 英语主要以词汇为纽带,汉语主要以逻辑为纽 带;英语造句主要借助连词、关系代词等形式 骨架,汉语造句主要凭借隐含的逻辑关系将句 子的各个部分统一起来。
Order of words in the sentence:
英汉句子中主要成分词序基本一致,而定语和
状语的位置差异比较大。 单词作定语时,大都放在它修饰的词前面,英 语和汉语类同。短语作定语时,英语中一般在 后,汉语中一般在前。 a hotel with a few Chinese touches 一家有几分中国特色的旅馆(英语为后置,汉 语为前置 ) a base for underground activities 地下活动基地
二。词的搭配
wear clothes/wear a hat/wear glasses/wear his
hair short 穿衣 /戴帽 /戴眼镜 /留短发 But his attack was always repulsed by a kick or a blow from a stick. 但他每冲一次,不是让人一脚踢了回去,就是让人一 棍子打了回去。 step up the performance of the water wheel 改善水车的机械性能 step up the campaign for nuclear disarmament. 加强支持核裁军的运动 Birds build their nests. build a new future. build canals. 筑巢/创造美好的未来/开凿运河
English is a synthetic language marked with inflexions(屈
折变化形式), Chinese is an analytic language without any inflexions, implied in the context or explicitly by some empty words, such as “着”、“了”、 “过”、“过 去”、“ 曾经”、“刚刚”etc. 汉语不像英语那样具有形态上的屈折变化,而是靠形 态助词黏附和词的重叠、组合表示形态变化,英译汉 时,就需将英语以屈折形态变化所表示的意义转换成 汉语的词汇意义,即采用增词法。 inflexion: formal changes in grammar, including gender, quantity, tense, voice, comparative degree,etc) It rains everyday. / It rained yesterday./ It is raining hard outside.
They saw a slender man of more than average
height with gleaming eyes and a face so striking that it bordered on the beautiful. 1.他们看到的是一个身材瘦长, 比普通人略高 一点的人, 两眼闪着光辉, 面貌很引人注意,称 得上清秀。(有的定语仍然是定语,有的则变成 了独立的句子.) 2. 他们看到的是一个比普通人略高一点, 两眼 闪着光辉, 面貌很引人注意, 称得上清秀, 身材 瘦长的人。(会使读者累得上气不接下齐,not readable.) 英语中无论单词作状语还是短语作状语,其位 置如何,一般说来,不是翻译的困难所在。可 根据汉语规范化的要求,灵活安排,确保译文 通顺流畅。
He was born in Forth on May 27, 1923. 他是1923年5月27日在菲尔特出生的。(英语
中地点状语放在时间状语之前。汉语则与之相 反) At eleven minutes past 1 A.M. on the 16th of October, 1946, Ribbentrop mounted the gallows in the execution chamber of the Nuremberg prison.
第三讲:英汉语言对比
Contrasts of the Differences Between Chinese and English
—英汉词法、句法和 篇章结构的不同
一切翻译理论,方法和技巧
都建立在英汉两种语言的对 比上,因此对于翻译实践来 说,对于英汉两种语言的异 同,尤其是相异之处,从而 掌握它们的特点是十分重要 的。
They fell in love at first sight.
他们一见钟情。 The passage of the bill by houses of Congress was hopeful. 两院很有可能通过该议案。
以动词为例: 动词在英汉两种语言中都起着举足轻重的作 用,但英语动词远比汉语动词复杂多变。
In English, the meaning of words is flexible according to contexts, collocation, parts of speech
I saw him lying on the couch as1eep.
我看见他躺在沙发椅上睡着了。 The issue lies with you,You must decide. 这件事要看你的了,你必须拿主意。 Don’t lie any more. I don’t trust you. 别再撒谎,我不相信你。 soft drink, soft ware, soft light, soft music, soft fire,soft voice, soft heart, softball,soft money 饮料/软件/柔和的光/轻音乐/文火/轻声低语/好心肠/垒 球/纸币 cut rice, cut cake, cut finger nails, cut hair, cut budget 割稻 /切蛋糕 /剪指甲 /理发 /缩减开支