4机械工程专业英语第四课翻译的基本方法–增词与减词Skills of Translation –adding and reducing words三、增词与减词(一)增词译法:在对英文进行翻译时,若按字面翻译,句子的结构不完善,或句子的含义不明确,或词汇的概念不清晰时,需要增加某些词语,以便更完善、清楚地表达英语句子的内容。
例:Efficiency costs money, safety adds complexity, performanceincreases weight.直译:效率花费金钱,安全增加复杂性,性能增加重量。
增词译法:对设备(或器件)来说,要提高效率就要增加成本,要想保证安全势必要增加其复杂程度,而要改善性能就要增加其重量。
1. 增加表示时态的概念的词英语中表达时态的词往往是没有词义的,翻译时必须用一些中文词将其表达出来:Balloons were (and are) usually filled with hydrogen.气球过去(和现在)一般都用氢气来充气。
翻译的基本方法–增词与减词Skills of Translation –adding and reducing wordsWe can learn what we did not know.我们能够学会我们原来不懂的东西。
(过去时)The generator set will start working tomorrow.这台发电机组将于明天开始运行。
(将来时)An object is said to possess kinetic energy if it if moving.如果一个物体在运动,就可以说它有了动能。
(进行时)We have learned how to fit the computer.我们已经学会了怎样安装电脑。
(完成时)Reamers are used to finish drilled holes.绞刀用来将已经钻好了的孔进行精加工。
(过去分词表示“完成”的状态)翻译的基本方法–增词与减词Skills of Translation –adding and reducing words2. 补充原文省略的词英语中常根据语法或语言习惯省略某些词语,如重复出现时,省去形容词修饰的名词,用do代替实义动词,在省略句中,省去连词、主语、谓语动词或其它成分等:In figure 5, P is the resistance, S the distance and C the effort.在图5中,P是阻力,S是距离,C是作用力。
All bodies consist of molecules and these of atoms.所有物体均由分子组成,而分子由原子组成。
(补译出these 后面省略的molecules consist) The changes in matter around us are of two types, physical andchemical.我们周围的物质变化有两种,物理变化与化学变化。
When pure, water is a colorless liquid.水纯时,水是无色的液体。
Skills of Translation –adding and reducing words3. 补充表示数的概念的词语一般来说,表示单数的不定冠词a和名词的复数形式是不必译出的。
但在某些情况下,必须补足具体的表示数量的词。
Hydrogen atom consists of an electron and a proton.氢原子由一个电子和一个质子构成。
(此处的数词a 表示具体的实际数量)The bottom part of the hanging wire is placed between the poles of a small horseshoe magnet.悬挂着的导线下端放在一个小型马蹄形磁铁的两个磁极之间。
We can stop this trouble if we use a special rod.如果我们用某种特制的杆,就能解决这个问题。
Some typical fabrication methods are shown in Fig.11-36.若干种典型的组装方法如图11-36 所示。
翻译的基本方法–增词与减词Skills of Translation –adding and reducing words在应当表示名词的复数概念时,要根据上下文判断其复数是“二”还是“几个”。
要善于选择适当的量词。
Metals can be classified as pure metals and alloys.金属可分为纯金属与合金两类。
Since its formation the earth has been undergoing changes.地球自形成以来,一直经历着各种变化。
Chromium improves the properties of steel.铬可改进钢的各种性能。
The air is made up of mixture of gases.空气是由多种气体混合而成的气体。
We saw bubbles rising from under the water.我们看到一个个水泡从水下升起。
The frequency, wave length and speed of sound are closely related.频率、波长与声速三者密切相关。
翻译的基本方法–增词与减词Skills of Translation –adding and reducing words4. 补充句子成分:英译汉时,有时所有的词汇都相应地译出后,汉语句子的结构显得不完整。
这时,应补充缺少的句子成分。
It has long been known that electricity is a form of energy.我们早就知道电是能的一种形式。
(补充主语)An exact solution demands much calculation.一个精确的解答要求进行很多次计算。
(补充谓语)When the wire stops moving, the current stops.当导线停止移动时,则电流就停止流动。
(补充宾语)Fuses are cheap, other equipment is much more expensive.保险丝很便宜,但其它保险设备却昂贵得多。
(补充定语)Why do satellites stay in orbit? Why don’t they shoot off intoouter space?为什么卫星会留在轨道上运行?它们为什么不会飞出轨道而进入外层空间呢?(补充状语)Skills of Translation –adding and reducing words5. 补充解释性词语:当按照英语句子逐词翻译不能清楚、明确表达原句概念时,可补充解释性词语进行解释说明。
The following discussion assumes the teeth to be perfectly formed, perfectly smooth, and absolutely rigid.下面的讨论中假定轮齿加工没有误差,轮齿表面完全光滑,轮齿为绝对刚体。
You can also purify water by boiling it and condensing the steam which you have collected.你也可把水煮沸,将收集到的蒸汽凝结,用这样的方法来提取纯水。
The angle β shown in the figure is the angle between plane PQ and a horizontal plane.图中所示的β角为PQ 平面和水平面之间的夹角翻译的基本方法–增词与减词Skills of Translation –adding and reducing words6. 补充语气连贯性词语:The reliability of semiconductor devices is very important, especially in space applications.半导体器件的可靠性至关重要, 特别是在空间技术应用中尤其如此。
Take the case of the hydrogen atom. It has only one electron in the shell. How many electrons more are needed to complete this shell? The answer is one.以氢原子为例,它的壳层中仅有一个电子,还需要加几个电子来补满这个壳层呢?回答是:还需要一个。
翻译的基本方法–增词与减词Skills of Translation –adding and reducing words(二)减词译法有时在英语句子必不可少的词,在汉语中有时是可有可无,甚至是多余的。
这时,汉译时必须省译。
英语中的介词、连接词、代词、冠词等在汉译时也常常省译。
Now that we are all here, we begin to make our experiment at once.直译:既然我们都到齐了,我们立刻开始我们的实验。
正译:都到齐了,我们立刻开始做实验吧。
If the wire has small cross section, the electric current which flows through it per second will be small in quantity.直译:如果导线的截面积小,每秒钟通过导线的电流在数量方面将是小的。
正译:导线的截面积小,每秒钟所流过的电流就小。
翻译的基本方法–增词与减词Skills of Translation –adding and reducing words1. 省译从修辞角度看不必重复的词Steel contains a smaller proportion of carbon than cast iron contains.钢的含碳率比铸铁小。
(第二个contains 系重复词)Matter is constantly changing and is constantly moving.物质在不断地变化和运动着。
2. 省译逻辑上不必要的说明语The present process of making steel from iron in only about 100 years old.目前的炼钢法只有约100年的历史。