翻译术语解析

The current definition(1)

1. Translation consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalence of the source language, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style. ---------Nida

2. Catford defines translation as “th e replacement of texual material in one language (SL) by equivalent texual matererial in another language (TL)” (1965:21)

3. A good translation is one which has the merit of the original work is so completely transfused into another language as to be as distinctly apprehended and as strongly felt by a native of the country to which that language belongs as it is by those who speak the language of the original work.---------Tytler

The current definition(2)

?The replacement of textual material in one language (SL) by equivalent textual material in another language (TL)

----------------Prof. Huang Long Translatology

?翻译是把一种语言所承载的文化信息转换成另一种另一种语言的文化信息，它包括语内翻译、语际翻译和符际翻译。（曹明伦）?翻译是把一种语言表达的意义用另一种语言表达出来，以达到沟通思想情感、传播文化知识、促进社会文明，特别是推动译

语文化兴旺昌盛的目的。（孙致礼）

In summary

--Translation is the information transferring between two languages and the cultural communication between two language families.

--Translation is a rendering from one language into another. Translation is an art, a bilingual art, a craft, a skill, an operation and communication.

--Translation is a representation or recreation in one language of what is written or said in another language.

Classification of Translation

a) In terms of languages

? 1. Translation from native languages into foreign languages

? 2. Translation from foreign languages into native languages

b) In terms of mode

? 1. oral interpretation

? 2. written translation

? 3. machine translation

C).SL and TL: Interlingual translation, Intralingual translation, Intersemiotic translation

d). In terms of disposal (处理方式)

? 1. full-text translation （全文翻译)

? 2. abridged /adapted translation

?（摘译/辑译)

?译写？

Tytler?s

?Essay on the Principles of Translation, 1790

? A translation should give a complete transcript of the ideas of the original work;

?The style and manner of writing should be of the same character as that of the original;

? A translation should have all the ease of the original composition.

Yan Fu?s

?Faithfulness, Expressiveness and Elegance

?“Faithfulness” means the full and complete conveying of the original content of thought;

?“Expressiveness” demands that the version should be clear and flowing without any grammatical mistakes or confused logic and

sense;

?“Elegance” refers to the use of classical Chinese before the Han Dynasty.

Others’ translation principles (1)

?Lu Xun?s: Rather be faithful (in thought) than smooth (in language) in opposition to Liang Shi-qiu?s translation principle in 1930s.

?Fu Lei?s : TL should be similar to SL both in Form and in

Spirit.

?Liu Zhongde?s : faithfulness, expressiveness and closeness.

faithfulness: to be faithful to the content of the original;

expressiveness: to be as expressive and smooth as the original;

closeness: to be as close to the original style as possible.(信、达、切)

?Liang Shiqiu …s and Zhao Jingshen?s : “It?s better to have a smooth version than a faithful one.”

中国传统译伦四大支柱：案本---求信---神似---化境

?Eugene A. Nida?s : Dynamic equivalence or Functional equivalence or Equivalent-effect theory.

?The translator is to produce as nearly possible the same effect on his readers as was produced on the readers of the original.

?Peter Newmark?s : Semantic translation and Communicative translation.

?Semantic translation: The translator attempts, within the bare syntactic and semantic constraints of the TL, to produce the precise contextual meaning of the author. Semantic translation focuses

primarily upon the semantic content of the source text.

?Communicative translation: The translator attempts to produce the same effect on the TL readers as was produced by the original

on the SL readers. Communicative translation focuses essentially

upon the comprehension and response of receptors.

?Faithfulness and smoothness

?Faithfulness refers to that content and style of TL should be faithful to the SL.

?Smoothness requires that version should be clear and distinct, flowing and easy to read without signs of the mechanical

word-for-word translation, of obscure language, of grammatical

mistakes, confused structure and logic.

Transforeignization and domestication lation strategies:

?Foreignization:If the translator’s preference is placed on preserving the language and cultural differences of the Source

Text, we call this kind of approaches or its translation foreignizing

or foreignization.（SL culture-oriented strategy）

?Domestication:the method or practice of adapting the translation to the norms and values of the Target Language and culture is

called domesticating or domestication. （TL culture-oriented

strategy）

Two basic translation methods

?Literal Translation means word-for-word translation. It takes sentences as its basic units and the whole text into consideration at

the same time in the course of translation. It strives to reproduce

both the ideological content and the style of the entire literary work and retain as much as possible the figures of speech.

?Liberal Translation is also called Free Translation. It is a supplementary means to mainly convey the meaning and spirit of

the original without trying to reproduce its sentence pattern or

figures of speech.

?Polysemy: One word has various parts of speech and various meaning. Firth said: “Each word when used in a new context is a

new word.”

?Commendatory and derogatory words: Commendatory word means a praising word, or a word in good sense. Derogatory word

means a word to lessen or impair the power or authority or a word

in bad sense.

?Diction: It means proper choice of words in translation on the basis of accurate comprehension of the original.

?Repetition: In translation we are required to repeat words over and over again for clearness, for the sake of emphasis and for

attractiveness (vividness).

?Amplification: It means supplying necessary words in our translation work so as to make the version correct and clear. Words thus supplied must be indispensable either syntactically or

semantically.

?Omission: In the process of translation we may make proper omission of some individual words in accordance with the

corresponding laws inherent in the two languages concerned in

order to retain and better express the original meaning.

?Conversion: It means that in translation a word in one language belonging to a certain part of speech is not necessarily to be turned into one of the same part of speech in another language.

?Inversion: By inversion in translation we mean that the constituent elements of a sentence are arranged in way different from the

general rules of word order of the language in question.

?Negation: It means in translation some words, phrases or sentences with negative expression in SL may be transformed into affirmative expression in TL. Vice versa, some affirmative expression in SL

may be transformed into negative expression in TL, to make the

version clearer and more explicit.

?Division: It means the necessary splitting of a long sentence into shorter ones.

Change of the voice

?the active and the passive

?E-C : the active voice

?C-E : the passive voice esp. in EST (English for Science and Technology)