翻译理论与实践Week3-2

Lecture 3 Diction

Better late than the late. (原文为美国高速公路上矗立的安全警示牌）

Tension is building up.

(l) This war is becoming the most important story of this generation.

(2) It is quite another story now.

(3) Some reporters who were not included in the session broke the story.

(4) He’ll be very happy if that story holds up.

(5) The Rita Haywoth’s story is one of the saddest.

(6) A young man came to Scotti’s office with a story.

(7) Last Dec. the Post first reported that probes were being made in each of those cities, but officials refused to confirm the story.

(8) The story about him became smaller and by and by faded out from the American TV.

3.1 Methods to Discriminate the Original Meaning of an English Word

3.1.1 Judging from the Word Formation pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis

3.1.2Judging from the Part of Speech

Right，open your mouth，let me have a look．

He hoped to be absolutely right about this issue．

I must answer that phone，but I’ll be back right away．

The ship righted itself after the big wave had passed．

In England，we drive on the left side of the road，not the right side．

He exercised his legal right as President to halt the investigation．

3.1.3 Judging from the References

1. I hate blue shirt; white shirt suits me but gray is the most preferable.

3.1.4 Judging from the Context and Collocation

1．Symptoms of SARS developed．

2．We had hopes of developing light industry on quite a large scale．

3．Land animals are thought to have developed from sea animals．

4．The local government is planning to develop the western areas．

5．The photographer develops all his films．

6．I’d like to develop this idea a little more fully before I go on to my next point．7．Scientists have succeeded in developing many new plants．

Another example “as luck would have it”.

1．As luck would have it，no one was in the hotel when the explosion took place．2．As luck would have it，there was rain on the day of the camp．

Try to translate the following sentences

1. observe the behavior of birds.

2. Do they observe Christmas Day in that country?

3. He observed that we should probably have rain.

4. The law obliges parents to send their children to school.

5. They were obliged to sell their house in order to pay their debts.

6. I’m much obliged to you.

如：please ~ me by closing the door.

Obliging neighbor

delicate skin

delicate porcelain

delicate upbringing

delicate living

delicate health

delicate stomach

delicate vase

delicate diplomatic question

delicate difference

delicate surgical operation

delicate ear for music

delicate sense of smell

delicate touch

delicate food

raise fears

raise vegetables

raise a family

raise the dead

raise a fleet

raise a monument

raise an embargo

3.1.5 Judging from Different Branches of Learning and Specialties

1. The lathe should be set on a firm base.

2. As we all know，a base reacts with an acid to form a salt.

3. A transistor has three electrodes, the emitter, the base and the collector.

4. Line AB is the base of the triangle ABC.

5. He is on the second base.

3.2 Some Techniques Employed in Translating a Given English Word

3.2.1 Deduction

Stopout

community

challenge

3.2.2 Transplant

·Microwave ·Supermarket ·Splashdo wn ·dataphone

3.2.8 Transliteration

·Wall Street

·The Times

·Pentium 奔腾

·Citroen 雪铁龙

·clone

·Internet

·hacker 黑客

3.2.3 Extension

·bottleneck

·brain trust

·brain drain

·It is more than transient everydayness. 3.2.4 Substitution

·to kill sb. as an example

·Please withhold the handout.

·He was indeed a good riddance.

·The same is not true with a mortal illness.

3.2.5 Explanation

·mindlessness

·togetherness

·swan song

·a throwaway society

3.2.6 Combination

·so subtle and careful an observer

·his mendacity and dishonesty

·a grim and tragic Christmas

·the body and mind cramped by noxious work 身心困顿

3.2.7 Pictographic Translation

·H-beam 工字梁

·O-ring 环形圈

·U-steel 槽钢

·V-belt 三角带

·X-brace 交叉支撑

·Y-curve 叉形曲线

3.3 Extension of Word Meaning

3.3.1 Conversion of Meaning

1. The factors which are likely to influence investment spending do not stop here.

2. Whether you like it or not, globalization is here to stay. We are not going to reverse the trend.

3. Our products, if maintained properly and regularly, can at least see twenty years’ service.

3.3.2 Abstract Extension of Meaning

1. Everybody has his smiles and tears.

2. The technological process was then a newcomer in the U.S., so application was not numerous.

3. He was a man to let his heart rule his head.

4. The matter was finally settled under the table.

5. He Hamleted at a chance and regretted for it.

6. The canoe Titanicked on the rock in the river. 3.3.2 Concrete Extension of Meaning

1. The interest rates have see-sawed between 10 and 15 percent.

2. Brain drain has been Kangding’s No.1 concern; as a matter of fact, it has been an epidemic in this area.

3. There is a mixture of the tiger and the ape in the character of the imperialists.

4. He was a tough proposition.

3.3.3 Extension According to Idiomatic Way in Chinese

1. So the swallow flew round and round her，touching the water with his wings，and making silver ripples．

亚伯拉罕·林肯

亚伯拉罕·林肯是美国第16任总统，1809年出生于肯塔基州，1865年遭一名南方邦联拥护者枪击，第二天逝世于华盛顿。

论功绩，他和华盛顿总统在伯仲之间；但是他出身普通老百姓，是从出生时居住的圆木小屋来到白宫的，所以美国人民的心跟他更亲近。

当时西部刚刚有人定居，他家是来此的拓荒者，所以他几乎没有受过正规教育，但他立志千方百计求学，锲而不舍。

传说他曾步行几英里去买一本书，在农场辛苦劳作一天后，晚上还就着壁炉前的火光学习。

他当过办事员，当过乡村邮递员，当过测量员；经过这一系列艰苦奋斗之后，他成功地通过了律师资格考试，在伊利诺斯州普林菲尔得市当上了律师。

1846年，林肯被选入国会。

1858年，要不是因为在同史蒂芬斯·阿·道格拉斯几场有名的辩论中坚持反奴隶制的立场，他原本是有可能在参议院获得一席之地的。

但这些辩论却使他名闻全国，也成了他在1860年当选总统的先导。

林肯当选不久，南方某些州脱离了联邦政府，引发了内战。

这场战争又促使林肯于1863年1月1曰颁布了《解放奴隶宣言》，以解放黑奴。

林肯在第二个任期的就职演说中阐述了实现全国和平的计划，但是他没能活到自己愿望实现的时候。人们在华盛顿和林肯之间做了多方面的比较。

他们都是为各自时代造就的地地道道天降大任的人物，都具有成就当时辉煌的事业的杰出才能与品德。