英汉翻译讲义

E-C Translation Course Notes

Definition

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

(Eugene A. Nida)

Significance of Translation

Plays the key role in inter-cultural communication

1. Bringing about mutual understanding and friendliness among nations.

2. Enriching our own experiences and knowledge of the world.

The most important media in international trade and business. ------No translation, no globalization.

The Criteria of Translation

Tytler (p.5)

严复：faithfulness, intelligibility, and elegance(信达雅)

林语堂：忠实，通顺，美

钱钟书：化境

傅雷：神似

The procedures of translation

Accurate comprehension

Adequate representation

Careful proofreading

Requirements on the translators

Good command of the languages

Wide scope of knowledge

Sensitive to cultural differences

Hard working and willing to sacrifice personal gains and interests

Strong sense of responsibility

Literal Vs. free translations

The former focuses on a word-for-word translation of the source text into the target text; while the latter involves language adjustment in the process of translation.

No matter what method you may use, your translation should be correct, comprehensible to the target reader and close to the original style. Only when you keep the meaning and spirit of the original sentence structure a nd/or its figure of speech can your translation be regarded as proper literal translation, otherwise it is merely mechanical translation.

Similarly, only when change the original sentence structure and/or the figure of speech but make no addition or deletion of the original meaning and spirit, can your translation be regarded as proper translation; otherwise it is simply random translation.

The designative meaning of a word (指称义) refers to the object, people, plant, animal, place, etc. that it represents; while the associative meaning of a word (内涵义) is the idea, quality, state, circumstance, etc. that it makes you think of.

Formal vs. Functional Equivalence

Formal equivalence (形式对等) focuses on the match between the source text and the target text as close as possible in both form and content; while functional equivalence （功能对等）stresses the closest parallel of the target text to the source text in communicative function.

If the communicative function of the source text can be translated into the target text without having to change the form of the former, formal equivalence should be strived for;

whereas if the strict reservation of the structure of the source text constitutes an obstacle to the transmission of the communicative function, adjustment then needs to be made structurally for the establishment of functional equivalence.

Hypotaxis(形合) vs. parataxis (意合)

English is a language of hypotaxis(形合). It heavily depends on grammar for constructing different linguistic parts into a sentence or an article. the Grammatical meanings in the language of English are reflected in such aspects as the suffix (后缀) of a word (e.g.“-s, -ing or -ed”), the tenses(时态), the voices(语态), the moods(语气), constructions(结构), and such functional words like articles, conjunctions, pronouns or prepositions. On the contrary, Chinese, being a language of parataxis (意合),has the parts linked up with each other semantically or through the context. Therefore, when English is being translated into Chinese, some of the words mentioned above need to be omitted out of grammatical or rhetorical considerations.

Syntactic marking （语法标义）vs. semotactic marking（语义标义）

Syntactic marking refers to those situations when the meaning of a word in a sentence is specified by the grammatical construction of the sentence.

Semotactic marking refers to the determination of the meaning of an English word by some other words in the sentence, which form the semotactic environment for that word. In other words, the context, built up by the words prior to or following the word, can often provide clues as to what the word means.

Syntactic marking interplays with semotactic marking in the specification of the meaning of an English word.

Form and Content

If we assume that language is a device for communicating messages, then it follows that language and linguistic forms are means to an end rather than an end in themselves. The content is the conceptual intent of the message, together with the connotative values the source text wishes to communicate; it is what the message is about.

The form, on the other hand, is the external shape the message takes to effect its passage from the source’s mind to the receptor’s mind.

In transferring the message from one language to another, it is the content which must be preserved at any cost; the form, except in special cases, such as poetry, is largely secondary,