第十讲：句子翻译中的语序问题

第十讲：句子翻译中的语序问题 Translation skill ---- Restructuring within the sentence 句内语序的调整 I. Different word order in English and Chinese In the practice of English Chinese translation, we often have to adjust or rearrange the word order on account of the different syntax of these two languages. For instance, in English attributive phrases and clauses usually follow the words being modified (antecedents), whereas in Chinese such phrases and clauses always precedes the words being modified. Most of the information we have got is through that channel. The sequence of events is also different. His address is 3612 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA. 19104, USA. The sequence of the adverbials of time and place is different. Adverbial of manners My uncle passed away in hospital at 2:30 a.m. on September 12, 2003. Possessive pronouns and personal pronouns can precede the person in English. Chinese is different. The fear that their port would lose its importance also worried the people of Baltimore. Young as he is, the little boy has learned a lot. Besides, there are nine types of inversion so far as grammatical relations are concerned according to some linguists. Interrogative, imperative and exclamatory inversions Hypothetical inversion: 假设倒装 Had you come yesterday, you could have seen him here. Balance inversion: 平衡倒装 Through a gap came an elaborately described ray. Link inversion: 衔接倒装 On this depends the whole argument. Signpost inversion：点题倒装 By strategy is meant something wider. 战略（策略）的意义比较广 Negative inversion：否定倒装 Not a word did he say. Metrical inversion: 韵律倒装 As pants the hart(雄鹿) for cooling streams. Pant for: long for 2. Restructuring in English-Chinese translation 1) the order of clauses in English and Chinese English sentences are generally bound by syntactical rules, and they are often arranged in order of importance; while Chinese sentences are more flexible, and usually arranged according to the sequence of time. And when English is head-focus, Chinese tends to be end-focus. 1. We had been dismayed at home while reading of the natural calamities that followed one after another fro three years after we left China in 1959. 2. Rocket research has confirmed a strange fact which had already been suspected that there is a “high-temperature belt” in the atmosphere, with its center roughly thirty miles above the ground. 2) the order of subordinate clauses in a complex sentence Adverbial clauses of condition, purpose, concession or cause, etc normally have a preceding position in Chinese. 3．With all his efforts he failed at last. 4．The government is determined to keep up the pressure whatever the cost it will pay in the end. 3）the position of expressions expressing judgment or conclusion When a “that” clause, expressing a judgment or conclusion, is used together with the formal subject “it”, restructuring is often called for in Chinese translation. Besides, the adverbial expressing judgment in English is usually end-positioned in Chinese translation. 5．It was a keen disappointment that I had to postpone the visit I had intended to pay to China in January. 6. I believe equally that it is in the interests of the world as a whole that Europe should increasingly unite and speak with a common voice. 7．It was really a mystery to the neighbors that Mary, the ugly woman, could succeed in ordering about her husband, the strong-armed blacksmith, well-known far and wide, and having him where she wanted him. Adverbial expressing judgment 8．They, not unexpectedly, did not respond. 9. Illogically, she had expected some kind of miracle solution. 10. With the fear of largely imaginary plots against his leadership, his self-confidence seemed totally to desert him. 3. Restructuring in Chinese-English translation A. 句中成分的大小、距离，汉语的语序与英语语序正好相反。 1.他在武汉工程大学外语学院办公室工作。 He works at the office of the Foreign Language School of Wuhan Institute of Technology. 2.中国湖北武汉江夏区流芳街特一号 武汉市工艺品美术总公司出口大楼 B. 有些并列成分的组合，隐含着逻辑事理的制约，并列的概念之间有轻重、主次、高低、强弱、大小的差别。例如： 大小：big and small 左右：right and left 明辨是非：tell right from the wrong 东南西北north and south, east and west 衣食住行：food, clothing, shelter and transportation 你、我、他you, he and I 社会主义现代化强国 a modern, powerful socialist country 一位美国现代优秀作家an outstanding contemporary American writer 分清敌我draw a clear distinction between ourselves and the enemies 1.救死扶伤、实行革命的人道主义。 \英语的排列法进行调整，语气较轻的部分放到前面。 2．安顺是一座有悠久历史的文化名城，在三千多年前，这里已有人类繁衍生息。 Anshun city has a long history as a famous cultural city. Our ancestors lived and multiplied in this area as long as 3,000 years ago. 在翻译过程中为了清晰表达意见，要进行语序的调整。如在列举一系列名城或现象时，汉语通常习惯把概括性、总结性、总数的词语放在列举名词之后，而英语习惯放在列举名词之前。 1．这所大学现有电子计算机、地球物理、遗传工程等三个新建的专业。 2. 这家商店卖香烟、帽子、糖果、罐头等杂货物品。 2. 句中多个动词分句成分的处理 汉语句中的事件与行为均按其发生的先后顺序排列，它反映了人们逻辑思维的过程及中国人对事件发展的客观规律的认识。而英美人的逻辑思维过程与我们不同。例如： 1．他起身拿了雨伞就走了。 2．没有票怎么去看电影呢？ 3．我吃了午饭就出去给你买药。