On Methods of Translating Long English Sentence into Chinese-.doc

on methods of translating long english sentence into chinese abstract: translation is a rendering from one language into another, i.e. the faithful representation in one language of what is written or said in another language. however, the translation of long sentences is perhaps the most difficult of all in the process of english-chinese translation. the so-called long english sentence is the one that contains complex structure, more modifiers, long rear attributives and more content levels. so when we are translating such long english sentences, we should begin with a careful analysis: (1) what the author is driving at；（2）what his argument or views are, and what “logic sequence” there is in the original; (3) what grammatical relations there are among the three, four, five, or even more “modifiers” in the long sentence to be translated. and in this paper, i will study the methods of translating long english sentence into chinese. thus i will focus on the five translation skills, which are translation in plain sequence, translation in backward sequence, embedding, inserting, recasting. consequently, we can choose the translation skills accordingly and correctly. key words: long english sentence analysis five translation skills摘要：翻译是指把一种语言文字的意义转换成另一种语言文字，简言之，翻译是一种用不同的语言文字将原文作者的意思准确地再现出来的艺术。然而，在英汉翻译中，长句的翻译也许是最难的难点。而所谓的英语长句就是指包含复杂的句子结构，很多的修饰语，或是长的后置定语以及很多的内容层次。因此，当我们在翻译英语长句时，我们应该进行仔细的分析：（1）作者试图在表达什么；（2）他的论点或观点是什么，在原句中它的“逻辑顺序”是什么；（3）在所翻译的句子中，那各种修饰词的语法关系是什么。而在本论文中，我将探讨英汉翻译中长句的翻译方法。因此，我将主要探讨五种翻译技巧。这五种翻译技巧是：顺译法，逆译法，内嵌法，插入法，综合法。因此，通过学习，我们可以相对应地并准确地选择翻译技巧。关键字：英语长句 分析 五种翻译技巧part1 long english sentence1.1 current situation of long english sentenceso far, long english sentence is one of the difficult points of english-chinese translation methods have been at home and abroad are the concern of translators. many famous translators make the detailed research and analysis in the methods of translation skills. for example, xu jianping, who put the long english sentence translation methods into the practical translation of college english. although translators at home and abroad have made great progress on translating long english sentences into chinese, some translators are still very confused, whose quality of translation is also uneven.1.2 causes of long english sentence generally speaking, the reasons why long english sentence is so long are: first, the sentence structure is complex; second, the modifier is more, especially rear attributive is long; third, content level in two or more complex sentences. consequently, when we translate long english sentences, we should analysis the basic structure of sentences, then according to the different type of long english sentence, we can use different translation skills.part2 translation skills of long english sentence2.1translation in plain sequenceplain sequence is actually the natural or forward sequence in translation, that is, to translate from very beginning of the long sentence to the very end of the sentence without any intentional conversation of word order. sometimes the two ways of thinking of the two nations are surprisingly similar in their sequences as if displaying a series of actions with noun and verb images in the similar forward sequence. first come, first served. the translator simply follows the entire elements sense by sense group. first example: it was on a sunday evening, when he was lying in the orchard listening to a blackbird and composing a love poem, that he heard the gate swing to, and saw the girl coming running among the trees, with the red-cheeked, stolid joe in swift pursuit.(一个星期天的傍晚，他正躺在果园里，一边一边听画眉鸟的啁啾，一边在写一首爱情诗，忽然听到大门砰地关上，接着看见那个女孩从林子里跑来，满脸通红，呆头呆脑的乔紧跟在后。) another example：when mrs. jones came before the judge, he looked at her severely and said hat she was too old to drive a car, and that the reason why she had not stopped at the red light was most probably that her eyes had simply not seen it. (琼斯太太被带到法官那里。法官严厉地望着她，说她年纪太大不能开车了，还说她闯了红灯的原因很可能就是年老眼花，以致于根本看不到红灯。)2.2 translation in backward sequencethe term “backward sequence” explains itself. in the translation of such long sentences, the translator translates backward starting from the end of the end of the long sentence, and put the beginning of the original sentence at the end , that is, the first will be the last and the last the first. first example: and he knew how ashamed he would have been, if had his mother and the kind of place in which he was born, and the kind of people among whom he was born. (他出生在这一类人中间，出生在这种地方，他有这种的母亲，这些钥匙让她知道了，他明白有多么丢人。) another example： she loved driving very fast, and boasted of the fact that she never, in her thirty-five years of driving, been punished for a driving offence. (她喜欢把车开得很快，而且对自己在三十五年的驾车生涯中从未因违反驾驶条例而受罚这一事实颇为自鸣得意。)2.3 embeddingembedding means placing the modifiers (including phrases and clauses) before the word being modified, thus the modifiers are embedded between the predicate verb and the object to be modified. this is quite opposite to the english sentence order in which modifiers longer than two words usually take the postposition. it can achieve brevity and avoid misunderstanding or ambiguity in meaning, and consequently, it is often adopted in the translation of attributive and appositive clauses. for example: congress has made laws requiring most pressure groups to give information about how much they spend and how they spend it, the amount and sources of funds, membership, and names and salaries of their representatives.( 国会已制定法律，要求大部分压力集团呈报他们花费了多少钱，怎样花的，以及款项的总额和来源、成员人数、代表的姓名和薪金等情况。) another example: to make a big ship elastic enough to avoid this danger, it has joints where the sections of the ship come together above the water-line, and these joints open and shut slightly as the waves lift one sections of the ship or another. (为了使船避免这些危险，船上有在流水线上方使船连接的接合处，当波浪将船的一部分提高，或者将另一部分提高，这些接合处就会轻轻地打开和关闭。2.4 inserting by inserting here we mean putting some additional punctuation marks such as dash, parenthesis, colon, etc. in a long and complex sentence. and as we know, there are almost similar forms in both chinese and english. the purpose is to explain, add details, or give the sources. inserting should not be too long, and it should be used as much as is necessary. for example: as far as sight could reach, i feasted my eyes on a vastness of infinite charm, which presents itself in a profusion of color, in verdant luxuriance, in dulcet warbling, in pervading perfume, in rippling undulation, in cataract sprays, in hilly waves, in field crisscross and verily in vitality and variety. (纵目眺望，我饱览了一片无限娇艳的风光：万紫千红，郁郁葱葱，鸟语悦耳，花香袭人，涟漪荡漾，瀑布飞流，层峦起伏。真可谓生机勃勃，气象万千。) another example: if you go to visit nobles old residence, the house in which the great chemist remained a bachelor throughout his life, you will catch sight of a shelf laden with experimental records. (如果你参观诺贝尔的故居在那座房子里，这位伟大的化学家过了一辈子的独身生活你将会看到一个堆满实验记录的书架。)2.5 recasting recasting, also called synthesis, is considered the most difficult technique of all for a translator to grasp. this method is used when all the above-mentioned techniques fail to work well. recasting entails skillful control over both the english and chinese languages on the part of the translator, who, on the basis of accurate comprehension of the original, should flexibly adjust or rearrange it without considering the original sentence structure. in other words, the translator should convey the idea of the original to the reader in his own way. for example: what the new yorker would find missing is what many outsiders find oppressive and distasteful about new yorkits rawness, tension, urgency; its bracing competitiveness; the rigor of its judgment; and the congested, democratic presence of so many other new yorkers encased in their own world. (纽约的粗犷、紧张，那种急迫感和催人奋发的竞争性，它的是非观念之严酷无情，纽约市的那种各色人等熙熙攘攘，兼容并蓄于各自天地中的格局，这一切都使那些非纽约人感到厌恶和窒息；而这一切，又正是纽约人所眷恋的。) another is: where the sunlight was warm and shadows flecked with its splendid, radiance, she delighted to wonder at the pattern of it, to walk where it was most golden, and follow with instinctive appreciation the holy corridors of