Contrastive Study between English and Chinese Sentences.docx

contrastive study between english and chinese sentences so far we have covered all the techniques and skills of word translation. we are going to talk about the translation techniques on syntactical level from this time. as we have mentioned before, english and chinese belong to two different language families, and they also have different cultural backgrounds. since translation is an interlingual and intercultural transfer, it is essential to make a contrastive study between the two languages. today, we would like to focus on five differences between english and chinese on syntactical level. i. hypotaxis vs. parataxis (形合与意合)lead-in: if you dont compare, youre in the dark, but the moment you do, you get a shock. i can reliably inform you that uncle lee is very angry so the consequences will be severe.1. 不比不知道，一比吓一跳。2. 我很负责地告诉你，黎叔很生气，后果很严重。hypotaxis(形合法)is the dependent or subordinate construction or relationship of clauses with the connectives, for example, i shall despair if you dont come. english sentence building is featured by hypotaxis. 英语重形合(hypotaxis)以形显意, 句子逻辑关系靠关联词等显性连接手段来直接标示,句子结构比较严谨但缺少弹性。to clarify the relations between words, phrases or clauses, english more often resorts to overt cohesion (显性衔接)，frequently using various cohesive ties such as relatives(关系词)：who, whose, that, which, what, when, where.connectives: and, or, but, yet, so, however, when, while, since, until.prepositions: of, to, in, from, into.parataxis (意合法) is the arranging of clauses one after the other without connectives showing the relation between them, for example, the rain fell; the river flooded; the houses were washed away. chinese sentence building is featured by parataxis. 汉语重意合(parataxis),以意役形， 句子各成分之间靠隐形连贯来间接显示，不用或少用关联词，句子结构比较松散但富有弹性。translation strategy: 1) 英译汉：从形合到意合e.g. (1) the many colors of a rainbow range from red on the outside to violet on the inside. 彩虹有多种颜色，外圈红，内圈紫。(2) we will not attack unless we are attacked. 人不犯我，我不犯人。2).汉译英：从意合到形合e.g. (1) 深巷中不时传来狗吠声和墙头上的鸡叫声。from time to time, dogs were heard barking in the deep lanes and cocks crowing on the top of courtyard wall. (2) 他不老实，我不能信任他。i cant trust him, because he is not honest.(3) 你死了，我就做和尚。（红楼梦）if you are dead, i will be a monk.2. bamboo-like sentence vs. tree-like sentencethe chunks of a sentence seem to be connected and yet separated, like sections of a bamboo linked by the joints and yet relatively independent and self-contained.汉语的句式结构犹如竹竿一节一节地下去，句子是一个短句一个短句的展开。句子没有主谓框架的限制，没有动词形态变化的约束，几个小句平行铺排。english differs from chinese. it has tree-like sentence structure （树式结构）with different parts connected like branches and sub-branches to the trunk line. “英语句子好比一课参天大树。” 它利用主谓框架先树起主干，即主句，然后利用各种关系词、介词、分词等把各种表示修饰、限制、补充等语义的短语，附加成分，分句，从句往这根主干上钩搭，犹如一棵枝叶横生的大树，旁支延伸，盘根错节。汉语句子结构以并列的为多，而英语中以主从结构较多。e.g.从前这里有一个渔村，村里住着十户人家，这十户人家全靠打鱼、种地为生，生活艰苦，但很安宁。as a nation of gifted people who comprise about one-fourth of the total population of the earth, china plays in world affairs a role that can only grow more important in the years ahead. translation strategy 1) 英译汉：变英语主从结构为汉语的并列结构e.g. (1) his remarks hit home(击中要害) when he said that we did not work hard enough. 他说的很对，我们的工作不够努力。(2) china, by pursuing the policy of reform and opening to the outside world, is striving to become developed within a period of 50 years. 中国执行改革开放的政策，争取在五十年内发展起来。2) 汉译英：对原文中小句意义之间的关系进行分析，如有主从之分，从逻辑上确认是何种主从关系，然后用相应的结构来表达。e.g.(1) 她伸手抓起被单，看见女儿两眼睁得圆圆的。pulling back the bedding, she found her daughters eyes wide open. 某些情况下，信息主次关系不明时，也可有不同的选择形式。e.g. (2) 一群五彩蝴蝶在一片花丛中飞舞，吸引着不少游客观赏。译文一：a swarm of butterflies were fluttering among the flowers, attracting many an admirer.译文二：fluttering among the flowers, a swarm of butterflies were attracting many an admirer. classroom activity: comparison of translated sentences : (1) 我们常听到人们谈论“过去的好时光”。那个时候，美国人更善良，幸福，而且待人也更诚实。a. we often hear about the good old days. at that time americans were better, happier and more honest. b. we frequently hear about the good old days, when americans were better, happier and more honest. 3. left-branching and right-branching英语句子呈现句首封闭、句尾开放(right-branching)的特征。修饰语、插入语可以后置，有关系词与被修饰语连接，句子可以不断向尾扩展延伸。汉语句子则呈现句首开放、句尾收缩(left-branching) 的特征。句首虽可开放，但扩展的长度和程度受到种种限制，不能像英语那样层层环扣、向后不断扩展延伸。 一棵树 一棵大树 一棵枝繁叶茂的大树 花园里一棵枝繁叶茂的大树 李家花园一棵枝繁叶茂的大树 同里镇李家花园一棵枝繁叶茂的大树this is the cat. this is the cat that killed the rat.this is the cat that killed the rat that ate the malt（麦芽）. this is the cat that killed the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house. this is the cat that killed the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that was built by jack.translation strategy:英译汉：如有可能要把后置定语前移，使之符合汉语句式，即向左扩展。e.g.the musician who played at concert is from china.在音乐会上演奏的那位音乐家是从中国来的。但汉语前置定语不宜过长，如修饰语过长，可以适当改变修饰关系，将部分定语转化为描述性短语或小句，并将其置于被修饰语之后。compare the translated sentences: there is a story told of an ancient dandy in london who, taking, one sunny afternoon, his accustomed stroll down bond street, met an acquaintance hurrying in the direction of westminster.译文一：有一个故事讲到一位在一个晴朗的下午同往常一样去邦德大街散步的古代伦敦的花花公子碰到了一个急急忙忙奔向西敏寺的熟人的故事。 译文二：有这样一则故事，讲的是古代伦敦一位花花公子，一个晴朗的午后，正与往常一样沿邦德大街散步时，遇到一个熟人匆忙朝西敏寺方向奔去。汉译英：应识别原文中具有限定作用的成分，酌情将其转化为短语、从句等英语后置定语。e.g. (1) 家家房顶上都安装了供沐浴用的太阳能热水器。 a solar heater is installed on the roof of every house, providing warm water for the shower. (2) 昨天下午在办公室与她谈话的那个人已经被解聘了。 the man who had a talk with her in the office yesterday afternoon has been dismissed. 4. pre-emphasis and post-emphasis (前重心与后重心)英语和汉语在信息编排顺序上存在着比较明显的差异。对重要信息的陈述，英语习惯放在句首，开门见山，一语道破，这就是所谓的“突显顺序”；突显语序不依照时序组句，往往负载着说话人的语义重点、兴趣所在。汉语是自然语序，英语是两种语序兼而有之，同时比较偏好突显语序。换言之，英语一般是句首重心，汉语则是句尾重心。(1) 生活中既有悲剧，文学作品就可以写悲剧。 tragedies can be written in literature since there is tragedy in life.(先结果后原因)(2) 有朋自远方来，不亦乐乎。it is a great pleasure to meet friends from afar. (先表态后叙事)(3) 我每年放暑假都到老家山东和父母亲住一两个月。i went to live with my parents for a month or two every summer vacation in my hometown shandong. (先焦点后背景)translation strategy: 调整语序(1) 我们访问了一些地方，遇到了不少人，要谈起这些，我有许多奇妙的故事要讲。there are many wonderful stories to tell about the places i visited and the people i met. (2) 中国人从传统上和道德上是看重婚姻的，所以对离婚一般是持反对态度的。a negative attitude towards divorce runs consistently through the consciousness of the chinese who, traditionally and morally attach much importance to marriage. (3) 史密斯先生自己还不知道犯了什么罪，人家就把他逮捕了。mr. smith was arrested when he himself was not aware what crime he had committed. 5. topic-prominent language vs. subject-prominent languagean english sentence must have a subject and a predicate. but only about 50% chinese sentences have a subject and predicate. the other 50% chinese sentences belong to topic-comment structure（话题-评论结构）. in other words, english is a subject-prominent language（注重主语的语言）; chinese is a topic-prominent language（注重主题的语言）. a subject-prominent language is a language in which the grammatical units of subject and predicate are basic to the structure of sentences and in which sentences usually have subject-predicate structure. a topic-prominent language is one in which the informational units of topic and comment are basic to the structure of sentences. 我的小孙子他很调皮。my little grandson is very naughty.那所房子你们早该修了。you should have repaired the house.这里建大桥，我看行不通。i dont think it workable to build a bridge here.translation strategy汉译英: 1)主语的增补(1