英语翻译教案 (4).doc

1.3.7 Translation MethodsBoth literal translation and free translation are widely adopted translation methods. Both are good and have their own advantages. It is hard to say which is preferable. One thing that must be made clear is that literal translation is by no means word-for-word mechanical translation and free translation does not mean that the translator can translate in whatever way he likes. 1.3.7.1. Literal Translation and Free TranslationA. Definition By literal translation, we mean to keep meaning as well as the form (such as the figure of speech, and images) of the source text in the translation. As has been mentioned, this doesnt mean word-for-word translation; instead, it means that the translation is faithful to the form while it conveys the meaning -both the deep and surface structures are rendered. Free translation is applied when theres conflict between the source language meaning and the form of target language expression, that is to say, when the language form in the target language can not faithfully convey the meaning that is expressed in the corresponding target language form. In this case, meaning is the first choice: the translator has to give up the original language form and try to keep the meaning instead. Free translation does not mean that the translator can ignore the source text; it only means that the surface structure of the source text is not completely rendered while the deep structure is faithfully reproduced. As far as literal and free translation are concerned, theres one principle to abide by. B. The principle （1）to kill two birds with one stonea: 一石二鸟b: 一箭双雕； 一举两得（2）to flog a dead horsea: 鞭打死马b: 白费力；徒劳 （3）to teach a pig to play on a flutea: 教猪吹笛b: 对牛弹琴（4）A nod is as good as a wink to a blind horse.a: 点头也好，眨眼也好， 示意盲马，同样无效。 b:犟汉难劝，狂人难喻（5）The worst wheel of a cart creaks most.a: 最差的车轮最会嘎嘎响。b: 才学最差，叫喊最响；能猫不叫，叫猫不能。（6）In a kingdom of blind men, the one-eyed is the king. a : 盲人国里，独眼为王。b: 山中无老虎，猴子称大王。（7）For Kino and Juana this was the morning of mornings of their lives, comparable only to the day when the baby had been born.a : 在基诺和胡安娜看来，这是他们一生中最了不起的早晨，只有宝宝出生的那一天才可与之媲美。b: 基诺和胡安娜认为，这一天非常重要。（8）When Jane graduated from high school, she looked at the world through rose-colored glasses.a: 简中学毕业的时候，是戴着玫瑰色的眼镜看世界的。b: 简中学毕业的时候，她把一切看得太简单太容易了。（9）孤掌难鸣a: You cant clap hands with one palm.b: Its hard to succeed without support.（10）养虎贻患a: feed a tiger to ones own detrimentb: harbor somebody who later will do you harm（11）掩耳盗铃a: plug ones ears while stealing a bellb: deceive oneself（12）王子犯法，庶民同罪。a: If a prince violates the law, he must be punished like an ordinary person.b: All men are equal in the eyes of the law.（13）母亲又说：只是我希望你若看中了什么人，能领来让大姐见一面，帮你参谋参谋。大姐毕竟比你多吃了几年咸盐，什么样的男人，打眼一看就能看出人品的好坏来。a: Mother spoke again: I only hope that if youve got your eye on someone, youll bring him here and let me have a look at him, so I tell you what I think. After all Ive eaten more salt than you over the years; Ill be able to tell you at a glance whether he is a man of character.b:After all Im older than you Sometimes, however, literal translation may puzzle the target language readers because the corresponding form in the target language cant convey the meaning of the source text clearly, or it may even distort the meaning. In this case, the translator can only appeal to free translation. Compare the two versions of the following examples:（1）I gave my youth to the sea and I came home and gave my wife my old age.a: 我把青春献给海洋，我回家的时候便把老年给了我妻子。b: 我把青春献给海洋，等我回到家里见到妻子的时候，已经是白发苍苍了。（2）Last night I heard him driving his pigs to market.a: 昨夜我听见他把猪赶到了市场。b: 昨夜我听见他鼾声如雷。（3）But no one forces you to go to sea. It gets in your blood.a: 但是谁也没有强迫你出海，它进到你的血液里了。b: 但是谁也没有强迫你出海，是你心甘情愿嘛。（4）After so much bad blood between us, how generous can I expect him to be?a: 我们之间有这么多坏血之后，我还能指望他对我怎么宽厚呢？b: 我们两人之间既然有这么深的仇恨，我还能指望他对我怎么宽厚呢？（5）乱七八糟a: seven disorders and eight chaosb: at sixes and sevens（6）外甥打灯笼照舅（旧）a: the nephew carrying a lantern-showing the way for his uncleb: act according to the old ways（7）这女人真是红眼病，连朋友长得好看都嫉妒。a: This woman is really red-eyed, even jealous of her friends good look. b: She is a green-eyed woman, even jealous of her friends good look. In the above examples, the meaning expressed by the source language form is quite different from that expressed in the corresponding target language form. And the figures of speech used in the source langue don not conform to the target language expression, if literal translation is applied, although the source language form is kept, the translation can not be very satisfying-either the meaning is hard for the target language readers to accept or the implied meaning is unclear. Therefore, free translation is preferable.Nevertheless, free translation shouldnt be overused. Some translators only pursue the smoothness and beauty of the translation, paying no attention to the national cultural characteristics of the source text, so that their translation reads as if its about something taking place in the target language culture but not in the source language culture. For example:(1) Im full of scholarship; Im full of genius; Im full of information; Im full of novel views on every subject.我学富五车，才高八斗，茹古含今，对一切问题都有最独到的见解。This translation shows that the translator really has a very good command of Chinese, but the problem is that the two idioms “学富五车” and “才高八斗” bear too heavy a sense of Chinese culture; they are unique only in Chinese. When they are used to translate the English sentence, the Chinese readers may question where this source text comes from. In E-C translation many translators agree that when using the following five kinds of idioms, they should be very careful: first, those that reflect the special Chinese customs, such as义结金兰，生辰八字，second, those in which the shapes of Chinese characters are critical in understanding the meaning, such as 一字长蛇阵，and目不识丁; third, those with the names of places in China, such as 江东父老，逐鹿中原，乐不思蜀，庐山真面，逼上梁山; four, those with the names of Chinese persons, such as 女娲补天，东施效颦，廉颇老矣; five, those related to Chinese stories or allusions, such as 负荆请罪，卧薪尝胆，三顾茅庐，暗渡陈仓，指鹿为马. In summary, while the translator strives for the smoothness and easy understanding of the translation, he should try to keep the cultural characteristics of the source text. He should by no means blend Chinese cultural elements into the Western culture; otherwise, he is depriving Chinese readers of the opportunity to appreciate the unique style of the Western culture. Similarly, in C-E translation, the translator should also be careful in using the kinds of English idioms corresponding to those Chinese idioms mentioned above. The following example is taken from “The Lo-cha Country and the Sea Market”(罗刹海市) of Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio (聊斋志异):（2）君似征人，妾作荡妇，即置而不御，亦何得谓非琴瑟哉？You are my Ulysses, I am your Penelope; though not actually leading a married life, how can it be said that we are not husband hand wife. “征人”in the original sentence refers to one who stays away from his hometown and cant come back to unite with the family members, and “荡妇” is the shortened form for “荡子之妇”, referring to his wife. Husband and wife who are deep in love with each other are always compared to “琴” and “瑟” in Chinese culture, the original sentence being such a case; “置而不御” is used to mean the husband and wife cant stay together. The translator of the above version uses Ulysses and Penelope, the Greek legend figures, to substitute for the Chinese cultural images of “征人” and “荡妇”，which of course requires less effort from the English readers, but such translation conceals Chinese cultural images of “征人” , “荡妇” and “琴瑟” .1.3.7.2 TransliterationTransliteration aims to reproduce the pronunciation of the source language terms. It is mainly applied to the translation of proper nouns, such as the names of persons, places, companies, trade marks, and sometimes its also used to translate the terms that have no equivalents in the target language. Transliteration has introduced a large number of new words into the target language. For instance, 咖啡 (coffee)，沙发 (sofa)，吉他 (guitar)，巧克力 (chocolate)，kowtow (叩头), gongfu (功夫), qigong (气功), tofu (豆腐). When applying transliteration, the translator should bear the following points in mind: first, pronounce the terms in the source language correctly. This is the basis of transliteration. If the translator cant even pronounce the terms correctly, how can it be possible for him to produce a correct translation? For example, “Graham” should be translated into 格雷姆or 格雷厄姆, but not 格雷哈姆, for “h” is silent in the word. Similarly, “t” in “Margot” is silent, too, so the translation of this name should be 玛戈but not 玛戈特. Some examples from Chinese to English: 东阿(Donge), 仇建国(Qiu Jianguo), 天津（Tianjin），北京(Beijing).Second, follow the accepted translation. If some terms have already been translated in the target language, and the translation has been widely accepted, the translator should follow the ready translation. For example:Ireland爱尔兰 not 爱尔兰德Adam亚当 not 艾达姆Ohio俄亥俄 not 欧亥欧孔子Confucius not Kong Zi孙逸仙Sun Yat-sen not Sun Yixian叩头kowtow not koutou高粱kaoliang not gaoliang道Tao not DaoNonetheless, the translator shouldnt follow those cases of transliteration that have been rejected by the target language readers. The following terms were introduced into Chinese during the May 4th Movement, but because they are too long, or because they are not idiomatic enough, they have been rejected.inspiration灵感（烟士玻璃纯）ultimatum最后通牒（哀的美敦书）philosophy哲学（菲洛索菲）camera 照相机（开麦拉）telephone 电话（德律风）democracy民主（德谟克拉西）science科学（赛因斯）president总统（普列西登特）bank银行（版克）compa