On-the-Translation-of-English-Preposition.doc

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSFirst and foremost, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my supervisor, Xu Qin, for her inspiring guidance and constant encouragement during the process of writing this thesis. She labored patiently through drafts of this work and pointed out defects in my theorizing. My cordial and sincere thanks is also extended to all the teachers in the Department of English, whose interesting and informative courses have benefited me a lot during my five years of college life. What I have learned from their profound knowledge, remarkable expertise and intellectual ingenuity will be of everlasting significance to my future life and career.Finally, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to my family. They have shared with me my worries, frustrations, and hopefully my ultimate happiness in eventually completing this paper.CONTENTSChapter 1 Brief Introduction to English Prepositions2Chapter 2 Grammatical Features of Prepositions32.1 Forms of Preposition32.1.1 Simple PrepositionsComplex Prepositions32.2 Use of Preposition42.2.1 Prepositions of Spatial Relations42.2.2 Prepositions relating to time92.2.3 Prepositions relating to tools, means, materials122.2.4 Prepositions relating to reasons132.2.5 Prepositions meaning equal to Chinese “Chu Le”13Chapter 3 Skills on Prepositions Translation143.1 Conversion143.2 Word Adding163.3 Deconstruction173.4 Omission193.5 Reverse Translation20Chapter 4 Conclusion21REFERENCES22 On the Translation of English PrepositionAbstract: As a kind of function word, the preposition can not be used as a grammatical component in a sentence, but it has a great flexibility in collocation with other words. It can be used to convey various meaning and indicate different grammatical role and tense by coming together with noun (phrase),pronoun, gerund, adjective, adverb, numeral and so on, hence it has been taken as one of the most active word categories in English. The collocation of preposition with those words and phrases is called “prepositional phrase” which has the similar function as the adverb, noun and verb taking the grammatical role of adverbial, predicative, attributive, complement, subject, object and appositive. Especially for those prepositional phrases with the meaning of verbs can be used to indicate present continuous and present perfect tense. The preposition and prepositional phrase is frequently occurred and taken great grammatical role in signifying various grammatical function and tense, and make sentences concise and vivid. Hence the translation of preposition and prepositional phrase would be a difficult job. After studied the grammatical feature of preposition and prepositional phrase in depth, this article touched on the methods of preposition translation and summarized relevant strategies for preposition translation, such as, conversion, word adding, deconstruction, omission and reverse translation.Keywords: Preposition; grammatical feature; Usage Classification; Translation strategies摘要：介词作为一种虚词,虽然在句中不能单独担当语法成份, 但英语介词有着极强的搭配能力,它可以与名词、代词、名词短语、动名词、形容词、副词、数词、介词+其它介词+短语、句子进行搭配, 表达不同的意思,具有不同的语法功能和时态意义,因而成为英语语言中最活跃的词类之一。介词与这些词或短语的搭配在语法上称之为“介词短语”,在句中具有副词、名词和动词的功能,用做状语、表语(部分表示否定意义)、定语、补语、主语、宾语和同位语等语法,特别是具有动词意义的介词短语可以用来表示正在进行或完成的动作和正在持续的状态。由于介词及介词短语在英语中的使用频率高,作用大, 且具备的强大的语法功能和时态意义,又可使表达生动、简练, 因而给介词及其短语的翻译带来了不小的困难。本文从研究介词的语法特征入手，进而探讨介词的翻译相关策略：转换法、增词法、拆译法、省译法、逆译法。关键词：介词；语法特征；用法分类；翻译方法Chapter 1 Brief Introduction to English PrepositionsEnglish has a large number of prepositions as compared with pronouns, conjunctions, and determiners; yet they are still a closed word class. Their major function is to connect nouns, verbs and adjectives to other parts of the sentence. A preposition is typically followed by a noun or a noun equivalent to introduce a prepositional phrase. A prepositional phrase can perform the following syntactic functions: a post modifier in the noun phrase, an adverbial, and a complement.Eg.a woman in whiteI get up early in the morning.Im very grateful for your help.The British linguists hold that preposition is the most active word class for its strongest flexibility in the collocation with other word classes. So there is such a saying that English is a language of preposition. As time goes on, many of the English words are no longer in use, and this make prepositions act as the embodiment of the relationship among different sentence parts. For instance, “OF” can be used to indicate the logical relationship of time, space, possession, subordination, cause and effect. But in different languages the logical meaning of prepositions are not always well matching. When the meaning of prepositions are diverted to establish more abstractive relationships among sentence parts instead of expressing certain superficial interrelations, the insimilarity between different languages will exceedingly increase the difficulty of comprehension and interpretation from one to the other. Eg. He gambled himself out of house and home. “他已赌得倾家荡产。”English preposition is free morpheme and occurring before nouns and pronouns to show the correlations among them, so it is also called as Function Word. Its meaningless for an individual preposition and it need to be collocated with other words to achieve the various structural and relational meaning.In the following two chapters, the author will make a detailed study on the grammatical features of preposition and try to bring forth some of the frequently used skills for the translation of it from English to Chinese.Chapter 2 Grammatical Features of Prepositions2.1 Forms of Preposition2.1.1 Simple Prepositionsa. Preposition Only against, amid, among, at, bar, barring, concerning, considering, despite, during, except, excepting, failing, following, from, including, into, like, minus, of, pending, per, plus, regarding, respecting, to, times, toward, towards, unlike, upon, via, with, worthb. Preposition Conjunctionafter, as, but, for, save, than, till, untilc. Preposition /Adverb aboard, about, above, across, along, alongside, around, behind, below, beneath, besides, between, beyond, by, down, in, inside, less, near, off, on, opposite, over, outside, past, round, through, throughout, under, underneath, up, within, withoutd. Preposition / Conjunction / Adverb before, since Complex Prepositionsa. Two-word Prepositionas for, but for, except for, apart from, away from, ahead of, because of, instead of, out of, outside of, regardless of, according to, as to, due to, near to, next to, on to, owing to, prior to, up to, along with, together withb. Three-word Prepositionin case of, in charge of, in consequence of, in favour of, in front of, in lieu of, in need of, in place of, in quest of, in respect of, in search of, in terms of, in spite of, in view of, in accordance with, in common with, in comparison with, in compliance with, in conformity with, in connection with, in contact with, in line with, by means of, by virtue of, by way of, on account of, on behalf of, on top of, as far as, at variance with, in exchange for, in return for, in addition to, in relation to, with / in regard to, with / in reference to, with / in respect t,c. Four-word Prepositionin (the) face of, in (the) light of, on the part of, on the strength of, as a / the result of, at the expense of, at the hands of, for (the) sake of, with the exception o,2.2 Use of Preposition 2.2.1 Prepositions of Spatial Relationsthe stative use: indicates a static locationthe dynamic use: indicates the direction of a movementMeaningPrepositionsLocation (stative)aboard, about, across, against, along, alongside, around, at, away from, beside, down, near, off, on, out of, past, round, through, up, uponabove, ahead of, amid(st), among, before, behind, below, beneath, between, beyond, by, in, in front of, inside, on top of, opposite, under, underneath, with, withinDirection (dynamic)from, into, onto, to, toward(s) At/On/Inat: associated with a pointon: associated with a line or the surface of sth.in: associated with an area or the volume of sth.Eg.Our train arrived at New York at midnight. (a spot on a map)She has lived in New York for twenty years. ( a city with houses, streets, etc.)London is situated on the River Thames. (a line)You may hang the picture on this wall. (surface)There is a hole in the wall.in China / Europe / the worldId prefer to put my desk at the window. (similar to by, beside, near, etc. indicate the intention to use the window for purpose)A face appeared in the window. (a framed area)The boy pressed his face on the window (the glass surface)He came in a car. (closed vehicles)Did you come on foot or on a horse?He was in the house yesterday afternoon. 他昨天下午在屋内。He was at the house yesterday afternoon. 他昨天下午在家。*When used with the following nouns: bank, church, cinema, hotel, office, school, theatre, university, etc., “at” shows some kind of connection with an institution in its functional aspect, while “in” indicates a mere geographical position.Peter is at Cambridge. ( as a student)Peter is in Cambridge. (as a resident, a visitor, etc.)* “on” should be used before “road, way” , both “in” and “on” could be used before “street”.on the road, on my way home, (compare： “in the way” means: in a position to obstruct, hinder, or interfere)in / on the street* in the fieldson the farmon the groundon the playground* at the top / on top There is a church at the top of the hill. Put this record on top of the others. *in the distance: far away but still able to be seen or heardat a distance: from a place or time that is not near; from far awayWe saw a light in the distance. (我们看到远处有灯光。)The picture looks better at a distance. (这幅画远看更好一些。)*at / in / on the corner at the corner in the corner on the corner Over, above, under, belowabove / below: a higher / lower position or levelover / under: a vertical relationship, “directly above” and “directly below”; introduce sth. that covers sth. elseEg.The lamp hung over / above the table.She leant over the river to see her reflection in the water.The cat is lying under the table.He waited below the window until she opened it and spoke to him.He kept his coat over his shoulders.He hid his gun under the pillow.* in / on / to the eastin the east on the east to the eastChina lies int eh east of Asia.Anhui lies on the east of Henan.Taiwan lies to the east of Fujian.The sun rises in the east. The sun sets in the west.* to / on / at the left (right)on /at the left (right): close to the left (right) side of sth. to the left (right): far from the left (right) side of sth. He sat on /at the left of me.There is a tower to the right of the house.*in front of / in the front ofin front of in the front of Around, round, about Around: encircle sth. Statively Round:encircling sth. Dynamically About:generally nearby or by sth. Children sat around the fire. (孩子们围坐在火的周围。)The earth goes round the sun. (地球围绕太阳转。)Her hair hang about her neck. (她的头发垂在脖子的左右。) Between, amongbetween: two objects; clear and exact locative positionsamong: three or more objects; indefinite positions, surrounded by, mixed up withShe sat between the two children.She sat among the three children.Our house stands between a school and a supermarket.Ecuador lies between Colombia, Peru, and the Pacific Ocean.It is pleasant to walk among the trees in the evening.He lost his son when the film was over and found him among the people outside the cinema.A good teacher must neither too strict nor too weak; his manner must lie between these two.Among his many good qualities, punctuality is the most6 impressive one.He made a comparison between the major English speaking countries.I like New Zealand best among all the English speaking countries. AboardUsually used with a noun referring to a form of transport or with the name of a particular vehicle: bike, boat, bus, coach, ferry, jet, plane, rocket, ship, sledge, space shuttle, train, truck, yacht, etc.There are too many passengers aboard the train.Fortunately, she was not aboard the Titanic. Fromfollowed by a noun phrasefollowed by another preposition or an adverb to indicate a starting point of a movement: above, abroad, behind, below, beneath, downstairs, here, inside, outside, overseas, there, under, underneath, upstairs, etc.Leaves kept falling from above our heads when we were walking among the trees.News came from abroad that the Japanese started attacking the American warships.I think the noise comes from below the window.I think the noise comes from below. Across, through, overacross: related to “on”, the action takes place on the surface of sth. from one end / side to the other. through: related to “in”, the action takes place inside a certain space with things around. over: surpass or go beyondacross the desertthrough the woodsHe swam across the river.The train went through a tunnel.The plane flew over the city. Across, over, beyond across: general opposite side over: opposite side with barriers between“beyond: opposite side far awayHe lives across the street.town and villages over the mountainsThere is a lake beyond this mountain. V. + sb. + prep. + the + a part of the bodyon: solid partin: soft partby: side part2.2.2 Prepositions relating to time at, on, inat: non-durative, points of timeon: days or periods of a specific dayin: periods longer or shorter than a daysix oclockat midnighthis uncles deathSundayTuesdays and Fridayson May 23, 1988Saturday afternoonsChristmas Daythe morning / the afternoon / the eveningthe day / the nightthe days / weeks / months /years that followedin spring / summer / autumn / winter1996the 21st centurythe Stone Age*Note that “at” can also be used for days, in which case the periods are still conceived as points of time.We look forward to her arrival at Christmas.He was murdered at the bank holiday. for, sincefor + length of time: how long sth. has continued (perfective)since + a point of time: when sth. began. (perfective)We have been waiting for half an hour.We have been waiting since 6 oclock.We havent been to the theatre since months ago.I havent seen James for almost one year. ago, beforeago: a past time measured from the present (simple past)before: a past time measured from the more resent past (past perfective)I passed my GRE test six months ago.They moved to a new house some time ago.Tom left the company last year. Hed started work there ten years before.I finally received a reply to the application I had applied for the scholarship weeks before. in, afterin + length of time: the time it takes to complete sth. (durative verb)a future time measured from the present (non-durative verb)after + a point of time / an event Columbus crossed the Atlantic in seventy days.Surely you can change a wheel in fifteen minutesYour photos will be ready in half an hour.The exhibition hall will open in six weeks.The train will be leaving in a few minutes. during, in: during, in: the time in which sth. happened*With a “time word”, we can use either in or during:It must have rained in / during the night.Ill phone you sometime during / in the afternoon.*the noun after “during” must be pre-modified with a determiner; “in” followed by a noun with a pre-determiner means special reference while by a noun without a pre-determiner means general referenceShe did a lot for the army during / in the war.What did he say during / in my absence?Some birds fly to the south in summer.“during” gives emphasis to the continuity of an action, and implies “the whole process”; only during could be used if the emphasis had been given to the regular or durative actions or an activity, such as: visit, meal, concert, service, voyage, stay, etc. in implies that the action is temporary or momentary and gives emphasis to the specific time action occurring.She was in the headquarters during the war.He worked in a chemical plant during 1988.The shop was closed during the whole of August.It was over in the twinkling of an eye.He left England in 19.6 by, till, untilby: not later thantill / until: how long a situation continuesI posted the letter today, so they should receive it by Monday.Can you pay me back by Friday?We sat in the pub until / till closing time.There will be traffic hold-ups until next summer.*Till is more informal than until.*Both till and until can be conjunctions.We walked on and on until / till we came to the cave.*We can use notuntil / till when sth. is later than expectedSuzie didnt get up until / till half past ten.I wont take another job until / till this one is done.*We can also use by the time instead of until:There was no food left by the time we arrived.Hurry up! By the time we get to the cinema, the film will already have started.2.2.3 Prepositions relating to tools, means, materials with “tools”“with tools” could be used in both active and passive voices and the noun followed it could be countable nouns. The collocation with it could also be materials especially materials and tools occurred at the same time.He wrote a letter with a fountain-pen.You must write the composition with pen and ink. in way“in” followed by materials and ways.Hes writing a letter in ink.Paint i