在英译汉过程中正说反译法的运用探讨.doc

湖北省高等教育自学考试英语专业毕业论文在英译汉过程中正说反译法的运用探讨准考证号：学生姓名：黄志文指导教师：张新建On the Application of Negation during the Course of Translation fom English into ChineseHuang ZhiwenTutor：Zhang Xinjian摘 要英语中的否定句表达形式多种多样，英译汉时方法也随之多变。其中有一类否定句是含蓄否定句，其对应的翻译方法为正说反译法。本文在中西文化、语言、逻辑思维差异的层面探讨英译汉过程中正说反译法的运用。最后得出结论：正说反译法是有效调和英汉两种语言矛盾冲突的手段。关键词：正说反译法、文化、语言、逻辑思维、英译汉AbstractIn EnglishKey words:IntroductionIn both English and Chinese,there are negative sentences.Hoever, they are not completely expressed in the same way, In other words, either of them has its unique way. In general, English negative sentences are much more complicated and various than Chinese ones for its wide range of choices on words, phrases and the ways of expression.In English, we can find a sort of negative sentence which apparently seems to be affirmative sentence. Such a sentence is formally affirmative but actually expresses the negative meaning judging from its meaning .Linguists name this kind of sentence as “Implied Negative Sentence”. In the course of translation from English into Chinese, translators are supposed to make out these sentences and select the best approaches to translate them. These sentences are symbolized by the nonequivalence of function and form. It is suggested that the method of negation is the most effective way to fix this problem.A large number of scholars have researched on negation. Unfortunately their researchers are limited to just citing instances and they fail to further their studies. Negation is born from the differences of culture and the habit of thinking between English and Chinese. That we employ negation will exactly reflect the intention of source text and comply with the language specification. This paper attempts to explore the method of negation from the level of culture, linguistics logic thinking, etc. Finally, we draw a conclusion that the approach of negation can be effective to reconcile the contradictions and conflicts between Chinese and English.Chapter One：BackgroundGenerally speaking, when a concept is identified in a certain manner in one language, it can be also identified either in the same or different form in another language. For instance, in Chinese, 是is equal to is,am,are in English. If negated, it will be 不是 by adding an negative word不 before 是 in Chinese. Similarly, it will be all right in English by adding not after is, am, are.This example shows the unity between English and Chinese.Lets continue looking at two more instances.不好 is translated as not good in English. But 很不好 cannot be translated into not very good or very not good. When someone asks you “Cant you speak English?, you may answer like this “Yes, I cant.”(不，我不会) or “No, I can.”(是的，我会). In such a situation, Yes means 不 and No means 是，which is so different from our common sense. These two examples reflect the opposition between Chinese and English.Unity and opposites necessarily exist among languages, because languages depend on cultures. Distinct cultures surely cultivate distinct languages. Both similaries and differences exist in every two languages.1. The level of culture In the choices of vocabularies, the two languages are not likely to be absolutely consistent, because they are not exactly corresponding relation.Peoples life experiences tend to differ from each other and their understanding of the objective world is not consistent. Therefore they dont select the same words. The expression of the two languages does not coincide.Inner emotion vareies with the difference among nationalities. For example, thanks to the geographical distinctions, the wind has different symbolic significances in Chinese culutre and in English culture. In our mind, the east wind is warm. It makes seeds develop and gives life the power to grow. So the famous poet Lan Mao in Song Dynasty wrote a poem which reads “东风破早梅，向暖一枝开。冰雪矢人见，春从天上来。” to eulogise the west wind. On the contrary, the west wind coming from the European continent is chilly for British. It makes human feel desolate. English writer Charels Dickens once wrote “Winter days have I seen him , standing blue nosed in the snow and east wind!”(在许多冬日里，我见他鼻子冻得发紫，站在风雪和东风之中。) Instead, the British people show love for the wind. The famous poet Shelly therefore composed the poem “Ode to the West Wind”We can safely say that the process of translation is a course of transfer of not only languages but also cultures. As a matter of fact, translation is cross-cultural communication.Owing to the influence of social culture and lifestyle, we Chinese greatly differ from English-speaking people in the habit of thought and languages. Although in both languages there are situations where some concepts are described from the opposite perspective, we should make it clear that they are very different because of their own specific cultures. Only if we have a better understanding of these cultural distinctions, we can avoid committing communicational errors.2. Linguistic level In most cases, the form of a sentence and the meaning it conveys are not integrated, But in English, when talking or writing, people often convey the negative information by means of affirmative form according to their communicational purposes so as to appropriately express their emotion. This phenomenon is called Indirect Speech Act which is symbolized by nonequivalence of function and form. And its another characterize is that the literal meaning and the real meaning are not harmorous. If literally translated, this kind of sentences will read hard or even be wrong, resulting in failing translation. Providing resorting to the method of negation, the problem may be smoothly solved. The result is bound to be satisfactory.Chapter two: the effect of negationLets look at the following three sentences: (1)Youre telling me. 不用你来指教(2)Keep off the lawn. 请勿践踏草坪(3)He got clear away. 他逃得无影无踪Sentence 1 doesnt mean 你告诉我 but不用你来指教. This sentence is used in such a situation where someone is tired of the other persons meaningless remarks. The antonymic translation of this sentence contributes to strengthen the tone. In sentence 2, Keep off is equal to 离开，别靠近 so the direct translation is 别靠近草坪. Compared with the direction, the antonymic translation is easier to attract readers attention and more polite. The last sentence is well translated due to its appropriate wording by processing clear away into 无影无踪. Again, Ill mention that certain affirmations can be translated either affirmatively or negatively. Sometimes antonymic translation may yield better results. It is analysed that Chinese tend to imaginal thinking, while westerners tend to abstract thinking. At the time of writing, we are interested in selecting pretty words or making use of rhetoriitsc to make the writings vivid. Because of the differences of emotional foundation as well as reading habits, however, English-speaking people are againt us. They prefer understatement and argue that pertty words will prevent the explicitness of what the writers want to convey in the articles. The method of negation can effectively this language contradiction.Please apprepriate the following sentesnces:Im at a loss what to do. 我茫然不知所措.There was a poor attandce at the meeting. 出席会议的人寥寥无几. He turned a deaf ear to my ears to my davice. 他对我的忠告充耳不闻.Example is beeter than precept. 言传不如身教It takes two to make a quarrel. 一个巴掌拍不响.Beauty is but skin-deep. 不可以貌取人。Life isl ong if it is full. 年华不虚度，生命自悠长.Keep still 不动声色Chapter threethe practice of antonymic translation in conciling the conflicts between English and Chinese in the course of translationAs a matter of fact, negation is more often just a view of point or a certain perspective about something or some ideas. Something seemingly affirmative may look negative viewed from the opposite aspect. As a result, a word, phrase, or sentence can often be translated as either the negative or the affirmative. This may be caused by different focus of people speaking different languages. Look at the following sentences:(1)He is little more than a child. (2)Mother said father would come soon,but Mary know better.Direct translation of sentence 1 as 他比孩子大不了多少 would make no clear sense. It should be translated as 他完全还是个孩子. “Know better” in sentence 2 should not be translated into 知道得更好 as it is implied: Mary thought differently or disagreed with her mother, so a correct translation should be 玛丽知道（爸爸）不会（很快回来）.While we come across the Implied Negative Sentence, we ought to be carefull. We all know that translation is based on understanding and mistaken comprehension is sure to lead to translation error. For example, “Just imagine it” is expected to be translated into 不可能没想 到. This is an idiom. If we are ignorant of it , chances will be that we may think it means 把它想一下. Accoring to our English konwledge, the normal statement of 真没想到 should be “I cant imagine it.” which is right contrary to “Just imagine it”. The reason why the same statement in the two languages doesnt keep in line may be that the focus of the two languages is different. English thinnks affirmation is direct but Chinese believe negation is helpful to strengthen the feeling. Such situations can be found in these following sentences:(1) You can talk. (You dont have to worry about doing a particular thing yourself) 你不必担心自己要干什么 (你能讲话)(2) Me tell a lie. 我从不撒谎 (我撒谎)(3) Catching me doing that.我绝不干那样的事(抓住我干那事)(4) As if I cared. 我无所谓 (好像我在乎)(5) Ill buy it.我不懂我答不出来 (我将买它)All these sentences are idioms or slangs. Comparing the Chinese translation, we can find that they are all negations. The affirmative translations cannot represent the true meaning. Once more we can conclude that the method of negation can reduce the contradictions between English and Chinese. Part of affirmations must be translated by antonymic translation in case of misunderstanding or translation errors. For instance：(1) Im a stranger in this town. 我对这座城市不熟悉(2) We may safely say that. 我们这样说万无一失(3) He is under the weather. 他不舒服，生病了(4) Strength alone knows conflict, weakness is below even defeat, and is born vanquished. 只有强者才懂得斗争，弱者甚至连失败都不够资格，生来就是被征服的(5) I tried county meetings, old homes, Womens Institute meetings and genealogy magazines, but many of them proved wrong for this service. 我曾到过郡展销会、老人院、妇女协会会场和家谱杂志去做宣传，发现这项服务在很多地方推广不开。The sentences are negated by noun, adjective, adverb, preposition. They appear a little difficult to comprehend and none of them can be translated into affirmation. Lets take sentence 1 and 3 for example. Weve been very clear that “stranger” means 陌生人. But if this sentence is translated as 我在这座城市是个陌生人，it will be confused although it makes no grammatical mistake. The literal meaning of sentence 3 is “他在天气下面”. We can not translate so otherwise it will sound awkward.Look at several more sentences:(1)He is strange to compliment. 他不爱听恭维话(2)He could have spared the explanation. 他本来可以不用解释的(3)Individualism is alien to the world outlook of the proletariat. 个人主义和 无产主义世界观格格不入(4)The rude remarks of such an ill-mannered person are beneath my notice. 我对这样一个举止粗鲁的人不屑一顾English generally prefers implicit and succinct statements. and tends to leaping reasoning. In the contrary, Chinese has preference for straightforward statement and step-by-step reasoning. In the eyes of we Chinese, English seems to lack a course of reasoning. The major feature of English is the absence of logic. Usually what a English sentence means is out of the words which reqires the reader to make appropriate inference. For instance: “When I want your opinion, Ill ask you for it.” means 当我需要你的意见时，我会征求你的, that is to say 我现在不需要你的意见，请你不要插嘴. So the exact translation is 请不要插嘴. The negative translation is better than the affirmative one because the latter make no clear sense. The source sentence is applied to such a occasion when someone is dissatisfied with others cutting in. The target sentence 请不要插嘴 contributes to strengthening the dissatisfaction. Similarly, there is another sentence always being translated so. It is “Mind your own business” (literally means管好你自己的事 but indicates 别管闲事)In addition to the difference in logic, we Chinese also differ fom English-speaking people in charater. Compared with weterners, Chinese are resevered. When the same information deliverd. Chinese people tend to euphemism while westerners are often straight-forward. In English, “difficult” means something is hard to do namely you有困难的 in Chinese, but we usually negatively translate it as 不容易的 being not as direct as “difficult”. “Wonder” refers to “want to know something”, however in Chinese, its equivalent meaning is 不知道. Supposing there is a sentence as “I wonder what happended to you .” and for a certain reason the listeners is unwilling to answer the speaker. In such a context, it is better to translate “wonder” into 不知道 according to Chinese language practice. “Exactly” always suggests the recognition of a statement or someone. It is equal to “Yes” or “All right”. But it is often translated as 没错. Based on these examples, we believe that negation is able to reduce the conflics of characters betwwen Chinese and westerners.We sh