《英语翻译理论》PPT课件

1、Chapter 3,Diction,In order to make an accurate and smooth translation, a translator should consider how to find a word or words by which the original idea may be most aptly expressed. Diction, the choice of words and phrases to express meaning, is therefore one of the basic techniques. The meaning o

2、f a word is its use in the language, not only its definitions in the dictionary. A dictionary does not require a particular sense of a word but records the uses that have been found for it. Now and then a word is in the process of acquiring a new sense. The dictionary definition is for the most part

3、 a record of the denotation of a word and often cannot give its connotation. Words do not have meanings; people have meanings for words. Each word when used in a new context is a new word. Beginners often rigidly adhere to the verbal consistency of words in two languages, while neglecting their cont

4、extual consistency. Care should therefore be taken in translating to determine from the context the exact shade of meaning of a word and the choice of an appropriate one to express the meaning in the target version.,3.1 Choice of Affective Meanings,Affective meaning refers to what is communicated of

5、 the feelings and attitudes of the writer towards the reader. You may address somebody as an “idiot” to convey your despise, or describe something as “marvelous” to express your positive evaluation. There are basically three types of affective meanings: positive, neutral, and derogatory.,Some words

6、when used in different contexts may have different affective meanings. In translating, it is significant to determine the implications of these words according to the context.,Still more important to translation is the fact that the affective meanings of some words are culture-bound. That is, becaus

7、e of the differences between the two cultures, a word is commendatory in English, but its equivalent in Chinese is derogatory, or vice versa, hence the necessity to make certain changes in translation. 1. individualism: feeling or behaviour of a person who likes to do things his/her own way, regardl

8、ess of what other people do; theory that favours free action and complete liberty of belief for each individual person; the idea that the rights and freedom of the individual are the most important rights in a society. 个人主义：一切从个人出发，把个人利益放在集体利益之上，只顾自己，不顾别人的错误思想。个人主义是生产资料私有制的产物，是资产阶级世界观的核心。它的表现形式是多方面的

9、，如个人英雄主义、自由主义、本位主义等。 Therefore, individualism (中性词)个人主义（贬义词）个体主义,2. liberalism: liberal opinions or principles, esp. with regard to social and political matters; liberal: willing to understand and respect the ideas and feelings of others; supporting or allowing some change, e.g. in political or reli

10、gious affairs; encouraging or leading to a wide general knowledge, wide possibilities for self-expression, and respect for other peoples opinions; giving freely and generously; given freely; large; neither close nor very exact. 自由主义： 19世纪和20世纪初期的一种资产阶级政治思想。自由主义者代表资产阶级的利益，反对政治的、社会的和宗教的束缚，在历史上曾经起过进步的作

11、用。但在资产阶取得政权后，自由主义就成了掩饰资产阶级统治的幌子。 革命队伍中的一种错误的思想作风，主要表现是缺乏原则性，无组织，无纪律，强调个人利益等。 Therefore, liberalism (中性词)自由主义（贬义词）,3. pragmatism: pragmatic ways of considering and dealing with things; pragmatic: dealing with matters in the way that seems best under the actual conditions, rather than following a gene

12、ral principle; concerned with practical results. 实用主义：现代资产阶级哲学的一个派别，创始于美国。它的主要内容是否认世界的物质性和真理的客观性，把客观存在和主观经验等同起来，认为有用的就是真理，思维只是应付环境解决疑难的工具。 Therefore, pragmatism (褒义词)实用主义（贬义词）,Meaning means intention. Words, phrases, or sentences often convey authors feelings or attitudes towards certain ideas or vi

13、ewpoints. In translation, we have to choose the most proper and suitable words from our own “thesaurus” to express authors original intentions according to the context. Be careful to convey the intention of the author, not that of the translator. Examples: 1. Aggressive nations threaten world peace.

14、 侵略成性的国家威胁世界和平。 A salesman must be aggressive if he wants to succeed. 推销员如要成功，必须有闯劲。 2. He incited the soldiers to fight bravely. 他激励士兵勇敢作战。 He was charged with inciting people to violence. 他被控煽动人们暴动。 3. Every dog has his day. 人人皆有得意之时。 4. “You chicken!” he cried, looking at Tom with contempt. “你这胆小

15、鬼！”她轻蔑地看着汤姆嚷道。,Drills 3.1,(1) Compare and translated the following words with the help of dictionaries: crowd; mob deep dealings; a deep scholar praise; boast childlike; childish steadfast; obstinate statesman; politician (2) Compare the meanings and implications of the English and Chinese words: pe

16、asant, 农民 dragon, 龙 propaganda, 宣传 goat, 山羊 compromise, 妥协 west wind, 西风,peasant:（贬）a person without education or good manners; a person with rough unrefined manners, 无教养的人，粗野的人，乡下人，土包子，大老粗；（尤其用于指发展中国家或从前的）农民，农夫，小浓，雇农。 农民: （无贬义）在农村从事农业生产的劳动者。 dragon: an imaginary animal with wings and claws, able to

17、 breathe out fire; （比喻贬）a fierce person, esp. a woman. （英美民族所想象的）“龙”，从词典所画的图像看，与中国龙(Chinese dragon) 不一样；比喻凶恶的人，尤指悍妇 龙：中国古代传说中的神异动物，身体长，有鳞，有角，有脚，能走，能飞，能游泳，能兴云降雨；封建时代用龙作为帝王的象征，也把龙字用在帝王使用的东西上；比喻有褒义，如：“望子成龙”，“龙马精神”，“龙腾虎跃”等,propaganda: （通常贬）information that is spread in a planned or official way, esp. by

18、 a government, in order to influence public opinion. （尤指政府为了影响民意的）宣传 宣传：（无贬义）对群众说明讲解，使群众相信并跟着行动。 goat: （比喻贬）a man who is very active sexually 色鬼，色狼，淫荡的人，好色之徒 山羊：无贬褒义,compromise: （中性，无消极义）settling an argument or difference of opinion by each side agreeing to some of the demands of the other. 通过互让解决争执

19、或分歧，互让了结，妥协，折中，和解 妥协：（有时有消极义）用让步的方法避免冲突或争执，如：“妥协投降”，“原则问题上不能妥协”等。 west wind: 英国人对西风有好感，如英国著名诗人雪莱的名诗西风颂 西风：（比喻贬）日趋没落的腐朽势力，如：李白的“西风残照”,(3) Compare and translate the following, paying attention to the words in italics: 1. The story of the hero is extremely moving. He storied about his age. That face mu

20、st have a story belonging to it. The real story was made public. What a story! I dont believe a word of it. 2. Hes a stubborn child who wont obey his mother. The defenders put up stubborn resistance. 3. They found a mountain refuge for climbers. The political dissidents sought refuge abroad. 4. He i

21、s a bookworm. 5. All the constitutional powers were vested in a single being.,3.2 Choice of Grammatical Meanings,The same word, when used as different parts of speech and playing different roles in a sentence, has different meanings. Examples: 1. The lapped wafers are then polished to a mirror finis

22、h with graded diamond polish. 把研磨好的薄片用各级金刚砂抛光剂抛光到镜面光洁度。 2. Take the cart back to the back yard and back it into the shed at the back of the stable. 把牛车拉回到后院，再把它倒到牛棚后面的小屋去。 3. He had no stomach to follow us. 他不想跟我们走。 I cant stomach this job any longer. 这工作我再也受不了啦。,Drills 3.2 Translate the following s

23、entences: 1. It is neither round nor square. The wheels go round rapidly. The night watchman makes his rounds every hour. The earth moves round the sun. The ship rounded the Cape of Good Hope. The talk rounded into a plan. 2. I iron my clothes with an iron. 3. Brush your hair with the hairbrush. 4.

24、Paper the walls with white paper. 5. You must ship the cargo in a large ship. 6. I lighted the lamp, but it gave a bad light. 7. In a second I saw a second picture. 8. I saw him saw with a saw in a sawmill. 9. Wishes father thoughts. 10. “What do you do with so many apples?” “We eat what we can and

25、what we cant we can.”,3.3 Choice of Contextual Meanings,The same word, when used in different contexts or fields of discourse (business, law, medicine, education, politics, forestry, etc.), has different meanings. For instance, in some contexts “mad” means “foolish”, in some “angry”, and in others “

26、insane”. Examples: Book 1. Show me the complaint book, please. 请把意见薄拿给我看看。 2. Miltons Paradise Lost consists of twelve books. 弥尔顿的长诗失乐园共有12卷。 3. Thats all I remember, sir, on the Book. 凭圣经起誓，长官，我记得的就是这些。 4. He claims to have been graduated from this college, but his name is not on the books. 他自称是从本学

27、院毕业的，但注册薄上没有他的名字。 5. He is always painstakingly at his books. 他总是埋头苦读。,6. The music was fine, but the book was very poor. 音乐是出色的，但是歌词很糟。 7. How many names are there on your books? 你们的登记名册上共有多少人？ 8. He went out to the village to pay tradesmens books. 他到村里的买卖人那儿付账去了。 9. In the business college student

28、s are taught to keep books. 商学院教授学生作薄记。 10. Are you in the book? 电话薄里有你的电话号码吗？ According to Websters Collegiate Dictionary, the average number of meanings per word is 2.5. Heavy-duty words have more meanings than words rarely used, e.g. the word take has 69 meanings; run, 54; light, 47; make, 41. Th

29、e word carrier can be rendered into 搬运人，货运公司，托架（机械），载波（通讯技术），带菌者（医学），航空母舰（军事），载流子（半导体）， etc.,Drills 3.3 Translate the following sentences: Power 1. I will do everything within my power to assist you. 2. The new kinescope has a resolving power of 800 lines. 3. Basically, all power is with the people.

30、 4. Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. 5. China has a few nuclear weapons, but it will never join the so-called club of nuclear powers. 6. The surface of ceramics must be checked by examination under a 20-power binocular microscope. 7. The transistor can go from an off condition to an

31、 on condition with great speed and minimal power. 8. The power subsystem of the communication facility must provide a flow of current under controlled conditions of voltage and load.,3.4 Choice of Collocative Meanings,Some words have the same basic meanings, but differ in collocation. That is, they

32、have different collocative meanings. For example, “sense” and “meaning” are synonymous, but “John is a man of sense” is acceptable while “John is a man of meaning” is unacceptable. One problem with collocation in translation is that, very often what is good collocation in English may not be so when

33、translated into Chinese, or vice versa. For instance, “pretty” and “handsome” are rendered into “漂亮的” and “英俊的” respectively. It is perfectly all right to say “a handsome car”, but “英俊的车子”would be totally unacceptable to the Chinese reader. Thus in English-Chinese translation, a translator must ensu

34、re that the version is idiomatic or collocatively acceptable in Chinese. Every language has its own usage and collocations. In many cases, literal translation of the usage or collocation of a language renders the translated version ridiculous if not unintelligible. A translator should know that prop

35、er words in proper places make the true definition of a style.,Examples: 1. Build (v.) build a house 盖房子 build a bridge 架桥 build a ship 造船 build a dam 筑坝 build a fire 生火 build a stamp collection 集邮 build a car 制造汽车 build an answer 思索答案 build ones confidence 树立信心 build the drama of a story 构思故事的戏剧性情节

36、 build scholars of tomorrow 培养未来的学者 Reading builds the mind. 阅读能发展智力。 2. Subjection of natures forces to man, machinery, application of chemistry to industry and agriculture, steam-navigation, railways, electric telegraphs, clearing of whole continents for cultivation, canalization of rivers, whole

37、populations conjured out of the ground what earlier century had even a presentiment that such productive forces slumbered in the lap of social labour? 自然力的征服，机器的采用，化学在工业和农业中的应用，轮船的行驶，铁路的通行，电报的使用，整个整个大陆的开垦，河川的通航，仿佛用法术从地下呼唤出来的大量人口过去哪一个世纪能够料想到有这样的生产力潜伏在社会劳动力呢？,Drills 3.4 Translate the following, paying

38、 attention to the collocations: 1. Heavy (adj.) a heavy rain a heavy sea a heavy load a heavy buyer a heavy crop a heavy demand heavy news heavy sorrow a heavy vote a heavy thinker a heavy schedule a heavy politician heavy advertising a heavy play heavy casualties This book is heavy reading. 2. Good

39、 (adj.) good manners good soil a good king good humor a good Catholic good living good eggs a good question a good debt good sense a good hour a good eater and a good sleeper,3. In order to get a large amount of waterpower we need a large pressure and a large current. 4. Briefly, a long thin wire ha

40、s a high resistance; a short thick wire has a low resistance. 5. This country was recovering its true self, drawing lessons both from its own mistakes and from its enemies. 6. On display was merchandise attractive in price and quality. 7. They captured fifty enemy soldiers and many weapons.,3.5 Choi

41、ce of Stylistic Meanings,Some words convey the same idea but differ in stylistic features. These words are known as stylistic synonyms. For example, horse, charger, steed, nay and plug form a synonymic group, within which horse can be labeled as neutral, charger and steed as formal, nay and plug as

42、informal. In some dictionaries, these stylistic features are clearly marked as “formal”, “informal”, “literary”, “slang” and so on. Words that occur in different settings are stylistically marked. Those used for some serious purpose, for example, in official reports, business letters and regulations

43、 are labeled as formal whereas those used in private conversation or personal letters are labeled as informal. Translators have to choose among formal words, neutral words, and informal words to ensure that the style is appropriate to the original context. They must also determine whether to use sta

44、ndard dialects or regional dialects, archaic words or contemporary words, general words or technical terms, etc. Literary translators must also try to reflect the idiolect of the source language writer.,Table 1 Examples of Chinese stylistic synonyms,Table 2 Examples of English stylistic synonyms wit

45、h their translations,Table 3 Examples of English words with their Chinese stylistic synonyms,Read the following passage with the formal words in the brackets: An important law (principle) was first discovered by Archimedes, a scientist who died over 2000 years ago. He watched and noticed (observed)

46、that the water in his bath overflowed when he got in, and this made him think about (led him to consider) water being pushed aside (displacement of water) by solid bodies. A good translator should represent not only the original thought but also the original style as well in the target language. Tha

47、t is called “意似，形似，神似”. To illustrate this point, here are given some examples taken from Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw and translated by 杨宪益：茶花女,1. Im getting chilled to the bone. What can Freddy be doing all this time? Hes been gone twenty minutes. 冷死我了。佛莱第这半天是干什么去了？他去了二十分钟了。 2. Well, it aint my fault

48、, missus. 这怪不着咱呀，太太。 3. That sounds more like it, Judy. 这还差不离，姑娘。 4. No, nothing more for you to worry about. 是的，现在没有让你伤脑筋的事了。 5. Nah then, Freddy: Look why gowin, deah. (= Now then, Freedy: Look where youre going, dear.) 这是怎么的，弗莱第，你走路不长眼睛哪？ 6. You ought to be stuffed with nails, you ought. Take the

49、 whole blooming basket for sixpence. 你真该千刀万剐！你出六便士把咱这整篮子花都拿去好不？,7. It was artful of you, colonel; but I bear no malice: I should have done the same myself. Ive been the victim of one woman after another all my life; and I dont grudge you two getting the better of Eliza. 上校，你们真鬼，可是咱不怪你；要是咱，咱也这么办。咱一辈子

50、总是吃娘儿们的亏；咱也不怪你们两位占了伊丽莎的便宜。 8. The door is opened violently; and Higgins enters with his hat on. 房门猛烈被推开，息金斯不脱帽子就闯进来了。 9. Im a respectable girl: so help me, I never spoke to him except to ask him to buy a flower off me. 咱可是正经人家的女孩子。老天爷，咱也没说别的，就是请他买一枝花。 10. Youre an ungrateful wicked girl. 你真是个不识好歹的坏丫

51、头。 11. If you refuse this offer you will be a most ungrateful wicked girl. 你要是不接受，你就是最没有良心、最坏的姑娘。,Comparison of Translated Sentences 1. Whoever tries to twist you up, may the end of his nose take a twist. 谁要是想捉弄你，谁的鼻子尖就会弄歪。 谁要是捉弄你，就叫谁的鼻子尖儿歪了。 谁骗你，谁就不得好死。 2. Ignore it as you ignore the cold of last w

52、inter. 你别去理他，就像别离上一个冬天有多冷一样。 别理睬它，就像你不理睬去年冬天的寒冷那样。 管他们干什么？他们的话，当作耳边风好了。 3. They confused me so that I didnt know the big end from the small. 我连粗细大小都分不清了。 他们使我真假不分。 他们把我搞得不知东西南北了。,Examples and for ability, is in the judgment and disposition of business. 读书足以怡情，足以傅彩，足以长才。其怡情也，最见于独处幽居之时；其傅彩也，最见于高谈阔论之中；

53、其长才也，最见于处事判事之际。 读书使人感觉快乐，使人富有光彩，使人增长才干。其快乐之处，主要在于独处休闲之时；其光彩之处，主要限于社交交谈之时；其才干之处，主要见于判断处事之时。,2. 退休工人邵劝帮对小儿子在春说：“那时候，干一天活累得连炕都上不去，浑身疼得要命，睡也睡不着。” Shao Quanbang, a retired worker, said to his little son Zaichun, “At that time, I was so fatigued after a days drudgery that I found it very hard to mount the

54、 kang. My whole frame aching acutely, I couldnt go to sleep however hard I tried.” Shao Quanbang, a retired worker, said to his little son Zaichun, “In those days, I was usually so done up after a days hard work that I could hardly get on the kang. As my whole body ached like anything, I simply coul

55、dnt get to sleep even I tried to.”,3. 无论是街道、房屋或公园，这个地方都有一种难以描绘的南国情调。随便走到哪里，我都可以看到新鲜有趣的东西。 All streets, houses and parks here have an indescribable look of the south. No matter where I go, Im sure to find things new and interesting. The place, with its streets, its houses and its parks, wears and ind

56、escribable air of the south. Every corner brings me into acquaintance with some new interest.,Drills 3.5 b Translate the following in different styles wherever possible: 1. Nothing is nobler than to sacrifice ones life for the country. 2. Nothing gives the translator more trouble and perplexity than

57、 the translation of technical terms of social and natural sciences. 3. It is a true saying that time and tide wait for no man. 4. There is nothing surprising about this. 5. There is no help for it. 6. It was just the time of the Mid-Autumn Festival. 7. I both wished and feared to see her on the day

58、which followed this sleepless night: I wanted to hear her voice again, yet feared to meet her eyes. 8. Nothing is sadder than to part forever; Nothing is happier than to contract a new acquaintance. 9. I am getting old for thinking of you. To think of you makes me old. 10. I spent my days carrying h

59、eavy loads, but I enjoyed it.,1. Nothing is nobler than to sacrifice ones life for the country. 崇高莫过于为国牺牲。/为国捐躯，至高无上。/没有比为国牺牲更崇高的了。 2. Nothing gives the translator more trouble and perplexity than the translation of technical terms of social and natural sciences. 译者之麻烦与困惑，莫过于翻译社会科学与自然科学之专门术语。/没有比翻译社会科学和自然科学的专门术语给译者更多的麻烦与困惑了。/最使译者感到头痛（伤脑筋）的是翻译社会科学和自然科学的专门术语。 3. It is a true saying that time and tide wait for no man. “时间不等人”，这话一点也不假。/“时不我待”，确是至理名言。 4. There is nothing surprising about this