张杰英汉翻译论文

What I Have Learned from English-Chinese Translation 1.Introduction: I have done some English-Chinese translation exercises in the past few semesters, but there is no principle to adhere to and I did it just based on my daily accumulation. Nevertheless, the course of English-Chinese translation was selected this semester and I’ve benefited a lot in the past two months’ learning. I am going to analyze and arrange what I have learned from the course by using a plenty of examples in this essay, hoping to enable me to do much better in the future and translate as perfectly as I can in daily practice. 2. A Review of Translation 2.1 Definition What is translation? Translation is a linguistic practice of employing one language to realize the thoughts expressed in another language exactly and completely. Simply speaking, translation consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closet natural equivalent of the source language, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style.(E.U.Nida) 2.2. Translation principles During the process of learning, I’ve knew about some general principles about translation. First, a translation should have faithfulness. That is to give a complete transcript of the ideas of the original work. Second, the style and manner of writing should be of the same character as that of the original. Third, a translation should have all the ease of original composition. The famous professor named Nida has his own opinion as well, that is, true to the original, vivid, smooth and natural, equivalence of response. Though there are variety of opinions, two criteria are almost unanimously accepted, namely, the criterion of faithfulness and that of smoothness. We should take these two criteria as the principles of translation in general. 3. The Process of Translation It is believed that two steps should be involved in the process of translation. They are accurate comprehension and adequate representation. Only we combine the two progresses properly, can we make the translation perfect. In order to achieve the goal of accurate comprehension, we are supposed to do the semantic analysis, contextual analysis and pragmatic analysis when doing translation. Translators are supposed to command extensive knowledge and receive excellent literature training. Some successful translators, when they were translating they did the research on the original author at the same time. After translating, they became on expert to the author and his composition. This spirit is worthy to study. Based on the accurate comprehension, we should pay attention to the adequate presentation, neither over-representation nor under-representation. I’d like to share two methods with you. They are literal translation and free translation. Literal translation and free translation are two basic skills of translation. 3.1 Literal translation Literal translation refers to translate a sentence originally, keep the original form, including c onstruction of sentence, meaning of the original words, and metaphor of the original and so on. Ve rsion would be fluent and easy to comprehend by target language readers. Let's see some examples: 1) But I hated Sakamoto, and I had a feeling he’d surely led us both to our ancestors. Literal translation:但是我恨坂本,并预感到他肯定会领着咱们去见祖先。 2)pour oil on fire Literal translation: 火上浇油 3.2 Free translation Free translation is a skill of according to the meaning of the original, without paying attentio n to the details and translation would also be fluent and natural. Compare with literal translation, f ree translation need not pay attention to the form of the original, including construction of the orig inal sentences, meaning of the original works, metaphors of the original and so on. But free transl ation does not mean to delete or add something to content of the original and translators must con sider the original carefully, know its stress, translate it naturally, and express the meaning of the or iginal. Meanwhile, when using free translation, translators must know the culture of both source l anguage and target language. Let's see some examples: 1) When the going gets tough, the tough gets going. Free translation: 沧海横流方显英雄本色。 The words "going" and "tough" have different meaning. The translator used a sentence in a Chinese poem to translate this sentence. 2) Faults are thick where love is thin. Free translation: 一朝情义淡,样样不顺眼。 3) You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time. Free translation: 骗人一夕一事易,欺众一生一世难。 We should never use literal translation or use free translation only. According to the passage which we are translating, we should use literal translation frequently and use free translation when necessary. 4. Ways of Translation 4.1 The surface and deep meaning It refers to the appearance and connotation of the language. In the process of translation the translator should analyze comprehensively and give the deep meaning of the text. That is to further the original, bring out the implication of the original words as much as possible (between the lines), the spirit behind the text (behind the lines) and the implication (beyond the lines). Let's see some examples: 1) I have read your articles. I expect to meet an older man. 我读过你的文章,没想到你这么年轻. 2) to have uncontrolled contact with the ground 飞机失事 3) —“You do the washing-up and I will put the baby to bed!” —“Right, it is a bargain!” —“你洗碗刷锅,我哄孩子上床。” —“好,就这样吧!” 4.2 Direct translation and reverse translation Different countries have different expression habits. So in translation, some sentences, especially some long sentences are unable to be translated in its original order. Translators should change the original order into a kind of order which is easy to be accepted and understood by target language readers. 4.2.1 Translating in its original order On the basis of correct understanding of original intention, we could divide the sentence into several parts according to its meaning and translate accordingly. And if necessary, we might as well add some conjunctions to make the translation fluent and easy to understand. Here are some examples: ㈠ (1)The first man to study the nature of electricity could not imagine (2) that their experiment carried on because of mere intellectual curiosity, (3)would eventually lead to modern electrical technology, 4)without which we can scarcely conceive of contemporary life. (1)那些最早研究电性质的人可能没有预料到 (2)他们只是出于求知的欲望而进行的实验, (3)最终产生了现代电业科技, (4)如果没有这些技术,我们当今的生活简直是不可现象的。 ㈡ (1)Our country along with other developing countries is (2)experiencing acute shortage of (3)skilled workers,engineers, technicians, administrative and managerial personal,(4) so we should like to ask you (5)to provide for the training of as many operating personal as possible. (1)我国像其他发展中国家一样, (2)严重缺乏 (3)技术熟练工人、工程技术人员和工商管理人员, (4)因此,我们请贵方 (5)提供方便,培训尽可能多的经营人员。 4.2.2 Translating not in its original order This method is often implied in the sentences which argue first then narrate. Let's see an example: 1)It was a keen disappointment when I had to postpone the visit which I intended to pay to China in May. 我原打算五月份访问中国,后来不得不推迟,这使我深感失望。 In a word, we are supposed to combine these two ways in translation practices. 4.3 Conversion in translation Conversion is a kind of translation skills that we often use. It involves many aspects, such as the conversion the part of speech of words, the conversion of voice and the normal-reverse conversion. 4.3.1 The conversion the part of speech of words Here are some examples: n. → v. The book is a reflection of Chinese society in the 1930s. 这本书反映了30年代的中国社会。 n.→adj. We found difficulty in solving this complicated problem. v.→n. I weigh less than I used to. 我的体重比过去轻了。 v. →adv. I succeeded in persuading him. 我成功地说服了他。 adj. →v. They were not content with their present achievements. 他们不满足于现有的成就。 adv. →v. I suppose boys think differently from girls. 我想男孩与女孩的思维方式不同。 4.3.2 Conversion of voice Because of the difficult kinds of culture and customs, English are eager to use passive sentences in their daily life while our Chinese prefer to use active sentences. Therefore, we often translate passive sentences in English into the active sentences in Chinese as much as possible. Let’s see some examples: 1)It was soon recognized that this approach offered the best framework for a solution. 人们不久就认识到,这种方法提供了解决问题的最佳框架。(补出施事者) 2)To whom nothing is given, of him can nothing be required. 如果什么东西也没有给人,那就休想从他人那里得到任何东西。 4.3.3 The normal-reverse conversion 1)In the absence of vaccine, how can HIV be stopped? 如果没有疫苗,能否阻止艾滋病传播?(正说反译) 2)Her conduct is above reproach? 她的行为无可指责。(正说反译) 3)I’d go there as soon as not. 我非常愿意去。(反说正译) 4)I won’t keep you waiting long. 我一会儿就回来。(反说正译) 5)Well, if this is not our old friend Mr. Smith. 啊,这绝对是史密斯先生,咱们的老朋友! There are some other translation skills that I don’t think it is necessary to introduce one by one. I think what is truly of great importance is to understand and absorb the knowledge fully and imply what we have learned in daily translation practices 5. Conclusion: I think I’ve got and improved a lot when doing translation, compared with what I did in the past few years. As I’ve knew some basic principles and skills of translation which are acting a guide for me. In my eye, however, there are still a plenty of things I should do in the daily practice. There are some questions that I couldn’t fully understand and a thorough knowledge system isn’t formed. I sincerely hope that I could improve more by doing a variety of translation and get more guidance from the teacher. With the teachers’ help and my great efforts, I can form my own system of knowledge and make great progress in translation! 张杰 20110430219 11英本2班