第七講 直譯與意譯

TranslationMethods

Literal&FreeTranslation“Thecentralproblemoftranslatinghasalwaysbeenwhethertotranslateliterallyorfreely.”

—PeterNewmarkThetranslatorsandscholarsintheworldareconstantlyexploitingthem,somescholarsthinkthatalltranslatorsshouldsticktothetwomethods,somesupposethereareutterlynomethodsintranslation,anddifferentpeoplehavedifferentunderstandingofthemethods.LiteralTr.:

nottoaltertheoriginalwordsandsentences;tostrivetokeepthesentimentsandstyleoftheoriginal;ittakessentencesasitsbasicunitandthewholetextintoconsiderationatthesametimeinthecourseoftranslating;itstrivestoreproduceboththeideologicalcontentandstyleoftheentireliteraryworkandretainasmuchaspossiblethefeaturesofspeechandsuchmainsentencestructuresorpatternsasSV,SVO,SVC,SVA,SVOO,SVOC,SVOA.literaltranslationreferstothetranslationthatatranslatortirestokeeptheoriginalformandmeaning,includingmeaning,structure,style,figureofspeech,etc.FeaturesofliteraltranslationSL-orientedFaithfulnesstotheoriginalcontentandstyleRetainingoriginalformasmuchaspossible(includingthemainsentencestructures/patterns,figuresofspeech,images,etc.)EaseandsmoothnessinexpressionPurposes

ofliteraltranslationToconveythephenomenonintheSLToretainthe“exoticflavor”intheSL

Examples

toshedcrocodiletears掉鱷魚的眼淚tobearmedtoteeth武裝到牙齒chainreaction連鎖反應(yīng)ExercisesOnecountry,twosystems一國兩制gentlemen’sagreement君子協(xié)定紙老虎papertigerSomeSituationsSuitableforLiteralTranslation

1.

Totalequivalents(完全對等)Whentherearetotalequivalentsinboththelanguages,wemayuseliteraltranslation.

E.g.2.Thoughtheexpressionsintwolanguagesaredifferent,wecanfindtheequivalentsinthetoneofthebothlanguages.Inthiscaseweprefertousethemethodofliteraltranslation.(某些句式兩種語言表達方式不同，但總的語氣基本對應(yīng)，仍可采用直譯。)1.Partlyasaresultoftherecentlyincreasingdemand,wholesaleteapriceshavealmostdoubled.結(jié)果部分原因來自于日益增長的需求，導(dǎo)致茶的批發(fā)價幾乎翻了一翻。原因2.Ireadthisletterwithbothsurpriseandexcitement,surprisebecauseheisstillaround,excitementbecausehedidn’tevenforgetme.我讀到他的信時既驚又喜，驚的是他還健在，喜的是他一直沒有忘記我。LiteralTranslationand

Word-for-WordTranslationFromtheexamplesabove,itseemsthattheversionistheword-for-word

translation.Butit’sjustacoincidence.Becauseallthepeopleownthesameglobeandresourcesandhaveexperiencedsimilardevelopingprocedures,itisunderstandableandreasonablethattheyhavecertainsimilaritiesinsomeaspects.Actually,literaltranslationisnotWord-for-WordTranslation,thelatterisdeadtranslation.Examples:1.Itwasanoldandraggedmoon.那是一個又老又破的月亮。(×)這是一彎下弦殘月。2.Manyofhisideasareespeciallyinterestingtomodernyouth.他的許多思想對當代青年特別有趣。(×)他的許多觀點，當代青年特別感興趣。3.好好學(xué)習(xí)，天天向上Goodgoodstudy,daydayup！(×)Studyhardandyouwillmakeprogresseveryday.4.哪里！哪里！Where!Where!(×)Thankyou.(It’sverykindofyoutosayso.)5.Wesawanacrobatstandingonhishead.(×)我們看見一個雜技演員正站在他的頭上。我們看見一個雜技演員正在倒立。ButallEnglishsentencescannotpossiblybetranslatedliterally.Sowemayneedotherwaystodealwiththeoriginalsentencesintranslation.

FreeTranslation

Freetranslationisanalternativeapproachwhichisusedmainlytoconveythemeaningandspiritoftheoriginalwithouttryingtoreproduceitssentencepatternsorfiguresofspeech.Thisapproachismostfrequentlyadoptedwhenitisreallyimpossibleforthetranslatortodoliteraltranslation.

FreeTr.:tomainlyconveythemeaningandspiritoftheoriginalwithouttryingtoreproduceitssentencepatternsorfiguresofspeech;alternativemethodofliteraltr.;it’salsoknownassense-for-sensetranslation

Features

ofFreeTranslationTL-oriented

FaithfulnesstotheoriginalcontentEaseandsmoothnessinexpressionNecessarychangestotheoriginalform(includingthemainsentencestructuresorpatterns,rhetoricaldevices,images,etc.)Exercises

1)LastnightIheardhimdrivinghispigstomarket.譯：昨夜我聽見他酣聲如雷。2)Heisbeingagoodboynow.譯：他現(xiàn)在正乖著呢。3)Theyranawayasfastastheirlegscouldcarrythem.譯：他們跑得象他們的腿所能載他們的那樣快。譯：a.他們飛快逃命，只恨爹娘沒給生出四條腿。b.他們拼命奔逃，連吃奶的力氣都用上了。4)Justicehaslongarms.譯：法律有長胳膊。譯：天網(wǎng)恢恢，疏而不漏。5)Theirlanguagewasalmostunrestrainedbyanymotiveofprudence.意譯：他們幾乎愛講什么就講什么，都沒有顧及到什么謹慎不謹慎的問題。6)Thetalkaboutraisingtaxeswasaredflagtomanyvoters.意譯：關(guān)于增稅的談?wù)摷づ嗽S多選民。Appreciatethefollowingpoembyliteraltranslation再別康橋徐志摩輕輕地我走了，

正如我輕輕地來；

我輕輕地招手，

作別西天的云彩。SayingGood-byetoCambridgeAgain

Very

quietly

I

take

my

leave;

As

quietly

as

I

came

here;

Quietly

I

wave

good-bye,To

the

rosy

clouds

in

the

western

sky.那河畔的金柳，

是夕陽中的新娘。

波光里的艷影，

在我的心頭蕩漾。The

golden

willows

by

the

riversideAre

young

brides

in

the

setting

sun.Their

reflections

on

the

shimmering

waves

Always

linger

in

the

depth

of

my

heart.軟泥上的青荇，

油油的在水底招搖；

在康河的柔波里，

我甘心做一條水草!The

floating

heart

growing

in

the

sludge

Sways

leisurely

under

the

water;

In

the

gentle

waves

of

Cambridge

I

would

be

a

water

plant!

那榆蔭下的一潭，

不是清泉，是天上虹

；揉碎在浮藻間，

沉淀著彩虹似