科技英语的文体特征及翻译规律

1、毕业论文题目：科技英语的文体特征及翻译规律Title：The Stylistic Features of English for Science and Technology（EST） and the Principles of its Translation 2009 年3月10日AcknowledgementsMany people have made invaluable contributions, both directly and indirectly to my research. First and foremost, my thanks would go to my belo

2、ved family for their loving considerations and great confidence in me all through these years. I also owe my sincere gratitude to my friends and my fellow classmates who gave me their help in working out my problems during the difficult course of the dissertation.At the same time, I am also grateful

3、 to all other teachers who gave me lectures during the past three academic years. I have benefited so much not only from their courses and lectures but also from their constant encouragement.Last but not least, I would like to express my warmest gratitude to Cai Dingzhong and Liu Zhidan, my supervis

4、ors, for their instructive suggestions and valuable comments on the writing of this thesis. They have walked me through all the stages of the writing of this thesis. Without their consistent and illuminating instruction, this thesis could not have reached its present form. AbstractAccompanied with t

5、he fast development of technology and the globalization of economy, English for Science and Technology, which is also named EST, has been paid more and more attention by the whole society. With the continuous introduction of advance technology, EST translation deserves to be treated seriously. This

6、paper puts emphasis on the research work in the stylistic features of EST and the principles of its translation. In addition, this paper intends to expound the impact of the subjectivity of the translator in translation operation. EST translation is an integrated art, which demands that the translat

7、ors should have an intimate knowledge of language and literature. A good translator should have a good command of the relationship between the original text and the target literature. Therefore, at the end of the dissertation suggestions are put forward for the EST translators to improve their trans

8、lation ability. In the dissertation, practical examples are presented to give a full discussion of all the issues.Key words: English for Science and Technology（EST）; stylistic features; language structure; principles of translation摘 要科技英语是现代英语中的一种特别的文体，其语言尊重客观事实，追求科学的思维逻辑。随着现代科学技术的飞速发展，全球经济一体化逐步深入，科

9、技英语将越来越引起科学界和语言界的高度重视和关注。本文本着学习研究的心态，结合许多具体实例，以科技英语的文体特征为出发点，分析和探讨了科技英语中词语及句法的翻译原则与技巧。文章主要分为四个部分，分别涵盖了科技英语的文体特点、翻译原则、翻译标准及对科技英语翻译工作者的建议与要求。本文在总结科技英语特点的基础上，通过实例对这些特点进行了阐述和探讨，并提出了翻译过程中需要遵循的几点原则，进而结合所归纳的特点和原则就如何准确的实现英汉互译进行了分析和探讨。科技英语翻译是一门综合艺术，在翻译的过程中，译者要根据科技英语的语言特点，确保译文忠于原文，表达通顺流畅，一名优秀的翻译工作者需要精通语言文学，具备

10、广博的常识和良好的文学修养，并掌握英汉基础知识和一定的翻译理论知识，拓宽知识面，养成严谨的工作态度。因此，在文章的结尾对科技英语翻译工作者所应具备的条件进行了探讨。希望通过对这些方面的研究，能对科技文化的交流起到积极的促进作用。关键词：科技英语; 文体特点; 语言结构; 翻译标准ContentsIntroduction.1 I. The Stylistic Features of EST.21.1 Nominalization.21.2 Passive Voice.31.3 Non-finite Verbs.41.4 Sentence in Common Use.41.5 The Postpo

11、sition of Attributive.51.6 Complex Sentences.5.The Principles of the EST Translation.62.1 Literal Translation.62.2 Shift of Perspective.72.3 Omission.82.4 Amplification.8. The Standard of EST Translation.9 3.1 Faithfulness.93.2 Fluency.10. Suggestions for the Translators of EST.11Conclusion .12Bibli

12、ography13IntroductionEnglish, undoubtedly, is an important language in the world. EST (English for Science and Technology) is an applied linguistic form which is widely used in the fields of academy and technology. I. Objective and Need for StudyBy a comparative research in pronunciation, vocabulary

13、 and grammar of EST and Basic English, there is no essential difference between them. However, this does not mean that EST has little or no features of its own. EST, as a particular branch of ESP (English for Special Purposes), has formed the lingual characteristics of its own relating to glossary,

14、accidence, syntax and so on after a long evolvement, among which high specialization is its chief feature. EST translation is a perfect combination of linguistic and specialized knowledge, which uses highly technical or esoteric language to state an objective reality. Therefore, it demands concise i

15、ndex system, clear evaluation criteria and scientific evaluation methods. To discuss and improve the quality of EST translation is of important significance both in theory and practice. For the translators, the key to good translation is to build a solid linguistic foundation of both English and Chi

16、nese, and they should have obtained relative translation skills and theories of EST as well. II. Organization of the ThesisThe whole thesis mainly falls into five parts.The first part gives a general introduction to the stylistic features of EST, such as nominalization, passive voice and so on. An a

17、bundance of instances are cited and the definition of each feature is discussed in details.The second part is the central part of the thesis. It focuses on the principles of EST translation. Translation is integrated art; therefore, various methods of translation should be applied comprehensively an

18、d reasonably. Four main principles are analyzed in this part: literal translation, shift of perspective, omission and amplification.In the third part, the paper briefly introduces the standard of EST translation, including faithfulness and fluency. Only the two requirements are satisfied correctly c

19、an a translation script be an excellent one.The fourth part puts forward some requirements for the EST translators. They should have not only a good command of both English and Chinese but also a rich fund of scientific knowledge as well as the theory of translation.The last part is the conclusion w

20、hich summarizes the major findings of the present study, at the same time; limitations and suggestions for further study are also stated. The whole thesis applies the examples and contrast to demonstrate the main idea.I. The Stylistic Features of EST1.1 Nominalization Nomination, which is crucial to

21、 English, is profoundly manifested in EST translation. A Grammar of Contemporary English has put forwarded that the wide use of nouns is one of the characteristics of EST, for scientific English is a terse and vigorous style which is objective and accurate. It emphasizes on the fact of existence, no

22、t the act of doing something. In scientific English, it is commonly seen that a sentence is replaced by a noun phrase “a noun that denotes an action + of + a noun + a modifier”. That is to say, a statement which is expressed by verbs in general English is substituted by noun phrases in scientific En

23、glish, and this is the so-called nominalization. Pay attention to the following sentences:a. The earth rotates on its own axis, which causes the change from day to night.b. The rotation of the earth on its own axis causes the change from day to night.The nomination structure “the rotation of the ear

24、th on its own” turns this complex sentence to a simple one, and makes the concept or proposition more definite and precise.Another example:Archimeds first discovered the principle of displacement of water by solid bodies.This sentence is translated into “阿基米德最先发展固体排水的原理。” In this sentence, “of displ

25、acement of water by solid bodies” is a prepositional phrase which replaces the appositive clause “that water was displace by solid bodies” and highlights the fact “displacement”.1.2 Passive VoiceIt is notorious that in Chinese active voice is widely used either in spoken or written language, while i

26、n English it is exactly opposite. According to the figures provided by John Swales from University of Leeds, at least one third of predicates in EST are presented in passive voice, because the stress of EST is more on accuracy and inference. Third person or plural are widely used in the translation

27、instead of 1st or 2nd person to avoid the absurd supposition by subjective interpretation. For example: a. We can store electrical energy into two mental plates separated by an insulting medium. We call such a device a capacitor, or a condenser, and its ability to store electrical energy capacitance

28、. We measure capacitance in farads.The whole passage is tedious and burdensome with “we” as its subject from the beginning to the end. It is particularly the case in translation in that literary works transfer not only information but also aesthetic value. Therefore, such construction is uncommon in

29、 EST translation. b. Electrical energy can be stored in two metal plates separated by an insulating medium. Such a device is called a capacitor, or a condenser, and its ability to store electrical energy is termed capacitance. It is measured in farads. In the above passage, the subjects are “electri

30、cal energy”, “such a device”, “its ability” and “it (capacitance)” respectively which stand out well at the beginning of each sentence. Four different subjects avoid repetition successfully and contain a large amount of information. The whole passage is coherent, natural which give a gull expression

31、 to the advantages of passive voices.1.3 Non-finite Verbs As EST demands accuracy as well as conciseness, non-finite verbs are commonly used in the translation. In the practical use, to make the objectives clear and definite, non-finite verbs often serve as attribute, adverbial modifier and so on, s

32、uch as:Their report, published in the journal Nature, conclusively linked cases of manic depression in an Amish family to genes in a specific region of human chromosome.他们在自然杂志上所发表的报导，把一家爱梅西人中患有狂郁症的几个病人与人体上11号染色体所在的特定部位的基因联系起来。In the above example, the past participial phrase “published in the journ

33、al Nature” takes the place of the non-restrictive attributive clause “which was published in the journal Nature”.Draw a comparison between sentence a and b:a. A direct current is a current which flows always in the same direction. b. A direct current is a current flowing always in the same direction

34、.It is easy to find that sentence b is much better than a in structure and expression.As mentioned before, EST demands accuracy and conciseness. Using non-finite verbs in place of various subordinate clauses highlights the main content of the essay, and it is also quite eye-catching. 1.4 Sentence in

35、 Common UseCertain sentence patterns are commonly applied in scientific articles, which distinguish EST from other English styles, such as “itthat”, passive voice, conditional clause, ellipsis construction and so. “Itthat” is often used to capture the attention of readers so as to emphasize the part

36、 which contains important information, such as the subject and the object of a sentence. While translating, it is much better to add “是”, “正是”, “恰恰是” before the intensifiers. For example:It is in industry that metal have found their greatest use.正是在工业上金属得到了最大限度的应用。More examples of sentence patterns

37、in common use:a. It is evident that a well lubricated bearing turns more easily than a dry one.b. In water sound travels nearly five times as fast as in air.c. Ice keeps the same temperature while melting.It is self-evident that once these sentence patterns are commanded well, the translation work w

38、ill be inevitably effortless and perfect. 1.5 The Postposition of AttributiveThe postposition of attributive is also abundant in EST among which the three main structures serving as post-modifiers are: the past participle, the prepositional phrase and the adjective or adjective phrase. Look at the f

39、ollowing sentence:The difficulty in developing a videophone stems from having to stuff huge amounts of information through a thin copper-wire phone line; compare this task with pouring water from a gallon jug into a straw.生产电视电话的困难来自得把大量的信息通过细小的铜质电话线，这可与将一加仑水从罐子里倒进一根麦秆相比。In the sentence, the preposi

40、tional phrase “in developing a videophone” serves as attributive to modify the word “difficulty”. 1.6 Complex SentencesTo state a complex concept, there emerges a large amount of complex sentences. Under these circumstances, the construction of sentence would display different structural features an

41、d sequence of words,such as:The efforts that have been made to explain optical phenomena by means of the hypothesis of a medium having the same physical character as an elastic solid body led, in the first instance, to the understanding of a concrete example of a medium which can transmit transverse

42、 vibrations, and at a later stage to the definite conclusion that there is no luminiferous medium having the physical character assumed in the hypothesis. In grammatical analysis, we must draw a clear line between the linguistic fact and the grammatical structure, between the basis and the criterion

43、 of classification, between the concurrent and the middle element, between sentence analysis and syntactic analysis, between proposition and sentence, between meaning and content of sentence, and between fundamental information and additional information. After sentence analyzing and making clear of

44、 the grammar relationship and the comprehending of understanding of the original, what you should do is to face such problems that resolve appropriately each composing part of the long sentence and express them properly and exactly according to Chinese usage.The Principles of the EST Translation2.1

45、Literal TranslationTo translate literally is to achieve fidelity or transmigration of translation with few or no alterations made to its content. Literal translation refers to translate a sentence originally by keeping the original message form which includes the construction of sentence, the meanin

46、g of the original words, and metaphor of the original and so on. Translation would be fluent and easy to comprehend by target language readers. However, on the other hand, literal translation does not refer to “a word-for-word translation”, but mainly concerns two respects: first, retaining the orig

47、inal grammatical structure; second, being faithful to the original text. Take the following sentences for example:a. The effect of inorganic ions on the cloud point of demulsifiers depends not only on the nature of ions , but also on the concentration of salts and the structure of demulsifiers.无机离子对

48、破乳剂浊点的影响,除与离子性质有关外,还与盐的浓度和破乳剂的结构有关。b. The igniter combustion often produces hot condensed particles. 这种点剂燃烧常常产生滚烫的凝结颗粒。2.2 Shift of PerspectiveFor translation, while a simple and straightforward translation is easy to understand, an idiomatic paraphrasing is more able to bring out the beauty and ess

49、ence of the Chinese language. The wide use of nouns and prepositional phrases characterizes EST as static and abstract language, while the use of large numbers of verbs makes Chinese a dynamic and concrete one, thus transformation is necessary when translating. Shift of perspective is equivalent to

50、free translation but narrower than it, which contains shift of meanings and shift of forms. The extension of the meanings of words and lexical conversion always belong to the shift of meanings, while the movement of word order, the change of sentence elements and the transformation of sentence struc

51、ture fall into the shift of forms.2.2.1 Shift of Word Meaninge.g.: The shortest distance between raw material and a finished part is precision casting. 把原材料加工成成品的最简便的方法是精密铸造。In this sentence, “the shortest distance” is transformed into “the easiest way”.2.2.2 Shift of Part of Speech e.g.: Glass is m

52、ore soluble than quartz. 玻璃的可溶性比石英大。In the English-Chinese translation of the above statement, adjective is converted into noun.2.2.3 Shift of Sentence Componentse.g.: As the match burns, light and heat are given off.火柴燃烧时发出光和热。This example demonstrates the transformation of subject into object.2.2.

53、4 Shift of Sentence StructureSuch transformation pertains to the change among the whole sentence structure, such as the transformation between simple sentences and compound sentence, the inverting of the sentence sequences and so on. So for example:The signal was shown about the computers being in o

54、rder. 信号表明，计算机没有问题。This is a case of the transformation of the object into an object clause.2.2.5 Shift of Expression e.g.: Sand may be carried many miles away by the wind风可以把沙土带到许多英里以外的地方。 This is the instance that the passive voice is translated into the active voice.2.3 OmissionOmission refers to

55、 omit some words according to the rules of Chinese rhetoric without affecting the sentence meaning. In most case, English pronouns, verbs and prepositions are often omitted in the Chinese transcript. Seemingly many words are left out; actually, the meaning of the original text still remains. This wi

56、ll not only help to put across the information in a succinct, easy-to-absorb way, but also present the whole essay in a literary style and easy to be accepted by the readers. Take this sentence for example:If you know the frequency, you can find the wave length如果知道频率，就能求出波长。In this case the personal

57、 pronoun “you” is omitted in Chinese.2.4 AmplificationAmplification is to supplement some new words or expressions, which are not lexicalized in English, in the translation, conforming to the idiomatic expression in Chinese, so as to express them properly and exactly according to Chinese usage. According to the purpose and use circumstance, it can be divided into three categories: to have a better understanding of the vocabulary of the original, to express th