法律翻译对等理论延伸

1、翻译对等理论研究延伸高级法商翻译课程刘云龙、张萌2016年10月8日Roger T. Bell: translation is the expression in another language (or target language ) of what has been expressed in another, source language,preserving semantic and stylistic equivalences. Equivalence Theory The concept of equivalence is quite controversial. Schola

2、rs have different explorations about translation equivalence. Among these explorations, i will explain the equivalence theories of Nida and Jin Di.一、Equivalence theory of NidaNida is known for dynamic equivalence. Dynamic equivalence derives from “the principle of equivalence effect”. In a translati

3、on that try to produce dynamic equivalence, the translator is supposed to change his focus from matching the receptor-language message with the source language message to a dynamic relationshipNida：“the relationship between receptor message should be substantially the same as that which existed betw

4、een the original receptors and the message”. “one way of defining a DE (Dynamic equivalence) translation is to describe it as the closest natural equivalence to the source-language message”This type of definition contains three terms:(1) Equivalent, which points to the source-language message(2) Nat

5、ural, which points to the receptor language(3) Closest, which binds the two orientations together on the basis of the highest degree of approximation (1) The term equivalence focus on the source-language message. The content of source language message is important. The message of source language is

6、the starting point and the checking standard of translation. For example: 灭火器=fire extinguisher The Chinese 灭火器 and the English Fire extinguisher refer to the same object ,and both of them are in accordance with their language respectively. (2) The term “natural” is the key point of DE. Nida thinks

7、the word natural is applicable to three areas of the communicative process.For a natural rendering must fit the receptor language and culture as a whole is an essential ingredient in any stylistically acceptable rendering. Language and culture are closely related to each other. A language is always

8、a part of culture and the meaning of any text refers directly or indirectly to the corresponding culture. Finally, words only have meaning in terms of the corresponding culture.Nida:“Bilingual competence has almost always been regarded as an essential requirement for translators For truly successful

9、 translating, biculturalism is even more important than bilingualism,since words only have meanings in term of cultures in which they function ”. (3) The term “closest” is the combination of the above two elements. As Nida claims, it binds the two orientations together on the basis of the highest de

10、gree of approximation. The equivalence between the source language and the target language is not always possible. Thus what a translator can do is to balance the two to a possible highest degree of approximation. Nida offers three fundamental criteria which are basic to the evaluation of all transl

11、ating, and in different ways help to determine the relative merit of particular translations. These are (1) general efficiency of the communication process. (2) comprehension of the intent (3) equivalence of response. 二、Equivalence Theory of Jin DiThere are three important theories in Jin Dis theory

12、：1、The concept of the receptor. The theory stresses the receptor of the translated text, but it does not necessarily mean that the receptor is more important than the author. Instead of focusing on the comparison of the SL text and the TL text, the theory of equivalent effect stresses the comparison

13、 between the two communicating process. The translating process is accomplished only when the translated text is accepted by the readers. Otherwise, the translation is in vain. All communication is two way. 2、The concept of the effect. It means that the receptor is accepted by the transferred inform

14、ation in the translated text, from understanding to the experience and then to feelings, the same or almost the same as those of the source text readers. In the communicative translation of vocative texts, equivalent effect is not only desirable, but also essential.It is the criterion by which the e

15、ffectiveness, and therefore the value, of the translation of notices, instructions, publicityis to be assessed. Effect is the basic element of a vocative text3、The concept of the equivalence. Equivalence is a more scientific term than faithfulness. The former is more objective and impartial, referri

16、ng to the quality of the translated text, while the latter is more subjective, referring to the translators attitude. The equivalent effects contain many aspects, including lexical, semantic, pragmatic level, subtleties and overtones which are implied in culture and thought. It is an overall equival

17、ent between two languages and cultures.Pragmatic equivalence ：To understand pragmatic equivalence, one needs to know something about the pragmatic meaning. It reflects such information about the speaker as identity, age, social status, geographical location, attitude, intention and personality, the

18、main purposes of the communication-information exchange, and the understandability of communicating contents. When talking about pragmatics in translation, professor He Ziran thinks that pragmatics deals, on the one hand, with pragmalinguistics, with the context which is formally encoded in the stru

19、cture of a language, on the other hand, with sociopragmatics, with the language usage, understand and appropriateness in the social and cultural context.The main task of a translator is to convey to the reader all the possible meanings of message. Since meanings are coated in a given context, it is

20、quite difficult for a writer or speaker to bring out the both intended meaning in the context and cultural, linguistic aspects of the original message. The pragmatics approach to translation can be adopted to help solve this problem by striving for the pragmatics equivalence effect between the sourc

21、e and target message.According to Prof He, the pragmatics equivalence effect aims at translating meaning in full, taking full account of differences between SL and TL in pragmalinguistics and sociopragmatics.Pragmalingustics in translation is refer to the study of the pragmatics force or language us

22、e in the context from the viewpoint of linguistics sources. Pragmatics force, also called illocutionary force in speech act theory of pragmatics, is the intended meaning for a given message.Prof He distinguishes two main kinds of pragmatics force, the implicit one which is below the surface and unst

23、ated, and the explicit one which is on the surface and stated. He thinks it is important to identity the implicit forces as they appear in their various social contexts, for frequently apparent intention of a message is not the same as the actual intent. Pragmalingulistics in translation contains ch

24、oosing the appropriate forms of language to convey the intended meaning or pragmatics force of the given massage. However, an equation between linguistic forms and communicative functions should not be assumed when one is engaged in translation. Sociopragmatics refers to the pragmatic studies which

25、examine the conditions on language use that derive from the social and cultural situation. It depends on the translators belief as well as his social and cross-cultural knowledge. The social pragmatics equivalent effect in translation usually occurs when the translator holds a correct conception of

26、the different social institutions or cultural backgrounds between the SL and TL.Cultural factor is an indispensable part for the social pragmatics equivalent effect in translation, which is the focus of translation. Professor Wang Zuoliang said “a translator must be a real culturist. It is said the

27、translator must grasp the two languages, indeed, he must. But without the understanding of the social cultural connotation in one language no one can really master the language”.Duff holds that “translation is the process of conveying the message across linguistic and cultural barriers, it is an emi

28、nently communicative activity” Luhongmei even says “as far as translation is concerned, translating a SL text is a kind of translating SL cultural and habit of the country where the SL is spoken”. Liumiqing views the cultural factors as the one of the essential elements among the traditional Chinese

29、 translation. 翻译理论界对“对等”理论研究基于语料库数据分析v根据出现的时间以及总数，上述“对等”术语集能够大致呈现中国当代翻译“对等”研究由语言向文化及其他多元视角转移的历时趋势。 v同时，对等理论具有传递性、生发性。这些词组型术语是奈达“对等”译论跨语传播的积极成果，是基于新术语的理论传承与创新的体现。此外，术语“对等”的跨语应用对源语术语 equivalence 的概念内涵有进一步充实作用。这是术语翻译理论生发功能的另一体现。In other wordsvLike the division of language into discrete areas, the term

30、equivalence is adopted in this book for the sake of convenience because most translators are used to it rather than because it has any theoretical status. It is used here with the proviso that although equivalence can usually be obtained to some extent, it is influenced by a variety of linguistic an

31、d cultural factors and is therefore always relative. v对等（equivalent）只是一个相对的概念，不对等才是绝对的，完全的对等是不存在的。 法律翻译具体实践中存在的主要问题（金朝武，胡爱平,2000:45）v可归纳为以下几种：v1.拼写和语法错误；v2.省译、增译和望文生义；v3.术语翻译不妥；v4.译文文体不当；v5.对原文理解不透；v6.语言修养欠佳；v7.法律文化差异引起的错误。vA general problem constantly occurred in legal translation： Non-equivalence

32、（lexical/terminological, semantic, syntactic（collocational）,textual, pragmatic, stylistic, cultural, etc.）Susan Sarcevic: Terminological incongruencevSusan Sarcevic关于法律名词术语翻译的理论主要集中在“法律术语的不完全对等现象及翻译” 问题上 。法律专门术语是用来准确表达特有的法律概念的专门用语, 法律翻译中的“专门术语不一致”( terminological incongruence) 是指在法律翻译过程中( 即从源语到目的语的转

33、换过程中) 源语某一专门术语的内涵或外延在目的语中发生了变化并导致了该术语在译前译后出现差异的情形 。 与法律概念有关的各种不对等情形解读（王建：2013）v1.这种不对等有时是语言方面空缺。比如assembly， assemblyman， president，Congress，Senator，lynch（私刑）等词在英国法律中并不存在；相反，Lords，Lord Chancellor（御前大臣，大法官，上议院议长），Court of Kings Bench（王座法庭）,Privy Council， Suitor， Chancellor等词在美国法律中并不存在。v2.这种不对等有时是语言方面的

34、差异，即同一个指称有不同的表达方式。例如大陆地区“劳教所”、“刑事警察”、“夫妻”和“再婚”在我国台湾地区分别称为“升教所”、“刑事”、“翁某”和“接脚”。这种因地域差异而造成术语称谓不同的情况在术语同一个法系的英国和美国也不例外，其各自的法律发展受到不同因素的影响。 如“原告”一词，在离婚诉讼中称为petitioner；一般民事诉讼称为plaintiff或complainantv3.不对等还体现在同一个符号所指称的对象不同 dominion 民法：完全所有权；国际法：主权 estoppel 合同法：不得反悔、允诺禁反言；刑诉法：禁止翻供。 By-law 英国：地方法规；美国：公司章程v4.这

35、种不对等，有时是两种语言系统中有类似的指称物（equivalent），但该类似指称在两种语言中并不具有对等的概念或意义功能，即在意义层面具有一定的偏差。 比如，大陆法系bona fides（诚实信用）与普通法系的good faith（诚实信用）存在下列区别：前一概念包括过失，后一概念却不包括过失；前者范围更广，包括信任关系以及商业交易中的最低的行为道德准则（Standards of Business Conduct）,这可能是因大陆法系国家的“法律”与政治和道德关系密切之故。 与法律概念有关的各种不对等情形解读（王建：2013）Examplesv法律术语“物证”如何翻译？v1998 年出版的中

36、华人民共和国法律法规汉英对照词语手册译成： material evidencev评议：望文生义，实则生缪并非字面完全对等就是正确的翻译的 material evidence：evidence having some logical connection with the consequential facts or the issues” （Blacks Law Dictionary, 7th. edition ）， 其意为“与案件的事实或结果存在逻辑关系的证据” ，它既可能是言词证据也可能是实物证据。而汉语中的“物证” 在英语中是另有专门的法律术语与之对应的，这就是“real evidenc

37、e”。 v我国刑法上“非法侵入住宅罪” 如何翻译？v有人直接译成burglary （the breaking and entering of the dwelling house of another person ）殊不知 burglary 一罪，其犯罪构成的客观方面是行为人持刀撬窗入室后进行行窃的，类似我国认定的盗窃罪。v元照英美法词典解释burglary为： (1)普通法夜盗罪指怀着犯重罪意图在夜里打开并且进入他人住宅的行为。(2)制定法夜盗罪与普通法夜盗罪相比，制定法夜盗罪在三个要件方面有所区别：现代制定法已把住宅dwelling这一概念扩大到工厂车间、商店、办公处以及一切建筑物；多数

38、制定法取消了夜里这个时间要素；有些制定法把意图犯重罪要件扩大为意图犯重偷盗罪或轻偷盗罪或任何重罪。vBurglary 在普通法法域还强调夜间侵入他人住宅并行窃，与我国的“非法侵入住宅罪”在法律概念（该罪在我国刑法上规定：客观方面表现为行为人实施非法入侵他人住宅的行为，或经主人要求退出而拒不退出的行为）上并不完全对等,实际上体现出一种法律文化的差异。v笔者认为译成crime of housebreaking或者释译成unlawful intrusion into another persons residence更为稳妥。vSusan Sarcevic 在其著作 New Approach to

39、Legal Translation 中指出法律翻译不仅是语言转换的过程，法律翻译不仅是语言转换的过程，而是在法律机制中进行的交际活动而是在法律机制中进行的交际活动。法律术语依据对等程度可以划分为接近对等、 部分对等、 不对等三类( Susan Sarecvic 1997: 113) 。v法律翻译同其他翻译一样，是一种交际活动( 杜金榜 2004: 11-14) 。但是，法律翻译不同于其他翻译的一个显著特点正在于它的可操作性，即在跨法系交际中，不仅要在语言文字层操作，更重要的是对语言表象背后的没有用文字表述出来的法律文化和法律规约要有清楚的认识。李克兴：法律文本静态对等翻译v该人为香港理工大学翻译研究中心教授，长期从事法律英语翻译研究。v该人曾发表论文，在评价了动态对等、异化与归化、功能主义、语义翻译和传意/交际翻译之后，提出适合法律文本的静态对等翻译策略，认为法律文本是静态的元、信息型文本、模式化语言，读者群较为单一，应采取严格的翻译准则。v“静态对等翻译虽然与直译或语义翻译相似，但是它并不等同于直译或语义翻译，更不等同于“死译”。她的内涵和外延都比直译或语义翻译更丰富、更宽泛但又更严格。真正的静态对等的译本要求深层意思、表层意思、语言结