数词翻译课件

1、 数词的翻译The Translation of Numerals/在翻译中，我们时常也会碰到数词的翻译。由于英汉两种语言在表达数字以及倍数增减方面存在一定的差别，翻译时应十分小心，稍有不慎，就可能会出现错误。因此我们在翻译数字时务必格外谨慎，力争做到准确无误。/数词组成的常用短语这类短语大多是由数词和介词搭配而成，或是数词和其他词类搭配而成，常用来表示不确定的范围和概念，有时也可表示事物所处的状态或其他情况。例如：by hundreds hundreds of数以百计; 数百 数以百计by thousands thousands of 数以千计；大量 数千；数以千计by (the) mill

2、ions 数以百万计/hundreds of thousands of 几十万；无数的thousands upon thousands 数万的 tens of thousands好几万several millions of 数百万 millions upon millions of 数千万的hundreds of millions billions of数亿的 几十亿/scores of dozens of许多，几十个 几打；几十个tens of, decades of数十个ten to one十比一；十之八九（表示很有可能）nine cases out of ten十之八九；常常nine t

3、enths十分之久；十之八九；几乎全部fifty-fifty各半的；对半的；平均/Exercises：Thousands of people attended the meeting.数千人参加了会议。Ten to one she has forgotten it.十有八九她把这件事给忘了。Her name ranks last but one on the list.她的名字在名单上排在倒数第二。In a few minutes the students began to come in by twos and threes.几分钟之后，学生们三三两两地走了进来。/数词的换算：ten tho

4、usand one hundred thousand（10个千）一万 （100个千）十万ten million one hundred million（10个百万）千万 （100个百万）亿one billion ten billion十亿（美式英语） （10个十亿）百亿one hundred billion（100个十亿）千亿one trillion万亿/The Translation of estimates:What are estimates (概数)?概数是用来表示简略、大概情况的数字。英语和汉语中都有使用概数来表示不确定的范围或概念的语言现象。例如汉语中的几个、十来个、若干、大约、大

5、概、左右、上下、约有、不到、多于、少于等概念，在英语中都能找到与之对等的词。/1. 表示“大约”、“不确定”的翻译方法在英语中，一般常使用about, some, around, round, nearly, towards, somewhere about, estimated, approximately, in/of/on the border of, close to等词修饰数字，表示“不确定”、“大约”、“上下”、“将近”、“几 乎”等。The volume of the sun is about (or some, around, round) 1,300,000 times th

6、at of the earth.太阳的体积约为地球的130万倍。It is nearly (or towards) 4 oclock.现在已是将近4点了。/The price of this new machine is in the neighborhood of a thousand dollars.这台新机器的价格约1,000美元。According to the weatherman, the temperature will be up 5 or so. 据天气预报，气温将升高5左右。/2. 表示“不多不少”、“恰恰正好”的翻译方法英语中一般使用clear, cool, exactl

7、y, flat, just, sharp, whole等。Professor Johnson finished the experiment in twenty-four hours flat.约翰逊教授完成这实验正好用了24小时。The physician treated cool 30 patients that day.这位医生那天正好看了30个病人。/The plane takes off at 8 oclock sharp.这架飞机8点整起飞。The machine worked for ten whole days.这台机器整整运转了10天时间。The wire measures

8、exact twenty meters.这条导线刚好20米长。/3. 表示“高于”、“多于”的翻译方法英语常用more than, odd, over, above, long, past, or more, upwards of , higher than, exceed, in excess of 等词修饰数字，表示“超过”、“以上”、“有余”、“高于”、“多于”等。Only when a rocket attains a speed of 18,000 odd miles per hour, can it put a man-made satellite into orbit.只有当火箭

9、速度达到每小时18，000多英里时，才能把人造卫星送入轨道。/Pig iron is an alloy of iron and carbon with the carbon content more than two percent.生铁是铁碳合金，其中碳含量超过2%。Over/ Above/ More than/ Not less than 100 chemicals elements are known to man, of which about 80 are metals.人类已知的化学元素有100种以上，其中有约80种是金属。Upwards of seven thousand med

10、ical workers and twenty thousand PLA men have left for the earthquake district.有七千多名医务人员和两万多名解放军前往震区。/The patients are children of three years old and upwards.这些病人是三岁和三岁以上的儿童。The weight of this child is said to be over one hundred pounds.据说，这个孩子的体重有100多磅。It took me more than two hours to finish the

11、homework.我花了两个多小时才做完家庭作业。This car has run a long thousand miles.这辆车已经跑了1000多英里。/4. 表示“少于”、“差一些”、“不到”等的翻译方法英语常用less, less than, below, no more than, under, short of , off, to, within, as few as 等词修饰数字，表示“少于”、“不到”、“以下”等。It took one month less than three years for them to develop the new material.他们花了三

12、年差一个月的时间才研制出了这种新材料。/The price of that tricycle is less than one hundred and eighty-five francs.那辆三轮车的人售价还不到185法郎。He bought the coffeepot at 6 dollars off the list price.他以低于价目表6美元的价格买下了那个咖啡壶。Helium in the air is a little under 1%.空气中氦的含量略低于1%。The efficiency of the best of these engines is under/ bel

13、ow/ less than/ no more than 40%.这些发动机中效率最好的也不到40%。/5. 形容数目多、数量多，表示“多达”“高达”“足足”的翻译方法英语中常用full, solid, at least, all of, no less than, asasThey covered full twenty reference resources on rocks in a single day.仅用了一天时间，他们就看完了足足20种有关岩石的资料。The motor ran 450 solid days on end.马达连续运转了足足450天。/The experiment

14、will take three months, at least.实验至少需要三个月时间。The temperature at the suns center is as high as 10,000,000C.太阳中心的温度高达摄氏1，000万度。There were no less than 3,000 dead and wounded in the 9.11 terrorist attack.在9.11恐怖袭击中，死伤者达三千多人。/6. 形容数目小、数量少，“至多”“仅”的翻译英语中常用only, merely, barely, scarcely, but, at most, no m

15、ore than, scant。There is at most only room for one person.至多只有可容纳一个人的空间。That solar-energy car weighs only/ merely/ scarcely/ barely/ but 500 kg.那辆太阳能汽车重量仅有500公斤。Inspection time for the installation was no more than 2 hours.检验安装工作仅用了两个小时。/The Translation of Multiples（倍数）倍数在英语中使用得相当普遍，但在表达方式上，英汉两种语言却大

16、相径庭。例如：to increase 5 times汉语可译成“增加到5倍”，也可译成“增加了4倍”；to decrease 5 times在汉语中通常不译为“减少5倍”，而译为“减少到1/5”或“减少了4/5”。因此“了”和“到”这类问题很容易使人混淆迷惑。翻译时务必谨慎严密，力争做到准确无误。/1. 倍数增加的译法英语中表示倍数增加时，常常要把基数包括在内。增加的倍数通常指现在的数量为原来数量的倍数。译成汉语“增加到若干倍”、“为的若干倍”或“若干倍于”这种句型时，可将原文中数字照旧译出；若是译成“增加（了）若干倍”这种句型时，通常要把原文中的数字减去一。/ 倍数+asasThe grai

17、n output of this year is about three times as great as that of last year.今年的粮食产量大约是去年的三倍。（或：今年的粮食产量比去年多两倍左右。）Asia is four times as large as Europe.亚洲比欧洲大3倍。（或：亚洲是欧洲的4倍大。）This substance reacts three times as fast as the other.该物质的反应速度是那种物质反应速度的3倍。（或：该物质的反应速度比那种物质的反应速度快2倍）/ 倍数+比较级+thanKuwait oil wells

18、 yield nearly 500 times more than U.S. wells.科威特油井的产油量几乎是美国油井的500倍。Iron is almost three times heavier than aluminum.铁的重量几乎是铝的3倍。（或：铁几乎比铝重两倍。）X is 15 times larger than Y.X是Y的15倍。/ 表示增加意义的动词+倍数常见的表示增加意义的动词有increase, rise, exceed, grow, raise, expand, go up等。The number of the students enrolled in eveni

19、ng classes has increased more than twofold.注册上晚间课的学生人数增加了一倍多。The total volume of state purchase in the first quarter rose by 5.2 percent, compared with the same period of last year.和去年同期相比，国家第一季度的总收购量增长了5.2个百分点。/ 表示增加意义的词+by a factor of+数词这种句式译成汉语时，必须把原文中的数字减去一，因为汉语不把基数包括在内。Today the speed of our ca

20、r exceeds the ordinary speed by a factor of three.今天，我们的汽车速度超过了平常速度的两倍。The population of this county has increased by a factor of five.这个县的人口已经增长了4倍。/ 表示倍数意义的词+宾语（或表语）英语中表示倍数意义的动词主要有double（变成两倍），treble（变成三倍），quadruple（变成四倍）等。这些词也能当形容词使用。The new airport will double the capacity of the existing one.新机

21、场是现有机场容量的2倍。The population has nearly trebled in forty years.人口在40年中增加了近2倍。The company quadrupled output to around 20 million tons.该公司把产量增至2，000万吨 左右，是原来的4倍。/2. 倍数减少的译法英语中常使用表示减少意义的词加上数词来说明减少的倍数。减少的倍数通常指原来数量为现在数量的倍数。 用表示“减少”的动词（decrease, reduce, fall, lower等）连接“by n 或n%”，表示净减量；用系动词+“n less(than)”表示净

22、减量，所减数字均可照译。180 decreased by 90 is 90.180减去90等于90。/This new process used 35% less fuel.这种工艺少用了35%的燃料。The cost decreased by 40%.成本下降了40%。/ 用表示“减少”的动词（decrease, reduce, fall, lower等）连接“by n times”, “n times”, “n times as + 形容词或副词+as”，“by a factor of n”等，均可译 作“减少了n分之(n-1)”或“减少到n分之1”。The enterprise mana

23、gement expenditure this year has decreased by three times as against that of 2002.该企业今年的行政管理开支比2002年降低了2/3。The equipment reduced the error probability by a factor of 5. 该设备误差概率降低了4/5。 /The error probability of the equipment was reduced by 2.5 times through technical innovation.通过技术革新该设备误差概率降低3/5。The

24、 principal advantage over the old-fashioned machine is a four-fold reduction in weight.与旧式机器比，主要特点是重量减少了四分之三。 The plastic container is five times lighter than that glass one.这个塑料容器比那个玻璃容器轻五分之四。/The Cultural Connotation of Numbers 1. Different Cultural Perspectives towards Numbers Westerners prefer “

25、7”e.g. “seven days in creation” （The Bible)时间创造了世间万物。/In the Bible, there are : The Seven Virtues : Faith, Hope, Charity, Justice, Fortitude, Prudence, Temperance信任、希望、仁慈、公正、毅力、谨慎、节制 The Seven Deadly Sin: Pride, Wrath, Envy, Lust, Gluttony, Avarice, Sloth傲慢、暴怒、嫉妒、淫欲、暴食、贪婪、懒惰/ Chinese prefer “6, 8, 9”隋唐政府有六部，皇后的寝宫称为六宫（三宫六院），佛教认