第七讲 直译与意译

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掉鳄鱼的眼泪tobearmedtoteeth武装到牙齿chainreaction连锁反应ExercisesOnecountry,twosystems一国两制gentlemen’sagreement君子协定纸老虎papertigerSomeSituationsSuitableforLiteralTranslation

1.

Totalequivalents(完全对等)Whentherearetotalequivalentsinboththelanguages,wemayuseliteraltranslation.

E.g.2.Thoughtheexpressionsintwolanguagesaredifferent,wecanfindtheequivalentsinthetoneofthebothlanguages.Inthiscaseweprefertousethemethodofliteraltranslation.(某些句式两种语言表达方式不同，但总的语气基本对应，仍可采用直译。)1.Partlyasaresultoftherecentlyincreasingdemand,wholesaleteapriceshavealmostdoubled.结果部分原因来自于日益增长的需求，导致茶的批发价几乎翻了一翻。原因2.Ireadthisletterwithbothsurpriseandexcitement,surprisebecauseheisstillaround,excitementbecausehedidn’tevenforgetme.我读到他的信时既惊又喜，惊的是他还健在，喜的是他一直没有忘记我。LiteralTranslationand

Word-for-WordTranslationFromtheexamplesabove,itseemsthattheversionistheword-for-word

translation.Butit’sjustacoincidence.Becauseallthepeopleownthesameglobeandresourcesandhaveexperiencedsimilardevelopingprocedures,itisunderstandableandreasonablethattheyhavecertainsimilaritiesinsomeaspects.Actually,literaltranslationisnotWord-for-WordTranslation,thelatterisdeadtranslation.Examples:1.Itwasanoldandraggedmoon.那是一个又老又破的月亮。(×)这是一弯下弦残月。2.Manyofhisideasareespeciallyinterestingtomodernyouth.他的许多思想对当代青年特别有趣。(×)他的许多观点，当代青年特别感兴趣。3.好好学习，天天向上Goodgoodstudy,daydayup！(×)Studyhardandyouwillmakeprogresseveryday.4.哪里！哪里！Where!Where!(×)Thankyou.(It’sverykindofyoutosayso.)5.Wesawanacrobatstandingonhishead.(×)我们看见一个杂技演员正站在他的头上。我们看见一个杂技演员正在倒立。ButallEnglishsentencescannotpossiblybetranslatedliterally.Sowemayneedotherwaystodealwiththeoriginalsentencesintranslation.

FreeTranslation

Freetranslationisanalternativeapproachwhichisusedmainlytoconveythemeaningandspiritoftheoriginalwithouttryingtoreproduceitssentencepatternsorfiguresofspeech.Thisapproachismostfrequentlyadoptedwhenitisreallyimpossibleforthetranslatortodoliteraltranslation.

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

Features

ofFreeTranslationTL-oriented

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

1)LastnightIheardhimdrivinghispigstomarket.译：昨夜我听见他酣声如雷。2)Heisbeingagoodboynow.译：他现在正乖着呢。3)Theyranawayasfastastheirlegscouldcarrythem.译：他们跑得象他们的腿所能载他们的那样快。译：a.他们飞快逃命，只恨爹娘没给生出四条腿。b.他们拼命奔逃，连吃奶的力气都用上了。4)Justicehaslongarms.译：法律有长胳膊。译：天网恢恢，疏而不漏。5)Theirlanguagewasalmostunrestrainedbyanymotiveofprudence.意译：他们几乎爱讲什么就讲什么，都没有顾及到什么谨慎不谨慎的问题。6)Thetalkaboutraisingtaxeswasaredflagtomanyvoters.意译：关于增税的谈论激怒了许多选民。Appreciatethefollowingpoembyliteraltranslation再别康桥徐志摩轻轻地我走了，

正如我轻轻地来；

我轻轻地招手，

作别西天的云彩。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，

是夕阳中的新娘。

波光里的艳影，

在我的心头荡漾。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.软泥上的青荇，

油油的在水底招摇；

在康河的柔波里，

我甘心做一条水草!The

floating

heart

growing

in

the

sludge

Sways

leisurely

under

the

water;

In

the

gentle

waves

of

Cambridge

I

would

be

a

water

plant!

那榆荫下的一潭，

不是清泉，是天上虹

；揉碎在浮藻间，

沉淀着彩虹似