翻译理论知识

《翻译理论与实践》考试理论部分复习纲要一、翻译定义：张培基——翻译是用一种语言把另一种语言所表达的思想内容正确而完好地从头表达出来的语言活动。刘宓庆——翻译的实质是语际的意义变换。王克非——翻译是将一种语言文字所包含的意思用另一种语言文字表达出来的文化活动。泰特勒——好的翻译应当是把原作的优点完好地移注到另一种语言，以使译入语所属国家的当地人能理解地意会、激烈地感觉，好像使用原作语言的人所意会、所感觉的相同。费道罗夫——翻译就是用一种语言把另一种语言在内容与形式不行切割的一致中全部已表达出来的东西正确而完好地表达出来。7.卡特福德——翻译的定义也能够这样说：把一种语言（SourceLanguage）中的篇章资料用另一种语言（TargetLanguage）中的篇章资料来加以取代。奈达——翻译就是在译入语中再现与原语信息最贴近的自然平等物，第一就意义而言，其次就是文体而言。“Translatingconsistsinreproducinginthereceptorlanguagetheclosestnaturalequivalentofthesourcelanguagemessage,firstintermsofmeaningandsecondlyintermsofstyle.”---EugeneNida纽马克——往常（固然不可以说老是这样）

，翻译就是把一个文本的意义按作者所想的方式移译入另一种文字（语言）。“Translationisacraftconsistingintheattempttoreplaceawrittenmessageand/orstatementinonelanguagebythesamemessageand/orstatementinanotherlanguage.”---PeterNewmark10.“Translationistheexpressioninonelanguage(ortargetlanguage译入语)ofwhathasbeenexpressedinanotherlanguage(sourcelanguage原语),preservingsemanticandstylisticequivalences.”---Duboisortranslatingisacommunicativeactivityordynamicprocessinwhichthetranslatormakesgreatefforttothoroughlycomprehendawrittenmessageortextinthesourcelanguageandworksveryhardtoachieveanadequateoranalmostidenticalreproductioninthetargetlanguageversionofthewrittensourcelanguagemessageortext.二、翻译标准1.翻译的标准归纳为要言不烦的四个字：“忠实（faithfulness

）、通畅smoothness）”。忠实指的是忠实于原文。通畅指的是译文的语言一定符合规范、平常易懂。2.严复对翻译以前提出“信（faithfulness）、达（expressiveness）、雅（elegance）”的标准：“译事三难：信、达、雅。求其信已大难矣，顾信矣不达，虽译犹不译也，则达尚焉。”“泰特勒三原则”：（1）ThattheTranslationshouldgiveacompletetranscriptoftheideasoftheoriginalwork；（2）Thatthestyleandmannerofwritingshouldbeofthesamecharacterwiththatoftheoriginal；（3）ThattheTranslationshouldhavealltheeaseoforiginalcomposition.”（1）译作应完好复写出原作的思想；（2）译作的风格和手法应和原作属于同一性质；（3）译作应具备原作所拥有的通畅。”（谭载喜，2006）泰特勒指出，这三项原则是好的翻译所必备的条件，它们序次的摆列是适合的、自然的，是按重要次序摆列的，假如在不得已的状况下要牺牲某一个原则就要注意到它们的次序和比较上的重要性，决不可以颠倒主次，以牺牲思想内容的忠实来求得译文的优美和流利。奈达提出了着名的“动向平等”。他对翻译所下的定义:所谓翻译,是在译语顶用最贴近而又最自然的平等语再现源语的信息,第一是意义,其次是文体。Translatingconsistsinreproducinginthereceptorlanguagetheclosestnaturalequivalentofthesource-languagemessage,firstintermsofmeaningandsecondlyintermsofstyle.(Nida&Taber,1969:12).这必定义明确指出翻译的实质和任务是用译语再现源语信息,翻译的方法用最贴近而又最自然的平等语。纽马克“文本中心”论：纽马克把要翻译的对象当作文本，并依据语言的功能把文安分为表达型、信息型和呼唤型三大类。表达型包含严肃的文学作品、申明和信函等；信息型包括书本、报告、论文、备忘录等；呼唤型包含各样宣传品、说明书和平常小说等。他认为不同的文本应当用不一样的翻译方法（纽马克把翻译方法分为语义翻译和社交翻译两种。前者重申忠实于原作“原作者”；后者重申忠实于译作“读者”）,不一样的议论标准，不一样的“等效”要求。其余翻译标准刘重德：信达切许渊冲：信达优；美化之艺术，创优似比赛；（三美论：意美、音美、形美；等化、深入、浅化；知之、好之、乐之；发挥译入语优势）傅雷：重神似不重形似钱钟书：化境鲁迅：凡是翻译，一定兼备两面：一则自然力争其易解，一则保存着原作的丰姿。林语堂：音美、意美、神美、气美、形美郭沫若：好的翻译等于创作三、翻译过程理解和表达是翻译的两个主要步骤。译者对原文的正确理解在翻译过程中至关重要；译者的表达须拥有正确力和表现力，语言须拥有生动性和形式美。剖析原文就是仔细办理词位的所指意义和联想意义、研究句法和语篇构造。理解和领悟原文是从事不论何种翻译的基本功力。假如译者的确理解了原文的涵义，又能驾轻就熟地驾御译语，那么翻译就是一个很自然的驾轻就熟的过程。翻译的过程能够简单分为：理解—表达---校核三个阶段，或理解---表达两个阶段。四、翻译分类：2.从波及到的符号来看，翻译可分为语内翻译（intralingualtranslation）（经过同一语言中的一些语言符号解说另一些符号，如把古汉语译成现代汉语），语际翻译（interlingualtranslation）（经过一种语言符号解说另一种语言符号，如把英语译成汉语），符际翻译（intersemiotictranslation）（经过非语言的符号系统解说语言符号或用语言符号解说非语言符号，如用手势语解说一则新闻。）从翻译的手段来看，翻译可分为口译、笔译和机器翻译。从翻译的题材来看明，翻译可分为专业性翻译（翻译法律、科技文件、专业学术论着等）、文学翻译（翻译小说、诗歌、戏剧等文学作品）和一般性翻译（翻译各样应用文和新闻报导等）。从翻译方式上来看，翻译可分为全译、摘译和编译。泰特勒（Tytler,1748-1814）的翻译理论和思想主要见于《论翻译的原则》一书。该书是西方翻译理论的第一部专着，在书中，泰特勒提出了着名的翻译三原则：1、译文应完好地再现原文的思想内容(Thatthetranslationshouldgiveacompletetranscriptoftheideasoftheoriginalwork.)；2、译文的风格、笔调应与原文的性质相同(Thatthestyleandmannerofwritingshouldbeofthesamecharacterwiththatoftheoriginal.)；3、译文影响原文相同流利(Thatthetranslationshouldhavealltheeaseoftheoriginalcomposition.)

。八、常用翻译方法、策略与技巧1.直译与意译（LiteraltranslationandFreetranslation）英语与汉语的语言构造与文体构造有相同的一面，汉译时可照译，即所谓“直译”——既忠实原文内容，又吻合原文的语言与文体构造。因为人们在感情，在对客观事物的感觉及社会经历等方面会有相像之处，英汉语言表达中有少许相同或近似的表达方式，这些表达方式的字面意义，形象意义相同或近似，隐含意义相同，也就是说，这些表达方式的字面意义和形象意义所传达出的文化信息是相同的，能够互译。“意译”则从意义出发，只需求将原文粗心表达出来，不需过分侧重细节，但要求译文自然流利。因为文化要素的影响，在翻译时没法保存原语的字面意义和形象意义，可将原文的形象更换成另一个译文读者所熟习的形象，进而转达出原文的语用目的，译出隐含意义。英汉两种语言不一样的发展历史，民族文化，民俗习惯造成了两个民族独到的语言与独到的表达方式。所以，翻译时一定对两种语言文化基础有基本的认识，不可以逐字翻译。凡语言都有习惯表达，话中有话。在深入领悟原作的精神实质的前提之下，不拘泥于原作的字面形式，创建性的表达原作思想，但不行添油加醋，改变原作的风格。注：在翻译界通用的方法是将“直译”与“意译”互相联合。任何一篇好的翻译作品，其实不是纯真的某一种翻译方法贯串一直，而是在保持原文内容的正确性，不惹起歧义的状况下，将这两种翻译方法在同一翻译作品中并用，相辅相成。笔者对翻译界的这种做法完好认可。笔者认为，两种翻译方法在任何一篇翻译作品中都能并用的话，必定能够译出一部优异的翻译作品。2.归化和异化（

domesticationandforeignization

）异化和归化是在

1995年由美国翻译理论家劳伦斯·韦努蒂（

LawrenceVenuti

）在《译者的隐形》（TheTranslator

’sInvisibility

）一书中提出来的。从历史上看，异化和归化可以视为直译和意译的看法延长，

但又不完好等同于直译和意译。

直译和意译所关注的核心问题是如安在语言层面办理形式和意义，

而异化和归化则打破了语言要素的限制，

将视线扩展到语言、文化和美学等要素。按韦努蒂（

Venuti

）的说法，归化法是“把原作者带入译入语文化”，而异化法例是“接受外语文本的语言及文化差别，

把读者带入外国情形”。（Venuti

，1995:20）因而可知，直译和意译主假如限制于语言层面的价值取向，异化和归化则是立足于文化大语境下的价值取向，二者之间的差别是不言而喻的，不可以混作一谈。归化（domestication）是指在翻译中采纳透明、流利的风格，最大限度地淡化原文的陌生感的翻译策略（Shuttleworth&Cowie，1997:43-44）。它应尽可能的使源语文本所反应的世界靠近目的语文化读者的世界，进而达到源语文化与目的语文化之间的“文化平等”。异化（foreignization）是指偏离当地主流价值观，保存原文的语言和文化差别（Venuti，2001:240）；或指在必定程度上保存原文的异域性，成心打破目口号言惯例的翻译Shuttleworth&Cowie，1997:59）。它主张在译文中保存源语文化，丰富目的语文化和目的语的语言表达方式。用平常的语言归纳，即归化法要求译者向译语读者聚拢，采纳译语读者习惯的译语表达方式，来传达原文的内容；异化法例要求译者向作者聚拢，采纳相应于作者使用的原语表达方式，来传达原文的内容。注：异化时不阻碍译文的通畅易懂，归化时不失掉原文的滋味，同时，我们应坚持对语言形式采纳归化的策略，而对其文化要素进行异化办理。这样，译文作品可兼两策略之长而避其短，使二者有共同发展的空间。由此，在实质翻译过程中归化与异化应当是相辅相成，并有互补的辩证一致关系。翻译理论知识纲要第一部分：翻译术语1.DefinitionsoftranslationTranslation

can

be

roughly

defined

as

areproduction

orrecreation

inonelanguageofwhatiswritten

orsaidinanotherlanguage.Beingaverycomplicatedhumanactivity,itswholepictureisnevereasytodescribe.Scholarswithdifferentacademicbackgroundshaveattemptedtodefineitfromvariousperspectives.(1).LinguisticViewsonTranslationTranslationtheoristsfromthelinguisticschoolconceiveoftranslationasalinguisticactivityandsomebelievethattranslationtheoryisabranchoflinguistics,approachingtheissuesoftranslatingprimarilyfromtheviewpointofthelinguisticdifferencesbetweensourceandtargettexts.Translationmaybedefinedasthereplacementoftextualmaterialinonelanguage(thesourcelanguage)byequivalenttextualmaterialinanotherlanguage(thetargetlanguage).(Catford,1965:20).Translationtheoryderivesfromcomparativelinguistics,andwithinlinguistics,itismainlyanaspectofsemantics;allquestionsofsemanticsrelatetotranslationtheory.(Newmark,1982/1988:5).(2).CulturalViewsonTranslationIntheculturalapproach,translationisregardednotonlyasatransferoflinguisticsigns,butalsoasacommunicationofcultures,.translationisan"interculturalcommunication";hencethetermsof"interculturalcooperation","acculturation",and"transculturation".翻译不单波及语言问题,也波及文化问题。译者不单要认识外国的文化,还要深入认识自己民族的文化。不单这样,还要不停地把两种文化加以比较,因为真实的平等应当是在各自文化中的含义、作用、范围、感情色彩、影响等等都是相当的。翻译者一定是一个真实意义的文化人。人们会说：他一定掌握两种语言;的确这样,可是不认识语言中间的社会文化,谁也没法真实掌握语言(王佐良,1989)。(4).SemanticViewsonTranslationThisviewfocusesonthesemanticequivalencebetweenthetwolanguages,aswellexpressedbyEugeneNida(1986):"Translatingmeanstranslatingmeaning".Translationisrenderingthemeaningofatextintoanotherlanguageinthewaythattheauthorintendedthetext(Newmark,1988:5).Semantictranslation:thetranslatorattempts,withinandsemanticconstraintsofthetargetlanguage,tocontextualmeaningoftheauthor(Newmark,1982:22).

thebaresyntacticreproducethepreciseInsemantictranslation,greaterattentionispaidtorenderingtheauthor'soriginalthought-processesintargetlanguagethantoattemptingtore-interpretsourcetextinawaywhichthetranslatorconsidersmoreappropriateforthetargetsetting(Shuttleworth&Cowie,1997:151).(5).FunctionalViewsonTranslationFunctionalistsbelievethattranslationisaspecificformofhumanactionwithacertainpurpose,akindoflinguisticserviceprovidedtotheshouldtakeintoaccounttheneedsoftheclient,?thereaderaswellasthepurposeoruseofthetranslation:Itisnotthesourcetext,oritseffectsonthesource-textrecipient,orthefunctionassignedtoitbytheauthor,thatdeterminesthetranslationprocess,buttheprospectivefunctionorpurposeofthetargettextasdeterminedbytheinitiator's,'sneeds(Baker,2001:236).(6).CommunicativeViewsonTranslationThisapproachviewstranslationasacommunicativeprocesswhichtakesplacewithinasocialcontext.Communicativetranslation:thetranslatorattemptstoproducethesameeffectonthetargetlanguagereadersaswasproducedbytheoriginalonthesourcelanguagereaders(Newmark,1982:22).Communicativetranslationisgenerallyorientedtowardstheneedsofthetargetlanguagereaderorrecipient.Atranslatorwhoistranslatingcommunicativelywilltreatsourcetextasamessageratherthanamerestringoflinguisticunits,andwillbeconcernedtopreservesourcetext'soriginalfunctionandtoreproduceitseffectonthenewaudience(Shuttleworth&Cowie,1997:21).Theaboveviewshelpustounderstandthecomplexnatureoftranslation.Sincetherearemanyfactorswhichaffectthetranslationprocess,translationisacomplicatedhumanactivity.2.TranslationCriteriaPutForwardbyFamousTranslatorsorTranslationTheoristsSomewell-knowntranslatorsortranslationtheoristsathomeandabroadhaveputforwardcriteriatojudgethequalityofatranslation.(1).严复(1853-1921):TriplePrincipleofTranslation信(faithfulness):忠实正确达(expressiveness}:通畅水利雅(elegance):文字古雅YanFuputforwardthis"Three-characterGuide”inhisprefacetothetranslationof.Huxley'sbookEvolutionandEthicsandOtherEssays(《天演论》译例言1898):译事三难信达雅。求其信己大难矣。顾信矣不达。虽译犹不译也。则达尚焉......易曰修辞立诚。子曰辞达而已。又曰言之无文，行之不远。三者乃文章正轨。亦即为译事模范。故信达而外，求其尔雅。此不单期以行远已耳。实则精理微言。用汉从前字法句法，则为达易。用近世利俗文字，则求达难。常常抑义就词，毫厘千里。审择于斯二者之间，夫固有所不得已也。岂钓奇哉。......Translationhastodothreedifficultthings:tobefaithful,expressive,andelegant.Itisdifficultenoughtobefaithfultotheoriginal,andyetifatranslationisnotexpressive,itistantamounttohavingnotranslation.Henceexpressivenessshouldberequiredtoo.TheBookofChangessaysthatthefirstrequisiteofrhetoricistruthfulness.Confuciussaysthatexpressivenessisallthatmattersinlanguage.Headdsthatifone'slanguagelacksgrace,itwon'tgofar.Thesethreequalities,then,arethecriteriaofgoodwritingand,Ibelieve,ofgoodtranslationtoo.Hencebesidesfaithfulnessandexpressiveness,Ialsoaimatelegance.Istriveforelegancenotjusttomakemytranslationstravelfar,buttoexpresstheoriginalwriter'sideasbetter,forIfindthatsubtlethoughtsarebetterexpressedinthevocabularyandsyntaxofpre-Hanprosethanthoseofthevulgarwritingsoftoday.Usingthelatteroftenleadstodistortionofmeaning,which,howeverslight,resultsinvastmisunderstanding.Weighingtheprosandcons,Ioptedfortheformer,asamatterofnecessity,nottryingtobedifferentYanFu’sfirsttwocriteriaofbeingfaithfultotheoriginaltextincontentandbeingexpressiveintranslationaregenerallyacceptable,buthisinterpretationof"elegance"hasarousedplentyofcriticismbecause,inhisopinion,onehastoresorttothevocabularyandsyntaxofpre-Hanprosetoachieve"elegance".YanFu'scriteriaarealsocontroversialforhisemphasisontheequalstatusofthethreeconflicingprinciples.Despitethis,Yan’scriteriaarestillpopularinChina,buttheinterpretationofhiscriteriahaschanged.Nowadaystomanytranslators,"elegance"implies"thesafeandsoundpreservationofthetasteandshadeoftheoriginal”(黄龙,1988:90)or"运用读者所最乐于接受的文体,使译文得以宽泛流传，扩大影响"(劳陇，《翻译通信》1983年第10期).(2).鲁迅信（faithfulness)顺smoothness)(3).林语堂忠实{faithfulness)通畅(smoothness)美(beautifulness)翻译的标准问题，大概包含三方面。我们可依三方面的序次议论。第一是忠实标准，第二是通畅标准，第三是美的标准。这翻译的三层标准，与严氏的"译事三难"，大概上是正对比符的。(4).傅雷:神似(resemblanceinspirit)以成效而论，(文学)翻译应当像临画相同，所求的不在形似而在神似。(《高老头》重译本序，1951)(5).钱钟书：化境(reachingtheacmeofperfection)文学翻译的最高境地是"化"，把作品从一国文字转变为另一国文字，既能不因语文习惯的差别而露出僵硬勉强的印迹，又能完好保存原有的风昧，那就算得入于"化境"。十七世纪有人赞叹这种成就的翻译，比为原作的"投胎转世"(thetransmigrationofsoul),躯壳换了一个，而精丰采致依旧故我。换句话说，译本对原作应当忠实得以致于读起来不像译本，因为作品在原文里绝不会读起来像经过翻译似的。(《林纾的翻译》，1964)(6).

刘重德：信（faithhlness达（expressiveness切（closeness)

））信于内容(tobefaithfultothecontentoftheoriginal);达如其分(tobeasexpressiveastheoriginal);吻合风格(tobeasclosetotheoriginalstyleaspossible).(《浑金璞玉集》，1994:9)(7).许渊冲：三重标准(threelevelsofcriteria)(《翻译的艺术》，1984:26)标准低标准中标准高标准内容忠实(信)明确正确精准(三似)意似形似神似(三化)浅化等化深入形式通畅(达)易懂通畅扬长(雅,或传神)(8).AlexanderFraserTytIer(泰特勒):ThreePrinciplesofTranslationAlexander,afamousBritishtranslationtheorist,putforwardtheclassicalcriteriainhisEssayonthePrinciplesofTranslation(1790):1)Thetranslationshouldgiveacompletetranscriptoftheideasoftheoriginalwork(译作应当完好传达原作的思想)；2)Thestyleandmannerofwritinginthetranslationshouldbeofthesamecharacterwiththatoftheoriginal(译作的风格与笔调应当与原作保持一致)；Thetranslationshouldhavealltheeaseoftheoriginalcomposition(译作应当和原作相同流利).Tytlerfurtherpointsoutthattheabove-saidarrangedandrankedaccordingtotheorderoftheirwhentheyarenotsimultaneouslyattainable,theatthesacrificeofthethirdprinciple,thenthesecond.

threeprinciplesaresignificance,andthat,firstshouldbeheldto(9).EugeneA.Nida(奈达):FunctionalEquivalence(功能平等)Eugene,afamousAmericantranslationtheorist,putforwardhisrecentinterpretationoffunctionalequivalenceinhisLanguageandCulture:ContextinTranslating(2001:87):1)Aminimal,realisticdefinitionoffunctionalequivalence:Thereadersofatranslatedtextshouldbeabletocomprehendittothepointthattheycanconceiveofhowtheoriginalreadersofthetextmusthaveunderstoodandappreciatedit.(最低限度而又吻合实质的功能平等定义：译文读者对译文的理解应当达到能够想像出原文读者是如何理解和领悟原文的程度).2)Amaximal,idealdefinitionoffunctionalequivalence:

Thereadersofatranslatedtextshouldbeabletounderstandandappreciateitinessentiallythesamemannerastheoriginalreadersdid.(

最高限度符合理想的功能平等定义：译文读者应当能够基本上依据原文读者理解和领悟原文的方式来理解和领悟译文).3.Classificationoftranslation(1).Jakobson(1896-1982)Intralingualtranslationorrewordingisaninterpretationofverbalsignsbymeansofothersignsofthesamelanguage.2)??Interlingualtranslationortranslationproperisaninterpretationofverbalsignsbymeansofsomeotherlanguage.3)??Intersemiotictranslationortransmutationisaninterpretationofverbalsignsbymeansofsignsofnonverbalsignsystems..原文：子曰：“学而时习之，不亦乐乎!有朋友自远方来，不亦乐乎!人不知而不愠，不亦君子乎!”译文一:孔子说:“学习了而常常复习，不也快乐吗！有朋友从远方来，不也快乐吗!他人不认识我，我其实不恼恨，不也是君子吗”(徐志刚译)译文二:TheMastersaid，"Tolearnandatduetimestorepeatwhatonehaslearnt，IsthatnotafterallapleasureThatfriendsshouldcometoonefromafar,IsthisnotafteralldelightfulToremainunsouredeventhoughone’smeritsareunrecognizedbyothers,Isthatnotafterallwhatisexpectedofagentleman(Waley译)[议论]原文同译文一之间的变换属于语内翻译(intralingualtranslation),即用同一语盲的其余语言符号对原文迸行阐释或许重述(rewording)。原文同译文二之间的变换属于语际翻译(interlingualtranslation)，即两个不一样语言之间所进行的变换。原文：A:WhatdoesyourwatchsayItsays“fivepastthree”.[议论]在这一对话中，B其实是在迸行一种翻译，这种翻译叫做符际翻译(intersemiotictranslation)，即语言同非语言符号之间的代码变换。当A询问B几点钟的时候，B只好看钟或许看腕表，而钟或许腕表其实不可以说话，B只好依据钟表的时针和分针来确立详细儿点钟了。而B所言其实是语言传达一个非语言信息(non-linguisticmessage)。将非语言信息用语言传达出来是翻译的一种方式，这不是从一种语言到另一种语言的变换过程，而是从非语言社交系统到语言社交系统的过程。非语言社交系统和语言社交系统的共同特色是二者都属于"符号系统"(即用于社交的系统)。雅可布逊Jakobson)将这种由非语言社交系统到语言社交系统的变换过程称为符际翻译是适合的。其实，我们每一个人每天、每一刻都在迸行着符际翻译而不自知也。从这个意义上说，我们每一个人都是某种意义上的译者(Hervey1995:8-9).(2).PeterNewmark(纽马克):CommunicativeandSemanticTranslation(交际翻译与语义翻译)PeterNewmark,afamousBritishtranslationtheorist,putforwardhisconceptsofcommunicativeandsemantictranslationinhisApproachestoTranslation(1982/1988:39):1)Communicativetranslationattemptstoproduceonitsreadersaneffectascloseaspossibletothatobtainedonthereadersoftheoriginal.(社交翻译力争对译作读者产生尽可能靠近原作读者所获取的成效).Semantictranslationattemptstorender,ascloselyasthesemanticandsyntacticstructuresofthesecondlanguageallow,theexactcontextualmeaningoftheoriginal.(语义翻译力争在译作语言的语义结构和句法构造同意的状况下，译出原作在上下文中的正确意义).4.NatureandScopeofTranslationWhatistranslationSomepeoplebelieveitisascience,otherstakeitasanart,andyetmanyconsideritacraft,orrather,askill.Ofthesevariedopinions,whichoneholdstrueforourpurposeTheanswerdependsonhowweunderstandorinterprettheword"translation",fortheveryword"translation"itselfisambiguous,andtheChineseequivalent"'fanyi"soundsevenfuzzier.Fanyi,inChinese,mayeitherstandforasubjectofthecurriculum,ajobpeopleengagein,apieceofliterarywork,orthetranslatingorinterpretingworkitself.Sometimes,"fanyi"mayevenrefertothetranslatororinterpreterhimself/herself.Iftheword"translation"referstoasubject,namely,thestudyoftranslationtheoryandskills,itisnodoubtascience,justasanysubjectis,withitsownrules,lawsandprinciplesforthetranslatorstoabideby;however,ifitreferstosomespecificpiecesoftranslation,thenitismorelikeanart,witheachpiecemanifestingitsowncharmsandstyleinthecreativehandsofthetranslator;whereas,ifitreferstoaprocess,inwhichsomethingistranslated,thenwemayregarditasacraftorskill.Forunlikeanybranchofnaturalscience,theprocessoftranslationhasitspeculiarity,andnoneofitsrulesandprinciplesareuniversallyapplicable.Besides,itentailsalotofpractice—particularcraftsmanshipandskillsaredisplayedbythetouchesofdifferenttranslators.Translationcoversaverybroadrange.Intermsoflanguages,itcanbedividedintotwocategories:fromnativelanguagesintoforeignlanguagesandviceversa;intermsofthemode,itcanbedividedintooralinterpretation,writtentranslationandmachinetranslation;intermsofmaterialstobetranslated,thereistranslationofscientificmaterials,translationofliteraryworkssuchasnovels,stories,prose,poetry,drama,etc.,translationofpoliticalessayssuchastreatisesonsocialproblems,reports,speeches,etc.,andtranslationofpracticalwriting(asofficialdocuments,contractsandagreements,notices,receipts,etc.);intermsofdisposal,itcanbeeitherfull-texttranslation（全文翻译）,abridgedtranslation（摘译）oradaptedtranslation（编译）.5.PrinciplesorCriteriaofTranslationTheso-calledprinciplesandcriteriaoftranslationareactuallythetwosidesofthesamething.Theformerlaysemphasisonthetranslator,whoshouldfollowthemwhiletranslating;whilethelatteronthereaderorcritic,whomayusethecriteriatoevaluatetranslationworks.WheneverprinciplesorcriteriaoftranslationareunderdiscussioninChina,YanFu’s"three-characterguide",whichwasfirstproposedin1898,wouldevokecontroversy,namely,theprincipleof"信、达、雅"(faithfulnessexpressivenessandelegance).InthepastdecadesMr.Yan'sregardedasaplumb-line

principleoftranslationhasbeengenerallyformeasuringtheprofessionalleveloftranslationandagoalfortranslatorstostriveafter.However,intheapplicationofthisprinciple,peoplehavecometofindsomelimitationstothethreecharactersandputforwardavarietyofnewstandardsinstead.Threekindsofopinionsareexpressedontheprincipleoffaithfulness,expressivenessandelegance.Thefirstgroupmaintainstheoriginalthreecharacters,andinthemeantime,addssomenewconceptstothecharacter雅".Accordingtothem,"雅"meansfarmorethantheEnglishword"elegance".Apartfromthetraditionalinterpretation,italsomeansclassicism,theadherencetotheoriginalstyleandflavor.Thesecondgroup,however,arguesthattheword"雅"isoutofplaceintranslation.WhileadoptingthefirsttwocharactersofMr.YanFu'sprinciple,itdiscardsthecharacter"雅"andtriestofindsomeothernewcriteriainstead.Noticeably,therearerevisionssuchas"信、达、切"(faithfulness,expressivenessandcloseness),"信、达、贴"(faithfulness,expressivenessandfitness),andsoon.Thethirdgroupofpeople,bycastingawaythethree-wordguide,proposesomenewprinciplesorcriteriaoftranslationoftheirown.Ofthevariouspopulartheoriestwoofthemaremostinfluential:spiritualconformity(神似)andsublimatedadaptation(化境).Theformer,proposedbyFuLeiemphasizesthereproductionofthespiritortheflavoroftheoriginal,whilethelatter,advocatedbyQianZhongshu,focusesonthetranslator'ssmoothandidiomaticChineseversionforthesakeoftheChinesereader.Despitethevarietyofopinions,twocriteriaarealmostunanimouslyaccepted,namely,thecriterionoffaithfulness/accuracy（忠实、正确)andthatofsmoothness(流利).Wemayalsotakethesetwocriteriaastheprinciplesoftranslationingeneral.Byfaithfulness/accuracy,wemeantobefaithfulnotonlytotheoriginalcontents,totheoriginalmeaningandviews,butalsototheoriginalformandstyle.Bysmoothness,wemeannotonlyeasyandreadablerendering,butalsoidiomaticexpressioninthetargetlanguage,freefromstiffformulaandmechanicalcopyingfromdictionaries.6.LiteralTranslationandFreeTranslationTheprocessoftranslationconsistsoftwophases:comprehensionandexpression.Generallyspeaking,comprehensionisofforemostimportance,andexpressionisthenaturalconsequenceofthoroughcomprehension.However,inthepracticeoftranslationwemayfindthatnowandthensomewordsintheirusualsensesareverydifficulttodealwithbecauseofthedisparitybetweentheEnglishandtheChineselanguages.Inthiscase,wehavetoresorttosomespecialmeansoftranslation.Literaltranslationandfreetranslationaretwousefulapproachesindealingwithsuchawkwardsituations.Theso-calledliteraltranslation,superficiallyspeaking,means"nottoaltertheoriginalwordsandsentences";strictlyspeaking,itstrives"tokeepthesentimentsandstyleoftheoriginal".Ittakessentencesasitsbasicunitsandtakesthewholetext(discourse)intoconsiderationatthesametimeinthecourseoftranslation.Furthermore,itstrivestoreproduceboththeideologicalcontentandthestyleoftheoriginalworksandretainsasmuchaspossiblethefiguresofspeech.TherearequitealotofexamplesofsuccessfulliteraltranslationthathavebeenadoptedasidiomaticChineseexpressions.Forexample,crocodile'stears,armedtotheteeth,chainreaction,gentlemen'sagreement,andsoon.Similarly,someChineseidiomsalsofindtheirEnglishcounterpartsthroughliteraltranslation.Forexample,纸老虎(papertiger),一国两制(onecountry,twosystems),andsoon.Freetranslationisanalternativeapproachwhichisusedmainlytoconveythemeaningandspiritoftheoriginalwithouttryingtoreproduceitssentencepatternsorfiguresofspeech.Thisapproachismostfrequentlyadoptedwhenitisreallyimpossibleforthetranslatortodoliteraltranslation.Forexample:·Adam'sapple喉结·atsixesandsevens乌七八糟·Itrainscatsanddogs.大雨如注·Don'tcrossthebridgetillyougettoit.不用担忧过早。自寻烦忧)·Doyouseeanygreeninmyeye你认为我是天真可欺的吗

(不用TheaboveillustrationscannotbetranslatedChineserenditionwouldmakenonsenseatall

literally，otherwise，the，letalonetheoriginalmeaning.Literaltranslationandfreetranslation,however,arerelativeconcepts.Inotherwords,thereisnoabsolute“literal”，norentirely"free"versioninthepracticeoftranslation,andoveremphasizingeitherofthemwouldresultinridiculousconsequences.Let'sscrutinizethefollowingtwopracticalcases.OriginalEnglish1Ilovetigercat,thenuclearfamily

Britishmoviesonpublictelevision,(HelenSnow，MyChinaYears)

，fluffy

blouses,ChineseVersionA:我爱虎猫,(爱)电视上放映的英国电影，有绒毛的短衫，核心家庭，ChineseVersionB:我喜爱豹猫,喜爱公共电视台播放的英国电影，喜爱蓬松、柔嫩的棉毛衫，喜爱一夫一妻制的家庭，Comment:Apparently,thesetwoChineseversionsarefarfrombeingperfect.Otherthingsaside,therenderingofthephrasenuclearfamilyposesaseriousproblemofrepresentation.VersionArenders"thenuclearfamily"as"核心家庭"bymeansofliteraltranslation.However,thisversionistoostiff,thereforeitfailstoconveytheoriginalmeaningtotheChinesereader—formostChinese,theyhavehardlyanyideawhat"核心家庭"reallymeans.VersionBadoptstheapproachoffreetranslationandputsitinto"一夫一妻制"；evidentlyitgoestoofaranddistortstheauthor'soriginalintention,andindoingso,thetranslatorabusesthepracticeoffreetranslation.Infact,thenuclearfamilyhasnothingtodowitheitheroftheversions.AcloseexaminationofitsdefinitioninanEnglish-Englishdictionaryshedslightonthisphrase:nuclearfamily,afamilygroupthatconsistsonlyoffather,motherandchildren.Therefore,theproperrenderingofthephraseshouldbewordstothiseffect:acozysmallfamily,namely,theChineseequivalent"小家庭".OriginalEnglish2:MaoTse-tungwaswellbred,butinsidehewasmadeofsteel,ofhardresistance,oftoughtissue—thekindoftissuetheBoxersthoughttheyhadbymagic,andbaredtheirsolarplexusestoforeignbullets.(ibid.

)ChineseVersionA:毛泽东有很好的修养，内部是钢，有坚毅的抗力，是坚韧的资料制成的。这是义和团假想的因为神力拥有的，能够把腹部袒胸给外国人的子弹的那种资料。ChineseVersionB:毛泽东修养有素，精神支柱铁铸钢打，不怕高压，是由坚韧的组织组成的。这种组织，就是义和拳认为他们经过魔法获取的那种组织袒胸露体，刀枪不入。Comment:Theword"tissue"canhardlyberenderedintoChineseeitherinliteraltranslationorfreetranslation，norcouldthemetaphor"insidehewasmadeofsteel"beproperlyrenderedwithoutgraspingtheessenceofthewholesentence.However，sincethereisnocorrespondingexpressionsinChinese,thetranslatorstacklethemaccordingtotheirownunderstanding.InversionA，"tissue"isfreelyrenderedas"资料"(material)，whileversionBliterallyas"组织"(organictissue)—bothfailtoconveytheoriginalmeaningandattitudeofthewriter.Byadoptingtranslationskillssuchasamplification,omission，conversionandrestructuring，wemaytranslatetheoriginalEnglishsentenceasfollows:RevisedVersion:毛泽东表面文质彬彬，但心里深处却钢铸铁打，既坚韧，又抗压—在他的身上能够看到当年义和团自信所拥有的那种神力，面对洋枪洋炮也敢袒胸露怀。Fromtheaboveanalysis,wecometotheconclusionthatthere

isnoobviousdistinctionbetweenliteraltranslationandfreetranslation,norisitnecessarytodistinguishonefromtheother.Thekeypointfor

atranslatortograspistocomprehendtheoriginalthoroughly,andthenputitintoidiomaticChinese.Intheprocessoftranslation,specificapproachessuchasliteralorfreetranslationmaybeofsomehelp,butweshouldavoidthetwoextremes.Intheapplicationofliteraltranslation,weshouldendeavortoridourselvesofstiffpatternsandrigidadherencetotranslationrules,tryingtobeflexible;whileinthepractice

offreetranslation,weshouldbecautiousofsubjectivity,avoidinggroundlessaffirmationorarbitraryfabrication.Whateverthecircumstances,

wemayalternateorcombinethesetwoapproacheswhenitisnecessary.7.OmissionOmissionisatechniqueoppositetoamplification.True,atranslatorhasnorighttosubtractanymeaningfromtheoriginalwork.Butitdoesnotfollowthatheshouldrefrainfromomittinganywordsatallintranslation.Infact,oneofthemarkeddifferencesinsyntaxbetweenEnglishandChineseisthedisparityinwording.Whatisregardedasanaturalorindispensableelementinonelanguagemayberegardedassuperfluousoreven"astumblingblock"intheother.TakethefollowingEnglishsentenceanditsChineseversionforexample:OriginalEnglish:Thetime-keepingdevicesofelectronicwatchesaremuchmoreaccuratethanthoseofmechanicalones.ChineseVersion:电子表比机械表正确得多。AcomparisonbetweentheChineseversionwiththeEnglishoriginalshowsthatmanyofthe"redundant"EnglishwordshavebeenomittedintheChinesetranslation,otherwise,theChinesesentencewouldsoundwordyandunnatural.Therefore,amanipulationofthetechnique"omission"isalwayscalledforinEnglish-Chinesetranslation.Ontheotherhand,someChinesesentences,whentranslatedintoEnglish,alsoneedtoberidofredundantwordingsoastoconformtoidiomaticEnglishexpressions.8.ConversionConversion,oneofthecommonlyadoptedtranslationtechniques,meansthechangeofpartsofspeechintranslation.OwingtothesyntacticaldifferencesbetweenEnglishandChinese,itisusuallyimpossibleforatranslatortokeeptotheoriginalpartofspeechintheprocessoftranslation.Forexample:OriginalEnglish:Thiswatchnevervariesmorethanasecondinamonth.ChineseVersion:这块表一个月的偏差从不超出一秒钟。TheEnglishverb"varied"canhardlyberenderedintoChinesebythesamepartofspeechwithoutspoilingtheoriginalmeaning.Asamatteroffact,awordbelongingtoacertainpartofspeechinonelanguagesometimeshastobeconvertedintoadifferentpartofspeech,soastobringforthareadableandcoherentsentence.9.RestructuringRestructuring,asoneofthetranslationtechniques,meanstheorinevitablechangeofwordorderinasentenceaccordingtotheusageofthelanguagetobetranslatedinto.Itisalsocalledrearrangementorinversion.

necessary10.Hypotacticvs.Paratactic(

形合与意合

)Hypotaxis(形合法)isthedependentorsubordinateconstruction

orrelationshipofclauseswithconnectives,forexample,Ishalldespairifyoudon'tcome.Englishsentencebuildingisfeaturedbyhypotaxis.Parataxis(意合法)isthearrangingofclausesoneaftertheotherwithoutconnectivesShowingtherelationbetweenthem,forexample,Therainfell;theriverflooded;thehousewashedaway.Chinesesentencebuildingisfeaturedbyparataxis.11.Foreignizing

Translation

and

DomesticatingTranslation(1).ForeignizingTranslationForeignizingtranslationlaysgreatemphasisonretainingtheculturalflavorsofthesourcelanguageandenablesthereadertohaveanalienreadingexperience,thusdevelopingthereader'sawarenessofculturaldifferences.Topromoteculturalexchangeandmutualunderstandingbetweenpeoplesofdifferentlanguagesandcultures,foreignizingtranslationisafarbetterchoicethandomesticatingtranslation.Inthiswaywecanbetterunderstandthesource-languagecultureandenrichChinesemodesofexpression.Theweaknessofforeignizationisthattheculture-specificexpressionsthustranslatedmaynotbefamiliartoourreadersorsmoothenoughforustoreadwithease.Inthiscase,asemantictranslationoranexplanatorynotemaybeadded.However,whatisunfamiliaratpresentmaygraduallybecomefamiliarasmoreandmoreintercultural

communicationstakeplace,

oraspeoplereadmoreandmoresuchtranslated

expres