英汉互译中模糊语言的显化与隐化翻译

ExplicitnessandImplicitnessofVagueLanguageinTranslation

betweenEnglishandChineseIntroductionABriefIntroductiontoVaguelanguageTheDefinitionofVagueLanguageCharacteristicsofVaguelanguageSubjectivityandIndeterminacyAgglutinationandVariabilityClassificationsofVagueLanguageLinguisticVaguenessVaguenessattheLevelofPhoneticsVaguenessattheLevelofMeaningVaguenessattheLevelofGrammarCulturalVaguenessFunctionsofVagueLanguageVaguenessandPolitenessVaguenessandHumorVaguenessandAestheticsTheStrategiesofdealingwithVagueLanguageinTranslation1.FactorsInfluencingVagueLanguageTranslationPropertiesofLanguage:DifferencesBetweenEnglishandChineseCulturalDifferenceandCulturalLacunaExplicitnessinVagueLanguageTranslation2.1.PrecisiontoPrecisionVaguenesstoPrecisionImplicitnessinVagueLanguageTranslation3.1.VaguenesstoVaguenessPrecisiontoVaguenessConclusionI・IntroductionTheemergenceanddevelopmentoflanguagehasexperiencedalongtime,sodosehumansunderstandingoflanguage.Peoplesresearchonlanguagehasalwayslaidparticularstresson“precision”.Themoreprecise,thebetter.Buttherealityisusuallyunsatisfactory.Fortheabsoluteprecisionisveryhardtoachieveandnowpeoplehavefoundthereisnoabsolutelyclearthingsintheworld.Inourdailycommunication,themeaningweimpartedissometimesinevitablyinadequateorunclearwhichleadtothemisunderstandingofthereceiver.Evenfacingthesamethingdifferentpeoplegivedifferentviews.Thatisthevaguenessoflanguage.SincethepublicationoffuzzysetsbyL.A.zadeh,unexpertonautomaticcontrol,manydisciplinesrelatedtovaguenesshavesproutedupacrosstheworld,asJ.Channellstates:”Interestsinvaguenessinlanguageuseandmeaninghasariseninanumberofdisciplines:literarycriticism,linguistics,psychology,philosophy.”(p5)Amongthemthestudyonvaguelanguagehasgainedmoreandmoreattentions.InChina,VagueLinguisticsbyWuTieping,afamouslinguist,mayberatedasthefoundationstoneofthestudyonvaguelanguage.Inlanguagecommunication,vaguelanguageisnotonlyunavoidablebutalsonecessary.Inmanycases,itcanmakelanguageexpressionmorenaturalandmoreappropriate.JustasKantbelieves:”vagueconceptsaremoreexpressivethanclearconcepts...beautyshouldbesomethingthatcannotbeexplainedinwords.Wecannotalwaysconveywhatwethinkbywords.”(WuTiepingp44)thusitcanbeseenthatvaguelanguagehasitsownadvantagesincommunication.Nowadayscommunicationsbecomemorefrequentbetweenpeopleofdifferentlanguagesandculturalbackgrounds.Thereforetranslationplaysanimportantroleintheexchangeofinformationwhichisboundtoinvolvethestudyoflanguage.Vaguenessinlanguagebecomesaninevitableandindispensablephenomenonintranslation.Nowvaguenesshasnolongerbeenanewtermintranslationfieldanditaddsmuchdifficultytothetransferofmeaningfromthesourcetothetargetlanguageforlanguagesisusuallynotsharethesamevagueness.Thevaguenessoflanguagehasmuchtodowithculture,politics,economyandothernon-linguisticfactors.Vaguelanguagewidelyexistsinmanyaspectsofourlife.Moreandmoretranslatorshaveexploredthestrategiesofdealingwithvaguelanguageintranslation.Inthispapertheauthorpresentstwomethods:explicitationandimplicitationaftertheanalysisofvaguelanguage.Theauthorattemptstofindtheeffectivewaystodealwithvaguelanguageintranslationuponthebasisofabriefunderstandingofvaguelanguageinordertoofferhelptothetranslation.II.ABriefIntroductiontoVagueLanguageTheappearanceofvaguenesscanbetracedbacktothepublicationofthearticleFuzzySetsbyL.A.Zadehinwhichhestatesthattheobjectsinmaterialworldhavenodefiniteboundaries.Themeaningofvaguenesshasbeenenrichedwiththedevelopmentofscienceandtechnologyandtheexpansionofhumanactivityintimeandspace.Vaguelanguageasabranchofthewholefindingsisthemainfocusofthischapter.TheDefinitionofVaguenessAsforthedefinitionofvaguelanguage,differentscholarsorresearchershavedifferentanswers,forthingsbecomedifferentwhenwelookatthemfromdifferentangles.Peirce,unAmericanfamousphilosophyandmathematician,isperhapsthefirsttotrytoelaboratethenotioninarigorousway.Hesays:Apropositionisvaguewheretherearepossiblestatesofthingsconcerningwhichitisintrinsicallyuncertainwhether,hadtheybeencontemplatedbythespeaker,hewouldhaveregardedthemasexcludedorallowedbytheproposition.Byintrinsicallyuncertainwemeannotuncertaininconsequenceofanyignoranceoftheinterpreter,butbecausethespeakershabitsoflanguagewereindeterminate.(Channellp7)AnotherapproachtovaguenessisfoundinDeesesworkwhichismorepsychologically-oriented.Heclaimsthatvaguenessisnotaconceptthatappliestolanguagebuttothemeaningswhichlanguageexpresses.Thatis,itisthemeaningsthatisvaguebutnotthelanguageitself.Hesays:…thatthecorrespondencebetweentheideaspossessedbytwoindividualsT・ ・・ ・・T -4■ ■whoareincommunicationonacommontopicisratherpoor,aconditionwhichweordinarilydonotnoticebecauseweseldommakeexplicitattemptstovalidateacommunicatedideaagainsttheoriginal.Whenwedo,asinthecaseofgivingdirectionstosomeoneabouthowtodosomething,wearesuddenlymadeawareofthediscrepancythatexistsbetween „the sameideainthemindsoftwodifferentpeople.(Channellp8)Uponthisquestion,manydomesticscholarshasalsoachievedalot.MaoRongguidiscussestheestheticeffectofvaguelanguageinhisTranslationEsthetics.Heregardedvaguelanguageasthat “the wordshasindistinctandwidesemanticextension.Itisnot ”.Generallyspeaking,vaguenessreferstosuchafactthattherearenoclear-cutboundariesbetweentwoconcepts.Itisntabadthing,farfromit,vaguenessandprecisionare,likethetwosidesofacoin,essentialpartoflanguagesystem.CharacteristicsofvaguelanguageVaguenessisaninherentnatureoflanguage.Afterknowingitsdefinition,itisstillunclearthathowtojudgewhetherawordisvagueornot.Soitismeaningfulforustodiscussthecharacteristicsofvaguelanguage,suchassubjectivity,indeterminacy,agglutinationandvariability,tonameafewofthem.SubjectivityandIndeterminacyWeallknowthatopinionsvaryfrompersontoperson.Whenwedescribesomethingorexpressourviewsvaguelanguageappears.Differentexperiencesandoutlooksmakeeveryoneseethingsdifferently,sothedenotationofvaguelanguagevariesaccordingtohis/herownwayofunderstanding.Forexample,weeachhavedifferentviewsonwhatkindofwomenisbeautiful.Whenfacingthesamewoman,someonemaythinksheisbeautifulwhileothersdonotwhichisresultedfromthesubjectivityoftheword“beautiful”.Thereasonsofthediscrepancyofthecomprehensionofthesameconceptlieindifferentexperiencesandbackground.Theindeterminacyofvaguelanguagereferstotheuncertainmembershipofsomecases.Somewordsarevaguewhenwetalkaboutcolorwords.Forinstance,everybodyknowsthattheleavesaregreeninsummerandturnyellowgraduallyinautumn.Butifwetakeoneleafinearlyautumnitisnoteasytotellwhethertheleafisgreenoryellow.Itmaybeabitgreenwithsomesortofayellowcolor.Soweusuallyhearsuchvaguewordsasyellowishgreen.Anothercaseisthattheexplanationgivenbydictionaryisthickyellowishwhiteliquorfloatedonthemilk.Fromtheword“yellowishwhite”wecanseethecreammaybewhitewithsomewhatyellow.Inreality,thecolorwordsarenotclearlydividedasthecolorinspectrum.AgglutinationandVariabilityTheagglutinationofvaguelanguagemeansthatsomevaguelanguageisacontinuumandtherearenoclear-cutdividinglinesbetweenthem.Thisfeaturecanfinditsbestexpressioninvaguelanguageindicatingspaceortime.Timeandspaceareactuallycontinuumswithoutfixedandunchangeableboundariestodividethem.Eachlanguagecandividethemaccordingtoitsownstructure.Whenwetalkabouttimeinourdailylife,wesaymorning,afternoon,eveningornight.Buttherearenowell-definedbordersamongthem.Althoughthecentralareaisclear,theperipheralareaisvague.Sincetheyhappenoneafteranother,sometimeswecannottellwhichperiodwearein,becausetheyoftenoverlap.Thevariabilityofvaguelanguagereferstotwoaspects.Firstly,vaguelanguageisnotalwaysvague.Insomecases,itmayassumeanaccuratemeaning.Vaguewordscanbecomepreciseonesbycollocatingwithotherwords.Forexample,theword“long”isvague.Therearenorulestellingthathowlongcanberegardedas“long”.Butitisprecisein“longwave”whosewavelengthisfrom1000mto10000minphysics.Manyterms,althoughliterallyvague,areaccuratewhenusedincertainfieldofstudy.Colors,likered,orange,yellowwithoutdistinctboundaries,areprescribedstrictlybyscientists,namely,redrangesfrom6200to7000angstrom,orangefrom5920to6200,andyellowbetween5780and5920.Fromaboveexampleswecanseethatinacademicfielditisnecessarytodefineatermrigorouslywhileinourdailylifeit'senoughtousethemintheirvaguesense.Secondly,itmeanstherangeavaguecategorycoversmayvary.Thescopeofavaguecategoryiseitherenlargedornarrowed.Generallyspeaking,thiskindofvariabilitycomesfromsomefactorssuchasgender,cultureandsocialstatus.Let'stake“night”forexample;thescopeofnightvariesastheseasonchanges.Thatperiodislonginwinterandshortinsummer.Manywordssharethesamecharacteristics.Abigratismuchsmallerthanasmallelephant.Aswecansee,thescopeofthesekindsofvaguewordschangesinconsistentwiththecontexttheyarein.Therearetwopeople.OneisfromNewYork;theothercomesfromasmallvillage.Theyarelikelytohavedifferentideason“tallbuilding”.AlargenumberofskyscrapersarefoundinNewYork.Theymaytakeabuildingwith40storiesasatallone,whileabuildingwith10floorsisconsideredtallforapeoplefromasmallvillage.Thissituationshouldbetakenintoaccountwhenwedotranslationwork.Formanydifficultiesintranslationoriginateinthegreatgapofsocialdifference.Ofallthecharacteristicswehavetalkedabout,theindeterminacyisthemostprominentone.ClassificationsofVagueLanguageTheclassificationofvaguelanguageishelpfulforbothitsstudyanditstranslation.Butinthismatterthescholarsdidn'treachanagreementasitsdefinitiondoes.Someresearchersclassifyitfromdifferentlevelsoflanguage,someothersaccordingtothepartofspeech.Somelinguistsdividevaguelanguageintothreeparts:vagueadditives,vaguenessbychoiceofvaguewords,vaguenessbyimplicative.(具体见翻译的模糊性及翻译中的模糊处理论文)(Channell,1999:18)ZhangQiao,afamouslinguistinourcountry,alsothinksthatvaguelanguagehasmanytypesunderdifferentclassifiedmethod.Accordingtothepartofspeech,therearevaguenouns(saypast,present,future),vagueadjectives(saybeautiful,healthy,red)andvaguequantifiers(sayseveral,some,alotof);accordingtotheextensionofvaguelanguage,therearevaguewordswithindefinitetoplimit(e.g.ashortperson,ayoungperson,coldwater),vaguewordswithindefinitelowerlimit(e.g.atallperson,anoldpeople,hotwater)andvaguewordswithbothindefinitetopandindefinitelowerlimit(e.g.amiddlesizedperson,amiddleagedperson,warmwater).Inthispaperwe'11discussthetypesofvaguelanguageatthelinguisticlevel.LinguisticVaguenessVaguenessattheLevelofPhoneticsTheeffectofthiskindofvaguenessoftencomesfromhomophonyorhearingdelusion.Itusuallyappearsinthepuntoachievetheintendedhumor.Forexample:Theprofessortappedonhisdeskandshouted:”Youngmen,Order!”—theentireclassyelled:”Beer!”Translation:教授敲击桌子喊道：你们这些年轻人吆喝(要喝)什么？学生：啤酒。Acannonballtookoffhislegs,sohelaiddownhisarms.Translation:炮弹打断了他的腿，所以他放下了武器(手臂)Herewecansee“Order”meansthattheprofessorasksthestudentstobequiet,butthiswordalsoreferstomenu.Besides,theanswercreatesasortofhumorouseffects.Inthelatterexample,“arms”bothmeansapartofhumanbodyandweapon.VaguenessatthelevelofmeaningThistypeofvaguenessconsistsoffourcategories.Thefirstoneisreferentialvagueness.Itmeansthedenotationoftheworditselfisclear,however,itisdifficulttodecideifitmayindicatesomeobjects.Forinstance,theboundariesbetweenwoodsandforest,hillandmountain,youngandteenageareunclear.Thesecondoneislackofspecification.Itmeanstheworditselfisprecise,butitsmeaningisverygeneral.Takerelativeforexample,itrepresentdifferentpersonswithoutindicatingtheirsexandage.Otherexamplesincludecolleague,friendandclassmateandsoon.Theindeterminacyofmeaningisthethirdtype.Howthewordsofaphrasesorsentencearecombinedisservedasagreatdealforthemeaningofthewholeandthemeaningofawordisnotimmutable.Forexample,Johnislikeafish.ThesentencemeansJohnisagoodswimmerasheswims,hecoulddrinkalotashejoiningapartyandheiscoldwhenfacingdifficulties.Suchcombinationsarenotuncommoninourdailylife.Thefourthisdisjunctionvagueness.Thedisjunctionofthedefinitemeaningcanalsoleadtotheappearanceofsemanticvagueness.Lookatthefollowingexample:Thecandidatesforthepositionhaveeithersaleexperienceorabachelor'sdegreerelatedtomarketing.Itmeansthatatleastoneofthetwopartscombinedby“either...or”shouldbetrue.Thatis,thecandidatesonlyhavesaleexperienceoronlyhaveabachelor'sdegreeorboth.VaguenessattheLevelofGrammarAnylanguage'sgrammarisflexible,EnglishandChineseareofnoexception.Itwouldeasilyleadtosemanticvaguenesswithouttheguidanceoflanguageenvironmentandcontext.Hereweonlydiscusstheuncertaintyresultedfromseveralinterpretationstoonephraseorsentence.Someexamplesareasfollows:Brucewaswritingapoemonanancienttombstone布鲁斯正坐在一块古代的墓碑上写诗布鲁斯正把一首诗写在一块古代的墓碑上布鲁斯正在写一首关于古代墓碑的诗Theycanfishhere他们可以在这钓鱼他们在这做鱼罐头Theformerexamplehasthreeinterpretationsandthelattertwo.Intheformerone,wearenotsurewhichpartofthesentenceismodifiedbytheprepositionalphrase“onanancienttombstone”,sowehavethreetranslationversions.Inthesecondone,wedon'tknowwhether“can”isanauxiliaryoraverb,sowedon'tknowitsrealmeaningunlessincertaincontext.2.3.2.CulturalVaguenessAsweallknow,languageiscloselyandinseparablyrelatedtoculture.Someonehassaid:”Tobebilingual,onemustbebicultural”.Themasteryofvocabularyandgrammarisnotenough.MaoRongguisays:”vaguelanguagepossessesstrongnationalidentity.Itreflectsdifferentcognitivepsychology,cognitivehabitandcognitivemannerofeachnation.”(p238)Thusthestudyoflanguageonlyprovestobeunsuccessfulfinally.Themeaningofonewordmaybedifferentorevenoppositewhenusedindifferedculturalcontext.Sovaguenessoccurs.Forexample,Brightredcostumes,withhats,shoesandstockingstomatch,aretobeallthecrazeinthespring.Smartwomenwillhavetobecarefulnottoyawninthestreetsincasesomeshort-sightedpersonisonhiswaytopostaletter.鲜红的外衣，再加上鲜红的鞋、帽、长袜是春日风行一时的打扮，聪明的女士需谨慎小心，以防双目近视的人正在投邮途中。Itissurethatsomebodyiscompletelyatseaafterhavingreadtheparagraphabove.Theydontunderstandwhywomen“havetobecarefulnottoyawninthestreets”,anddoesithavesomethingtodowiththeshort-sightedperson?OnlyifyouknowthepostboxinBritishisredcanyouunderstandthehumorinit,becausetheshort-sightedpostmanwouldmistakethesewomenforpostboxandputthelettersintheirwide-openedmouth.Ifyoudontknowthebackgroundknowledgeyoucanhardlyconceivethemeaningeventhoughyoureagoodlanguagelearner.FunctionsofVagueLanguageInprevioussections,wehavediscussedthesomenaturesofvaguelanguage.Nowwewillexplorethewaysinwhichspeakersandwritersusevaguelanguage.Howvagueexpressionsaffectourlifeandmakeourconversationsmoreinterestingwillfindanswerinthissection.AccordingtoJ.Channell,therearesixcommunicativeeffectsarisefromusingvagueexpressionsasthefollowing:1)Givingtherightamountofinformation.2)Deliberatelywithholdinginformation.3)Usinglanguagepersuasively.4)Lexicalgaps.5)Lackingspecificinformation.6)Displacement.7)Self-protection.8)Powerandpoliteness.9)Informalityandatmosphere.10)Womenslanguage(Channel194).Whileinthischapterwelldiscussfunctionsfromthreeaspectslikevaguenessandpoliteness,vaguenessandhumor,vaguenessandesthetics.VaguenessandPolitenessTheuseofvaguelanguageshowstheconsiderationofpoliteness.Byusingvaguelanguagespeakerscouldavoidtheexpressionsofdegradingothersorreducethedisagreementofviewswithothers.Besides,speakerscouldalsotrytoavoidthedisapprovalwithothersinemotions.ProfessorWuTiepinghaseverexplainedeuphemismbyusingvaguetheory.Vaguetermscanbeemployedtactfullytorefertopreciseterms.Take“togototoilet”forexample.Inordertoavoidviolatingataboo,theparallelphrasesinEnglishincludethefollowingexpressions,todoonesbusiness,towashoneshands,tospendapenny,todoonesneeds,togotorestroom,etc.foranotherexample,“death”inEnglishcanbereplacedby“depart,passaway,gotoabetterworld,gotooneslonghome,fallasleep,payonesdebttonature,benomore,jointhemajority”etc.thesevaguetermscanachieveeuphemisticandmildpurpose.“IusedtothinkIwaspoor.ThentheytoldmeIwasntpoor;Iwasneedy.Thentheysaiditisself-defeatingtothinkofmyselfasneedy,thatIwasculturallydeprived.Thentheytoldmedeprivedwasabadimage,thatIwasunderprivileged.Thentheytoldmethatunderprivilegedwasoverused,thatIwasdisadvantaged.Istilldonthaveadime.ButIhaveagreatvocabulary.”(JulesFeiffer)Fromcleartovagueandfromsimpletocomplicated,fiveadjectivesallmeanspoor.Poorisdirectandblatant.Disadvantagedisindirectandtactful.Speakersoftenusevagueexpr