形合意合与翻译

从形合意合谈汉译英

OnC-ETranslation

fromthePerspectiveofHypotaxisandParataxisOutline1

HypotaxisandParataxis2TwoWaysofForminganEnglishSentence

3MajorDifferencesinStructure

4SentenceCombination1WhatareHypotaxisandParataxis?

Ingeneral,hypotaxis

isharmonyinform,and

parataxis

isharmonyinmeaning.1.1Thedefinitionofhypotaxis

Hypotaxis

isthegrammaticalarrangementoffunctionallysimilarbut"unequal"constructs(hypo="beneath",taxis="arrangement"),i.e.,constructsplayinganunequalroleinasentence.Acommonexampleofsyntacticexpressionofhypotaxisissubordination

inacomplexsentence.1.2Thedefinitionofparataxis

Parataxis

isawayofwritingorspeakingthatfavorsshort,simplesentences,withtheuseofcoordinatingratherthansubordinatingconjunctions.(fromGreekfor“actofplacingsidebyside”;Para=beside+tassein=arrange).Itisaliterarytechnique,contrastedwithhypotaxis.

Itisalsousedtodescribeatechniqueinpoetryinwhichtwoimagesorfragmentsarecoordinatedwithoutaclearconnection.Readersarethenlefttomaketheirownconnectionsimpliedbytheparatacticsyntax.EzraPound,inhisadaptationofChineseandJapanesepoetry,madethecoordinationofimagesanimportantpartofEnglishlanguagepoetry.1.3Thethreedevicestoformasentence

Wordsareconnectedinthreewaystoformasentence:syntactical

devices,

lexical

devicesandsemantic

devices.Syntacticaldevicesandlexicaldevicespertaintohypotaxis,and

semanticdevicespertaintoparataxis.Thethreedevicesareusedinalllanguages,butsomeareusedmorefrequentlyinonelanguagethaninotherlanguages.Forexample,syntacticaldevicesandlexicaldevicesareusedmorefrequentlyinEnglishthaninChinese;andsemanticdevicesareusedmorefrequentlyinChinesethaninEnglish.Prof.YangRongguihadaninvestigationofADreaminRedMansionsbycountinghypotaxissentencesinthecorrespondingpartsoftheChineseversionandtheEnglishversion.Accordingtothestatistics,thereareaboutonlyabout28%ofhypotaxissentencesintheChineseversion,andabout97%ofhypotaxissentencesintheEnglishversion.1.4ProfessorWangLi’sargument

AfamouslinguistWangLi(王力)isthefirstChinesescholarwhopresentedtheconceptofhypotaxis

andparataxis.HestatesinChina’sGrammaticalTheory(《中国语法理论》，商务印书馆1945年)thattheyaretwobasicmeanstoformlanguage.Heholdsthathypotaxisisameansbywhich“loose”individualwordsareconnectedinto“concentrated”phraseandfurtherdiscourse(throughthechangeofwordformsandconnectionofwords);parataxisdependsonthemeaning,i.e.theinternallogicrelationshiptoformlanguage.Healsopointsoutthatthetwomeanscoexistinalanguagewithmoreemphasisononethantheother.ParataxisismoreoftenusedinChineseandhypotaxisisnotamust,whilehypotaxisismoreoftenusedinWesternlanguages,inwhichconnectingmeansareindispensibleinmostcases.

ProfessorWangLisays,“ThestructureofWesternlanguagesislikesomethingconnectedbyrings.Thoughtheyareconnected,thetracesoflinkingarevisible.Ontheotherhand,thestructureoftheChineselanguageislikeaseamlessheavenlyrobe,whichispiecedtogetherwithoutanytraces.”TheWesterngrammarishardandinelasticandtheChinesegrammarissoftandelastic.BecausetheWesterngrammarishard,therearemanystiffrequirementsinit,e.g.asubjectisindispensibleinafiniteclause.TheChineselanguageissoft,sothemainpurposeoftheChinesegrammaristoexpressmeaning,e.g.theobjectintheprecedingclausecanbeusedasthesubjectofthefollowingclause.(他买了一辆车，是国产的。)Foranotherexample,tworelevantthingscanbepiecedtogetherwithoutanyconnectivewords.(他买了一辆国产车，我买了一辆进口车。/冬天来了，春天还会远吗？)1.5Otherscholars’opinionsAfamousAmericantheoristoftranslationEugineA.NidapointedoutinTranslatingMeaningin1983,“ThemostimportantcontractbetweenChineseandEnglishis

hypotaxis

and

parataxis.”SomeChinesescholarscompareEnglishsentencestoatoweringtreewithmanybranches,abunchofgrapes,orastringofpearls;theyalsocompareChinesesentencestoabamboo,aplateofpearls,orwavesontheriver.Chinesesentencesareformedmainlybywayof

overtcoherence

(显性连贯)throughmeaning.Englishsentencesareformedmainlybywayofcovert

cohesion(隐性呼应)thoughformativedevices.1.6Registeranddiachronicdifferences

Onthewhole,therearemorehypotaxissentencesinscientific,philosophical,law,andformalofficialwritings.Ontheotherhand,therearemoreparataxissentencesinliterarywritingsanddailyspeech.Diachronically,therearemorehypotaxissentencesinmodernChinesethaninancientChinese.Infact,modernChinesehasbeeninfluencedbyWesternlanguages,especiallyinscientific,philosophical,law,andformalofficialwritings.1.7Advantagesanddisadvantagesofhypotaxisandparataxis

Parataxis

isusedmorefrequentlyinChinese.Therearemoresentenceswithnosubject,sentenceswiththesubjectomitted,moreactivevoicesentences,andfewerconjunctionsinChinesethaninEnglish.Therefore,theChineselanguageismoreconcisebutmorediminstructure.Beingmoreconciseispreferredinliteraryworksanddailyspeech,anditsavestimeandspace,whichisespeciallyimportantintheinformationage.Besides,itisalanguagemoresuitableforpoetry.However,beingdiminstructuresometimesmayleadtovaguenessormisunderstanding,whichshouldbeavoidedinscientific,philosophical,law,andformalofficialwritings.

Ontheotherhand,hypotaxis

isusedmorefrequentlyinEnglish,inwhichpassivevoiceisoftenused,subjectisoftenamust,andconjunctionsandprepositionsarewidelyused.Therefore,Englishismorestrict,clearandlogicalonthesurface,anditisalanguagemoresuitableforscientific,philosophical,law,andformalofficialwritings.However,itisnotasflexibleandelasticastheChineselanguage.Besides,ittakesupmorespacewhenprinted.2TwoWaysofFormingEnglishSentences

Coordination

and

subordination

arewaysofcombiningwords,phrases,andclausesintomorecomplexforms.Thediscussionbelowexaminescoordinationandsubordinationofclauses.2.1Coordination

CoordinationofsentencesisagrammaticalstrategythattheideasintwoormoreINDEPENDENTCLAUSESareequivalentorbalanced.Coordinationcanproduceharmonybybringingrelatedelementstogether.Coordinationuses

coordinatingconjunctions(centralcoordinatorsareand,

but,

and

or)orpunctuation

(mainlysemicolon,colon

and

dash)tocombineshortindependentclausesintoasinglesentence.2.2Subordination

Subordinationisagrammaticalstrategythatoneideainasentenceismoreimportantthananotherideainthesamesentence.Tousesubordination,youplacethemoreimportantideainanINDEPENDENTCLAUSE(finiteclause)andthelessimportant(thesubordinate)ideainaDEPENDENTCLAUSE(finiteclauseornon-finiteclause).Subordinationusessubordinatingconjunctions(conjunctivepronouns,conjunctiveadverbs,relativepronouns,relativeadverbs)(e.g.that,who,what,which,when,where,how,etc.)totransformindependentclauses(mainclauses)intodependentclauses(subordinateclauses).Oritusesinfinitive,-ingparticipleor–edparticipletoformanon-finiteclause(includingabsoluteconstruction).2.3Examplesofcoordinationandsubordinationwithdifferentemphasis

E.g.1.Thegirlcried,andshethrewthegiftoutofthewindow.(Acompoundsentenceorcoordinationgivesequalimportancetobothideas.)

E.g.2.Thegirlcriedasshethrewthegiftoutofthewindow.

(Thesubordinateclausedownplaysthegirl’sthrowingofthegiftoutofthewindowandshowshowtheactionofthrowingthegiftoutofthewindowrelatestotheactionofcrying.)

E.g.3.Thegirlcried,throwingthegiftoutofthewindow.(Theparticipialphrasefurthersubordinatesthegirl’sthrowingofthegiftoutofthewindow.)

E.g.4.Crying,thegirlthrewthegiftoutofthewindow.

(Theparticipialphrasemakestheactionofcryinglessimportantandemphasizestheactionofthrowingthegiftoutofthewindow.)

E.g.5.Thecryinggirlthrewthegiftoutofthewindow.(Adjectivesgivetheleastemphasistothegirl’scrying.)2.4MeaningsinCompoundSentenceswith“and”Timesequence:Heopenedthedoor,and

thenweenteredtherestaurant.Result:Hedroppedtheplateofpastaonmymap,andIletoutacryofpainandhorror.Contrast:

Mysisterorderstea,and

Ialwaystakecoffee.Concession:Therestaurantownerswanttoservegoodfood,andyettheyneverquitegeteverythingright.Condition:Theyhavetolearntomakebettercoffee,and

thenI’llbehappier./Gostraight

and

you’llseeachurch./DothatagainandI’llcallapoliceman."Pure"addition:Theyservepasta,and

theyalsohaveanicerangeofpizzas.Explanation:Theyhaveonlyonechoicetostayinbusiness---and

that'stoimprovebothfoodandserviceimmediately.3MajorDifferencesinStructure3.1Flowing-watersentencesandrun-onsentences（粘连句，不断句）E.g.1.不觉冬去春来，久困思动，今日醒来，阳光照屋，精神为之一振，扔在屋角的包袱一直未曾打开，趁天气晴朗，一把拎了过来，抖出冬天换下的衣裳，上面尚有点点雨渍雪痕，便将它摊在窗前晒起。---《牡丹亭》Beforeverylong,winterpassedandspringarrived.OnedaywhenLiuMengmeiwokeup，hewaspleasedtofindthattheroomfullofsunshine.Hehadlainonthebedforalongtimeandnowfounditbettertogetupandmovearound.Hejumpedupandtookupthebundlewhichhehadthrowninthecorneroftheroommanydaysago.Hiswinterclothesstillhadstainsofrainandsnowandhehungthemupbythewindowtodry.E.g.2.凭窗站了一会,微微的觉得凉意侵入。转过身来,忽然眼花缭乱。Standingatthewindowforawhile,Ifeltabitchilly.AsIturnedround,myeyessuddenlydazzledbeforethebrightlightandcouldnotseethingsdistinctly.E.g.3.在第一章首先讨论了浪漫主义的起源，然后在第二章讨论了浪漫主义的特点。

?Atfirst,theoriginofromanticismisdealtwithinchapterone,thenthecharacteristicsofromanticismarestudiedinchaptertwo.

√

First,theoriginofromanticismisdealtwithinChapterOne,andthenitscharacteristicsarestudiedinChapterTwo.3.2Adverbsorconjunctions?E.g.1.他似乎并不想去，另外他的衣服也不够好。

？Heseemedtohavenodesiretogothere,besides,hisclotheswerenotgoodenough.

√

Heseemedtohavenodesiretogothere;

besides,hisclotheswerenotgoodenough.

√Heseemedtohavenodesiretogothere.Besides,hisclotheswerenotgoodenough.

√

Heseemedtohavenodesiretogothere,and

besides,hisclotheswerenotgoodenough.E.g.2.房价太高，而且地段也不太合适。

？Thepriceistoohigh,moreover,thehouseisn’tinasuitableposition.

√Thepriceistoohigh;

moreover,thehouseisn’tinasuitableposition.

√Thepriceistoohigh.

Moreover,thehouseisn’tinasuitableposition.

√Thepriceistoohigh,andmoreover,thehouseisn’tinasuitableposition.E.g.3.房子对我们来讲不够大，而且离城里太远。

？Thehouseisn’tbigenoughforus,furthermore,itistoofarfromthetown.

√Thehouseisn’tbigenoughforus;

furthermore,itistoofarfromthetown.

√Thehouseisn’tbigenoughforus.

Furthermore,itistoofarfromthetown.

√

Thehouseisn’tbigenoughforus,and

furthermore,itistoofarfromthetown.E.g.4.她说是这样的，可是她错了。

？Shesaiditwasso,however,shewasmistaken.

√Shesaiditwasso;

however,shewasmistaken.

√

Shesaiditwasso.

However,shewasmistaken.

√Shesaiditwasso,

but

shewasmistaken.

（nevertheless与此同）E.g.5.一方面你收了她的礼物，另一方面你对全家都不礼貌。

？Ononehandyouhaveacceptedherpresents,ontheother(hand)youarerudetothewholefamily.

√

Ontheonehandyouhaveacceptedherpresents;

ontheother(hand)youarerudetothewholefamily.

√Ontheonehandyouhaveacceptedherpresents.Ontheother(hand)youarerudetothewholefamily.

√Ontheonehandyouhaveacceptedherpresents,butontheother(hand)youarerudetothewholefamily.E.g.6.下雨了，比赛取消了。

？Itrained，thereforethegamewascalledoff.

√Itrained;

thereforethegamewascalledoff.

√Itrained.Thereforethegamewascalledoff.

√

Itrained,so

thegamewascalledoff.E.g.7.他不努力，挂科了。

？

Hedidn’tstudyhard,thusfailedthetest.

√Hedidn’tstudyhard,andthus

failedthetest.E.g.8.他们聊了一会儿，然后上班去了。

？Theychattedforawhile,thentheywenttowork.√Theychattedforawhileand

then

wenttowork.3.3WithconjunctionsandwithoutconjunctionsE.g.1.他不来信，我不回信。

Because

hedoesn’twritetome,Idon’t/won’twriteback.Hedoesn’twritetome,and/so

Idon’twritebacktohim.E.g.2.要提倡科学，靠科学才有希望。

Wemustpromotescience,for

thatiswhereourhopelies.E.g.3.善欲人见，不是真善；恶恐人知，便是大恶。Agooddeedisnogooddeedifitisdoneforshow.Anevilisalltheworseif

itiscoveredup.E.g.4.车未停稳，请勿上下。

Nevergetonoroffthebusbefore

itcomestoastandstill．E.g.5.你来了，我走。

If

youcome,I’llleave.

When

youcome,I’llleave.

Since

youhavecome,I’mleaving.3.4Topic-prominentorsubject/objectprominentE.g.1.全国到处都在兴建新工厂。

?

Thewholecountryisbuildingnewfactories.

√

Newfactoriesarebeingbuilt

alloverthecountry.E.g.2.刚才校门口发生了一起交通事故。？Theschoolgatehappenedatrafficaccidentjustnow.√

Atrafficaccidenthappenedattheschoolgatejustnow.E.g.3.三十年来中国发生了巨大的变化。

？

Chinahastakenplacedgreatchangesinthelast30years.

√

GreatchangeshavetakenplacedinChinainthelast30years.E.g.4.听到这个消息，她的手都在发抖。？Hearingthenews,herhandsweretrembling.√Whensheheardthenews,herhandsweretrembling.E.g.5.往窗外一看，有几个学生在打篮球。

？

Lookingoutofthewindow,thereweresomestudentsplayedbasketball.

√Lookingoutofthewindow,Isawsomestudentsplayingbasketball.E.g.6.首先讨论了浪漫主义的起源，最后讨论了浪漫主义的影响。?At

Firstdiscussestheoriginofromanticism,atlastdealswiththeinfluenceofromanticism.√

First,theoriginofromanticismisdiscussed,andfinally/intheend

itsinfluenceisdealtwith.E.g.7.不了解中国的第一手资料是一大遗憾。

?DonotknowChinafirsthandisagreatpity.

√ItisagreatpitythatyoudonotknowChinafirsthand.

√

That

youdonotknowChinafirsthandisagreatpity.

√NotknowingChinafirsthandisagreatpity.E.g.8.酒不喝了。

Idon’tfeellikedrinkinganymore.E.g.9.只有勤奋才能取得好成绩。Agoodscoredependsondiligence.E.g.10.今天食堂吃饺子。

Jiaoziareservedinthecanteen

today.E.g.11.叉子不好吃。

Ican’teatwellwithafork.E.g.12.从历史上看，每个时代的人类互不相同，没有所谓共同的“人性”。

Anexaminationofthehistoryofhumanitysuggestedthatmaninourepochissodifferentfrommaninprevioustimesthatitseemedunrealistictoassumethatmenineveryagehavehadincommonsomethingthatcanbecalled“humannature”.E.g.13.他开车心不在焉，几乎肇事。Hisabsentmindduringthedrivingnearlycausedanaccident.E.g.14.午夜空气凉爽，她又振作了精神。Thecoolmidnightairrestoredherspirits.E.g.15.欲购从速。

Wastenotimeifyou

wanttobuyit.E.g.16.电影糟透了，劝你别看。

？

Filmisverybad,Iadviseyounotsee.

√The

filmisverybad,and

Iadviseyounotseeit.

√

The

filmissobadthatIadviseyounotseeit.3.5MarkednounsorunmarkednounsE.g.1.马是有用的动物。

？

Horseisusefulanimal.

√

Ahorseisa

usefulanimal.

√

Horses

areusefulanimals.

√

Thehorseisausefulanimal.E.g.2.我每天早上都一样，洗脸，刷牙，吃早点，然后去上班。

？

Iamthesameeveryday,washface,brushteeth,havebreakfast,thengotowork.

√

Everydayisthesametome:Iwashmy

face,brush

my

teeth,havemy

breakfast,

andthen

gotowork.E.g.3.他到图书馆借书去了。

？

Hehasgonetothelibrarytoborrowbook.

√Hehasgonetothelibrarytoborrow

a

book/somebooks.4SentenceCombinationTherearethreemajorwaystocombinedifferentpartsintoonesentence.

1.Usingcoordinators

suchas“and,or,but…”.

2.Usingsubordinators

suchas“when,which,who,what,whose,that,when,where,…”.3.Using

non-finite

forms.

Thefollowingisadiagramtoshowhowasentencecanbeconstructed.Example:我坐在椅子上看电视。原句：Isatinthechair.IwatchedTV.合句：1.Isatinthechairand

watchedTV.2.Isatinthechairwhen

IwatchedTV.3.Isatinthechair,watching

TV.Exercises:1.WaldenPondisnowthesiteofmanytouriststands.ItwasoncepraisedbyThoreauforitsnaturalbeauty.2.Jimstoodinfrontofthemirror.Helookedathisimage.Hewonderedatthebigchange.Ithadcomeoverhiminrecentyears.3.Hespreadarumourthatthepresidentwasgoingtoresign.Therumourledtoagreatconfusioninthecountry.4.Stamp-collectingisoneofthemostcommonformsofcollecting.Stamp-collectingisahobby.Manypeoplecarryonthehobbyforyearsandsomepeopleforlife.5.Theastronautslearntsomething.Whattheylearntwashowtodealwithanenvironment.

Intheenvironmentthereisneitherweightnorgravity.6. Thesteepsurroundingslopeswerecappedwithsnow.Thesnowfedtwostreams.Thesestreamsplungeddowntojoininthevalleybelow.7.

Tomcametothepartyinpatchedjeans.Thissurprisedtheotherguests.Mostoftheguestswerewearingeveningdress.8. TelevisioncanhelpustoseethepatternofAmericanlife.Televisioncanhelpustounderstandtheevents.Theeventscanuniteusordivideus.9.

Philipreachedinhispocket.Philippulledoutapieceofpaper.Onthepaperhehadwrittendownthetitleofthebook.Hewassupposed