Unit 12长句翻译 Long Sentences.ppt

1、Unit 12 Long Sentences,1,I. Long Sentences in English-Chinese Translation,The translation of the long sentence is perhaps the most difficult of all in the process of English-Chinese translation. The prerequisites for the correct handling of long and complex sentences in English-Chinese translation l

2、ie in the translators correct comprehension of the original, and in his /her capability for adequeate representation of the thought of the author in the target language.,2,I. Long Sentences in English-Chinese Translation,Correct comprehension, therefore, is always the first and foremost step; and th

3、e dialectical unity of faithfulness and smoothness is always what we should strive to achieve. This means we have to begin with a careful analysis of a long and complex sentence in the light of the context so as to understand clearly: (1) What the author is driving at; (2) what his argument or view

4、are, and what logic sequence there is in the original; (3) what grammatical relations there are among the three, four, five, or even more “modifiers” in the long sentence to be translated.,3,1. Two stages and five steps,The process of translating a typical English long sentence generally consists of

5、 two stages which may be subdivided into five steps. Stage 1 Comprehension Step 1: presenting the long sentence in a skeleton form Step 2: inferring the main idea from the context and the whole text Step3: distinguishing between the principal and subordinate elements and find out the interrelations

6、between principal and subordinate clauses,4,1. Two stages and five steps,Stage 2 Presentation Step 4: entering on a tentative translation of each sentence division Step 5: rearrangement and finishing touches,5,II. Methods of Translating Long English Sentences,In the practice of translation, a number

7、 of methods have been created to tackle long and complex English sentences. For example, translating in original sequence or in reverse order, translating by division or by synthesis or (combination). For the convenience of explanation, these approaches may be broken down into specific methods or te

8、chniques, such as embedding, cutting, splitting, inserting, recasting, etc.,6,1. Embedding (嵌入法）,Embedding means placing the modifiers ( including phrases and clauses ) before the word being modified, thus the modifiers are embedded between the predicate verb and the object to be modified. This is q

9、uite opposite to the English sentence order in which modifiers longer than two words usually take the postposition. The preposition embedding makes the Chinese version compact and coherent, and consequently, it is often adopted in the translation of attributive and appositive clauses.,7,1. Embedding

10、,In the meantime, a growing China has started to help solve global problems, from support for the government of Afghanistan to the fight against AIDS. 同时，日益强大的中国已经开始帮助解决从支持阿富汗政府到抗击艾滋病之类的全球性问题。 This is no class war, but a war in which the whole British Empire and Commonwealth of Nations is engaged, w

11、ithout distinction of race, creed, or party. 这不是一场阶级之间的战争，而是一场不分种族，不分信仰，不分党派，整个大英帝国及其联邦全体成员国无不参加的战争。,8,1. Embedding,Congress has made laws requiring most pressure groups to give information about how much they spend and how they spend it, the amount and sources of funds, membership, and names and sa

12、laries of their representatives. 国会已制定法律，要求大部分压力集团呈报他们花费了多少钱，怎样花的，以及款项的总额和来源，成员人数，代表的姓名和薪金等情况。,9,1. Embedding,Occasionally, clauses functioning as adverbials of cause, condition, premise, etc. may also be translated by means of embedding: In 1970, he was placed under house arrest when he refused to

13、use massive force in suppressing worker riots on the seacoast. 1970年他因拒绝使用武力大规模镇压沿海城市的工人骚乱而被软禁。,10,2Dividing (切分法）,Dividing is the most effective method to tackle long and complicated sentences. By means of dividing, we may break up a long English sentence into different parts according to its sense

14、 groups, and then translate each part one by one into Chinese.,11,2. Dividing,Human beings have distinguished themselves from other animals, and in doing so ensured their survival, by the ability to observe and understand their environment and then either to adapt to that environment or to control a

15、nd adapt it to their own needs. 人类把自己和其他动物区别开来。与此同时，人类还具有观察和了解周围环境的能力。他们要么适应环境，要么控制环境，或根据自身的需要改造环境。人类就这样一代代的生存下来。,12,2. Dividing,Plastics are made from water which is a natural resource inexhaustible and available everywhere, coal which can be mined through automatic and mechanical processes at less

16、 cost and lime which can be obtained from the calcinations of limestone widely present in nature. 塑料是由水，煤和石灰制成的。水是取之不尽到处可以获得的天然资源；煤是用自动化和机械化的方法开采的，成本比较低；石灰是由煅烧自然界中广泛存在的石灰石得来的。,13,3. Splitting （拆分法）,By splitting we mean taking certain elements ( clause, phrase, or word) out of a sentence and treating

17、 them separately. This technique is usually adopted when both cutting and embedding fail to work owing to the different ways of expressions between Chinese and English. （1）Splitting a Single Word An outsiders success could even curiously help two parties to get the agreement they want.说来奇怪，一个局外人取得的成

18、功竟然能够促进双方达到一项他们希望取得的协议。 The number of the young people in the United States who cant read is incredibleabout one in four.大约有1/4的美国青年人没有阅读能力，这简直令人难以置信。,14,3. Splitting,（2） Splitting Phrases My mother, Jane Lampton Clements, died in her 88th year, a mighty age for one who at 40 was so delicate of body

19、 as to be accounted a confirmed invalid destined to pass soon away. 我的母亲简.兰谱顿.克莱门斯是在她八十八岁那年去世的。这对于一位四十岁时就身体纤弱，被公认有痼疾缠身，注定不久于人世的人来说，是难得的高龄。,15,3. Splitting,（3）Splitting Clauses or Absolute Construction. This land, which once barred the way of weary travelers, now has become a land for winter and summ

20、er vocations, a land of magic and wonder. 这个地方现在已经成了冬夏两季的休假胜地，风光景物，蔚为奇观；而从前，精疲力竭的旅游者只能到此止步。,16,4. Inserting （插入法）,By inserting here we mean putting some additional punctuation marks such as dash, parenthesis, colon, etc., in a long and complex sentence so as to make the Chinese version both clear an

21、d smooth. So far as idiomatic Chinese is concerned, the inserting part should be restricted in length ( approximately within 20 Chinese characters ), otherwise, it would be incongruous（不一致） with Chinese usage.,17,4. Inserting （插入法）,The second aspect is the application by all members of society from

22、the government official to the ordinary citizen, of the special methods of thought and action that scientists use in their work. 第二个方面是全体社会成员（从政府官员到普通公民）都使用科学家们在他们工作中所采用的那种特殊的思考方法和行为方法。 (inserting parentheses),18,4. Inserting,Only through the intellectual activities of logical thinking such as judgm

23、ent, inference, deduction, induction, synthesis and sublimation etc., namely a process of discarding the dross and selecting the essential and eliminating the false and retaining the true, can perceptual cognition be elevated to the level of conceptual cognition. 只有通过逻辑思维的智力活动，如判断，推理，演义，归纳，综合，升华等去粗取

24、精，去伪存真的过程，感性认识才能上升到理性认识的水平。(inserting a dash),19,4. Inserting,If you go to visit Nobels old residence, the house in which the great chemist remained a bachelor throughout his life, you will catch sight of a shelf laden with experimental records. 如果你参观诺贝尔的故居在那座房子里，这位伟大的化学家过了一辈子的独身生活你将会看到一个堆满实验记录的书架。（

25、inserting two dashes）,20,5. Recasting or rearrangement,Recasting, also called synthesis, is considered the most difficult technique of all for a translator to grasp. This method is used when all the above-mentioned techniques fail to work well. Recasting entails skillful control over both the Englis

26、h and Chinese languages on the part of the translator, who, on the basis of accurate comprehension of the original, should flexibly adjust or rearrange it without considering the original sentence structure. In other words, the translator should convey the idea of the original to the reader in his o

27、wn way.,21,Recasting,The saga of the White Star Liner Titanic, which struck an iceberg and sank on its maiden voyage in 1912, carrying more than 1500 passengers to their death, has been celebrated in print and on film, in poetry and song. 白星公司班轮“泰坦尼克号”在1912年的处女航中因撞上冰山而沉没，致使船上1500多名乘客罹难。此后关于它的轶事传闻就一直

28、成为各种刊物、电影以及诗歌、歌曲的内容而广为流传。,22,5. Recasting,But without Adolf Hitler, who was possessed of a demoniac personality, a granite will, uncanny instincts, a cold ruthlessness, a remarkable intellect, a soaring imagination anduntil toward the end, when drunk with power and success, he overreached himselfan

29、amazing capacity to size up people and situations, there almost certainly would never have been a Third Reich. 然而，如果没有阿道夫.希特勒那就几乎可以肯定不会有第三帝国。因为阿道夫.希特勒有着恶魔般的性格，花岗石般的意志，不可思议的本能，无情的冷酷，杰出的智力，深远的想象力以及对人和时局惊人的判断力。这种判断力最后由于权利和胜利冲昏了头脑而自不量力，终于弄巧成拙。,23,5. Recasting,What the New Yorker would find missing is wh

30、at many outsiders find oppressive and distasteful about New Yorkits rawness, tension, urgency; its bracing competitiveness; the rigor of its judgment; and the congested (熙熙攘攘) democratic presence of so many other New Yorkers encased (兼容) in their own world. 纽约的粗犷，紧张，那种急迫感和催人奋发的竞争性，它的是非观念之严酷无情，纽约市的那种

31、各色人等熙熙攘攘，兼容并蓄与各自天地之中的格局，这一切都使那些非纽约人高到厌恶和窒息；而这一切， 有正是纽约人所眷恋的。,24,III. Long Sentences in Chinese-English Translation,Long sentence translation is also a headache for the translator in Chinese-English translation. Since there is a great disparity between Chinese and English sentence structures, we shou

32、ld learn to tackle them discriminatingly. The typical example is four-character expression, a very prevalent phenomenon in Chinese to achieve rhythmic effect. Sometimes, when the original Chinese is too meticulous（过分注意细节的）, we may simplify the structure by using simple sentences, laying stress on th

33、e subject and the predicate verb.,25,Long Sentences in Chinese-English Translation,The usual method of translating long Chinese sentences is dividing, i.e. cutting the long sentence into several sections regardless of the punctuation marks. Before dividing a long Chinese sentence, the most urgent ta

34、sk for a translator is to discern the main idea and the subordinate ones, taking the structure of the whole sentence into consideration. By doing so we may find layers of meaning from the overlapped structure and then divide the sentence into separate sections. Actually, a long Chinese sentence may

35、be divided into two, three, or even more short sentences, which makes it easy,26,Long Sentences in Chinese-English Translation,一定要言行一致，理论和时间密切结合，反对华而不实和任何虚夸， 少说空话，多做工作，扎扎实实， 埋头苦干。 Deed and word must match and theory and practice must be closely integrated. We must reject flashiness without substance

36、 and every sort of boasting. There must be less empty talk and more hard work. We must be steadfast and dedicated.,27,Long Sentences in Chinese-English Translation,国家指定方针政策，必须考虑全局利益和长远发展，又要照顾不同地区，不同行业的特点；地方要充分发挥各自的积极性，又必须服从国家全局和长远发展的需要。In formulating any principles and policies, the government must

37、consider not only the overall interests of the country and its long-term development but also the characteristics of each region and industry. Local governments should gibe full expression to their own initiative while subordinating,28,Long Sentences in Chinese-English Translation,年岁不好，柴米又贵；这几件旧衣服和旧家伙，当的当了，卖的卖了；只靠者我替人家做些针生活寻来的钱，如何供得你读书？ Times are hard, and fuel and rice are expensive. Our old cloth and our few sticks of furniture have been pawned or sold. We have nothing to live on but what I make by my sewing. How can I pay for your schooling ?,29,Long Sentences in Chinese-English Translati