language--Culture--and-Translating

Language,Culture,andTranslatingEugeneA.Nida姓名：谢碧原班级：外国语言文学13级2班BriefIntroductionLanguage,Culture,andTranslatinghasitsorigininaseriesoflecturesontranslatinggivenattheSISUinthespringof1989andlaterthatsameyearattheMauriceThorezInstituteofLanguagesandTranslatinginMoscow.Theapproachisessentiallypractical,althoughtheprincipaltheoriesoftranslatingarediscussedinChapter10.Thisbookhasfourmainemphases:(1)theneedtounderstandthoroughlythesourcetext,(2)thecloserelationbetweenlanguageandculture,(3)thenecessitytofocusattentiononstyleanddiscourse,and(4)therelevanceofinsightscomingfromseveraldifferentdisciplines.(1)Theneedtounderstandthoroughlythesourcetext:Sinceamajorityoffailuresintranslatingseeminglyresultfromaninadequateunderstandingofthetextinthesourcelanguage,threechaptersaregiventodescribethecrucialsemanticandformalfeaturesoflexemes(wordsandidioms),syntax,anddiscourse.(2)Thecloserelationbetweenlanguageandculture:Theroleoflanguagewithinacultureandtheinfluenceofthecultureonthemeaningofwordsandidiomsaresopervasivethatscarcelyanytextcanbeadequatelyunderstoodwithoutcarefulconsiderationofitsculturalbackground.(3)Thenecessitytofocusattentiononstyleanddiscourse:Certainmistakesinterminologyandgrammarcanbeforgiven,butafailuretoreflectthespiritanddynamicofasourcedocumentisa“mortalsin”.(4)Therelevanceofinsightscomingfromseveraldifferentdisciplines:Manypeopleassumethattheonlyprerequisitesfortranslatingareabilingualdictionary,anexhaustiveencyclopedia,andanabilitytospeakandwritetwolanguages.Butabilitytotranslatealsodependsonanumberofveryimportantinsightswhichcomedirectlyorindirectlyfromseveraldifferentdisciplines,e.g.culturalanthropology,linguistics,psychology,communicationtheory,andliteraryanalysis.Itistheinterdisciplinaryapproachtointerlingualcommunicationwhichcontributesthemajornewinsightsforeffectivetranslatingandinterpreting.Chapter1.ParadoxesofTranslating;Chapter2.TheFunctionsandTheoriesofLanguage;Chapter3.TheStructuresofLanguage;Chapter4.TheStructuresandMeaningofLexemes;Chapter5.TheStructuresandMeaningofSyntax;Chapter6.TheStructuresandMeaningofDiscourse;Chapter7.LanguageandCulture;Chapter8.FunctionalEquivalence;Chapter9.TranslationProcedures;Chapter10.TheoriesofTranslation;ContentsChapter1.ParadoxesofTranslating1.Mostpersonsassumethatliteralnessintranslatingmeansfaithfulnesstothetext;InEnglish,e.g.therepetitionofawordusuallyimpliesemphasis,butnotinBahasaIndonesia,whererepetitiononlysignalsplurality.2.Translatingisvalidbutparaphraseiswrong;InEnglish,aswellasinmostotherEuropeanlanguages,onespeaksofthe“heart”asbeingthecenterofemotions,butinmanylanguagesinWestAfricaaperson“loveswiththeliver”andinsomeoftheindigenouslanguageofCentralAmericapeopletalkabout“lovingwiththestomach”.Soherecomestheconclusion:sincelanguagesdonotdifferinwhattheycansay,butinhowtheysayit,paraphraseisinevitable.Whatisimportantisthesemanticlegitimacyoftheparaphrase.Chapter1.ParadoxesofTranslating3.Translatorshouldfirstproduceamoreorlessliteralrenderingofthesourcetextandthenproceedtoimproveitstylistically.Styleisnotthefrostingonthecake,butanintegralpartoftheprocessofinterlingualcommunication.Itmustbebuiltintothetextrightfromthebeginning.Itisusuallybettertoaimfirstatastylisticallysatisfactoryrenderingofthesourcetextandthenreviewitcarefullyto“tightenitup”byanalyzingandtestingthecorrespondences.Afewerrorsinthecorrespondencesoflexicalmeaningaremuchmoreexcusablethanmissingthespiritandaestheticcharacterofthesourcetext.Chapter1.ParadoxesofTranslating4.Sincetranslatingisaskillwhichgenerallyrequiresconsiderablepractice,mostpeopleassumethatitcanbetaught.Toanextent,thisistrue.Butitisalsotruethatreallyexceptionaltranslatorsareborn,notmade.Potentialtranslatorsmusthaveahighlevelofaptitudeforthecreativeuseoflanguage,ortheyarenotlikelytobeoutstandingintheirprofession.“Buttheresultsofmachinetranslatingareusuallyinanunnaturalformoflanguageandsometimesjustplainweird.Humantranslatorswillalwaysbenecessaryforanytextwhichisstylisticallyappealingandsemanticallycomplex.”Themostdifficulttexttotranslateisoneinwhichthespeakerorwriterhasattemptedtosaynothing.Chapter1.ParadoxesofTranslating5.Thereisneveracompletelyperfectortimelesstranslation.Bothlanguageandculturearealwaysintheprocessofchange.Furthermore,languageisanopensystemwithoverlappingmeaningsandfuzzyboundaries——thebaneoflogiciansbutthedelightofpoets.Theindeterminacyoflanguageispartofthepricethatmustbepaidforcreativityandforthenewinsightswhichcomethroughsymbolicreinterpretationofhumanexperience.6.Apersonwhoknowstwolanguageswellcanbeagoodtranslator.Knowingtwolanguagesisnotenough.Itisalsoessentialtobeacquaintedwiththerespectivecultures——oneoftheimportantreasonsforthetitleofthisbooklanguage,Culture,andTranslating.Theparadoxesoftranslatingarebasically…oflanguageandculture.Chapter7.LanguageandCulture.Sincecultureisdefinedsuccinctlyas“thetotalityofbeliefsandpracticesofasociety,”nothingisofgreaterstrategicimportancethanthelanguagethroughwhichitsbeliefsareexpressedandtransmittedandbywhichmostinteractionofitsmemberstakesplace.Therelationbetwee