Affirmative-vs.-Negative

Affirmativevs.Negative肯定与否定I.NegationinEnglish-ChineseTranslationAssomelinguistshavepointedoutthateverylanguagehasitspeculiaritiesinnegation.Andthereisindeedanimportant,thoughoftenneglected,differencebetweenEnglishandChineseinnegation.Itisadifferenceinthewayofthinkingandinthemodeofspeaking.Forexample:Areyounotgoingtomorrow?No,I’mnotgoing.我认为他不对。Idon’tthinkheiscorrect.我想他不会来了Idon’tthinkhewillcome.Fromtheaboveillustrationswemayseeclearlythatwhatisaffirmativeinforminonelanguagemayoftenmeansomethingnegativeinanother.Generallyspeaking,Englsihnegativewordsandexpressionsfallintothefollowingcategories:1)“Fullnegatives”:no,not,none,never,nothing,nobody,nowhere,neither,nor;2)“Seminegatives”:hardly,scarcely,seldom,barely,few,little,etc.3)“Partialnegatives”:notevery,notall,notboth,notmuch,notmany,notalways,etc.4)“Wordswithnegativeimplication”:fail,without,beyond,until,unless,lest,ignorant,refrain,refuse,neglect,absence,insteadof,otherthan,except,ratherthan,etc.1.1AffirmativeinEnglish,butNegativeinChineseSuchachancewasdeniedtome.(v)我没有得到这样一个机会。Timeiswhatwewantmost,butwhat,alas,manyuseworst.(adv)时间是我们最缺少的，但可叹之至，偏偏许多人最不善于利用。Ihavereadyourarticle.Iexpecttomeetanolderman.(adj)拜读了你的大作，没想到你这么年轻。Itwasbeyondhispowertosignsuchacontract.(prep.)他无权签定这种合同。Theguerrillaswouldratherfighttodeathbeforetheysurrendered.(conj.)游击队员宁愿战斗到死也决不投降。Thecriminalisstillatlarge.(phrase)罪犯还未捉拿归案。Ifitworkedonce,itcanworktwice.(sentence)一次得手，再次不愁。Theproposalwascarriedbyaverynarrowmargin.这项建议差点通不过。Asaplacetolive,itleftmuchtobedesired.作为居住的地方，这里有许多不足之处。Ashesippedhiscoffee,heopenedastilldampmorningpaperandbeganreading.他一面喝咖啡，一面翻开油墨未干的晨报，看了起来。Frost-freerefrigerator无霜冰箱Freeze!别动！1.2NegativeinEnglish,butAffirmativeinChineseThedoubtwasstillunsolvedafterhisrepeatedexplanation.虽经他一再解释，疑团依然存在。Hecarelesslyglancedthroughthenoteandgotaway.他马马乎乎地看了看那张便条就走了。Allthearticlesareuntouchableinthemuseum.博物馆内一切展品禁止触摸。Hemanifestedastrongdislikeforhisfather’sbusiness.他对他父亲的行业表示强烈的厌恶情绪。Don’tlosetimeinpostingthisletter.赶快把这封信寄出去。Suchflightcouldn’tlongescapenotice.这类飞行迟早总会被人发现的。Icouldn’tagreemore.我完全同意。Youcan’tbetoocareful.你要特别小心。Itwasaverydiscreetflatandnotunsuitableforalonelyman.这套房间为孤单人考虑得十分周到，真适合他们居住。Untilrecently,scientistshavebeenunabletodeviseadrillwhichwouldbecapableofcuttingthroughhardrockatgreatdepths.Thisproblemhasnowbeensolved.科学家到目前才设计出一种能穿透坚硬岩石的钻机，达到地壳的深处。此问题现在已经解决了。TheUnitedNationsOrganizationhasnot,sofar,justifiedthehopeswhichthepeopleoftheworldsetonit.到目前为止，联合国辜负了世界人民寄予的期望。1.3SameEnglishWords,withEitherAffirmativeorNegativeEquivalentsinChineseI’mnewtothework.这工作我是生手。（这工作我不熟悉）Heisfreewithhismoney.他花钱大手大脚。（他花钱从不吝啬）Herealizedthathewasintrouble.他意识到遇到麻烦了。（他意识到自己处境不妙）Thestationisnodistanceatall.车站近在咫尺。（车站一点也不远）It’snolessthanafraud.这简直是一场骗局。（这无异于一场骗局）Theworksofartwereleftintact,themoneygone.艺术品还在，钱却不翼而飞。（艺术品原封未动，钱却不翼而飞）1.4DoubleNegativeforEmphasisDoublenegativeinEnglish,asinChinese,isusedforemphasis.Inthiscase,wemayeitherdropboththenegativewordsorkeeptotheoriginal,dependingonwhichversionisidiomaticinChinese.Thereisnorulethathasnoexception.任何规则都有例外。Thereisnotanyadvantagewithoutdisadvantage.有一利必有一弊。Itisimpossiblebutthatamanwillmakesomemistakes.人不会不犯错误。Iamnotreluctanttoacceptyourproposal.你的建议我愿意接受。Itssignificanceandimportancecanneverbeoveremphasized.它的意义和重要性，不管怎样强调，也不算过分。Itneverrainsbutitpours.不雨则已，雨必倾盆。1.5RoundaboutAffirmativeThisisanindirectwayofexpressingastrongaffirmative,andwhentranslatedintoChinese,theemotionoftheoriginalshouldbeproperlykept.Hedidn’thalflikethegirl.他非常喜欢那姑娘。Icouldn’tfeelbetter.我觉得身体好极了。Ifthatisn’twhatIwant!我所要的就是这个呀！Hecan’tseeyouquickenough.他想尽快和你见面。1.6SomeTrapinNegativeStructuresInthepracticeoftranslation,wemayfindnowandthenthatsomenegativestructurescanhardlyberenderedintoChineseliterally,andsometimeseventheiroriginalmeaningcouldbeelusive.Thisiswhereweareliabletomakeblunders.Thefollowingaresometypicalpatternsthatcallforattention.1)not…becauseTheenginedidn’tstopbecausethefuelwasfinished.引擎并不是因为燃料耗尽而停止运转。Don’tscrawlyourworkbecauseyouarepressedfortime.不要因为时间紧而敷衍塞责。Inthatcity,wehadneversuffereddiscriminationbecausewewereJews.我们在那个城市从未因为我们是犹太人而遭受歧视。Thisversionisnotplacedfirstbecauseitissimple.此方案并不因为简易而放在首位。2）cannot…tooTheimportanceoftheconferencecannotbeoverestimated.这次会议的重要性无论怎么强调也不过分。Ishallneverbeabletostresstoomuchforyourkindness.不管我怎么感谢你，都不足以报恩于万一。Youcannotbetoocarefulinproofreading.校对时，越仔细越好。3）all/every…notAllthatglittersisnotgold.发光的不一定都是金子。Allcitiesdidnotlooklikeastheydotoday.在过去，城市并不都象今天这样个个千篇一律。No,everythingisnotstraightenedout.不，并非每一个问题都弄清楚了。4）both…notButyousee,webothcannotgo.但是我告诉你，我们两个不能同时都走。Boththeinstrumentsarenotprecisionones.这两件东西不都是精密仪器。5）for…allYoumayleaveatonceforallIcare.你尽可立即离开，我才不管呢。Heseemedasfreshasever,forallthatIneversawhimdrinkoreat.尽管我从未见到他喝点什么或吃点什么，他似乎仍然精神饱满。6)Itbe+adj.+n.+that…Itisagoodworkmanthatneverblunders.智者千虑，必有一失。Itisalonglanethathasnoend.路必有弯。（凡事总有变化，不会永远不变。）Itisanillwindthatblowsnobodygood