直译和意译Literal_Translation_And_Free_Translation

1ATouchOnLiteralTranslationAndFreeTranslation1.IntroductionTranslationisapopularhottopicamongEnglishmajorstudents,theliteraltranslationandfreetranslationaretwobasicmethods.Theliteraltranslationemphasizesthecorrespondenceofbothcontentandform,inotherwordsitmeansreflectingtheoriginalnotonlyincontentbutinform.Ontheaspectoffreetranslation,itpaysmoreattentiontotheconsistencyofthemeanspiritthanformandliteralcontent.Thefinalpurposeofbothmethodsisexpressingtheoriginalideologicalcontentandstylefaithfully.It’sofgreatsignificancefortranslatorstomasterthetwokindsoftranslationskillsandcombinethemintheworkoftranslation.2.LiteralTranslation2.1DefinitionLiteraltranslationstrivestoreproduceboththeideologicalcontentandthestyleofentireliteraryworkandretainasmuchaspossiblethefiguresofspeechandthemainsentencestructuresorpatterns.ContemporaryAmericantranslatorNidaoncesaid”Translationmeanstranslatingmeaning.”Expressingthemeaningoforiginaltextcompletelyandcorrectlyandretainingtheoriginallanguageform(words,sentencestructure,rhetoric,etc.).Meanwhilethetranslationworkisaccessibleandaccordingwiththelanguagestandard.Thiskindoftranslationmethodiscalledliteraltranslation.2.2ApplicationIntheliteraltranslation,faithfultotheoriginalcontentshouldbeinthefirstplace.Thesecondistotheoriginalformandthethirdisthefluencyandpopularityoftranslatedlanguage.2.2.1Literaltranslationisacommonlyusedmethodoftranslation.Intranslationpractice,generally,theliteraltranslationisthemain.Becauseinmany2cases,literaltranslationnotonlycankeeptheoriginalcontentandspiritaccuratelybutalsoavoidmakingreadersmisunderstandingcausedbyimproperparaphrasing.Aslongasitcanreflectthecontentoftheoriginalanddoesnotviolatethelanguageexpressionhabit,theliteraltranslationshouldbeconsideredfirstly.SomeEnglishidiomsareoftentranslatedwiththismethodsuchas:“Bloodisthickerthanwater.”血浓于水“Godhelpsthosewhohelpthemselves.天助自助者2.2.2LiteraltranslationmustbefaithfultotheoriginalLiteraltranslationemphasizestheimportanceofbeingfaithfultotheoriginalaswellasthefaithfulness,expressivenessandelegance.AndbecauseEnglishandChinesehavedifferentstructure,itisnotautomaticallytranslatedwordbyword.Literaltranslationshouldnotonlyelucidatetheoriginalmeaningfullyandaccuratelybutalsocannothaveanydistortionoraddordeletetheoriginalthoughts.Atthesametime,itshouldmaintaintheoriginalstyle,andsometimeseventhemoodorfeelingcan’tbeignored.2.2.3LiteraltranslationhaslimitationLiteraltranslationisnoteverything.Ifthetranslationoverthelimitandjustmechanicallycomplywiththeoriginalwords,phrases,sentenceorderandthesurfacemeaning.Theresultmaybethetranslationfailstocoveythemeaning.Suchas:Hehasanaxetogrind.”Thephrasemeans”Hehasulteriormotives”.Itcan’tbeunderstoodiftranslatedwiththemethodofliteraltranslation.Fromthisaspect,wecan’talwaysusetheliteraltranslationtosolveproblems.Inthissituationthefreetranslationworks.3.Freetranslation3.1DefinitionFreetranslationisasupplementarymeanstomainlyconveythemeaningandspiritoftheoriginalwithouttryingtoreproduceitssentencepatternsorfiguresofspeech.Thetranslatormustunderstandtheoriginalmeaningandexpressthemeaningwiththeidiomaticlanguage.Freetranslationworksfromtheperspectiveoftheoriginalideaandpaylittleattentiontothedetailsaslongasthetranslationisnaturalflow.Freetranslationdonotemphasizestheoriginalform,includingsyntaxstructure,words,metaphorandotherrhetoric.Ofcourse,free3translationisnotrandomtranslation,itrequiresthecorrectexpressionoforiginalcontentbutdon’tneedtosticktotheoriginalform.Inotherwords,freetranslationrequiresvividnotjustsimilartotheoriginalform.Suchas:“Wherethereisawillthereisaway.”有志者事竟成“Greatmindsthinkalike.”英雄所见略同Andthesekindofphrasesifjusttranslatefromthesurfacemeaningmaybesuperficialandevenpuzzling.3.2Application3.2.1FreetranslationfocusonreproducingtheoriginalideasIntheactualtranslation,sometimesforthesameideologicalcontent,thetwolanguagesofEnglishandChinesetablehavegreatdifferences.Theexpressionswhichadjusttotheoriginalwordsmaybedifficulttoreproducetheoriginalideasaccurately.Inthissituationthemethodoffreetranslationshouldbeused.Suchas:“Wealllookforwardtothedaywhensimplemedicaltestcanfindcancerwhileitisstillsmall.”istranslatedinto人们期望有朝一日用一种简便的检验方法发现早期的癌症。3.2.2Freetranslationshouldn’tbeconstrainedbytheoriginalformanddetailsInthetranslation,ifcan’tusetheoriginalstructureandformsofexpressionthenwiththemethodoffreetranslationcanchangethesentencepatternsandexpressionstoconveytheoriginalmeaning.Becausetheoriginallanguageandthetranslatedsentencesaredifferentingrammar,wordorderandrhetoric,theoriginalmeaningandeffectcanonlybasedontheproperwayoftranslation.Inthetranslationprocesstomakethelanguageclearandconvincingandconformtothelanguagehabitsthetranslatormusttrytocomplywiththelanguageofthecustomsandthecorrectusageinsteadofadheringtotheoriginalpatternsofexpressionmechanically.3.2.3FreetranslationcanembodythenationallanguagefeaturesFreetranslationmainlyusedinthesituationthatthelanguageandtargetlanguagehavehugeculturaldifferences.Fromtheinterculturallanguagecommunicationandcultural4exchange'sp