第十讲：句子翻译中的语序问题

Translationskill----Restructuringwithinthesentence句内语序的调整I.DifferentwordorderinEnglishandChineseInthepracticeofEnglishChinesetranslation,weoftenhavetoadjustorrearrangethewordorderonaccountofthedifferentsyntaxofthesetwolanguages.Forinstance,inEnglishattributivephrasesandclausesusuallyfollowthewordsbeingmodified(antecedents),whereasinChinesesuchphrasesandclausesalwaysprecedesthewordsbeingmodified.Mostoftheinformationwehavegotisthroughthatchannel.Thesequenceofeventsisalsodifferent.Hisaddressis3612MarketStreet,Philadelphia,PA.19104,USA.(Pennsylvania)他的地址是美国宾夕法尼亚州费城市场街3612号，邮编19104。Thesequenceoftheadverbialsoftimeandplaceisdifferent.AdverbialofmannersMyunclepassedawayinhospitalat2:30a.m.onSeptember12,2003.PossessivepronounsandpersonalpronounscanprecedethepersoninEnglish.Chineseisdifferent.ThefearthattheirportwouldloseitsimportancealsoworriedthepeopleofBaltimore.Youngasheis,thelittleboyhaslearnedalot.Besides,thereareninetypesofinversionsofarasgrammaticalrelationsareconcernedaccordingtosomelinguists.Interrogative,imperativeandexclamatoryinversionsHypotheticalinversion:假设倒装Hadyoucomeyesterday,youcouldhaveseenhimhere.Balanceinversion:平衡倒装Throughagapcameanelaboratelydescribedray.Linkinversion:衔接倒装Onthisdependsthewholeargument.整个争论都以此为论据。Signpostinversion：点题倒装Bystrategyismeantsomethingwider.战略（策略）的意义比较广Negativeinversion：否定倒装Notaworddidhesay.Metricalinversion:韵律倒装Aspantsthehart(雄鹿)forcoolingstreams.Pantfor:longfor2.RestructuringinEnglish-Chinesetranslation1)theorderofclausesinEnglishandChineseEnglishsentencesaregenerallyboundbysyntacticalrules,andtheyareoftenarrangedinorderofimportance;whileChinesesentencesaremoreflexible,andusuallyarrangedaccordingtothesequenceoftime.AndwhenEnglishishead-focus,Chinesetendstobeend-focus.1.WehadbeendismayedathomewhilereadingofthenaturalcalamitiesthatfollowedoneafteranotherfrothreeyearsafterweleftChinain1959.我们于1959年离开了中国。此后，中国连续三年遭到自然灾害。当我们在自己国内读到这方面的消息时，心情颇为沉重。2.Rocketresearchhasconfirmedastrangefactwhichhadalreadybeensuspectedthatthereisa“high-temperaturebelt”intheatmosphere,withitscenterroughlythirtymilesabovetheground.人们早就怀疑大气层中有一个“高温带”，其中心在距地面约30英里高的地方。利用火箭加以研究后，这一奇异的事实已经得到了证实。2)theorderofsubordinateclausesinacomplexsentenceAdverbialclausesofcondition,purpose,concessionorcause,etcnormallyhaveaprecedingpositioninChinese.3．Withallhiseffortshefailedatlast.不管他怎么努力，最后还是失败了。4．Thegovernmentisdeterminedtokeepupthepressurewhateverthecostitwillpayintheend.不论最终将付出什么代价，政府决心继续施加压力。3）thepositionofexpressionsexpressingjudgmentorconclusionWhena“that”clause,expressingajudgmentorconclusion,isusedtogetherwiththeformalsubject“it”,restructuringisoftencalledforinChinesetranslation.Besides,theadverbialexpressingjudgmentinEnglishisusuallyend-positionedinChinesetranslation.5．ItwasakeendisappointmentthatIhadtopostponethevisitIhadintendedtopaytoChinainJanuary.我原打算今年1月访问中国，后来不得已推迟，这是使我深感失望。6.IbelieveequallythatitisintheinterestsoftheworldasawholethatEuropeshouldincreasinglyuniteandspeakwithacommonvoice.我同样认为，欧洲应该日益团结，并用一个共同的声音说话，这是符合全世界的利益的。7．ItwasreallyamysterytotheneighborsthatMary,theuglywoman,couldsucceedinorderingaboutherhusband,thestrong-armedblacksmith,well-knownfarandwide,andhavinghimwhereshewantedhim.玛丽这个丑女人竟然把她那远近闻名，胳膊粗力气大的铁匠丈夫支使的团团转，能够叫他往东他不敢往西，对于邻居来说，这的确是个谜。Adverbialexpressingjudgment8．They,notunexpectedly,didnotrespond.他们没有答复，这完全是意料之中。9.Illogically,shehadexpectedsomekindofmiraclesolution.她以为有什么奇迹般的解决办法，这显然不合逻辑。10.Withthefearoflargelyimaginaryplotsagainsthisleadership,hisself-confidenceseemedtotallytodeserthim.由于害怕有人阴谋推翻他的领导，他似乎完全丧失了自信。但所谓阴谋在很大程度上是他自己假想出来的。3.RestructuringinChinese-EnglishtranslationA.句中成分的大小、距离，汉语的语序与英语语序正好相反。1.他在武汉工程大学外语学院办公室工作。HeworksattheofficeoftheForeignLanguageSchoolofWuhanInstituteofTechnology.2.中国湖北武汉江夏区流芳街特一号武汉市工艺品美术总公司出口大楼WuhanArtsandCraftsCorporationExportBuildingNo1extra,LiuFangAvenue,JiangxieDistrict,Wuhan,Hubei,China,B.有些并列成分的组合，隐含着逻辑事理的制约，并列的概念之间有轻重、主次、高低、强弱、大小的差别。例如：大小：bigandsmall左右：rightandleft明辨是非：tellrightfromthewrong东南西北northandsouth,eastandwest衣食住行：food,clothing,shelterandtransportation你、我、他you,heandI社会主义现代化强国amodern,powerfulsocialistcountry一位美国现代优秀作家anoutstandingcontemporaryAmericanwriter分清敌我drawacleardistinctionbetweenourselvesandtheenemies1.救死扶伤、实行革命的人道主义。Tohealthewoundedandrescuethedying;topracticerevolutionaryhumanitarianism.\英语的排列法进行调整，语气较轻的部分放到前面。2．安顺是一座有悠久历史的文化名城，在三千多年前，这里已有人类繁衍生息。Anshuncityhasalonghistoryasafamousculturalcity.Ourancestorslivedandmultipliedinthisareaaslongas3,000yearsago.在翻译过程中为了清晰表达意见，要进行语序的调整。如在列举一系列名城或现象时，汉语通常习惯把概括性、总结性、总数的词语放在列举名词之后，而英语习惯放在列举名词之前。1．这所大学现有电子计算机、地球物理、遗传工程等三个新建的专业。Theuniversityhas3newly-establishedmajors,namely,Electroniccomputer,Geo-physics,andGeneticengineering.2.这家商店卖香烟、帽子、糖果、罐头等杂货物品。Atthestore,sundrygoodsandfoodsuchashats,cigarettes,candiesandcannedfoodaresold.2.句中多个动词分句成分的处理汉语句中的事件与行为均按其发生的先后顺序排列，它反映了人们逻辑思维的过程及中国人对事件发展的客观规律的认识。而英美人的逻辑思维过程与我们不同。例如：1．他起身拿了雨伞就走了。2．没有票怎么去看电影呢？3．我吃了午饭就出去给你买药。Hestoodup,tooktheumbrellaandwentaway.Howcanwegoandseethefilmwithouttickets?I’llgotobuymedicineforyouafterlunch.句中修饰成分的处理2.1．多个状语