汉语句子的翻译是个复杂的过程,要处理和注意的问题很多。本讲将探讨汉英翻译与句型相关的几个问题。
一、句子主干的确定
要将汉语句子翻译成英语,确定句子主干是汉语句子翻译的首要步骤。第一步是确定主语,然后是确定谓语。从词类角度看,英语的主语必须具有名词性(nominal),只有名词性的词语才有数的概念和范畴。而汉语的主语不限于名词性词语,动词、形容词、数词及各种词组都可作主语。从功能角度看,英语的主语是句子的主语,不可缺少。而汉语的主语虽然被放在了句子的主位,但是它们可能是施事者,也可能是受事者,还可能只是与施事行为有着某种关系或者是形式的与事者,也就是说可以只是一个话题。这是英汉主语差异中最重要的方面。从不可或缺角度看,汉语的主语可以省略,而英语的主语不可缺少。汉语句子中的无主句很常见,英语的语法结构决定了英语句子的结构是“主语+谓语”的结构。例如:
(1)不同年代员工的职业期望和就业价值观不同,这是一个难以弥合的鸿沟。
The different generations of employees do not have the same expectations of work and values of employment, which is a difficult gap to bridge.
(2)很多年轻人认为,科技让我们更加孤独,而不是更有社群感。
The idea prevails among many youngsters that technology is making us more lonely than connected.
(3)金融危机的原因多种多样,其影响也不同。
Just as the causes of the financial crisis were many and varied, so were its consequences.
(4)亚马逊公司提供大量工作岗位的能力并没有打动特朗普总统。他在周三的推文中称亚马逊是零售业工作岗位的破坏者。
Amazon’s prowess as a hiring machine isn’t impressing President Donald Trump, who in an early Wednesday tweet called the company a destroyer of retail jobs.
(5)中国成立亚投行后,更多的西方国家认为,亚投行是要颠覆现有的金融秩序。每到此时,中国的回答是:亚投行是补充,而非替代。
Western powers condemn that AIIB is to replace the existing global financial institutions,but China argues that it is a complement, rather than a substitute.
二、句子重心的调整
中国人的思维模式基本上是首先考虑事物的环境和外围因素,然后考虑具体事物或中心事件,表现在句子结构上就是“后重心”。西方人的思维模式正相反,首先考虑中心事物,然后才加上外围因素,英语句式的特点一般而言多数信息都置于中心词之后,由此形成了英语的右分支结构,句子多为前短后长,称为“前重心”。因此,汉译英时,译者要注意重心的转移问题,译出地道的句子。
(6)由于贵国政府的提议,才得以这样快地重新实现访问。这使我感到特别高兴。
I was all the more delighted when, as a result of the initiative of your Government it proved possible to reinstate the visit so quickly.
(7)我本来打算在今年一月访问中国,后来不得不推迟,这使我非常失望。
It was a keen disappointment when I had to postpone the visit which I intended to pay to China in January.
这里,原句的重心落在句尾。译文照顾到英语重心在先的特点,用“it”做形式主语,用“when”引导的从句做真正主语,实现了理想的语用对等。
(8)去年他为了完成一个项目在实验室用计算机努力地干了十个月。
He worked hard with a computer in the lab for ten months in order to complete a project last year.
(9)如贵方把交货日期提前至六月中旬,而且做一次性装运,我方将十分感谢。
We should be grateful if you advance delivery to the middle of June and ship the goods in one lot.
(10)由于传统工业,如钢铁、造船和纺织业受挫于国外同行竞争,又未能用新技术去更新换代,致使失业人数高达300万。
The number of unemployment has climbed to 3 million as a result of the failure of such traditional industries as steel, ship building and textiles in the competition with their foreign counterparts and the absence of the introduction of new technology.
(11)乍看之下,商业高管和一级方程式车手除了都是坐着干活之外并没有什么共同之处。车手在赛道上疾驰,速度可触及350公里每小时,而办公室里的经理们可能偶尔会把椅子从办公桌的一边滑到另一边。车手们要是一分神可能有高速连环相撞的危险,高管们则最多只会把咖啡溅到爱马仕领带上。
On the face of it business executives and Formula One drivers have nothing in common,other than the fact that they do their jobs sitting down.Racing drivers hurtle round a track,touching speeds of 350km an hour, while office-bound managers may occasionally wheel their chairs from one side of their desks to the other.Drivers risk a high-speed pile-up if they lose concentration; executives merely risk spilling coffee on a Hermès tie.
(12)然而,睡眠不足在商业界司空见惯,有时甚至还被看作是一种荣誉。管理咨询公司麦肯锡最近对196位企业领导的调查显示,66%的人不满意自己的睡眠质量,55%的人不满意睡眠的时长。
Yet sleep deprivation is commonplace in the business world—and is sometimes worn as a badge of honour.A recent survey of 196 business leaders by McKinsey, a management consultancy, revealed that 66% were dissatisfied with the quantity of sleep they got and 55%were dissatisfied with the quality.
(13)2010年,网购消费仅占个人消费总量的3%,而如今已达15%。阿里巴巴,其电商平台的销售收入高于eBay和亚马逊之和,2015年年收入已增长至630亿人民币(97亿美元),年同比增长将近40%。
In 2010 online shopping accounted for only 3% of total private consumption, but it now makes up 15%.Alibaba, which processes more sales on its e-commerce platforms than eBay and Amazon combined, saw annual Chinese revenues grow to 63 billion yuan (USD 9.7 billion) in 2015, a rise of nearly 40% compared with a year earlier.
A.试译下列句子。
1.据海关统计,陕西省外资企业今年头六个月生产并向日本出口的商品总额为400万美元,比去年同期出口额翻了一番。
2.2016年粮食产量达到6亿吨,比去年增加5 000万吨,粮食生产上了一个新台阶。
3.这五年来,农村改革带来了许多新的变化,农作物大幅度增产,农民收入大幅度增加,乡镇企业异军突起。
4.由承运人负责装箱的货物,从承运人收到货物后至运达目的地交付收货人之前的期间内,箱内货物损坏或短缺,由承运人负责。
5.相当多的国有企业生产经营困难,下岗和失业人员增多,就业压力加大。
B.试译下列短文。
在决定使用某家信用卡之前,最好多跑几家公司。有必要考虑信用卡赊账的限额、利率——可能略有高低、接受单位的多少及使用范围——虽然大多数大加油站、宾馆、饭店和百货商店均可使用。当然还要考虑一旦你的信用卡丢失或失窃,会发生什么情况。信用卡窃贼可能会大发横财——尤其是在失主没有及时报失的情况下。
突然之间,人人都在谈论不断消失的百万富翁们。周二,《华尔街日报》有篇文章谈到了美国马里兰州百万富翁越来越少。现在有消息说,英国的百万富翁人数减少了约一半。这并不是因为富翁们移民或是避税去了,而是个人财务状况出了问题。正如过去一年中我所写的,富人们在此次危机中遭受了重创,原因主要是他们的投资和房地产的价值锐减。正因为如此,百万富翁(特别是富翁中的“贫困户”)的人数骤减。(www.xing528.com)
Suddenly everyone is talking about disappearing millionaires.Tuesday there was the Wall Street Journal talking about the vanishing Maryland millionaires.Now comes word that Britain has lost about half its millionaires.The reason isn’t emigration or tax revolts.It is personal finances.As I have been writing for the past year, the rich have been hammered by this crisis, largely because of the plunge in the value of their investments and real estate.As a result, the millionaire population (especially the lower end) is taking a dive.
金融词汇(一)
流动资产 current assets
流动负债 current liabilities
现金 cash on hand
短期借款 short-term loans
银行存款 cash in bank
应付票据 notes payables
有价证券 marketable securities
应付账款 accounts payables
应收票据 notes receivable
应付工资 accrued payroll
应收账款 accounts receivable
应交税金 taxes payable
坏账准备 provision for bad debts
应付股利 dividends payables
预付货款 advances to suppliers
预收货款 advances from customers
其他应收款 other receivables
其他应付款 other payables
待摊费用 deferred and prepaid expenses
预提费用 accrued expenses
存货 inventories
职工奖励及福利基金 staff and workers’ bonus and welfare fund
存货变现损失准备 provision for loss on realization of inventory
一年内到期的长期投资 long-term investment maturing within one year
一年内到期的长期负债 long-term liabilities due within one year
其他流动资产 other current assets
其他流动负债 other current liabilities
流动资产合计 total current assets
流动负债合计 total current liabilities
长期负债 long-term liabilities
长期投资 long-term investment
长期借款 long-term loans
一年以上的应收款项 receivables collectable after one year
应付公司债 debentures payable
应付公司债溢价(折旧) premium (discount) on debentures payable
一年内到期的长期负债 accounts payable over one year
长期投资合计 total long-term investment
长期负债合计 total long-term liabilities
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