笔译笔记整理

英语和汉语的差异

Synthetic vs．Analytic 综合与分析

English is a synthetic language marked with inflections(曲折变化形式)，while Chinese is an analytic language without any inflection，which is usually implied in the context or explicitly shown in such words as“着、了、过”etc．

Thus encouraged, they made a still bolder plan for the next year．

由于受到这样的鼓励，他们为第二年制订了一个更大胆的计划。

Compact vs．Diffusive 紧凑与松散

English sentences are compact tightly combined with connectives or prepositions，while Chinese is diffused，that is，loose in structure．

Now the integrated circuit has reduced by many times the size of the computer of which it forms a part，thus creating a new generation of portable minicomputer．现在集成电路成了计算机的组成部分，使计算机的体积大大缩小，从而产生了新一代的便携式微型计算机。

A notion has taken hold in the US to the effect that the only people who should be encouraged to bring children into the world are those who can afford them．在美国有一个根深蒂固的观点，说是只有对那些抚养得起子女的人，才应鼓励其生育。

Hypotactic vs．Paratactic 形合与意合

In English．clauses or phrases are coordinated with or subordinated to one another syntactically while in Chinese theY are placed one after another without coordinating connectives．The many colors of a rainbow range from red on the outside to violet on the inside．彩虹有多种颜色，外圈红，内圈紫。

He had a disconcerting habit of expressing contradictory ideas in rapid succession．他有一种令人难堪的习惯：一会儿一个看法，自相矛盾，变化无常。

Complex vs. Simplex 繁复与简单

English sentences are long and complex，while Chinese sentences are short and simple．For example：

Many man-made substances are replacing certain natural materials because either the quality of the natural product cannot meet our ever-increasing requirement，or，more often，because the physical properties of the synthetic substance．which is the common name for man．made materials，have been chosen．and even emphasized，so that it would be Of the greatest use in the fields in which it is to be applied．人造材料通称为合成材料。许多人造材料正在代替某些天然材料，这或者是由于天然物产的数量不能满足日益增长的需要，或者是由于人们选择了合成材料的一些物理性质并加以突出而造成的。因此，合成材料在其应用领域将具有极大的用途。

Impersonal vs．Personal 物称与人称

There are more impersonal structures in English than in Chinese，as shown in the following examples：

·What has happened to you? 你出了什么事儿啦?

·An idea suddenly struck me．我突然想到一个主意。

·A strange peace canle over her when she was alone 她独处时感到一种特别的安宁。

·Not a sound reached our ears．我们没有听到任何声音。

·A great elation overcame them．他们欣喜若狂。

·The truth finally dawned on her．她最终明白了真相。

Passive vs．Active 被动与主动

As we have mentioned in the previous units，the passive voice is extensively used in English，while Chinese sentences are usually active．

A few years ago it was thought unusual that programs could ever be called up by viewers to be displayed on their TV screens at home．几年前人们还以为，观众居然能够打电话要求在自己家里的电视屏幕上播出节目是一种稀罕的事情。

Static vs．Dynamic 静态与动态

English is static，with agent nouns being frequently used to replace verbs，while Chinese is dynamic，with more verbs being used in a single sentence．

·He is a good eater and a good sleeper．他能吃又能睡。

·You must be a very bad learner；or else you must be going to a very bad teacher．你一定很不善于学习，要不然就是教你的人很不会教。

Abstract vs．Concrete 抽象与具体

In expressing the same idea English seems more abstract while Chinese，more concrete．

·The absence of intelligence is an indication of satisfactory developments．没有消息即表明有令人满意的进展。

·A high degree of carelessness，pre-operative and post-operative，on the part of some of the hospital staff，took place．医院某些医护人员在手术前后都非常粗心。

Indirect VS．Direct 间接与直接

Some English sentences seem to be indirect in affirmation while Chinese Sentences are straightforward．

·I couldn’t feel beRer．我觉得身体好极了。

·I couldn’t agree with you more．我太赞成你的看法了。

·He can’t see you quick enough．他很想尽快和你见面。

·If you have a car，you are independent oftrains and buses．如果你有小汽车，就不用去坐火车或挤公共汽车。

Substitutive VS．Repetitive 替换与重复

Generally speaking，there are not use so many repetitions in English as in Chinese．

·You should help her since you have promised to do so．你既然答应了要帮助她就应当帮助她。

·He hated failure；he had conquered it all his life，risen above it，and despised it in others．他讨厌失败，他一生中曾战胜失败，超越失败，并且藐视别人的失败。

英汉翻译的技巧

1. 重复法(repetition)

汉语重复,英译时也重复; 根据两种语言各自的习惯用法,以不同的表达方式进行重复,这种重复通常是为了传达原文的生动性.

We have to analyze and solve problems.

我们要分析问题，解决问题。

Let’s revise our safety and sanitary regulations.

我们来修改安全规则和卫生规则吧。

Gentlemen may cry,peace, peace --- but there is no peace.

先生们尽管可以高呼和平，和平！但是依然没有和平。

Nels had it all written out neatly.

纳尔斯把它写得清清楚楚。

这种人闹什么东西呢?闹名誉,闹地位,闹出风头。

What are they after? They are after name, after position, and they want to cut smart figure.

大(家庭)有大(家庭)的难处。

A large family has its difficulties.

天苍苍,野茫茫,风吹草低见牛羊。

The sky is blue, blue; And the steppe wide, wide; Over grass that the wind has battered low; Sheep and oxen roam.

寻寻觅觅,冷冷清请,凄凄惨惨戚戚;乍暖还寒时侯,最难将息。

(译文1）Seek, seek; search, search; Cold, cold; bare, bare;Grief, grief; cruel, cruel grief.

Now warm, then like the autumn cold again, How hard to calm the heart!

（译文2）I seek but seek in vain, I search and search again;I feel so sad, sodrear, So lonely, without cheer. （许渊冲译）

青青河边草, 郁郁园中柳。

Gr een gr ows the gr ass upon the bank, The willow shoots are l ong and l ank

2. 增译法(amplification)

为了使译文忠实地表达原文的意思与风格并使译文合乎表达习惯,必须增加一些词语,这就叫增译法. 增词义增加虚词为多，也可酌量增加实词。英译汉时经常增加的词有结构词、数量词、概念词、语气词等。从增补的功能来看，可以分为结构增补、意义增补和修辞增补。

I am looking forward to the holidays.

我们等待假日的到来。

Much of our morality is customary.

我们大部分的道德观念都有习惯性。

Reading makes a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.

读书使人充实，讨论使人机智，笔记使人精确。

Histories make men wise; poets witty; the mathematics subtle; natural philosophy deep; moral grave; logic and rhetoric able to contend.

读史使人明智，读诗使人灵秀，数学使人周密，科学使人深刻，伦理使人庄重，逻辑修辞之学使人善辩。

没有调查研究就没有发言权。

He who makes no investigation and study has no right to speak. (No investigation, no right to speak.) 子曰:“学而不思则罔, 思而不学则殆。”

Confucius said: “He who learns without thinking is lost. He who thinks without learning remains puzzled.”

虚心使人进步, 骄傲使人落后。

Modesty helps one to go forward, whereas conceit makes one lag behind.

交出翻译之前,必须读几遍,看看有没有要修改的地方. 这样你才能把工作做好。

Before handing in your t ranslation, you have to read it over and over again and see if there is anything in it to be corrected or improved. Only thus can you do your work well.

只许州官放火, 不许百姓点灯。

The magistrate are free to burn down houses, while the common people are forbidden even to light lamps.

班门弄斧

Showing off one’s proficiency with the axe before Lu Ban the master carpenter.

三个臭皮匠, 顶个诸葛亮。

Three cobblers with their wits combined equal Zhuge Liang the master mind.

留得青山在, 不怕没柴烧。

So long as green hills remain, there will never be a shortage of firewood

3. 减译法(omission)

增译法的反面，减译法是指原文中有些词在译文中不译出来,因为译文中虽无其词而已有其意,或者在译文中是不言而喻的; 减译法是删去一些可有可无的, 或者有了反而累赘或违背译文习惯表达法的词, 并不是把原文的某些思想内容删去。

A book is useful.

书（是）由用（的）。

The earth goes around the sun.

地球绕太阳转。

On Sundays we have no school.

礼拜天我们不上学。

If you write him, the response would be absolute silence and void.

你写信给他，总是石沉大海。

A wise man will not marry a woman who has attainments but no virtue.

聪明的人是不会娶有才无德的女子为妻的。

我们要培养分析问题、解决问题的能力。

We must cultivate the ability to analyze and solve problems.

郭沫若同志曾说: “中国人历来是勇于探索、勇于创造、勇于革命的。”

Comrade Guo Moro once said: “The people of China have always been courageous enough to probe in to things, to make inventions and to make revolution.”

他们为国家做的事, 比我们所做的多得多。

They have done much more for the state than we have.

4. 词类转换法(conversion)

英译汉时词类转换的核心是根据需要将具有动作性的名词转换为汉语的动词，或者将可表示概念的动词转换为汉语名词。汉译英时则反其道而行之。

For students of composition, an awareness that rhetorical patterns differ from one culture to another can help them become more quickly proficient in a writing pattern that is not native to them.

学习写作的人若能意识到各种文化在修辞模式上的差别，则有助于他们迅速掌握对他们来说是外在的写作模式。

In those years the Republicans were in.

那些年是共和党执政。

The music is a gas.

这音乐妙极了。

Saud was a frustrated man at that time.

沙特那时已受挫折。

Traditionally, there had always been good relations between them.

.他们之间一直有着传统的友好关系。

This experiment is a great success.

这次实验是极为成功的。

语言这个东西不是随便可以学好的, 非下苦功不可。

The mastery of language is not easy and requires painstaking effort.

一定要少说空话,多做工作。

There must be less empty talk and more hard work.

徐悲鸿画马画得特别好。

Xu Beihong’s drawings (paintings) of horses are exceptionally good.

林则徐认为, 要成功地禁止鸦片买卖,就得首先把鸦片焚毁。

Lin Zexu believed that a successful ban o f the trade in opium must be preceded by the destruction of the drug itself.

5. 词序调整法(inversion)

发生了这样的事不是你的错。

It’s not your fault that this has happened.

她，一个瘦弱多病的女孩子，以她坚强的毅力写出了一部催人奋进的小说。

A thin and weak girl susceptible to diseases, she wrote one inspiring novel after another with her strong will.

一直在一旁观看的小学生们开始鼓起掌来。

The pupils that had been watching started to applaud.

会议没能取得一致意见就结束了。

The meeting ended in disagreement (without reaching a consensus).

这所大学现有计算机科学、高能物理、激光、地球物理、遥感技术、遗传工程六个专业。This university has six faculties, namely, Computer Science, High Energy Physics, Laser, Geo-physics, Remote Sensing and Genetic Engineering.

6.正说反译、反说正译法(negation)

反说，英语词句中含有“never”, “no”, “non-”, “un-”, “im-”, “ir-”, “-less” 等成分；汉语词句中含有“不，没，无，未，甭，别，休，莫，非，勿，毋” 等

我想小李明天不会来了。

I don’t think Xiao Li will com tomorrow.

我们的人民解放军无愧于伟大的人民军队的称号。

Our PLA is worthy of being called a great army of the people.

雷锋的高尚行为是赞扬不尽的。

Lei Feng’s noble deeds are above all praise.

她光着脚走进房间。

Law is no respecter of persons.法律面前人人平等。

She refrained from laughing. 她忍住了，没有发笑。

She was refused admittance by them. 他们不许她进去。

An opportunity is not likely to repeat itself. 良机难再。

All that glitters is not gold. 闪光的不一定都是金子。

But all men are not born to reign. 并非人人生来就都是作帝王的。

All that flatter you too much are not faithful friends.

吹捧你的人并非都是你的忠实朋友。

Both children are not clever. 并非两个孩子都聪明。

Private. 闲人莫入。

Keep upright. 切勿倒置。

Wet paint. 油漆未干。

Urban clearway. 市区通道，不准停车。

Inflammables --- keep away from fire. 易燃物品，请勿近火。

No deposit will be refunded unless ticket produced. 凭票退还押金。

These visits will operate only if weather permits. 以上参观项目遇雨停止或改期

If you forward the transcripts yourself, they can be considered official only if the school envelope has remained sealed.

如果你本人递交证件，只有校方信封保持密封才可以被认为是正视的。（误）

如果证件由申请人本人递交，则本人不得擅自启封，否则证件将视为无效。（正）

7.分译法(division)

分译法主要用于长句的翻译。以《毛泽东选集》英译本为例，说明汉语长句的分译法。

如果长句以一表示判断或小结的从句结尾，可使用分译法。例如：

这些国家的共产党和进步党派，正促使它们的政府和我们作生意，以至建立外交关系，这是

善意的，这就是援助。

The communist Parties and progressive groups in these countries are urging their government to establish trade and even diplomatic relations with us. This is goodwill. This is help.

如果汉语句子较长，其中有语气或话题的转折，为了使英译文明确，可进行分译。例如：

蒋介石说，中国过去没有内战，只有剿匪；不管叫什么吧，总之要发动反人民的内战。Chiang Kai-shek says there has never been any “civil war” in China, only “bandit suppression”. Whatever he likes to call it, the fact is he wants to start a civil war against the people.

如果汉语长句中含有反问句（或反诘句）或感叹号，英译时通常要分译。

不和中国的人民民主专政的当局好好地打交道，却要干这些混帐工作，而且公开地发表出来，丢脸！丢脸！

Instead of dealing with the authorities of the Chinese people’s democratic dictatorship in the proper way, Acheson and his like are doing filthy work, and what is more, they have openly published it. What a loss of face! What a loss of face!

如果汉语长句中含有从一般到具体或从具体到一般的过渡，英译时应分译。

这一点现在就必须向党内讲明白，务必使同志们继续地保持谦虚、谨慎、不骄不躁地作风，务必使同志们继续地保持艰苦奋斗地作风。

This must be made clear now in the Party. The comrades must be taught to remain modest, prudent and free from arrogance and rashness in their style of work. The comrades must be taught to preserve the style of plain living and hard struggle.

8. 语态变换法(the change of the voices)

被动变主动－－－主动变被动

英语比汉语用更多的被动语态；英语中用被动语态的句子翻译成汉语时，我们可根据汉语的语言习惯吧被动语态转换成主动语态；汉语中用主动语态的句子也可根据具体情况转换成被动语态。

说话时，已摆了茶果上来。（《红楼梦》，第三回）

Meanwhile refreshments had been served.

当下茶果已撤，贾母命两个老嬷嬷带了黛玉去见两个母舅。（第三回）

Now the refreshments had been cleared away and the Lady Dowager ordered two nurses to take Daiyu to see her two uncles.

注意英语常用被动句型的汉语习惯译法

It is hoped that… 希望……

It is reported that… 据报道……

It is said that… 据说……

It is supposed that… 据推测……

Its must be admitted that… 必须承认……

It must be pointed out that…必须指出……

It is asserted that… 有人主张……

It is believed that… 有人相信……

It is well known that… 众所周知……

It will be said that… 人们会说……

It was told that…人们曾说……

I was told that… 我听说……