unit3-1
烟台招商银行-爱情表白短信
Unit 3
Common Skills and Techniques in
English-Chinese Translation
Outline
•
Unit 3-1 Translation skills & techniques at word
level
– Diction
– Amplification
–
Omission
– Negation
– Conversion
•
Unit 3-2 Translation skills & techniques at
sentence level
– A comparative analysis of
English and Chinese syntactic structure
–
Nominal clauses
– Adjective clauses
–
Adverbial clauses
– The passive voice
–
Long sentences
• Unit 3-3 Translation skills
& techniques at discourse (text) level
Translation skills & techniques at word level
Unit 3-1
Diction
• Definition: the
proper choice of words and phrases in translation
on
the basis of accurate comprehension of the
original.
eg: He gave his house as a
security.
Treasure securities are revalued
daily.
Techniques in Diction
•
Pictographic Translation (图形法)
eg: I-bar H-beam
O-ring
U-bolt
V-belt
X-brace
Y-curve
Z-road
Techniques in
Diction
• Extension (引申法): bringing out a
word’s deep meaning according
to the
context by stretching from its literal meaning in
order to
achieve readability and smoothness.
– Extending from the concrete to the abstract
– Extending from the abstract to the concrete
– Extending by association
Techniques in
Diction
• Extending from the concrete to the
abstract
1) The huge increase in oil prices
in the 1970s cast a cloud over the
development
plans of many developing nations.
20世纪70年代石油价格猛涨，曾对许多发展 中国家的经济发展计划投下了
一抹阴影。
2) She felt that this moment of interview for her
first job was a tremendous inch
in her whole
existence.
她觉得这第一次的求职面试，在她整个一生中有重要的地位。
• Extending from the concrete to the abstract
3) There is a mixture of the tiger and the
ape in the character of
the imperialists.
帝国主义者的性格既 残暴，又狡猾。
Techniques in Diction
• Extending from the abstract to the concrete
eg: There is more to their life than political
and social and economic
problem, more than
transient everydayness.
他们的生活远不止那些政治的、社会的和经济的问题，远不止一
时的柴米油盐问题。
•
Extending by association
eg: It’s a case of
January and May.
这是一对老少配。
Exercises
• The EEC’s common Agricultural policy is a
dinosaur（要被废弃的落
后的庞然大物） which is adding ￡13.50
a week to the food bill of
the average British
family.
Amplification
Exercises
• The blond boy quickly crossed
himself.
那个金发小男孩立刻在胸前画十字，祈求上帝保佑。
• Better be wise by the defeat of
others than by your own.
从别人的失败中吸取教训比从自己的失败中吸取教训更好。
Omission
•
Purpose of omission in E-C translation: to achieve
the effect of
succinctness, especially in
dealing with English pronouns and such
functional words as the article, the
preposition, the conjunction,
etc.
•
Omission of Subject Pronouns
1) He was thin and haggard and he looked
miserable.
他消瘦而憔悴，看上去一副可怜相。
2) But
it's the way I am, and try as I might, I haven't
been able to change it.
但我就是这个脾气，虽然几经努力，却
未能改变过来。
3) Order is order, we cannot complain,
we cannot bargain, we cannot question
and we
cannot suggest changes．
命令就是命令，不得抱怨，不得讨价还价，不得质疑，不得建议修改。
• Omission of
Subject Pronouns
4) We live and learn．
5) You can never tell.
6) Everywhere
you can find new types of men and objects in New
China.
新中国处处可以看到新人、新事物。
•
Omission of Object Pronouns
1) The more he
tried to hide his warts, the more he revealed
them.
他越是要掩盖他的烂疮疤，就越是会暴露。
2)
She laid her hand lightly on his arm as if to
thank him for it.
她轻轻地把手放在他的胳膊上，好象表示感谢。
• Omission of
Possessive Pronouns
1) He shrugged his
shoulders, shook his head, cast up his eyes,
but said nothing.
他耸耸肩，摇摇头，两眼看天，一句话不说。
• Omission of the
Impersonal Pronoun “It”
1) It was just
growing dark, as she shut the garden gate.
她关上园门时，已是暮色苍茫了。
2) It was only then that I
began to have doubts whether my story would ever
be
told.
只是在这个时候，我才开始怀疑，我的经历究竟能不能公诸于众呢！
3) Peter has
always enjoyed claiming that it was he and not
George, who was
the first to reach the summit
of the mountain.
彼得一直津津乐道的是，第一个到达山顶的实际上并不是乔治，而是他
自己。
• We knew spring was coming as
(because) we had seen a robin.
我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天快要到了。
• Because the departure
was not easy, we made it brief.
告别这件事难受得很，我们就作得简短一些。
• John rose gloomily as
the train stopped, for be was thinking of his
ailing mother.
火车停了，约翰忧郁地站了起来，因为他想起了病中的母亲。
• The People's
Republic of China was founded in 1949.
一九四九年中华人民共和国成立。
cf: 中华人民共和国成立于一九四九年。
•
Now complaints are heard in all parts of that
country.
该国各地目前怨声载道。
• Winter is the best
time to study the growth of trees. Although the
leaves are gone and the branches are bare, the
trees themselves
are beautiful.
冬天是研究树木生长的最好季节，虽则树叶落了，树枝光了，但树木
本身却是美丽的。
- Exceptions
• When the
indefinite article indicates the numeral “one”, or
“a
certain”, “every”, eg:
1) I take
computer lessons twice a week.
我一星期上两次计算机课。
2) Jane is an honest girl and
never tells a lie.
珍妮是一个诚实的孩子，从不说谎。
3) There is not a Helen in the class, but we
have three Marys.
这个班上没有一个女孩叫海伦，倒是有三个叫玛丽的。
-
Exceptions
• When the definite
article refers to a specific one, indicating
“this”
or “that”, eg:
1) The book bought
last week deals with English idioms.
我上周买的
那本
书是关于英语习惯用语的。
2) It was a
different William Carey from the William Carey we
had long
known.
这不是我们认识很久的
那个
威廉·卡瑞。
• Verb
eg: Solids expand and contract as liquids and
gases do.
如同液体和气体一样，固体也能膨胀和收缩。
Exercises
1. These developing
countries cover vast territories, encompass a
large
population abound in natural resources.
这些发展中国家地大物博，人口众多。
2. Never trouble
yourself with trouble till trouble troubles you.
不要自寻麻烦。
3. The true joy of joys is the
joy that joys in the joy of others.
与人同乐才是真乐。
4. As it is late, let us go to bed.
不早了，睡吧！
5. University applicants who
had worked at a job would receive preference
over those who had not.
报考大学的人，有工作经验的将优先录取。
Negation
• Definition:
putting what is affirmative in form in one
language into
negative in another, and vice
versa.
– Affirmative in English, but Negative
in Chinese
– Negative in English, but
Affirmative in Chinese
- Affirmative to
Negative
1. The first bombs missed the target.
(v.)
第一批炸弹
没有击中
目标。
2. We may
safely say so. (ad.)
我们这样说
万无一失
。
3. This summer is predictably hotter. (ad.)
不出所料
，今年夏天更热。
4. What you’ve said
is above me. (prep.)
你所说的我
不懂
。
5.
It was beyond his power to do so. (prep.)
他
无权
这样做。
- Affirmative to Negative
6. I will not go unless I hear from him.
(conj.)
如果
他
不
通知我，我就不去。
7.
She kept to her room all day. (phrase)
她一整天
没出
房门。
8. He is nearly 60,but he
carried his years lightly. (sentence)
他已年近花甲，可并
不显老
。
9. The decision has to
come. (sentence)
决定
尚未作出
。
-
Negative to Affirmative
1. Did the child
displease you? (v.)
孩子让你
生气
了吗？
2.
Many agreed that he resigned dishonorably. (ad.)
许多人认为他的下野是
丢面子
的事。
4. Students,
with no exception, are to have physical
examinations this
afternoon. (phrase)
今天下午学生
统统
要进行体检。
5. Jim was no end upset
because he couldn’t drive a car. (phrase)
吉姆因不会开车
总是
心中烦恼。
Some Deceptive
Structures
• for all…
You may leave at
once for all I care.
你尽可立即离开，我才
不
管呢。
• If…
1) I am sure! If this is English
manners!
我确信这
绝不是
英国人的礼帽行为。
2)
Mercy! If ever I heard the like from a
lady.
天哪！一位小姐说出这样的话来，
真没听说过
。
• It be…that…
1) It is a wise father
that knows his own child.
再聪明的父亲也
不见得
了解自己的孩子。
2) It is a good
workman that never blunders.
智者千虑，
必有
一失。
3) It is an ill wind that
blows nobody good.
对人人都有害的事，天下
少有
。
坏事
未必
对人人都有害处。（再有害的风也未必对人人有害。）
Exercises
• Wet paint.
油漆未干。
•
The explanation is pretty thin.
这个解释相当不充分。
• His refusal is not final.
他的拒绝不是不可改变的。
Contents
Conversion into the
Verb
The developed countries are rich in
skilled work force and capital
resources, so
they can concentrate on producing many
technology¨Cintensive products such as
computers, aircrafts,
and so on.
发达国家拥有大
量的熟练劳动力和资本，所以他们能集中生产很多
技术密集型的产品，比如，计算机、飞机等等。
Conversion into the Adjective
Conversion
into the Adverb
Exercises
1. He did not
look or act like his usual self - his face was
very red,
his hat was on the back of his head,
his hair was wildly rumpled.
他此时的样子和表现都一反常态，脸涨得通红，帽子向后斜戴着，
头发也乱成一团。
2.
We were highly appreciative of his efforts to
bring peace to the
world.
我们高度赞赏他为实现世界和平所作的努力。
3. The old man lay all
night on his sleepless bed.
老人躺在床上，彻夜未眠。
4. This hat was in for a while last year.
去年，这种帽子流行了一阵子。
5. The APEC meeting in Shanghai
was a great success.
在上海召开的亚太经合组织会议非常成功
6. We also realize the growing need and
necessity to industrialize
certain sectors of
the economy.
我们认识到越来越需要使某些经济部门实行工业化。