教案5:翻译的过程

The Process of Translation

翻译的过程

1. Hatim &Mason's View:

Hatim &Mason states in their book “Discourse and The Translator”:

“Aids to translators are improving all the time, but the basic problems faced by translators in their work remain the same. In broad and general terms, these can be listed as follows:

(1) Comprehension of source text:

(a) parsing of text (grammar and lexis)

(b) access to specialised knowledge

(c) access to intended meaning

(2) Transfer of meaning

(a) relaying lexical meaning

(b) relaying grammatical meaning

(c) relaying rhetorical meaning, including implied or inferrable meaning, for potential readers.

(3) Assessment of target text:

(a) readability

(b) conforming to generic and discoursal conventions

(c) judging adequacy of translation for specified purpose.” (2001: 21)

2. Peter Newmark's View：

the SL text level

the process the referential level

the cohesive level

the level of naturalness

1. 文本层次（the SL text level）----指原文的字面意思。

例如：

（1）You flatter me.

原译：你拍我马屁。

改译：您过奖了。

（2）画上是几个中国美女。

原译：There are some Chinese beautiful girls on the picture.

改译：There are some beautiful Chinese girls in the picture.

2. 所指层次（the referential level ）—— 指译者对原文所指意义的把握。 例如：

He is lying on his back.

误译：他仰卧着在他的背上。

正译：他仰卧着。

3. 粘着层次（the cohesive level）——指语篇中句子间的衔接。例如：

(1) 白杨不是平凡的树。它在西北极普遍, 不被人重视, 就跟北方农民相似；它有极强的生命力, 磨折不了, 压迫不倒, 也跟北方的农民相似。

(茅盾:《白杨礼赞》)

译文: White poplars are no ordinary trees. But these common trees in Northwest China are as much ignored as our peasants in the North. However , like our peasant s in the North , they are bursting with vitality and capable of surviving any hardship or oppression.

(张培基译)

(2) He took out his key and opened the door, and we all went to a stone hall, bare, gloomy, and a little used.

(Charles Dickens: Great Expectations)

译文：

他取出钥匙开了门，大家跟着走进一间石头砌成的大厅，里面空无人物，阴森森的，看来平时绝少有人。

4. 自然层次（the level of naturalness）——指译文行文的基本标准。

例如：

(1) Babies satisfactorily born.

原译：孩子们令人满意地降生了。

改译：孩子已生，一切顺利。

(2) 他于1964年生于上海。

原译：He was born in 1960 in Shanghai.

改译：He was born in Shanghai in 1960.

3. Eugene A. Nida's View

尤金• 奈达(Eugene Nida）认为：翻译的本质是两种语言之间的信息转换，这种转换既是文化交流的过程，又是语言再创造的过程，这一过程犹如一环扣一环的思维过程. 他在The Theory and Practice of Translation中把这个过程划分成分析、转换、重建三个阶段：

Source 指待译的语言材料。

Analysis 指分析待译的语言材料。

Transfer 指把源语言材料转换成目标语言。

Restructuring 指重组目标语言。

例：Some had beautiful eyes, others a beautiful nose, others a beautiful mouth and figure: few, if any, had all.

(Thomas Hardy: Tess of the d’Urbervilles)

【译文】她们有的长着漂亮的眼睛，有的生着俏丽的鼻子，有的有着妩媚的嘴巴、婀娜的身段；但是，这样样都美的，虽然不能说是人间少有，却也是画里难寻。

【解析】原文中省略的东西较多，“others”后的两个动词“had”省了，“if any”少了谓语“there were”和“eyes, nose, mouth and figure”，汉译时不但补译出所省略的词，而且对第二个句子进行调整增译，译文完成了分析、转换、重组过程，再现原文风貌。

Conclusion

The task of a translator is first to get at the true message. What he appreciates should be closest to the original thought. And then he reproduces in the target

language what he has in his mind of the original message. The result is a reproduced text.

Comprehension / Analysis （理解/分析）

至少阅读三遍：

第一遍：浅尝

把握全文大意；（对以疑难词句按层次做圈点）

第二遍：细嚼

既要咬文嚼字，又要细心揣摩，避免望文生义；（逐词逐句逐段地答疑解惑） 第三遍：通吃

将全文精神融会于心，既要通读全文，又要落实词义、句义和段义。 理解过程要做到逢山开路，遇水架桥。

Examples ：

1) It seems to me what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

译1：我 (觉得煮雌) 鹅用什么酱油，煮公鹅也要用什么酱油。

译2：我认为应该一视同仁。

2) 展出的所有作品都出自这个村农民之手。他们粗糙的手描绘出幅幅美好的画卷。

译1：All the works are from the farmers in this village, who depict the beautiful paintings with their rough hands.

译2：All the works on display are done by the farmers with their own hands that are used to farm work.

3) 你满家子算一算，谁的妈妈奶奶不仗着主子哥儿姐儿得些便宜？偏咱们就这样“丁是丁，卯是卯”的？

（《红楼梦》第七十三回）

译：… in all the different young masters’ and mistresses’ households, which nurse or nanny doesn’t get certain perks. Why expect us to be so scrupulous?

（杨宪益、戴乃迭译）

【注释】：

1. 丁是丁，卯是卯:

keep ding (a Heavenly Stem) from mao (an Earthly Branch)

Very definite, strict, accurate, precise, meticulous

2. perks: money (slang) (赏钱)

3. nanny: nursemaid （保姆） employed by rich people to look after their babies and young children below school age.

Expression / Restructuring （表达/重组）

在正确理解的前提下，一篇译文质量的好坏，就全看表达如何了。表达是指将原文（即SL 的信息），用TL 重新说一遍，要求不失原意，符合译语的表达习惯，而且还要保持原作的风格特色（即原文流畅，译文也要流畅；原文优美动人，译文也要优美动人；原文是艺术品，译文也应该是艺术品）。

★表达是关键

1. To begin my life with the beginning of my life, I record that I was born on a Friday, at twelve o’clock at night. It was remarked that the clock began to strike, and I began to cry, simultaneously.

译1：据说钟开始敲，我也开始哭，两者同时。

译2：据说那会儿，当当的钟声，和呱呱的啼声，恰好同时并作/开始。 译3：钟声当当一响，不早不晚，我就呱呱坠地了。

【评论】：

译1. 译字面，意义不错，顺译，省去连词（意合）

译2. 顺译，保留英语句式，字面有变化，增词，形合。

译3. 译意+译味，意合，调整词序，有增有减，地道。

2.There was something original, independent, and heroic about the plan that pleased all of them.

译文：这个方案富于创造性，独出心裁，很有魄力，所以他们都很满意。

Revision / Check （复习/检查）

把译文与原文进行比较。至少两遍：

第一遍，对照原文校对，检查有无疏漏、误译的地方；

第二遍，脱离原文审校，检查有无生硬、拗口的地方。

(1) The cold weather frosted up the track last night.

译1：昨晚寒冷的天气使跑道上结了霜。

译2：昨晚天气寒冷，跑道上结了霜。

(2) It’s a lot easier to get in the hole than to get out again.

译1：进洞容易出洞难。

译2：负债很容易，要把债还清却困难得多。

【注释】：in the hole是美国的一种习惯说法，指“负债”，而不是“在洞里”。

(3) The sun sets regularly on the Union Jack these days, but never on the English language.

译1：现在太阳从英国国旗上有规则地落下，但是英语却不是这种情况。/ 现在英国国旗上照到的阳光日益减少，但英语却不是这种情况。

译2：现在，英国已不再是个“日不落”的国家了，但是英语却还是在广泛地流行使用。（注：以Union Jack英国国旗指代“英国”。）

Assignments （略）