不少同学表示专八考试中最难的就是翻译题。今天我们为大伙讲讲怎么样避雷,争取在专八翻译中获得高分。
误译是什么原因错综复杂,主要归结为以下三个方面:理解不到位、表达不贴切、缺少社会文化背景常识。表现形式一般包含两方面:死译和乱译。理解不到位,常导致不可以脱离原文字面意思而死译、硬译;表达不贴切,则使得译文不符合英语语法和表达习惯。
考生在中文翻译英文时存在很多死译的现象,这说明,本来不应该存在太大问题的汉语理解环节,恰恰是一个容易制造陷阱的盲点,表达方面的不适合和错误也不少。
01 词义不真实对等
汉语中很多词语所要传达的信息都是潜在的和隐蔽的,有些具备深层含义,有些含有言外之意,有些则有语用意义或比喻意义。假如没弄清原文要表达的真实信息,就会出现机械对等错误。
例:
原文 ……由于苦闷的强弱原是随欲望与野心的大小而转移的。
学译(学生译文,下同):…because the degree of anguish is moving with the expansion of one's desire and ambition.
译文 …because the degree of anguish is changing with the expansion of one's desire and ambition.
剖析 学生译文未能准确把握“转移”这个词在这里的确切含义,属望文生义。
02 词类混用
汉语和英语的词类既有重叠,也有差异,如汉语中有数词和量词,而英语中只有数词;英语中有冠词,而汉语中没。即使相同的词类在句子中的使用方法和充当的成分也不相同。
例1:
原文 在人际关系问题上大家不要太浪漫主义。
学译 In interpersonal relationships, we should not be too romanticism.
译文 In interpersonal relationships, we should not be too romantic.
例2:
原文 一霎时,一阵让人摒弃,为世所遗忘的悲愤兜上心头,禁不住痛哭起来。
学译 In a flash, a sense of abandon made a raid upon me and I could not help crying loudly.
译文 In no time, I was thrown into a feeling of sorrowful anger at being forgotten and abandoned by the rest of the world and could not help crying my heart out.
03 冠词滥用
冠词是英语和其他一些语言中的容易见到词类,但汉语中没这一词类。因此在中文翻译英文时,要特别注意。学生常犯的错误是:在泛指时漏用不定冠词,初次提到某事物时滥用定冠词,特指某类事物时又不需要定冠词。
例1:
原文 现代便捷先进工具在此刻显示出了它狰狞、阴郁的面容……
译文 At this moment, the handy cell phone is exposed as an evil and dismal device more than a modern and advanced tool…
剖析 原文中虽然没出现量词,但在译文中,device和tool都为可数名词,且在此处是泛指,因此要增译冠词an和a。
例2:
原文 一个春季的傍晚,园中百花怒放,爸爸妈妈在园中设宴……
译文 One spring evening, my parents held a banquet in the garden where all sorts of flowers were in full bloom…
剖析 在英语中,“一天晚上”和“一天早晨”等表示特定的时间要用one,而不可以用泛指的a,但不少考生译成了on a spring evening。
例3:
原文 刚开始的印象最深刻。毕竟,你不可能再有机会给其他人留下第一印象的。
译文 First impressions are most lasting. After all, you never get a second chance to make a first impression.
剖析 a second chance可表示“再有机会”。first impression为一个整体,表示“第一印象”,在此表泛指,所以用不定冠词a修饰。
04 数的定义混乱
汉语中数的定义在词法和语法上都缺少形态特点,因而在翻译成英语的时候,要依据汉语的上下文在英语的形式中补充上复数的定义。但考生因为遭到汉语的影响,常常会忽视这一点,在该用复数的地方却译成了单数。
例1:
原文 世界上第一代博物馆是自然博物馆,它是通过化石、标本等向大家介绍地球和各种生物的演化历史。第二代博物馆是工业技术博物馆……
译文 The first-generation museums in the world are museums of natural history, which introduce the evolution of the Earth and various lives by means of fossils and specimens, and so on. The second-generation museums are about industrial technologies…
例2:
原文 本室助研需要每周工作7天,早10点到晚12点,工作时间需要全力以赴。
译文 All the research assistants of this lab must work 7 days a week, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. They should work at full stretch during their office hours.
05 用词冗余
简洁是语言的灵魂(Brevity is the soul of language.)。在翻译时,可以通过缩合或省略等方法,用词或词组来表达从句等语言单位所表达的内容。考生的译文中常常会出现不少冗余信息,导致原文和译文长度的极不对应,对传达信息不只无益,而且会导致信息理解障碍。
例1:
原文 跨世纪年轻人一代应该用哪种姿态迎接充满期望的新世纪,这是大家需要回答的问题。
学译 At the transitional phase between two centuries, in what way the young generation should embrace the forthcoming new century replete with hopes is a question to which we have to seek an answer.
译文 What kind of attitude the cross-century young generation should take to meet the new century that promises so much hope is the question we must answer.
剖析 at the transitional phase between two centuries过于烦琐,“跨世纪”假如处置为状语,可以译为介词短语at the turn of the century,假如处置为定语,则用the cross-century更简洁。
例2:
原文 吸收外来移民,是加拿大长期奉行的国策。
学译 To take in immigrants from other countries has been a long-term national policy practiced by Canada.
译文 To draw in immigrants has been a long-term national policy practiced by Canada.
剖析 immigrants 指“移民”,本身就包括着“来自其他国家”的意思,因此from other countries这个短语冗余,应当删去。
06 句子结构机械对应
考生的译文中常常会出现套用汉语句式的问题,译出来的句子或无主语,或动宾搭配不当。
例:
原文 特别在乡间,上千年来大家一直以不变的方法生活着。种植庄稼和葡萄,酿酒和饮酒,喂牛和挤奶,锄草和栽花;在周末去教堂祈祷和做礼拜,在节日到广场拉琴、跳舞和唱歌……
学译 Especially in the countryside, people have been living in the same style for thousands of years—plant crops and grapes, make wine and drink it, feed cows and milk them, kill grasses and give birth to flowers, go to church, and on festivals they go to the square to dance, sing and play the instruments.
译文1 This is particularly true in the countryside where people have been living in the same style for thousands of years—planting crops and grapes; brewing and drinking wine; raising and milking cows; weeding and planting flowers; going to churches on weekends and praying; playing music, dancing and singing in the square on holidays.
译文2 This is particularly true in the countryside where people have been living in the same style for thousands of years. They grow crops and grapes, brew and drink wine, feed and milk cows, weed and plant flowers; they go to churches and pray on weekends, and sing, dance and play music in the square on holidays.
剖析 学生在处置“种植庄稼和葡萄……唱歌……”这一连串无主语的句子时,显然遭到了汉语的影响,翻译成了一系列没主语的英语句子。事实上,它们可以译成分词短语作状语,也可以与前面的句子断开,补充主语,译为独立的句子。
07 主次信息不分
没分清主次信息,致使语义重心偏移,在深层意义上不忠实于原文,这也是考生们常犯的错误。
例:
原文 在得病以前,我受爸爸妈妈溺爱,在家里专横跋扈。
学译1 Before I became ill, I was much petted by my parents, doing everything at will at home.
学译2 Before I fell ill, my parents doted on me a lot. I could have my way at home.
译文 Before I fell ill, I had been the bully under our roofs owing to my doting parents.
剖析 第一要确定这句话的信息重心。虽然没连接词,但仍存在内在的逻辑关系。“受爸爸妈妈溺爱”是因,“在家里专横跋扈”是果,因此作为结果的后半句应该是全句的信息重心。第一个学生的译文颠倒了信息重心,而第二个学生的译文则把一句有内在逻辑关联的句子分成了两句,模糊了逻辑关系。参考译文则突出了信息重心,并通过增译owing to体现出了句间隐藏的逻辑关系。
08 语篇衔接不当
从历年中文翻译英文答题来看,英语译文缺少衔接方法的问题非常明显。不少考生的译文假如单独成句是可读的,但全篇作为一个整体,读起来就有种前后脱节的感觉,缘由在于没使用有效的语篇衔接方法。
例:
原文 园中百花怒放,爸爸妈妈在园中设宴。
学译 Flowers were in full bloom in the garden. My parents held a party in the garden. (照搬汉语重复的衔接方法)
译文1 Flowers were in full bloom in the garden. My parents held a party in it. (用英语替换的衔接方法,用it代替the garden)
译文2 My parents held a banquet in the garden where all sorts of flowers were in full bloom.(用英语替代的衔接方法,用where代替in the garden)剖析参考译文提出的两种替代方法都是英文的衔接方法,但译文2的衔接愈加紧凑、简洁。