Translation skill

Translation skill: long sentences Translation skill: long sentences The translation of long sentence is prehaps the most difficult of all in the process of English-Chinese translation. The prerequisites for the correct handling of long and complex sentences in English-Chinese translation lie chiefly in the translator’s correct comprehension of the original, and secondly, in his/her ability to adequately represent the thought of the author in the target language. Correct comprehension, therefore, is always the first and foremost step; and the dialectical(adj.辩证的) unity of faithfulness and smoothness is always what we should strive to achieve. This means we have to begin with a careful analysis of a long and complex sentence in the light of context so as to understand it clearly: (a) what the author is driving at;(b) what his/her argument or views are, and what “logic sequence ” there is in the original;(c) what grammatical relations exist among the three,four,five or even more “modifiers” in the long sentence to be translated. As some linguists have pointed out, the translation of a typical long english sentence usually consists of two stages which comprises six or seven steps: StageⅠ Comprehension Step1: draft a skeleton(基干) of the long sentence Step2: infer(推断) the main idea from the context and the whole text Step3: distinguish between the principal and subordinate elements Step4: find out the interrelations between principal and subordinate clauses StageⅡ Presentation Step5: enter on a tentative(试探性的) translation of each sentence division Step6: rearrangement and synthesis Step7: finishing touches(润色) Let us analyze the above seven steps in the following illustration. It is nothing else than impurities prenatally inherent in ore that seriously affect the quality of the ore, which is fromed as a result of geological vicissitudes(变迁兴衰) including diastrophic(地壳) movement, eruption of volcano, sedimentation, glaciation(冰河作用) and weathering etc., under the action of which pyrogenic(高热所产生的) rocks, volcanic complex rocks, aqueous (水成的) rocks, sedimentary rocks etc., come into being, some of which exist in a stage of symbiosis(共生), the main cause of the absence of pure rocks in nature, wherein lies the reason for the need or separation technology and apparatus, namely, ore-dressing devices and equipments, so far impotent to meet the requirements of metallurgical industry the scientists make every endeavor to elevate to a new high by laser separation. Step1. Draft the skeleton of the long sentence and grasp its structure. The skeleton may be drawn as follows: It is nothing else than impurities…seriously affect the quality of…, which is formed as a result of…, under the action of which… roacks.etc., come into being…, some which exist in…, wherein(在其中) lies the reason for the need of…, (which have been) so far important to meet the requirement of… Step2. infer the main idea from the context and the whole text: ⑴ Impurities prenatally inherence in ore seriously affect its quality. ⑵ Ore is formed as a result of geological vicissitudes. ⑶ Sepration technology and apparatus are needed. ⑷ The scientists endeavor to elevate it to a new high by laser separation. Step3. Find out the author’s stress by distinguishing the principal and subordinate elements: The principal element lies in the latter part of the long sentence, and the subordinate elements are in the first part which accounts for (说明)the scientists’ endeavor: since natural ore is impure, the scientists endeavor to purify it by means of advanced technology and apparatus. Step4. Find out the interrelations between principal sand subordinate clauses: The whole sentence is an emphatic structure with “it” as the formal subject and emphasizing the real subject “nothing” (else than impurities), which is represented by the relative pronoun “that” in the subordinate clause. Attributive clauses in the that clause: which is formed…, under the action of which…, some of which…, wherein, (which have been) so far important to…, metallurgical industry (which) the scientists make every endeavor to… Step5. Enter on(着手) a tentative translation of each sentence division： ⑴ 严重影响矿石质量的不是别的，而是矿石中天然固有的杂质。 ⑵ 这些矿石的形成是由于地质变迁，包括地壳运动、火山爆发、沉积作用、冰河作用、和风化作用等造成的结果。 ⑶ 在上述地质变化的作用下，生成了火成岩、火山杂岩、水成岩和沉积岩等。 ⑷ 上述岩石中有些处于共生状态，这是自然界没有纯净矿石的主要原因。 ⑸ 人们之所以需要分离技术和器械—即选矿装置和设备，其原因就在于此。 ⑹ 迄今为止，分离技术和器械尚不足以满足冶金工业的需要，科学家们力图利用激光分离技术（机）把冶金工业提高到一个新水平。 Step6. Rearrangement and synthesis The above separate chinese sentences offer a global idea of the original english sentence. However, they are far from being an ideal chinese translation. Therefore rearrangement and synthesis are needed to make a coherent chinese text. Step7. Finishing touches With all the six steps completed, we then polish the translation and come to the last step—the final version of the long sentence: 矿石是由地质变化形成的，这些地质变化包括地壳运动、火山爆发、沉积作用、冰河作用、和风化作用等。在上述地质变化的作用下，生成了火成岩、火山杂岩、水成岩和沉积岩等。正是矿石中天然固有的杂质严重影响了矿石的质量。上述这些岩石中，有些处于共生状态--这是自然界没有天然纯矿石的主要原因。人们之所以需要分离技术和器械—即选矿装置和设备，其原因盖出于此。迄今为止，分离技术和器械尚远不能满足冶金工业的需要，科学家们正全力以赴利用激光分离技术（机）把冶金工业提高到一个新水平。 The above-mentioned seven steps are analytically isolated but actually are interwoven throughout the process of translation, so we should learn to make use of them accroding to different circumstances. On the other hand, to a great extend, the layout of a good piece of translation comes from the creative work of the translator, whose flexibility and adaptbility are tested in the translation of long and complex sentences. In this sense, there is no reason for us to stick to the above sequence mechanically. ★ Note: 英文长句的拆译 　 中英文语法结构不同，英文可随时插入定语、同位语，对名词作进一步的阐述；插入状语，对谓语动词加以修饰和限制，逐渐形成结构复杂、逻辑严密的长句。中文句子多简短，有主次先后，逐点交代，层层铺开。语言结构的不同致使英文长句汉译有一定的难度。有经验的译者在实践中摸索出种种拆译的方法，认为要翻译英文中长得像火车似的句子，就必须把它切成一节一节地来译，故采用拆译法是解决问题的effective manner。 　　一、长句的拆分 　英文长句皆由充当定语、状语、介词(短语)、不定式、分词短语或由关系代词、关系副词引导的各种从句所形成。这些成分所处的位置通常就是应该作拆分处理的位置。把长句拆成若干短句，比如说把一个定语从句拆成另一独立句，或是一个主谓结构；同时根据原文意思在词序上作必要的调整，试看一例： 　　(1)In Africa I met a boy,(2) who was crying as if his heart would break and said,(3)when I spoke to him,(4)that he was hungry ,(5) because he had had no food for two days.(1)在非洲，我遇到一个小孩，(2)他哭得很伤心。(3)我问他为什么哭，(4)他说肚子饿，(5)两天没有吃东西了。 　这个英文句子的叙述层次与汉语相同，所以可以按原文顺序，依次作顺拆处理。 　　二、汉语的还原 　　有些长句理解起来并非困难，只是各种成分交织在一起，即便是采用拆译法也颇感不易。要是按原文词序直译，中文显得累赘冗长，且十分欧化，国人读着不爽；拆开来译又觉得各种成分之间松散脱节，顾此失彼，难成一体。因此在处理这类长句时还要求译者掌握一些"还原"的技巧。再看一例： 　(1)"In my statement at the fifth special session of the General Assembly on 18May this year,(2)with insight gained ,(3)as a member of the negotiating group ,(4)which elaborated the draft of resolution 2248(S-V),(5)I stated that...""(3)(4)我由于参加了拟订第2248(S-V)号决议草案协商小组的工作，(2)而得以洞察事情的真相，(1)所以我在今年五月十八日联合国第五次特别会议的发言中，(5)就能够指出…… 　　经过仔细分析，不难发现译者在使各个片段的语意连接上下了不小的工夫。译文中加进了"由于……所以……"、"而"、"就"一类的虚词，实际上都起到了连词的作用，原文的语气表达出来了，整体概念也突出了。可见，在长句拆译的过程中，如果不能顺译(上例采用的是半倒拆法)，就需将拆分开的片段根据原文意思重新组合，必要时须适当添加连词和虚词，使其还原原文精神之本色，传递原文之信息。 　　三、长句拆译要突出重点 　　文章有主题，段落有大意，英文长句也自有重点所在。这个重点就是长句所要传递的主要信息，或者说作者所要表现的主要意图。译者在拆分和还原的过程中应时刻记牢：1)原文的思想 内容 财务内部控制制度的内容财务内部控制制度的内容人员招聘与配置的内容项目成本控制的内容消防安全演练内容 。做到拆分时纲目不乱，还原时貌离神合。2)原文的修辞特点。包括应尽量保持原文逻辑上的严密性，和突出长句重点内容的语言成分。请体会下例： (1)What is questioned is /(2) whether a country like Britain /(3) has a chance/(4)assuming it has the will/(5)to succeed where so many have failed /(6)and even assuming that it has/(7)should make the tremendous effort and take substantial financial risk /(8)of trying to leapfrog into leadership in entirely new technology /(9)or whether it should take softer option /(10)of merely catching up with the rest of the industrialized world.(5)许多国家都已经失败了。(2)那么，像英国这样一个国家，(4)就假定它有那个愿望，(3)但是否还有机会获得成功；(6)就假定它有那个机会，(7)但是否还能够做出巨大努力，豁出老本来，(8)以图跃居高新技术的领先地位；(9)还是说，它只图个轻快，(10)甘愿跟在世界其他工业化国家的后面跑。(1)这一切都还是个疑问。 　原文作者表明了自己对英国在当今世界上地位的看法，认为这个昔日的"日不落帝国"已是江河日下。其见解的核心是怀疑和否定。文字上表现为：主干部分用了"What is questioned is whether...whether..."等，造成十分强烈的怀疑语气，但实际上这个主语从句具有修辞上的意义，为的是加强句子的否定意味。接着句子的延伸部分又连续用了两个assuming分词短语，变假定为肯定，使作者的观点更加无可辩驳。离开原句内容上的这个重点，单从语法上分析往往看不清方向，甚至弄不清句中几个has的搭配关系。离开原句内容上的这个重点，词义的选择也会无的放失，如softer一词取的是"轻松"、"舒服"之意，而非"软弱"。另外，本句汉译文在拆分原有词序之后，特别注意到按原句思路来组织译句，既模仿了原句的语气，又遵守了汉语的习惯，将层层诘问最后归结到一个"疑问"，求得与原文近似的修辞效果。 Long sentence translation also a headache for the translator in Chinese—English translation. Since there is a great disparity between Chinese and English sentence structures, we should learn to tackle them discriminatingly. The usual methods adopted in translating long Chinese sentence into English include the change of clause order and division breaking up. However, before breaking up a long Chinese sentence, the most urgent task for a translator is to discern(辨别) its main idea and the layout of the structure. After a careful analysis, we may cut the sentence into separate sections and then translate them one by one. The following are some more examples: ⑴ 我们不但要有一个农林牧副渔布局合理、全面发展、能够满足人民生活和工业发展需要的发达的农业，还要有一个门类齐全、结构合理、能够满足社会消费和整个国民经济发展需要的先进的工业。 We not only need a developed agricultural system with a rational distribution and all-around development of farming, forestry, animal husbandry, side-lie production and fishery, meeting the needs of the prople’s life and expending industry, but also an advanced industrial system which is complete in range and rational in structure and which meets the needs of consumers and the expansion of the whole national economy. ⑵ 一定要言行一致，理论与实践密切结合，反对华而不实和任何虚夸，少说空话，多做工作，扎扎实实，埋头苦干。 Deed and world must match and theory and practice must be closely integrated. We must reject flashiness without substance and every sort of boasting. There must be less empty talk and more hard work. We must be steadfast and dedicated. Sometimes, however, when the chinese original is too meticulous(过于精细的), especially with its typical four-character expressions for the sake of rhythm, we have to simplify the English version. For example: 我厂生产的床垫工艺先进、结构新颖、造型美观、款式多样、舒适地方，携带方便。 The technological design of the bed cushions produced in our factory is advanced with novel structure, beautiful shape and various patterns. They are comfortable and convenient to carry. Viewing from various angles and out of their own experiences, Chinese translators have worked out some effective methods to tackle long and complex english sentences. The two basic approaches are translating in original sequence and in reverse order. However, these two approaches are two simple to serve our practical purposes, and therefore, some specific methods or techniques are employed. They include: 1. Embedding; 2. Breaking up; 3. Reversing; 4. Splitting; 5. Inserting; and 6. Recasting. In the following we are going to make a survey of these methods. 1. Embedding （内嵌入法） The so-called embedding in translation means placing the modifiers (including phrases and clauses) before the word being modified, thus modifiers which take the end position in English are embedded in the Chinese sentence. The pre-position embedding makes the Chinese version compact and coherent, therefore, it is frequently adopted in translating attributive and appositive cluses. (1) A molecule may be considered as the smallest particle of matter that can exist without changing its nature. 可以认为，分子是物质在不改变其性质的情况下能够存在的最小微粒。 (2) Congress has made laws requiring most pressure groups to give information about how much they spend and how they spend it, the amount and sources of funds, membership, and the names and salaries of their representatives. 国会已制定法律， 要求大部分“压力集团”呈报他们花费了多少钱，怎样花的，以及款项的总额和来源、成员人数、代表的姓名和薪金等情况。 (3) A bar of iron placed in a coil, through which a current is flowing, becomes magnetized. 铁棒置于带电的线圈中就会被磁化。 Sometimes, however, English modifiers are too long to be placed the word being modified in the Chinese version, in this case we have to resort to another means—breaking up. 2. Breaking up (拆分) It is generally accepted that English sentences are long and complicated while Chinese sentences are comparably short and brief. Therefore, breaking up is one of the most common technique used in English-Chinese translation in tackling long and complex sentences. We may divide long English sentence into several sentences accroding to their sense groups, and then translate them separately into Chinese. (1) Plastics is made from water which is a natural resource, coal which can be mined through automatic and mechanical process at less cost and lime which can be obtained from calcination of limestone widely present in nature. 塑料是由水、煤和石灰制成的。水是天然资源； 煤是用自动化和机械化的方法开采的， 成本较低； 石灰是由煅烧自然界广泛存在的石灰石得来的。 (2) Steel is usually made where the iron ore is smelted, so that the modern steelworks forms a complete unity, taking in raw materials and produceing all types of cast iron and steel, both for sending to other works for further treatment, and as finished products such as joists and other consumers. 通常炼铁的地方也炼钢。因此，现代炼钢厂是一个配套的整体，从运进原料到生产各种类型的铸铁和钢材；有的送往其他工厂进一步加工处理，有的就制成成品，如工字钢及其他一些成材。 (3) Human beings have distinguished themselves from other animals, and in doing so ensured their survival, by the ability to observe and understand their environment and then either to adapt to that environment or to control and adapt it to their own needs. 人类把自己和其他动物区分开来。人类具有观察和了解周围环境的能力。他们要么适应环境，要么根据自身需要控制和改造环境。人类就这样一代代生存下来。 3. Reversing（倒置法） Reversing in translating long and complicated English sentences refers to adjusting the aequence of words in a given sentence so as to conform to Chinese usage. In this case, a sentence element in pre-position in English may be shifted to the end of the whole sentence in Chinese, and on the other hand, an end-position element may be placed at its beginning. (1) Through scientntific practice we’ve come to realized that matter can neither come frm naught nor can it reduced to naught; the total mass of reagents before reaction is constantly equivalent to that of resultants after reaction—the law of conservation of matter. 物质即不能由无到有，也不能由有到无；化学反应前反应物的质量之总和与化学反应后生成物的质量总和是恒定的，这就是物质不灭定律。我们通过科学实践认识了上述规律。 (2) Such is human nature in the west that a great many people are often willing to sacrifice higher pay for the privilege of becoming white collar workerd. 许多人常常宁愿牺牲较高的工资以换取成为白领阶层的社会地位， 这在西方到是人之常情。 (3) In reality, the lines of division between sciences are becoming blurred, and science again approaching the “unity” that it had two centuries ago—although the accumulated knowledge is enormously greater now, and no one person can hope to comprehend more than a fraction of it. 虽然现在积累起来的知识要多得多，而且任何个人也只能了解其中的一小部分，但事实上，各学科之间的界限却变得模糊不清，科学再次接近于两百年前那样的的“单一整体”。 4. Splitting（分离法） Splitting means taking certain elements(clause, phrase, or word) out of a sentence and treat them separately. This technique is usually adopted when both breaking up and embedding fail to work in dealing with a long and complicated sentence. ⑴ Taking out a single word ① An outsider’s success could even curiously help two parties to get the agreement they want. 说来奇怪，一个局外人取得的成功竟然能够促使双方达成这个他们希望取得的 协议 离婚协议模板下载合伙人协议 下载渠道分销协议免费下载敬业协议下载授课协议下载 。 ② The number of the young people in the United State who cannot read is incredible--about one in four. 大约有四分之一的美国青年人没有阅读能力。这简直令人难以置信！ ⑵ Taking out phrases My mother, Jane Lampton Clemens, died in her 88th year, a mighty age for one who at 40 was so delicate of body as to be accounted a confirmed invalid and destined to pass soon away. 我的母亲简.普兰顿.克莱门斯是在她88岁那年去世的。这对于一位40岁就身体纤弱、被公认有痼疾缠身、注定不久于人世的人，是难得的高龄。 ⑶ Taking out clauses ① This land, which once barred the way of weary travelers, now has become a land for winter and summer vacations, a land of magic and wonder. 这个地方现在已经成为冬夏两季的度假胜地，风光景物，蔚为奇观；而以前精疲力竭的旅游者只能到此止步。 ② The very important oil industry, which has done much to rejuvenate the economy of the South since the end of World War Ⅱ, made considerable headway especially in the five states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas. 第二次世界大战以后石油工业对恢复振兴南部经济起了很大作用。这个十分重要的工业部门特别是在以下五个州中取得了很大进展，即阿肯色、路易斯安那、密西西比、俄克拉荷马和德克萨斯。 5. Inserting（插入法） By inserting here we mean putting in some additional punctuation marks such as dashes, brackets etc. in a long and complex sentence so as to make the Chinese version both clear and smooth. So far as Chinese usage is concerned, the inserted part should be restricted in length approximately within 20 Chinese charaters. ⑴ The snow falls on every wood and field, and no crevice is forgotten; by the river and pond, on the hill and in the valley. 雪，在四处飘落着。雪花撒在树上，撒在田野里，撒在河边、湖畔、山上、谷底----没有一条岩缝墙隙里不飘满雪花。（dash） ⑵ The second aspect is the application by all members of society from the government official to the ordinary citizen, of the special methods of thought and action that scientists use in their work. 第二个方面是全体社会成员（从政府官员到普通公民）都使用科学家们在他们工作中所采用的的那种特殊的思考方法和行为方法。（brackets） ⑶ if you go to visit Nobel’s old residence, the house in which the great chemist remained a bachelor thoughout his life, you will catch sight of a shelf laden with experimental records. 如果你参观诺贝尔的故居---在那座房子里，这位伟大的化学家过了一辈子的独身生活---你将会看到一个堆满实验 记录 混凝土 养护记录下载土方回填监理旁站记录免费下载集备记录下载集备记录下载集备记录下载 的 书 关于书的成语关于读书的排比句社区图书漂流公约怎么写关于读书的小报汉书pdf 架。（dashes） 6. Recasting（重组法） Recasting, also known as reshuffling, is considered the most difficult technique of all for a translator to grasp. This method is used expecially when the above-mentioned techniques fail to work well. In other world, it entails a skillful control over both English and Chinese language on the part of the translator, who, on the basis of accurate comprehension of the original, should adjust or rearrange the original long sentence without considering the original structure or sequence. And the following are some typical example: ⑴ Dr.Smith resumed the activities of anti-cancer experiment begun 1945 and financed by the Federal government as soon as he snapped from his original disappointment at repeated failures, which had resulted in its forced suspension. 史密斯医生于1945年开始着手由联邦政府资助的抗癌实验。 由于屡遭失败而感到沮丧，被迫终止了实验工作。现在他又重新振作起来，恢复了抗癌实验活动。 ⑵ What the New Yorker would find missing is what many outsiders find oppressive and distasteful abot New York—its rawness, tension, urgency; its bracing competitiveness; the rigor of its judgement; and the congested, democratic presence of so many other New Yorkers encased in their own world. 纽约的粗犷、紧张，那种紧迫感和催人奋发的竞争性，它的是非观念之严酷无情，纽约市各色人等熙熙攘攘，兼容并蓄与各自天地之中的民主精神格局，这等等一切都使那些非纽约人（外人）感到厌恶和窒息；而这一切，又是纽约人所眷恋的。 ⑶ But without Adolf Hitler, who was possessed of a demoniac personality, a granite will, uncanny instincts, a cold ruthlessness, a remakable intellect, a soaring imagination and --- untill toward the end, when drunk with power and success, he overreached himself—an amazing capacity to size up people and situations, there almost certainly would never have been a Third Reich. 然而，如果没有阿道夫.希特勒，那就几乎可以肯定不会有第三帝国。因为希特勒有着魔鬼般的性格、花岗岩般得意志、不可思议的本能、无情的冷酷，杰出的智力、深远的想象力。他具有对人和时局惊人的判断力，这种判断力最后由于权力和成功冲昏了头脑而自不量力，终于弄巧成拙。 ⑷ Only rarely does a coherent picture emerge; in a sens coherence must be imposed on events by the decision maker, who seizes the challenge and turns it into opportunity by assessing correctly both the circumstanced and his margin for creative action. 决策人要对自己采取独到行动的情势作出正确的估计， 对自己采取这种行动的回旋余地作出正确的估量，而后才能抓住时机，将危机转化为良机，这样才有可能出现事态的顺利发展。有条不紊的景象自行出现的情况是十分罕见的。 Reflections and Practice Ⅰ. Translation 1. Translate the following long sentences, paying attention to their structure. ⑴ The point that I am anxious to make is that the search for model of this kind, the study of their behavior and of the relationship of this behavior to the real situations which they seek to represent, and the consequential modification of them so as to lead to reliable prediction and then to decision-making, would not be possibl were it not for the assistance afforded to the investigator by the digital computer and by the work of the scientific idea on which it is founded into stable, reliable and economic pieces of eletrical equipment. ⑵ 当前我们迫切需要有一个装备优良、人员齐备、按照安全保护原则、本着一丝不苟的精神建立起来的先进核能实验室。 2. Put the following passage into Chinese In the late 1960s integrated circuits, tiny transistors and other electrical components arranged on a single chip of silicon, replaced individual transistor in computers. Integreted circuits became miniaturized, enabling more components to be designed into a single computer circuit. In 1970s refinements in integreted circuit technology led to the development of the modern microprocessor,