1、第二讲 科技英语翻译技术,Subordination (分清主从) Diction (选词用字) Amplification (增字法) Omission (省约法) Conversion(变换) Inversion (词序调整) Negation (否定) Division (长句拆分),从本质上说翻译(笔译)就是用一种语言忠实地表达出用另一种语言写的或讲的内容。首先,准确地理解原文总是翻译过程中最要紧的。其次,恰当的表达也是至关重要的。遣词造句都必须能够在实质上准确地传达原文的真正意思,同时又符合“目标语言“的用法特点,从而达到难确性与可读性及适当的语言风格之间的统一,也即达到准确理解同恰
2、当表达之间的辨证统一。,Subordination 分清主从法,“分清主从法”,即在翻译的过程中区分开复杂句的主要部分和从属部分,并作相应的处理这种方法,是使译文恰到好处所必需的。区分并正确处理主要部分与次要部分在英汉翻译中非常重要。,1“分清主从”对于理解和表达都是必不可少的,At absolute zero,a pure semiconductor has all of its electrons tightly bound and acts as an insulator. 在绝对零度时,纯半导体所有电子都紧紧结合在一起,因而显示出绝缘体的性质。,The Greek name for a
3、mber is elektron,and this gave us our word electricity.因为希腊人称琥珀为elektron,所以,我们就得到了electricity(电)这个字。,2在汉语中,句子的主要部分通常应放在从属部分之后,There is air all round us though we cannot see it with the naked eye 虽然我们用肉眼看不见空气,但我们的周围到处都是空气。,Diction选词用字法,所谓选词用字法,指的是根据对原文的准确理解来适当地选择用词。,(a) I have a short memory. 我的记忆力不好
4、。 (b) Liu Hulans life was short but brilliant. 刘胡兰的一生是短暂而光辉的。 (c) This biscuit eats short 这饼干吃起来很松脆。,(d) Indeed he has a short temper. 他确实是个急性子。 (e) Consequently,seeing that they could not winLord North in 1778 offered many concessions, short of independence. 诺斯勋爵鉴于不能取胜,于1778年提出要作出若干让步,只是不让他们独立。,(a)
5、 Electricity lights the streets and buildings,warms the houses,heats food in cookers,works trains and drives the machines in factories making all kinds of products 电照亮街道和建筑物,供家庭取暖,用炊具蒸煮食物,驱动电气机车,并在工厂里驱动机器加工各种产品。,Amplification增字法,翻译工作者不得给原作添加任何意思也不得从原作中舍弃任何意思,这是翻译过程中不可违背的一 条主要原则。然而,这并不是说翻译人员就不应补充一些必要
6、的字来使其译文既准确又符合所译成语言的用法和习惯。一般地说在英汉翻译中“增字法”常常应用在下列诸场合:,(a)当一些字在英语中按照句法(syntactically)要求而省略时,When trying to decide whether an object will float in water,you need to know whether its density is greater or less than that of waterIf it is greater, the object will sinkIf less,the object will float 若要判断一个物体是
7、否会在水中浮起,就得知道该物体的密度比水大还是比水小。要是比水大,该物体会下沉要是比水小,就会浮起。 注意:you没有翻译出来,这叫做省字法。,(b) 当代词在英语句子中用来避免重复时(同汉语比较起来广泛使用代词是英语的另一个特点),Some jets travel faster than soundThen we shall not hear them until they have gone 一些喷气飞机飞得比音速还快。这时,要等飞机飞过之后,我们才能听到它们的声音。 (不要译成“我们才能听到它们”。),当关系代词或关系副词用来引导“非限定性” “nonrestrictive”从句时,常常
8、在汉译中加字 “ amplification ” ,Yesterday we went to their laboratory,where we saw some sophisticated microcomputers newly designed by them . 昨天我们到他们的实验室去了,在那里我们看见了他们新设计的一些高级微型电子计算机。,(d) 当两个或多个名词受一个修饰语modifier修饰时,或两个或多个修饰语修饰一个名词时,常常需要采用“增字法”,Omission 省略法,因为汉语同英语在句法上和用法上的差异要求根据原文的真正意义和被译成语言的用法而采用“增字法”和“省略法
9、”。,冠词的省略,That veteran scientist says,“Remote sensing of the earth from man-made satellites seems to have an extremely promising future“那位老科学家说,“从人造卫星上对地球进行遥感勘测,其前途看来是不可限量的。”,2 所有格(possessive)代词的省略,Seamen who went on the first great voyages of discovery in the Antarctic got their drinking water by me
10、lting blocks of ice 最初航行在南极地区从事伟大科学考察的船员和水手,就是靠融化冰块来获取饮用水的。 (Here the possessive pronoun “their“,which is syntactically necessary in English,should be omitted in the Chinese version in line with the usage of the Chinese language),There is a certain airplane noise which is quite unmistakable 有一种飞机的响声
11、是完全不会被听错的。If you melt two or more metals together,you can get a new metal 一起熔化两种或多种金属就可产生一种新金属。,4结构用词“structural words“的省略,Some of the machine tools are so small that they can be moved by hand 有些机床很小,用手就可以搬动。An electric current consists of a stream of electrons which are so small and light that l024
12、 of them together weight only one milligram 电流由电子流形成。电子既小又轻1024个电子加在一起才1mg重。,5形式主语“formal subject “或形式宾语“formal object “ (it)的省略,It would not be appropriate to discuss this matter at length in a book on one branch of science 在一本只涉及某一科学分支的书里详尽地讨论这个问题是不合适的。It is quite important for us to know somethin
13、g about air. 我们了解一些有关空气的知识是十分重要的。,6联系动词“linking verbs”或起联系动词作用的动词的省略,This happens because the amber becomes electrified 因为琥珀带电了,所以发生这种现象。Yet the surface of the sea is not more than a tenth of an inch in thickness 但是,海的表面最多只有十分之一英寸厚。,7.汉译中省略“比较级的标记”“signs of comparison“,在这个问题上,有两点要注意。第一有相当多的英语表述,尽管么形
14、式上用的是“比较级”,但却表示事物的具体概念或状态。因此,这类“比较级”在汉语中通常不表示出来。,Many seats of higher learning have graduate programs in this field.在这个句子中“higher learning”的意思是“高等学问”。因此该句译成:许多高等学问的研究场所(如大学、研究院、所等)都开设这方面的研究生课程。与此类似,“younger generation“是“年轻的一代”;“better student“是“优秀学生”,等等。,第二,与英语中“-er”和“-est”标记相应的汉语为“更”字和“最”字。但不可机械地把“
15、更”字同“-er“,“最”字同“-est“划等号。例如,To make simpler, research workers often use specific gravity instead of density.按照汉语的用法不需要用“更”字,句子通常应译成:为了简便,研究人员常常使用比重而不用密度。,Conversion 转换法,一般地说,翻译人员不得任意改变原作的“词类”。然而中英文是两种完全不同的语言。这个事实却决定了在翻译过程中,不应机械地照搬原作的词类。事实上,在一种语言中属于某一类的词,常常必须转换成所译语言中的不同类的词,这样才能同被译语言的习惯用法相一致。这就是“转换法”真
16、正的含义。,1英语名词转换成汉语动词,The trend towards faster and larger airliners continues 客机继续向着大型和高速化发展。Another innovation will be the use of variable geometrythe wings will have two positions 另一项创新是使用变几何形状布局,即机翼可有两个位置。,2英语的形容词、介词或介词短语转换成汉语动词,Plastic articles are used because their smooth surface are so easy to k
17、eep clean. 因为塑料制品的表面(是)光滑,很容易保持清洁,所以,人们使用塑料制品。 The light of many stars occupies thousands of years in coming to us 我们可以设想,许多星球的光来到我们这里,得花上几千年的时间。,3“被动” 转换成“主动” “active“,Air is known to be a mixture of gases. 人们知道空气是一种气体混合物。Each year faster and larger airplanes are being built 每年(人们)都在建造速度更快,尺寸更大的飞机。
18、,Inversion 词序调整法,作为一种翻译方法,词序调整法”的意思是按照被译成语言的用法,将句子的词序作必要的甚至是必不可少的调整。这样的词序调整之所以必要 首先是因为每种语言都有自自己的“自然词序”,都在词序上有自己的特点; 其次,是因为作为一种文体上的手段,“词序调整法”又常常用来进行强调。,1. 副句置于主句之前,表示“条件”、“让步”、“原因”或“理由”的状语从句,尽管在英语中常常置于主句之后,但在译成汉语时通常应置于主句之前。 This is why lightning can be seen before the thunder can be heard, although t
19、hey both occur simultaneously 因此,尽管闪电和打雷同时发生,但却先看到闪电,而后才听到雷声。,2. “MPT“(方式地点时间)转换成“TPM“(时间地点方式),Professor Tung is working with two of his new assistants in his laboratory at the moment童教授现在正在实验室和他的两个新助手一道工作。,3.包含“that”从句的情况,Even then it is not often that a comet comes close enough to be seen if we do
20、 not have a telescope.即使这时,彗星靠近到使我们不用望远镜也能看到的情况也是不多的。,Negation 正反、反正译法,从翻译方法上来讲,对思维上的否定和讲述方式上的否定加以分析并予以正确表述这种方法,称为“正反、反正译法”,是帮助我们在翻译中恰如其分地表达原作思想的翻译方法之一。,1.“完全否定”-no,not,none,never,nothing,nobody,nowhere,neither,nor等,All solids have both size and shape. Liquids have size but no shape,while gases have
21、 neither size nor shape一切固体既有形状又有大小。液体只有大小没有形状,而气体既无形状又无大小。,2“绝对否定”not at all,by no means, in no way,none, nothing, short of等,In this case,the cutting tool,that is,the drill,turns fast,but the workpiece doesnt move at all在这种情况下,切削刀具即钻头快速转动,但工件却根本不动。,3“半否定”hardly, rarely,scarcely, seldom,barely,few,l
22、ittle等,The value of the helicopter is immenseIt can hardly be measured 直升机的价值是无限的,几乎无法估量。Sounds are so familiar to us that we rarely inquire into their nature 我们非常熟悉声音,以致很少去探究其性质。,4.“部分否定” not every,not all,not much,not many,not always, not often等,But not all that suns power gets down to the surface
23、 of the earth 但是,并非全部太阳能都能达到地球表面。But this does not happen often. 但是,这种情况并不经常发生。,5. “具有否定含义的词”fail,without, beyond,above, until, unless, lest, ignorant, refrain,refuse,neglect absence, lack, instead of, other than,except,rather than等,A change is not a chemical change unless it results in forming a ne
24、w substance 一种变化如果不导致生成新物质,就不是化学变化。 They refused us admittance 他们不让我们进去。,关于“No十名词”结构开头的句子。英语中这种讲述事情(或禁止做某事)的强调方式,在汉语中通常是 “任何不”的意思。,Automobile traffic in metropolitan areas constitutes another situation where no human can sense everything going on at a particular time, and how all of the variables af
25、fect each other.大都市地区汽车的交通运输构成了另一种情形。在这种情形下,任何人都不能了解到在某个特定时刻所发生的一切,也不能了解到所有变化着的因素是如何互相影响的。,Division 长句拆译法,作为一种翻译方法,“长句子拆译”的意思是,将一个长句子作必要的分割,译成几个较短的句子。 一般地说在英汉翻译过程中,根据对原文的正确理解把一个长句拆成短句,有几条规则可以遵循。,1当长句包含或隐含作者进行推理的两个或多个步骤,或者作者以一定的顺序安排事实,I would go further and point out that the misuse of the earth reso
26、urces programmer may not be limited only to economic matters,important as they may be,but that man-made satellites, as we well know,could also be the means for obtaining intelligence data of vital strategic import 我还想进一步指出,对地球资源的遥测计划加以滥用一事,可能不仅限于经济问题方面,尽管经济问题是重要的;众所用知,人造卫星也可以用作获取重要战略情报的手段。,2当修饰主语的“修
27、饰词”(特别是非限定件定语从句)过长时,Facilities which have been developed in the process of trying to provide realistic flow conditions at high speed and which are now used fairly extensively in high-speed testing include hotshot tunnels, plasma jets,shock tubes,shock tunnels,and light gas guns 在试图提供实际高速气流条件的过程中,发展了
28、一批设备,目前这些设备已相当广泛地用于高速试验,它们包括热射式风洞、等离子体射流、激波管、激波风洞以及轻气体炮等。,3.当修饰宾语的修饰语(特别是非限定件定语从句)过长时,Others, in their haste to pick up additional techniques not covered in the elementary calculus course take courses in advanced engineering mathematics which cover such topics as Fourier series,Laplace transforms, p
29、artial differential equations boundary-value problems,and complex variables 其他学生由于急于学到基础微积分课程之外的共他方法,于是就学习高等上程数学的若干课程,包括象傅立叶级数、拉普拉斯变换、偏微分方程、边界值问题和复变函数等课程。”,4当好几个副词在一起,过长而不便挤进一个通顺的句子,或当某一副词实际上起副词从句的作用(或非限定性定语从句)时,Key to one dominant factor in automation,the sustained substitution of machine for human
30、 muscle and the more intellectual use of mans brain, is the ever increasing effectiveness of his exploitation of energy in benign,imaginative, nonconformist ways 解决自动化生产中一个决定性要素,即持久地用机器代替人的体力劳动,并且更加聪慧地使用人的脑力,办法就在于人类能够开阔思路、打破常规,以富有想象力的适宜方法,不断提高其开发能源的效力。,5.当一长句中提到两个或几个方面的内容时 该句可通过重复英语中“关键词”的方法拆成短句,The law of conservation and transformation of energy is the chief basis of physical,astronautically and chemical reasoning as well as of engineering practice 能量守恒和能量转换定律,不仅是工程实践的主要基础,而且也是物理、天文以及化学等方面推理的主要基础。,