1、Translation Theory and Practice -A Brief Introduction,Outline,1. What is translation? 2. Classification of translation 3. Criteria of translation 4. Requirements for a translator 5. Methods of translation 6. History of translation in China and the Western world 7. Common problems in E-C translation
2、8. Recommended books,1. What is translation?,Traduttore, Traditore. -Italian saying(“Translator, traitor.”) 翻译即叛逆。 Poetry is what gets lost in translation. (Robert Frost) Translation is an art. Translation is a science.,1. What is translation?,翻译就是戴着手铐脚镣在跳舞。 翻译如女人，忠者不美，美者不忠。 翻译如婚姻，是一种两相妥协的艺术。,1. Wha
3、t is translation?,Translating consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source-language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style. -Eugene A. Nida 所谓翻译，是指在译语中用最切近而又自然的对等语再现原语的信息，首先是意义，其次是文体。尤金奈达,1. What is translation?,这个定义很好地说明了翻译
4、活动的实质，与其他定义相比，它有三个优点： （1）明确地说明了要译的是什么（信息，message）； （2）暗示了由于语言文化上的差异，原文和译文只能做到相对的对等（closest）； （3）考虑了译文的可接受性（natural）。,Eugene A. Nida,American translator and translation theorist, famous for his theory of “ functional equivalence” or “dynamic equivalence”,2. Classification of translation,1) source or
5、target language: from native to foreign 本族语译成外语from foreign to native 外语译成本族语,2. Classification of translation,2) linguistic symbols involved: intralingual translation 语内翻译interlingual translation 语际翻译intersemiotic translation 符际翻译,2. Classification of translation,3) The mediumoral translation (inte
6、rpretation) 口译written translation 笔译machine translation 机器翻译,2. Classification of translation,4) The material: specialized-subject translation 专业性翻译literary translation 文学性翻译general translation 一般性翻译,2. Classification of translation,5) The way: absolute translation 全译 selective translation 摘译transla
7、tion with reconstruction 编译,3. The criteria of translation,严复 “信”、“达”、 “雅”译事三难，信(faithfulness)、达(expressiveness)、雅(elegance/ gracefulness)。 求其信，已大难矣。顾信矣不达，虽译尤不译也，则达尚焉。,3. The criteria of translation,Alexander Tytler: Essay on the Principles of Translation (1790)（论翻译的原则） 1)That the translation should
8、 give a complete transcript of the ideas of the original work.（译文应完整地再现原文的思想内容） 2) That the style and manner of writing should be of the same character with that of the original.（译文的风格、笔调应与原文的性质相同） 3) That the translation should have all the ease of the original.（译文应像原文一样流畅自然）,Alexander Tytler,Alexa
9、nder Fraser Tytler (15 October 1747 - 5 January 1813), was a Scottish lawyer, writer, and professor. Tytler was also a historian, and for some years was Professor of Universal History, and Greek and Roman Antiquities, in the University of Edinburgh.,3. The criteria of translation,傅雷：以效果而论，翻译应当像临画一样，
10、所求的不在形似而在神似(similarity in spirit)。以实际工作论，翻译比临画更难。临画与原画，素材相同（颜色，画布，或纸或绢），法则相同（色彩学，解剖学，透视学）。译本与原作，文字既不侔，规则又大异。各种文字各有特色，各有无可模仿的优点，各有无法补救的缺陷，同时又各有不能侵犯的戒律。像英法，英德那样接近的语言，尚且有许多难以互译的地方；中西文字的扞（han4）格远过于此，要求传神达意，铢两悉称，自非死抓字典，按照原文句法拼凑堆砌所能济事。,3. The criteria of translation,钱钟书：文学翻译的最高标准是“化”。把一作品从一国文字转变成另一国文字，既能不
11、因语文习惯的差异而露出生硬牵强的痕迹，又能完全保存原有的风味，那就算得入于“化境”(sublimation)。,3. The criteria of translation,许渊冲：“书销中外六十本，诗译英法惟一人”。 认识论：三势说（发挥优势，改变劣势，争取均势） 方法论：三化说（深化、浅化、等化） 目的论：三之说（知之、好之、乐之） 译诗：三美说（意美、音美、形美）,3. The criteria of translation,三势说：好的译文都发挥了译语的优势，至少也要改变劣势，争取均势 三化说：发挥优势可以用深化的方法，改变劣势可用浅化，争取优势可用等化。浅化的目的是使人知之，等化的目
12、的是使人好之，深化的目的是使人乐之。 三美说：关于诗歌翻译，我根据鲁迅提出的三美说，意美以感心，一也；音美以感耳，二也；形美以感目，三也。把它应用到翻译上，就是译诗应该尽可能地传达原诗的意美、音美、形美。,鲁迅 “信”、“顺” 凡是翻译，必须兼顾着两面，一面当然力求其易解，一面保存着原作的风姿。,3. The criteria of translation,防止“译文体” 、 “翻译腔” (translationese) 译文体是指一种目前流行于大陆、港、台三地的用语，是一种不中不西、非驴非马、似通非通、佶（ji1）屈聱（ao2）牙的表达方式。翻译时如果只会对照原文字字死扣，就会译出来累赘不堪
13、的文字。译文体，总括来说，是一种“英文没有学好，中文却学坏了”的文体。参见余光中谈翻译、思果翻译研究、翻译新究、译道探微,3. The criteria of translation,3. The criteria of translation,Dont cough more than you can help.*不要比你能忍的咳得更多。 A soldier should be loyal to his country.*一个军人应该忠于他的国家。 They are good questions, because they call for thought-provoking answers.
14、*它们是好的问题，因为它们需要对方做出激发思想的回答。,3. The criteria of translation,Dont cough more than you can help. 能不咳，就不咳。 A soldier should be loyal to his country. 军人应该忠于国家。 They are good questions, because they call for thought-provoking answers. 这些问题问得好，要回答就要好好动一下脑筋。,4. Requirements for a translator,“翻译的艺术所依赖的，第一是译者
15、对原文文字及内容上透彻的了解；第二是译者有相当的国文程度，能写清顺畅达的中文；第三是译事上的训练，译者对于翻译标准及技术问题有相当的见解。”（林语堂）,4. Requirements for a translator,对于译者的要求主要有 （1）认真的态度； （2）扎实的语言基本功； （3）丰富的文化知识； （4）掌握一些翻译理论和常用技巧； （5）会用工具书和网络 参见张培基英汉翻译教程、思果译道探微,4. Requirements for a translator,做一个合格的译者是不容易的，需要长期不懈的学习和实践。为了胜任自己的工作，译者至少必须具备三方面的素养，这就是扎实的语言功底、
16、广博的言外知识和敏锐的感受能力。 参见柯平英汉与汉英翻译教程,5. The methods of translation,literal translation（直译）: literal translation may be defined as having the following characteristics; 1) Literal translation takes sentence as its basic unit and the whole text into consideration at the same time in the course of translatin
17、g.,5. The methods of translation,2) Literal translation strives to reproduce both the ideological content and style of the entire literary work and retain as much as possible the figures of speech and such main sentence structures or patterns as SV,SVO, SVC, SVA, SVOO, SVOC, SVOA formulated by Rando
18、lph Quirk. (刘重德) Ex. The concept of “die” may be expressed as follows: breathe ones last, go to ones eternal rest, the long sleep, pass away, see God, see Marx. see ones ancestors, go west, go to heaven, kick the bucket,5. The methods of translation,Quite a lot of successful literal translations hav
19、e been adopted as idiomatic Chinese expressions. For example, crocodile tears, be armed to the teeth, chain reaction, gentlemens agreement, and so on. Limitations: “the Milky Way” , “to lie on ones back”,5. The methods of translation,Free / Liberal translation（意译）: It may be defined as a supplementa
20、ry means to mainly convey the meaning and spirit of the original without trying to reproduce its sentence patterns or figures of speech. And it is adopted only when and where it is really impossible for translators to do literal translation. Ex. 1. No admittance! 闲人免进（SV） Ex. 2. It rains cats and do
21、gs. (SVO) 大雨滂沱(SV),5. The methods of translation,Adams apple 喉结 at sixes and sevens 乱七八糟 Dont cross the bridge till you get to it. 不必担心过早。 Do you see any green in my eye? 你以为我是幼稚可欺的吗？,5. The methods of translation,More often than not, literal translation and free translation may be alternatively use
22、d in the process of translation. It means killing two birds with one stone. 这意味着一石二鸟。 这意味着一举两得。 这意味着一箭双雕。 Theres no pot so ugly it cant find a lid. 罐儿再丑，配个盖儿不发愁。 丑女不愁嫁。,5. The methods of translation,Little fish does not eat big fish. 小鱼吃不了大鱼。 胳膊拧不过大腿。 What the tongue says, the neck pays for. 舌头说话，脖子
23、还帐。 舌头闯祸，脖子遭殃。 A gift is the key to open the door closed against you. 礼物是打开把你关在门外的房门的钥匙。 大门把你关在外，礼物送到门自开。,6. The history of translation in China,The history of translation begins with the presence of language. According to historical documents, the activity of translation in our country began in the
24、 Xia dynasty. And it became a more and more frequent activity from the Zhou dynasty. 在册府元龟的外臣部鞮di1译中：周公居摄三年，越裳以三象胥重译而献白雉，曰：“道路悠远，山川阻深，音使不同，故重译而朝。”故周官：“象胥掌蛮夷闽貉戎狄之国，使掌王之言而谕说焉”。,6. The history of translation in China,据礼记王制，周代对专管各方的翻译人员有各种不同的称呼 “五方之民，言语不通，嗜欲不同。达其志，通其欲，东方曰寄，南方曰象，西方曰狄鞮，北方曰译。” 故世人称译者为“象寄之才
25、”。 吕氏春秋功名提到“蛮夷反舌”，东汉高诱注：“戎狄言语与中国相反，因谓反舌”；又同书为欲高诱注：“反舌，夷语与中国相反，故曰反舌”。可见古时称外国语言为“反舌”。而国语周语中提到：“故坐诸门外，而使舌人体委之”。三国韦昭注曰：“舌人，能达异方之志，象胥之职也”。可见古时又称翻译者为“舌人”。,6. The history of translation in China,Generally speaking, there have been three climaxes of translation activities before May 4th Movement in Chinese
26、history:,6. The history of translation in China,(1)the translation of Buddhist scriptures from Eastern Han to the Tang and Song Dynasties; (2)the translation of scientific works in the transitional period of Ming and Qing Dynasties; (3) the translation of the ideological/ philosophical and literary
27、works after the Opium War.,6. The history of translation in China,The translation of Buddhist scriptures began in the Western Han dynasty. And it came into a comparatively large scale in the Eastern Han dynasty.,6. The history of translation in China,安世高（波斯人）开后世禅学之源。他的译文“义理明晰，文字允正，辩而不华，质而不野”（梁皎慧高僧传）
28、 西域月氏人支娄迦谶（简名支谶chen4），与他的弟子支亮、支谦都博学多闻，以翻译佛经而著称于世，当时有“天下博知，不出三支”之说。 支谦：因循本旨，不加文饰。钱钟书指出：“严复天演论弁(bian4)例所标：译事三难：信、达、雅，三字皆见于此。”（管锥篇）,6. The history of translation in China,Daoan (道安314-385, one of the well-known monks of the Qian Qin State during the Eastern Jin Dynasty, was the representative of those
29、who firmly advocated literal translation. Although he knew nothing of Sanskrit and did not take part in translation personally, yet he was in charge of the work and put forth the criteria for the translators to follow.,6. The history of translation in China,He advocated strict literal translation so
30、 as to be faithful to the content. Works done under his direction were typical of word-to-word translation in which no alteration was made except accidental changes in word order. （五失本，三不易） 翻译质直派的代表,6. The history of translation in China,“译胡为秦，有五失本也：一者，胡语尽倒，而使从秦，一失本也。二者，胡经尚质，秦人好文，传可众心，非文不合，斯二失本也。三者，
31、胡经委悉，至于叹咏，叮咛反复，或三或四，不嫌其烦，而今裁斥，三失本也。四者，胡有义说，正似乱词，寻说向语，文无以异，或千五百，刈（yi4）而不存，四失本也。五者，事已全成，将更傍及，及腾前辞，已乃后说，而悉除此，五失本也。,6. The history of translation in China,然般若经，三达之心，覆面所演，圣必因时，时俗有易；而删雅古，以适今时，一不易也。愚智天隔，圣人叵阶；乃欲以千岁之上微言，传使合百王之下末俗，二不易也。阿难出经，去佛未久，尊者大迦叶令五百六通，迭察迭书；今离前年，而以近意量裁，彼阿罗汉乃兢兢若此，此生死人而平平若此，岂将不知法者勇乎？斯三不易也。”
32、,6. The history of translation in China,Kumrajva (鸠摩罗什344-413), one of Daoans contemporaries, firmly advocated free translation. He was versed in both Sanskrit and Chinese. All his translations were done in accordance with the usage of the Chinese language. 翻译文丽派的代表,6. The history of translation in
33、China,He made either addition or omission where he thought necessary in order to better convey the sense of the Buddhist sutra. His translations went far and wide and exerted a great influence over Chinese philosophy and literature.,6. The history of translation in China,“天然西域之语趣”。“改梵为秦，失其藻蔚，虽得大意，殊隔
34、文体，有似嚼饭与人，非徒失味，乃令呕秽也” 印度文章辞句华丽，但汉译成汉语后，则失去美感，虽保存了大意，文体则相差太远。就好像把饭嚼烂了喂人，非但没味，更使人恶心。,6. The history of translation in China,Xuan Zang (玄奘602-664)，a very famous monk and great translator of the Tang Dynasty. He did not make any assertion whether he was for or against literal or free translation.,6. The
35、 history of translation in China,Yet people labeled his translation as “new devices for translation”, which was essentially a flexible way of making good use of both literal translation and free translation. He could already apply addition and omission and other means in dealing with various linguis
36、tic phenomena so as to keep the meaning and spirit of the original. 既须求真，又须喻俗 顺俗晓畅,6. The history of translation in China,The following methods are employed by Xuan Zang : addition（补充法）, omission（省略法）, transposition（移位法）, division and combination（分合法）, substitution（假借法）, and restoration of nouns for
37、 pronouns（代词还原法）.,6. The history of translation in China,五不翻(five donts)：在某些情况下要采用音译的方法(transliteration) （1）神秘故不翻(dont translate what is mysterious)，如咒语 （2）多义故不翻(dont translate what is poly-semous)，如“薄枷”，梵具六义（自在，炽盛，端庄，名称，吉祥，尊贵） （3）此无故不翻(dont translate what is too alien to be accepted)，如“阎浮树”（又称胜金树）,
38、6. The history of translation in China,（4）顺古故不翻(dont translate what is hereditary)，如“阿耨(nou4)菩提”，正偏知，非不可翻，而摩腾以来，常存梵音； （5）生善故不翻(dont translate what is philanthropic)，如“般若”显示出对佛经的尊重敬仰，而译成“智慧”显得轻浅世俗。）,6. The history of translation in China,At the end of the Ming dynasty, there came the second boom of t
39、ranslation-translation of scientific works. In this period, a number of scientific works ranging over astronomy, mathematics, mechanics, etc. were translated. The representatives in this period are Xu Guangqi (徐光启) and Li Zhizao (李之藻).,6. The history of translation in China,Xu Guangqi (徐光启): was a n
40、ative of Songjiang (now Shanghai City). A Chiristian, the first one who introduced European natural science to China and translated geometry into Chinese (six volumes of Geometry Original几何原本), in cooperation with Matteo Ricci, an Italian priest.,徐光启与利玛窦 (Matteo Ricci),6. The history of translation
41、in China,His most influential work on science and technology was the immense book entitled Complete Treatise on Agriculture(农政全书), consisting of 12 phyla, 60 volumes, and altogether over 700,000 words.,6. The history of translation in China,Xu Guangqis tomb remains the centerpiece of Shanghais Guang
42、qi Park on Nandan Road (南丹路), just south of Xujiahui Cathedral.,6. The history of translation in China,Li Zhizao (李之藻), Chinese mathematician, astronomer, and geographer whose translations of European scientific books greatly contributed to the spread of Western science in China. baptized into Chris
43、tianity by Matteo Ricci in 1610,6. The history of translation in China,Li began his collaboration with the Jesuits by engraving and printing numerous copies of Riccis world map, which altered many Chinese views of world geography. Map of the Ten Thousand Countries of the Earth (万国地图) is the oldest s
44、urviving map in Chinese to show the Americas. He translated Selected Arithmetic Methods as Tongwen suanzhi (同文算指) in 1614, which systematically introduced European-style mathematical notation and was regarded as important as Complete Treatise on Agriculture(农政全书).,6. The history of translation in Ch
45、ina,The 3rd climax of translation was from the Opium War to the May 4th Movement 严复林纾,6. The history of translation in China,严复Yan Fu (1854-1921), a great Chinese educator and scholar Famous translation works Thomas Huxleys Evolution and Ethics (天演论) Adam Smiths The Wealth of Nations (原富/国富论) the 2n
46、d principal of Fudan University (1906-07) and the 1st principal of Beijing University (1912),6. The history of translation in China,林纾Lin Shu, Chinese translator who first made available to Chinese readers more than 180 works of Western literature, despite of his ignorance of any foreign language Wo
47、rking through oral interpreters, Lin translated fictions from England, the United States, France, Russia, Switzerland, Belgium, Spain, Norway, and Greece, as well as Japan, into classical Chinese.,6. The history of translation in China,被人誉为“译界之王” 林纾没有认识到白话文为大势所趋，坚持使用古文体翻译外国小说，是他翻译生涯最大的缺陷 巴黎茶花女遗事（小仲马
48、的La Dame aux Camlias茶花女），严复诗云： 可怜一卷茶花女，断尽支那荡子肠。 孝女耐儿传（狄更斯的The Old Curiosity Shop老古玩店）,第4次高潮：建国以后的十几年，我国翻译事业的重点开始转向介绍马列主义经典著作和毛选英译。同时，也大量翻译了苏联与人民民主国家的文学作品。参与毛选翻译的专家：金岳霖、钱钟书、程镇球、王佐良、陈振汉、陈逵和胡毅 第5次高潮：改革开放以来，开始了西方学术著作和文艺作品的大量翻译。 第6次高潮：2010年以来，学术外译开始兴盛。（国家社科基金中华学术外译项目）,西方最早的翻译出现在何时？ 七十二人译旧约：公元前3世纪（前285-24
49、9），当时埃及国王托勒密二世邀请了72名学者来到埃及，把旧约从希伯来语译成希腊语，以满足说希腊语的犹太人的需要。,西方五次翻译高潮 公元前4世纪希腊作品译成拉丁文用拉丁语翻译荷马史诗及希腊三大悲剧家的作品。 公元4-6世纪宗教文献翻译圣经的多种拉丁语译本，最后以吉罗姆在382-405年间译的通用本圣经为定本。 11-13世纪希腊典籍“回娘家” 14-16世纪文艺复兴时期的翻译马丁路德用本族语翻译第一部“民众的圣经” 1611年，英国钦定本圣经出版，被誉为“最伟大英语译著” 。 二战以后各方面的广泛翻译,7. Common problems in E-C translation,（一）语义不连贯
50、 例1：Yet few people ask from books what books can give us. 学译：然而，几乎没有人会问书能够带给我们什么。 译文：然而，很少有人向书要求它们所能提供的东西。,7. Common problems in E-C translation,（一）语义不连贯 例2：When I can wake up and watch the sun rise over the ocean, as I do most daysIt takes a while, as I watch the surf blowing up in fountains, 学译：我注视着喷壶中浇出的四溅的水花 译文：当我看着水浪如从喷泉中喷出一样喷涌而出,
