1、,Unit 5: Cultural Exchanges 5-1 Interpreting Numbers,Interpreting Numbers,I. Introduction II. Interpreting cardinal numbers (基数词) III. Pronouncing vulgar fractions and decimal fractions （分数和小数） IV. Interpreting questions involving ordinal numbers （序数词） V. Interpreting indefinite numbers （不确定数目） VI.
2、Suggested methods for taking down figures VII. Expressing Multiples (倍数表示法) VII. Exercises:,Procedures:,I. Introduction,该城市是一个国际大都市，人口约有1200万，面积达2000多平方公里。 本公司是一家年销售额为120亿美元，业务遍及120多个国家和地区，拥有5万多名员工的跨国公司。 Numbers： 1. Cardinal numbers 2. Vulgar fractions and decimal fractions 3. Ordinal numbers 4. Ind
3、efinite numbers 5. multiples,Examples,1. 请用英语和汉语分别表达下面一组数字： 1234567891234,One trillion two hundred and thirty-four billion five hundred and sixty-seven million eight hundred and ninety-one thousand two hundred and thirty-four 一兆两千三百四十五亿六千七百八十九万一千二百三十四,请用英语和汉语分别译出所述数字,12亿9988万； 542 million 830 thousa
4、nd,1 billion 299million 880thousand; 542,830,000,a. Some Practical Difficulties for Chinese InterpretersFor an interpreter, to do a long series of figures in interpretation is always by no means easy. And for an interpreter whose mother tongue is Chinese, the difficulties involved seem to be even gr
5、eater.Notably among the difficulties are the following:,A Brief Introduction,In Chinese, one tends to say “万” and “亿” of which there is no equivalent in English. Hence “一万” must be rendered into “10千” (ten thousand); “三万” into “30千” (thirty thousand); “二十万” into “200千” (two hundred thousand), etc An
6、d “一亿” must be rendered into “100百万” (one hundred million); “一亿三十万” into “100百万零300千” (one hundred million and three hundred thousand);,“十亿” into “1,000百万” (one thousand million, or one billion in American usage); and “一百亿”, “10千百万” (i.e. ten thousand million or 10 billion in American English), etc
7、All this may cause complication for a beginner or for those young interpreters who have not undergone sufficient training in this regard.,2) Quite a few units of measurement in Chinese such as li (1/2 kilometers), mu (0.0667 hectare), jin (1/2kilogram), etc. usually have to be converted into the met
8、ric systems by the interpreter on formal occasions, so as to facilitate understanding. And this extra bit of work (concerning conversion in units of measurement) could be quite a strain on an interpreter unless he has already acquired some experience in the course of training and practice.,3)The way
9、s comparison is expressed in Chinese are, in some respects, different from those in English, especially when the questions of countable and uncountable nouns are involved, e.g.(1) Though in Chinese we say “倍” when we talk about “学校为的三倍” in describing the increase in the number of schools, in English
10、 we shall have to say, for instance, “There are three times as many middle schools now in our province as there were in the early post-liberation days.”,(2) Though in Chinese we use the same word “倍” when we talk about “粮食产量”, in English we shall have to say,for example, “Our province produces twice
11、 as much grain as it did on the eve of liberation in 1949.”,To Sum up,Differences in the way of expressing Figures in Chinese and English: Digit, Time and Unit,1) Two significant points: i. as indicated earlier, it is risky trying to do a long series of figure in interpreting without jotting them do
12、wn in a feasible way. To ensure accuracy it is always helpful and reassuring to speedily jot them down as they are being uttered (or read) by the original speakers.,b Some Practical Hints to Remember,In the case of C-E and E-C interpretation, figures do require a sufficient amount of training. By fi
13、gures we mean, in a larger sense, not only a long series of figures combined with various units of measurements but also a long string of document symbols and long series of proper names (of persons/places).,ii. To lay emphasis on the speedy and accurate rendering of figures involving “万” and “亿” as
14、 a first step.To practice the rapid reading of 5-digit numbers, 8-digit numbers and, then, 10-digit numbers, etc. in both Chinese and English, and then combine them with various “units of measurement” until accuracy and fluency are achieved.,2) Some possible signs used:,(1) Using comma (,) each repr
15、esenting one group of 3 naught, e.g. “forty thousand”, represented by “40,” means “四万”; “six hundred thousand”, represented by “600,” means “六十万” “seven million”, represented by “7,” means “七百万” “thirty million”, represented by “30,” means “三千万”,(2). An easy table could be useful when you hear the n
16、umbers. You just fill in the form.,(3). If a number is bigger than a million, the easiest way is to use a point after the number of million. For instance, 396万, can be put in this way, 3.96 million. Apply the same way to the following numbers: 3,956万39.56million 3亿9,650万396.5million; If the number i
17、s bigger than a billion, adopt the same way to do it. e.g. 129亿12.9billion,(4). Note the following ways of uncertain numbers几个 some; a few; several十几个 more than/ over a dozen; less/no more than twenty几十个 dozens of几十年 Decades七十好几了 well over seventy二十刚出头 in her/his early twenties三十大几了（快四十了） in her/his
18、 late thirties千千万万 thousands and thousands of好几百个 hundreds of成千上万 thousands upon thousands of几十万 hundreds of thousands of数以百万计的 millions of亿万(人) hundreds of millions of十年 a decade二十年 a score/four score and seven years ago三十年(25-30) a generation五十年 half a century一百年的 centennial 一百年/世纪 Century,数字口译补充材
19、料,数字的翻译是口译中的一大难关，即使是老翻译，当遇到数字时，尤其是遇到五位数以上的数字时，也不敢有半点松懈。这不仅仅是因为数字难译，更重要的是在商贸谈判或外交活动中，数字误译所造成的后果是不堪设想的。 数字口译之所以难，其中一个主要原因在于英汉对于四位数以上的数字的表达有不同的段位概念和分段方法。英语数字的表达以每三位数为一段位，而汉语以每四位数为一段位。 关于数字翻译，调查显示：英译汉时难点在记忆，汉译英时，难点在于快速表达。,It covers a total of five hundred forty-nine million nine hundred forty-six thousa
20、nd seven hundred and sixty-eight square meters. 占地549,946,768平方米。 Unemployment has risen to over three million for the first time in six years and analysts expect the jobless total to rise by a further 40,000 this month. Manufacturing output has meanwhile steadied, after a naught point five per cent
21、 decrease last month. 失业人数六年来首次突破3百万。专家预测本月失业人数约新增4万，而制造业产量继上个月下跌百分之零点五之后已趋稳定。,Practice:： interpret the following numbers,Pair work: One student reads the following figures aloud in the language given, the other takes notes and then interprets them into the target language. Take turns to practice.,四
22、千三百八十六 五万五千九百三十二 八千八百五十九万七千三百二十 二亿三千七百一十五万零二百三十六 十六亿八千九百九十万三千七百五十四 七百零四亿九千三百五十七万九千零四十八,Six thousand four hundred and thirty-one Four million eight hundred and three thousand seven hundred and twelve Ninety-four million two hundred and seventeen thousand eight hundred and twenty-six Five hundred and
23、thirty million one hundred and thirty-nine thousand seven hundred and forty-seven Thirty-seven billion nine hundred and twenty-five million four hundred and forty-one thousand thirty-eight,a The Metric System & Chinese Equivalent,Length 长度 meter/m 米=3市尺 kilometer/km 公里=2市里 Area 面积 sq.m 平方米=9平方市尺 hec
24、tare/ha 公顷=15市亩 (1亩 =0.0667ha) sq.km 平方公里=4平方市里 (km2) Weight 重量与质量 kg 公斤=2市斤 MT 公吨=2000市斤,b The British & US System,Length 长度mile/mi 哩=1.609km fathom/fm 寻=1,829m yard/yd 码=0.914m foot/ft 英尺=30.48cm inch/in 英寸=2.54cmWeight 重量 pound/lb. 磅=0.454kg ounce/oz. 盎司=28.35gTemperature 温度C (Centigrade) 摄氏=(F-3
25、2)5/9 F (Fahrenheit) 华氏=C9/5+32,III. Pronouncing Vulgar Fractions and Decimal Fractions Pronouncing Vulgar Fractions 分子为1 五分之一：one-fifth, b. 九分之一：one-ninth Special expressions for the following vulgar fractions: 二分之一 a/one half , b. 四分之一 a/one quarter c. 四分之三 three quarters 分子不为一（分母为复数） 五分之三 three-f
26、ifths b. 十分之九 nine-tenths,(3) 大分子，大分母 （加“over”） a. 五十三分之七十八 seventy-eight over fifty-three b. 九十五分之二十六 twenty-six over ninety-five (4) 带分数 （Both Full and Fractional Numbers） a. 五又三分之二： five and two-thirds b. 六又二分之一：six and a half c. 九又四分之一： nine and a quarter 2. Pronouncing Decimal Fractions (1) Pro
27、nouncing Decimal Fractions smaller than “1”,a) 0.8: point eight, zero/naught point eight b) 0.323: point three two three, zero/naught point three two three c) 0.0009%: zero/naught point o o o nine percent (2) Pronouncing figures with both full numbers and decimal fractions a) 9.007: nine point o o s
28、even; nine point zero zero (or naught naught) seven b) 98.53%: ninety-eight point five three percent,(3) Pronouncing figures with full numbers and decimal fractions larger than ten thousand or one hundred million a) 零点七万（0.7万）： seven thousand b) 零点九亿 （0.9亿）: ninety million c) 八点四亿 （8.4亿）: eight hund
29、red forty million (Am.E), eight hundred and forty million (Br.E)d) 二十二点二亿 （22.2亿） two point double two billion; two billion two hundred (and) twenty million,IV. Interpreting questions involving ordinal numbers,1. 您这是第几次来中国访问了？ How many times have you been to China? How many times have you visited Ch
30、ina? This isnt your first visit to China, is it? Is this your first visit to China?,2. 你们队得了第几名？ How did your team come out (in the match)? Did your team win the match (or championship)? Did your team win (or get) the first place in the competition? 3. 这是你第几个孩子？/ 这孩子是老几啊？ Is this your eldest/younges
31、t child?,V. Interpreting Indefinite Numbers 1. Interpreting approximate numbers (大约) Chinese : 置前：约、大约、大概 置后：来、左右、上下 English: 置前：about, around, roughly, approximately, some, more or less, in the neighbourhood of 置后：or so, or thereabout, in the rough (1) 大约二百美元/二百美元左右 about/around/some/approximately/
32、roughly/ more or less/in the neighbourhood of two hundred dollars; two hundred dollars or so/ or thereabout/ in the rough (2) 大约五十岁/五十来岁： about/around fifty years old,2. Interpreting Numbers Smaller than Particular Numbers: （少于）,Chinese: 置前：少于，小于，低于，不到，不足，不及 置后：以下，以内，以里 English: 置前：fewer than, less
33、than, under, below, within 少于/不到一千美元，一千美元以下： fewer than/less than/under/below/within one thousand dollars(2) 摄氏零度以下 below zero degree Centigrade/Celsius,3.Interpreting numbers with the meaning of“nearly”(将近) Chinese: 近，快，将近，接近，几乎，差不多，差一点 English: nearly, almost, toward, close on 接近/快八点：nearly/almost
34、 eight oclock 将近五十岁/差一点五十岁： nearly/almost/toward fifty years old 4. Interpreting indefinite numbers which mean “More than” （多于） Chinese: 置前： 多于，大于，高于，超过 置后：多，几，以上 English: 置前：more than, over, above, upwards of 置后：and more, odd, and odd,Her Irish accent, after thirty-odd years in London, is undiluted
35、. 她在伦敦呆了30多年，爱尔兰口音仍很浓重。,(1) 十几天：more than/over/above ten days; ten days and more,(2) 三百多美元： more than/over/above /upwards of three hundred dollars; three hundred dollars and more/odd/and odd (3) 摄氏40度以上：above forty degrees Centigrade 5. Interpreting Numbers Which are Between Particular Numbers (介于)
36、Chinese: 到，至，介于之间 English: fromto, betweenand. (1) 三到四天： from three to four days; between three and four days. (2) 介于四千到五千公里之间： from four thousand to five thousand kilometres; between four thousand and five thousand kilometres,6. Interpreting indefinite numbers which are adjacent (相邻数目),（1） 两三个：two
37、or three(2) 三四十：thirty or forty(3) 四五千：four or five thousand(4) 两个或两个以上：two or more 7. Interpreting indefinite numbers like “数十”，“数百”，etc. (1) 数十/几十/好几十： tens of (20-99); dozens of (24-99); scores of (40-99); decades of (20-99),(2) 数百/数以百记/几百/好几百/成百,hundreds of; several hundred; by the hundred (3) 数
38、千/数以千记/几千/好几千/成千 thousands of; several thousand; by the thousand (4) 数万/数以万记/几万/好几万 tens of thousands of (5) 数十万/几十万/好几十万 hundreds of thousands of,(6) 数百万/几百万/好几百万 millions of (7) 数千万/几千万/好几千万 tens of millions of (8) 数亿/几亿/好几亿 hundreds of millions of (9) 数十亿/几十亿/好几十亿 billions of,VI. Suggested method
39、s for taking figures:1. Write down , in advance, the various English and Chinese numerical words in the way shown below.b. m. th. 十 千 百 十 亿，亿/ 万 万， 万 万/ 千，百 十 个 2 ，8 / 6 3 ， 5 8/ 9 ，,2.点线法,中译英时，应在听到“亿”时即斜向划一长线/，听到“万”时再划同样的斜长线/，剩下的数字则仍用“符号结合阿拉伯数字”的通用方式完成，即三个零为，两个零为，或者一律记阿拉伯数字，但不一定立即译成相应的译语数字。（记住是四位一段
40、） 例1：一亿三千零二万零八百五十八 1/3002/0858 例2：一百零一亿七千四百八十九万零五百四十 101/7489/0540,汉语数字分段法： 第一段位 个 十 百 千 第二段位 万 十万 百万 千万 第三段位 亿 十亿 百亿 千亿 第四段位 兆（万亿） 英语数字分段法： 第一段位 One Ten Hundred 第二段位 Thousand, Ten thousand, Hundred thousand 第三段位 Million, Ten million, Hundred million 第四段位 Billion, Ten billion, Hundred billion 第五段位 T
41、rillion,口译时，从右向左，逆着原记录顺序每三位打一个逗号（分节号），便可将这些数字切分成印欧语系诸语言的进位单位了。用此方法，需要牢记分节号左位数的单位。从右向左：第一个分节号左位是“千”位，第二个分节号左位是“百万”位，第三个分节号左位是“十亿”位。 例1：1/30,02/0,858 130M 20Th 8Hu &58 例2：10,1/74,89/0,540 10B 174M 890Th 5Hu &40,此形式译成外语很方便，“回译”成汉语也没太大困难。外译汉（如英文）时，译员应在听到billion、million、thousand等位时，便立即打上一处逗号。例： thirty tw
42、o billion four hundred fifty seven million eight hundred twenty six thousand nine hundred and thirty-seven 32,457,826,937在预备译出时依然从右到左，按汉语数字进位规律每四位数打上斜线：32,4/57,82/6,937，译员只需照着斜线所提示的汉语数字表达习惯读出即可。,汉语分段应记住在万，亿处作标记 英语分段应记住在thousand，million，billion, trillion处作标记,Attention!,转换,同学非常熟悉中文里面的“个、百、千、万、十万、百万、千万
43、、亿、十亿、百亿.”。每一级的单位都有，非常齐全。而在英语中同学掰指数来：hundred, thousand, million, billion, trillion。总觉得和中文配不起来，因此同学碰到“万、十万、千万、亿”要特别注意，要反复操练这几个数字，这几个数字在中译英时尤为重要。 1万= ten thousand 10万= one hundred thousand 1000万= ten million 1亿= one hundred million,3. An easy table could be useful when you hear the numbers. You just f
44、ill in the form.,4. Jot down the figures in Arabic numerals and mark them off with a comma for every three digits (counting from the end) . Each comma represents a group of three “0”,e.g. fifty thousand: 50, (五万) four hundred thousand: 400, (四十万) three million: 3, (三百万) forty million: 40, (四千万) 5. T
45、ake the first one or few letters of the numerical words, with “t” for trillion, “b” for billion, “m” for million, and “th” for thousand, e.g. (1) 三千六百万：36 m (2) 八十三亿 8.3 b,VII. Expressing Multiples (倍数表示法),倍数翻译最根本的问题是搞清楚是否包括基数。 汉语有一些句式包括基数，也有一些句式不包括基数。,汉语表倍数的基本句式或表达法有以下5种: （句中“n” 为倍数） 1. 甲的大小是乙的n倍。
46、(包括基数) 2. 甲已增加到乙的n倍。 (包括基数) 3. 甲比乙+adj. n倍。 3. 甲比乙增加了n倍。 (不包括基数) 4. 甲比乙翻了n番。 (不包括基数),英语表倍数的基本句式或表达法有以下5种: n + times + as + 形或副词 + as n + times + 形、副的比较级 + than n + times + the (或its, that of 等) + 名词 动词（increase/grow/multiply等）+ (by) + n + times 动词 （double/triple/quadruple等）+ the + 名词,无论汉、英，同一倍数都有不同的
47、表达法： 1. 表示“甲是乙的两倍” 英语中用twice asas, twice the number/size/length of, asagain as, to increase by 100%, 以及double 来表示。 Ex. （1）他们今年的产量是去年的两倍。/他们今年的产量比去年增加了一倍。/他们今年的产量比去年翻了一番。,例： Their output this year is twice as much as what it was last year. Their output this year is as much again as what it was last y
48、ear. Their output this year is double what it was last year. d) Their output this year has doubled, compared with what it was last year. e) Their output this year has increased by 100% over last year.,(2) 这辆车是那辆车的两倍价钱。 a) This car is twice the cost of that one. b) This car is twice as costly as that
49、 one. c) This car is as costly again as that one. 2. 表示“甲是乙的三倍” 英语中用three times asas, three times the number of, to increase by 200%, 以及triple/treble表示。 （1） 我国今年的出口额是去年的三倍。/我国今年的出口额比去年增加了两倍。/我国今年的出口额比去年增加了百分之二百。,a) Our export this year is three times as much as what it was last year. b) Our export this year has tripled/trebled, compared with what it was last year. c) Our export this year has increased by 200% over last year. (2) 这条公路是那条公路的三倍长。 a) This highway is three times as long as that one. b) The highway is three times the length of that one.,
