英语笔译英语长句转换规律(2)

时间:2017-06-19 编辑:胡萍 手机版

  “市民有权知道”组织的志愿执行主任琼·沃布伦说,现在的管理医保制度不断推出的是普通医生;如果斯坦福的课程试验为众多学校效仿,则会促进专门医生的培养。

  (本句中when managed health care increasingly “shuttles people to the general practitioner.是表示美国现在的医疗情况,将它的译文放在前面作为铺叙,再将if widely copied, could encourage specialization,即,课程改革带来的新变化作为主旨放在后面形成对比,这样逻辑就非常清晰、明朗。)

  2. Her (Mrs. Thatcher) rise, as she once described the star-is-born press coverage that greeted her maiden speech in Commons, was “roses, roses all the way.”

  新闻界在报道她第一次在下院发表的演说并对其表示赞许时说她是一颗已经诞生的新星;撒切尔夫人在描述这一报道时说,她是沿着一条“铺满玫瑰的路”冉冉升起的。

  (本句难于处理的部分是the star-is-born press coverage that greeted her maiden speech in Commons,语法成分上它虽然只是个宾语,但意义上却重重相叠。翻译时把这一部分放在句首当作背景,把撒切尔夫人的反应当作核心内容放于句末。)

  3. I, wrapt from him in a confused mist of time, was wondering what he could think, could he know that at this actual moment he would have been dead thirty years, and that his memory would be thus preserved and honored in the beloved school, where his delicate spirit had been so strangely troubled.

  我对他的思绪沉浸在那纷繁不清的时间迷雾之中。我思忖着,在他逝世30年后的此时此刻,如果他能知道,在这受人爱戴的母校里,在这曾让他那敏感的心灵受到莫名扰动的地方,人们是这样怀念他、称誉他,他会作何感想呢?

  信息值

  比较原则

  汉语在行文时,一般按照“低值信息在前,高值信息在后”、“已知信息在前,新知信息在后”、“确定信息在前,不定信息在后”的规则来陈述逻辑关系。如:

  1. Physicians in training must learn a staggering array of facts required by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, North America’s accrediting authority for medical schools.

  在北美,对医科学生确认行医资格的机构是医学教育联络委员会,它要求在学的医生必须熟记大量的材料。

  (此句中North America’s accrediting authority for medical schools是the Liaison Committee on Medical Education的补充解释成分,信息价值最低;而本句中信息价值最高的部分在Physicians in training must learn a staggering array of facts,我们按照“低值信息在前,高值信息在后”的原则组织译文,读者觉得逻辑关系清晰、中心突出。)

  2. Multitudes of bees used to bury themselves in the yellow blossoms of the summer squashes. This, too, was a deep satisfaction; although, when they had laden themselves with sweets, they flew away to some unknown hive, which could give back nothing in requital of what my garden had contributed.

  在夏天,成群结队的蜜蜂则喜欢一头扎进黄色的南瓜花里。当它们载满了蜜汁,便会飞到那些我无从知晓的巢穴中,不再对我花园的奉献作任何酬答。而我,依然是深深的心满意足。

  (试比较:“在夏天,成群结队的蜜蜂则喜欢一头扎进黄色的南瓜花里。我也感到无比满意。当它们载满了蜜汁,便会飞到那些我无从知晓的巢穴中,不再对我花园的奉献作任何酬答。”我们发现,第一种译文强调的是“心满意足”,而第二种译文似乎在暗示读者这群蜜蜂只求索取,没有奉献。这是因为中国人往往采用“逐步进入高潮式”思维模式,最后一点常常是核心信息;而英美人往往采用“高潮出发式”思维模式,核心信息常常放在句首或句中,偶尔也放在句末。原文的核心信息或高值信息是This was a deep satisfaction,而although(尽管…)一词表面其后面部分的信息传递在发生转折,并且是对前面的补充说明,因而是低值信息。所以,按照“低值信息在前,高值信息在后”的原则,第一种译文准确地传达了原文的主题。)

  语篇连贯原则

  在运用上述语序原则时,要照顾到长句内部以及与上下文的衔接和连贯,因而有时要作局部处理,如重复关键词、补充过渡信息或调整语序等等。如:

  1. The existence of giant clouds was virtually required for the Big Bang, first put forward in the 1920’s, to maintain its reign as the dominant explanation of the cosmos.

  宇宙大爆炸理论是20世纪20年代首次提出来的,在解释宇宙起源的诸多理论中,这一理论占着主导地位。而巨星云的存在说对于该理论又几乎是不可缺少的。

  (本句翻译时首先将顺译法不好处理的first put forward in the 1920’s提在句首翻译,但在翻译to maintain its reign as the dominant explanation of the cosmos时,如不补充若干过渡信息,句子便无法自然连贯,所以必须加上“在解释宇宙起源的诸多理论中”这一隐含信息做过渡。)

  2. By 2001, the population of the United States will be at least 250 million and possibly 270 million, and the nation will find it difficult to expand food production to fill the additional mouths. This will be particularly true since energy pinch will make it difficult to continue agriculture in the high-energy America fashion that makes it possible to combine few farmers with high yields.

  到2001年,美国人口至少会有2亿5千万到2亿7千万。那时美国会发现,为了养活新增人口而扩大粮食生产将会是十分困难。虽然在美国投入少数农民就可以获得农业高产,但由于能源匮乏,这种以消耗高能源为基础的耕作方式将难以维持,因而食品短缺这一困境将是必定无疑的。

  最后,某些英语长句的结构是高值信息在前,低值信息在后,有时译文如果按照“低值信息在前,高值信息在后”的原则组织,位于前面的低值信息很难与前一句构成有意义连贯,那种情况下首先必须保证连贯,即将高值信息部分放前,低值信息部分放后作补充,使该长句与它前面的成分能有机连贯,整个句子便体现出顺译法的特点。

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