怎樣合理地使用字面翻譯與意譯(英語英文)本科學(xué)位論文

怎樣合理地使用字面翻譯與意譯On

How

to

Use

Literal

and

Free

Translation

in

a

Proper

and

Rational

WayI.

Introduction

Translation,

no

matter

as

a

kind

of

cultural

phenomenon,

thinking

movement,

or

as

a

sort

of

career,

intellectual

skill,

will

always

have

a

close

relationship

with

the

background

of

our

living

time.

Not

only

its

idea

and

method

but

also

its

mode,

criterion

and

genre,

all

of

them

advance

with

the

times.

After

observing

the

practicing

activities

and

theoretical

research

of

international

and

internal

translation,

it

comes

to

a

conclusion

that

translation

is

one

of

the

vigorous

and

penetrative

areas

in

the

cultural

and

ideological

progress.

Nowadays,

most

scholars

in

the

scope

of

translation

believe

that

literal

translation

and

free

translation

are

the

two

feasible

ways

when

people

translating,

but

both

of

them

not

only

have

differences

but

also

have

associations.

At

the

same

time,

modern

theoretical

research

of

translation

demonstrated

that

translation

activity

is

not

only

a

transformation

of

two

different

languages,

but

also

a

communication

of

different

cultures.

Thus,

this

paper

aims

at

finding

a

proper

and

rational

way

in

translation

through

the

detailed

description,

analysis,

judgment

of

literal

and

free

translation,

and

the

comparative

research

of

translatability

and

untranslatability

of

language

style.

II.

The

Literal

and

Free

Translation

There

always

exist

two

different

translation

versions;

one

is

translated

by

its

literal

meaning,

and

another

version

will

not

take

much

account

of

its

original

form.

So,

it

causes

an

argument

between

literal

and

free

translation.

As

is

known

to

all,

literal

translation

and

free

translation

are

two

basic

methods

of

English-Chinese

translation.

Then,

after

all,

what

is

the

literal

translation

and

what

is

the

free

translation?

2.1

The

Concepts

of

Literal

and

Free

Translation

2.2.1

The

Concept

of

Literal

Translation

Literal

translation

refers

to

translate

a

sentence

originally,

keeping

the

original

message

form,

including

construction

of

sentences,

meaning

of

the

original

words,

metaphors,

national

distinguishing

features

of

the

original

texts

and

so

on.

It

emphasizes

the

double

compounding

in

content

and

form.

That

is

to

say,

the

translation

should

reflect

the

original

more

loyalty

not

only

in

content

but

in

form.

However,

literal

translation

does

not

mean

word-for-word

translation.

For

example:

Translators

should

not

translate

“Mr.

Billings

can

not

be

deterred

from

his

plan”

into“比林斯先生不能被阻止去實行他的計劃”

in

Chinese,

and

also

do

not

translate

“We

saw

an

acrobat

standing

on

his

head”

into“我們看見一個雜技演員正站在他的頭上?！?/p>

in

Chinese。

Then,

please

look

at

the

following

examples

in

the

literal

translation

ways:

(1)But

I

hated

Sakamoto

and

I

had

a

feeling

that

he’d

surely

lead

us

to

our

ancestors.

The

Chinese

meaning

is“但是我恨坂本，并預(yù)感到他肯定會領(lǐng)著咱們?nèi)ヒ娮嫦?。?/p>

Here

the

“…h(huán)e’d

surly

lead

us

to

our

ancestors”

can

be

translated

into

“……他肯定會領(lǐng)著咱們?nèi)ヒ娮嫦取?

in

Chinese

literally.

It

not

only

expresses

the

original

meaning

but

also

keeps

the

metaphor

of

original

text

so

that

the

translated

text

would

be

fluent

and

easy

to

be

comprehended

by

target

language

readers.

But

if

it

is

translated

into“……他肯定會領(lǐng)著咱們?nèi)ニ退馈?/p>

in

Chinese.

It

can

express

the

content

of

original

text,

the

translated

text

is

also

fluent

but

the

original

form

has

been

lost.

(2)

Hitler

was

armed

to

the

teeth

when

he

launched

the

Second

World

War

but

in

a

few

years

he

was

completed

defeated.

The

Chinese

meaning

is

“希特勒在發(fā)動第二次世界大戰(zhàn)時是武裝到牙齒的，可是不過幾年就被徹底擊敗了?！?/p>

The

“arm

to

the

teeth”

is

a

vivid

idiom

which

always

been

translated

into

“武裝到牙齒”

in

Chinese

since

the

beginning

of

liberation

in

China.

But

if

it

is

translated

into

“全副武裝”

in

Chinese,

the

tone

of

speaking

would

become

more

weakened.

Therefore,

this

is

the

brief

introduction

of

literal

translation.2.2.2

The

Concept

of

Free

TranslationWhile

free

translation

need

not

pay

attention

to

the

original

form,

including

construction

of

the

original

sentences,

meaning

of

the

original

works,

metaphor

of

the

original

forms

and

so

on.

That

is

to

say,

free

translation

does

not

attach

importance

to

form

and

literal

meaning.

It

pays

more

attention

to

the

consistence

of

spiritual

essence.

But

free

translation

does

not

mean

to

delete

or

add

content

to

the

original

works

and

translators

must

consider

the

original

texts

carefully,

know

its

stress,

translate

it

naturally,

and

express

the

meaning

of

original

ones.

Taking

a

common

saying

as

an

example:“There

is

no

pot

so

ugly

it

can’t

find

a

lid.”The

Chinese

meaning

is

“姑娘無論多么丑也能配個漢子?！?If

translators

pursue

its

similarity

in

form

unilaterally

and

overlook

its

real

meaning,

then

this

sentence

can

be

translated

into

“沒有丑到配不上一個蓋子的罐子”

in

Chinese.

The

Chinese

meaning

would

be

influent

and

not

easy

to

be

comprehended

by

target

language

readers.

Let

us

see

other

examples:(1)

“She

was

born

with

a

silver

spoon

in

her

mouth

she

thinks

she

can

do

what

she

likes”.The

Chinese

meaning

is

“她生長在富貴之家，認(rèn)為凡事都可以隨心所欲?！?Here,

“born

with

a

silver

spoon

in

her

mouth”

symbolizes

noble,

while

the

“do

what

she

likes”

just

illustrates

that

her

household

is

out

of

the

ordinary.

So,

the

two

idiomatic

phrases

“富貴之家”

and

“隨心所欲”

in

translated

text

are

just

true-to-life

and

fit

for

the

meaning.

However,

if

they

are

directly

translated

into

“嘴里含著銀勺子出生”

and

“做任何她喜歡的事”

,

the

power

of

expression

would

become

weaken.

(2)

“This

young

fellow

does

his

work

with

vim

and

vigor.”The

Chinese

meaning

is

“這小伙子干活真沖?！?In

this

sentence,

if

the

“with

vim

and

vigor”

is

translated

into

a

phrase,

solo,

it

can

be

translated

into

“既有活力，又有精神”.

But

if

it

was

put

into

this

sentence,

this

way

of

expression

would

be

more

formal

and

do

not

conform

to

the

custom

of

expression.

It

seems

that

the

language

would

become

stiff

and

obscure

in

meaning.

While

if

it

is

changed

into

“真沖”,

the

working

attitude

of

the

young

man

can

be

expressed

accurately

and

concisely.

2.2The

Contrast

of

Literal

and

Free

Translation

According

to

the

concepts

of

literal

and

free

translation,

there

must

be

some

differences

between

these

two

kinds

of

translations

obviously.

From

the

point

of

view

of

language

form,

literal

translation

keeps

the

expression

form

of

original

works,

while

free

translation

will

give

up

the

expression

form

of

original

works.

From

the

point

of

view

of

the

relationship

between

original

text

and

translated

text,

literal

translation

bases

on

the

original

text,

but

free

translation

bases

on

the

translated

text.From

the

point

of

view

of

the

relationship

between

original

authors

and

readers,

literal

translation

rests

on

the

original

authors’

minds;

free

translation

depends

on

the

readers’

thinking.

From

the

point

of

view

of

dealing

with

cultural

elements,

literal

translation

always

adopts

the

way

of

dissimilation;

however,

free

translation

will

uses

the

methods

of

assimilation.

From

the

point

of

view

of

manner

of

thinking,

literal

translation

is

a

kind

of

expression

which

considers

the

thinking

contents

of

original

works

by

using

the

way

of

thoughts

of

original

texts;

free

translation

is

a

sort

of

expression

which

thinks

over

the

contents

of

original

texts

by

using

the

manner

of

thinking

of

translated

works.

While,

from

the

point

of

view

of

philosophy,

there

is

no

doubt

that

there

must

be

some

relationships

between

literal

translation

and

free

translation.

Both

of

them

are

interdependent,

but

each

of

them

possesses

a

kind

of

limitation

by

themselves.

2.3

Influential

Factors

of

Literal

Translation

and

Free

TranslationWhen

literal

and

free

translations

are

mentioned,

they

must

have

been

affected

by

a

lot

of

elements.

Therefore,

the

influential

factors

of

literal

translation

and

free

translation

will

be

discussed

from

the

following

two

aspects.2.3.1

Cultural

ElementProf.

Eugene

A.

Nida

as

one

of

the

most

outstanding

translation

theorists

of

world

renown

in

the

west

today

has

said

that

in

order

to

reach

the

real

success

of

translation,

to

know

two

kinds

of

different

cultures

is

more

important

than

to

master

these

two

sorts

of

languages.

Therefore,

culture

is

one

of

the

factors

which

influence

the

literal

and

free

translation.

Translators

always

use

literal

translation

to

deal

with

some

works

which

their

distinctive

national

features

are

not

easy

to

be

understood

or

can

not

be

found

in

the

translated

languages,

for

example,

technical

terms,

people’s

names,

geographical

names

and

so

on.

This

sort

of

method

can

not

only

make

readers

know

more

about

the

original

language’s

culture

but

also

adds

the

new

cultural

concepts

to

the

translated

language

culture

so

as

to

make

the

translated

language

cultures

have

possessions

of

vivaciousness

and

vigorousness.

Sometimes,

literal

translation

can

be

influenced

by

cultures.

For

examples:Sauna:

桑拿浴—一種芬蘭式的蒸氣浴;Internet:

因特網(wǎng)—國際互聯(lián)電腦網(wǎng)絡(luò);AIDS:

艾滋病—一種獲得性免疫缺損綜合癥;the

sword

of

Damocles:

達(dá)摩克里斯之劍—喻臨頭的危險,源于希臘傳說,

古Syracuse國王命其延丞達(dá)摩克里斯坐在以一根頭發(fā)懸掛的劍下,以示君王多危;a

Judas

Kiss:

猶大之吻—喻口蜜腹劍,陰險的被判,源自<<圣經(jīng)>>,

指耶穌十二使徒之一猶大以接吻為暗號出賣耶穌,導(dǎo)致耶穌被釘死在十字架上;the

Gordian

knot:

戈爾迪結(jié)—喻棘手問題,源自希臘傳說,

戈爾迪結(jié)在木樁上系了一個眾人皆無法解開的繩結(jié),后由亞歷山大王一刀斬開。西施:

Xishi—

a

famous

beauty

in

the

late

Spring

and

Autumn

period

in

ancient

China;氣功:

qigong—

a

system

of

deep

breathing

exercises;磕頭:

Kowtow,

to

touch

the

forehead

to

the

ground

while

kneeling,

as

act

of

worship,

respect,

etc.

esp.

in

former

Chinese

custom;粽子:

Zongzi,

a

kind

of

glutinous

rice

dumplings

wrapped

in

bamboo

leaves;清明節(jié):

Chingming,

a

traditional

Chinese

holiday

to

commemorate

the

dead

observed

in

late

spring;功夫:

Kung

fu,

a

Chinese

martial

art

based

on

the

use

of

fluid

movements

of

the

arms

and

legs.

From

the

previous

examples,

it

comes

to

a

conclusion

that

some

proper

nouns

must

be

translated

literally

according

to

the

cultures

of

original

works.

However,

some

vocabulary,

idioms

and

sentences

which

have

possessions

of

distinctive

cultural

features

of

original

texts

can

not

be

translated

by

the

way

of

literal

translation

exactly.

Then,

free

translation

has

to

be

used

in

these

circumstances

so

as

to

express

the

original

meaning

directly.

Through

filling

in

some

vacancies

among

words,

meanings

and

cultures,

these

translated

works

would

become

more

fluent

and

easy

to

be

understood

by

target

readers.

Free

translation

can

also

be

effected

by

cultures.

For

examples:(1)

Original

Text:

It

was

another

one

of

those

Catch-22

situations:

you

are

damned

if

you

do,

you’re

damned

if

you

don’t.

Translated

Text:

這真是又一個左右為難的尷尬局面,

做也倒霉,

不做也倒霉。(2)

Original

Text:

Were

it

left

to

me

to

decide

whether

we

should

have

a

government

without

newspapers

or

newspapers

without

a

government,

I

should

not

hesitate

a

moment

to

prefer

the

latter.

Translated

Text:

如果讓我選擇是一個沒有言論自由的政府,

還是要一個只有言論自由而無政府的國家,

我會毫不猶豫地選擇后者。(3)

Original

Text:

The

study

has

a

Spartan

look.

Translated

Text:

這間書房風(fēng)格簡樸。(4)

Original

Text:

I

wonder

whether

he

is

a

Trojan

Horse.

Translated

Text:

我懷疑他可能是個內(nèi)奸。(5)

Original

Text:

He

is

just

a

stalking

horse

in

the

election

contest.

Translated

Text:

他在這次競選中只不過是充當(dāng)一個掩護(hù)性候選人。(6)

Original

Text:

天有不測風(fēng)云。

Translated

Text:

Something

unexpected

may

happen

any

time.

(7)

Original

Text:

望子成龍

Translated

Text:

to

expect

one’s

son

to

become

an

outstanding

personage.

(8)

Original

Text:

狗嘴里吐不出象牙。

Translated

Text:

A

filthy

mouth

can’t

utter

decent

language.

(9)

Original

Text:

情人眼里出西施。

Translated

Text:

Beauty

is

in

the

eye

of

the

beholder.

(10)

Original

Text:

有眼不識泰山。

Translated

Text:

I

fail

to

recognize

your

eminence.

According

to

the

previous

examples,

to

a

certain

extent,

it

comes

to

a

conclusion

that

cultural

factor

has

influenced

the

using

of

literal

and

free

translation.

2.3.2

Grammatical

ElementBesides

the

cultural

element,

grammar

is

another

influential

factor

which

affects

the

using

of

literal

and

free

translation.It

goes

without

saying

that

literal

translation

often

be

used

in

some

simple

grammatical

structures,

while

free

translation

has

to

be

used

in

the

complicated

constructions.

III.

Translatability

and

UntranslatabilityIn

the

translators’

opinion,

the

problem

which

may

exist

on

a

50-50

basis

is

one

of

the

most

contradictory

between

different

languages.

Thereby,

an

argument

has

been

caused

between

linguistic

translatability

and

untranslatability.

Generally

speaking,

the

controversy

just

concentrates

on

whether

the

language

is

translatable

or

not

and

whether

the

special

form

of

language

is

translatable

or

not.

After

all,

in

that

case,

what

is

the

condition

of

translatability

and

what

is

not?

3.1

The

Condition

of

TranslatabilityThere

are

a

lot

of

commonalities

between

languages

all

over

the

world.

Linguistic

translatability

has

been

decided

by

the

unity

of

language

functions,

if

the

function

of

original

work

has

a

coincidence

with

the

translated

text,

then

the

language

is

translatable.From

ancient

times

to

the

present,

a

large

number

of

famous

works

which

have

been

translated

into

a

lot

of

different

languages

have

become

the

spiritual

values

of

human

beings.

Great

quantities

of

scientific

and

technological

achievements

which

have

been

spread

from

one

country

to

others

have

had

a

great

benefit

to

the

power

of

production

of

human

beings.

All

these

accomplishments

can

not

be

achieved

if

there

is

no

translation.

Therefore,

to

a

certain

extent,

it

comes

to

a

conclusion

that

language

is

translatable.

3.2

The

Conditions

of

UntranslatabilityAccording

to

the

comprehensive

survey,

some

scholars

have

put

emphasis

on

the

untranslatability.

They

believed

that,

to

some

extent,

translatability

has

its

limitation

and

even

untranslatable.

To

begin

with,

from

the

point

of

view

of

vocabulary,

some

words

can

not

find

the

corresponding

ones

in

the

translated

language

owing

to

the

unbalanced

development

of

each

nation

and

some

distinctive

features

of

geography,

history

and

culture.

For

instance,

some

words

about

science

and

technology,

philosophy

and

culture

are

all

untranslatable.

Secondly,

from

the

point

of

view

of

grammatical

system,

some

languages

are

untranslatable.

Although

most

of

languages

have

perfect

and

developed

grammatical

systems,

if

the

grammatical

structure

of

one

language

differs

from

another,

translators

have

to

change

some

structures

of

grammar

so

as

to

ensure

its

translatability.

Besides,

it

is

not

easy

for

some

special

language

forms

to

be

translated.

For

example,

many

translators

considerer

that

poem

is

untranslatable.

While

if

a

poem

is

translated,

the

aroma

of

the

poem

would

disappear.

In

addition,

some

cultural

phenomenon

between

different

nations

is

also

untranslatable.

Because

a

number

of

particular

national

languages

have

formed

their

own

features

in

grammars

and

sentence

structures

according

to

their

different

cultural

backgrounds,

custom

of

society

and

background

of

times

so

as

to

make

some

cultural

phenomenon

not

easy

to

be

translated.

Taking

“毛筆”“墨”

as

examples,

people

can

not

find

two

words

to

explain

these

two

Chinese

characters,

if

they

are

translated

into

Chinese

brush(or

writing

brush),

Chinese

ink,

the

appearance

of

things

can

not

be

expressed

accurately.

Therefore,

under

some

circumstances,

languages

have

the

possession

of

untranlatability.

3.3

On

How

to

Change

the

Untranslatability

into

TranslatabilityFrom

the

point

of

view

of

language

reality

and

translation

practice,

there

indeed

exist

some

untranslatability

and

untranslatable

phenomenon

between

different

languages

owing

to

the

limitation

of

history,

geography

and

culture.

However,

according

to

the

subject

of

language,

people

believe

that

translatability

is

absolute,

while

untranslatability

is

relative.

Thus,

translators’

assignment

is

to

change

those

untranslatable

languages

into

translatable

words

in

a

p