翻譯理論知識

《翻譯理論與實踐》考試理論部分復習提綱一、翻譯定義：張培基——翻譯是用一種語言把另一種語言所表達的思維內容準確而完整地重新表達出來的語言活動。？劉宓慶——翻譯的實質是語際的意義轉換。？王克非——翻譯是將一種語言文字所蘊含的意思用另一種語言文字表達出來的文化活動。泰特勒——好的翻譯應該是把原作的長處完全地移注到另一種語言，以使譯入語所屬國家的本地人能明白地領悟、強烈地感受，如同使用原作語言的人所領悟、所感受的一樣。？費道羅夫——翻譯就是用一種語言把另一種語言在內容與形式不可分割的統一中所有已表達出來的東西準確而完全地表達出來。？7. 卡特福德——翻譯的定義也可以這樣說：把一種語言（ SourceLanguage）中的篇章材料用另一種語言（TargetLanguage）中的篇章材料來加以代替。奈達——翻譯就是在譯入語中再現與原語信息最切近的自然對等物，首先就意義而言，其次就是文體而言。“Translatingconsistsinreproducinginthereceptorlanguagetheclosestnaturalequivalentofthesourcelanguagemessage,firstintermsofmeaningandsecondlyintermsofstyle. ”---EugeneNida紐馬克——通常（雖然不能說總是如此），翻譯就是把一個文本的意義按作者所想的方式移譯入另一種文字（語言）?！癟ranslation isacraft consisting intheattempttoreplaceawrittenmessageand/orstatementinonelanguagebythesamemessageand/orstatementinanotherlanguage. ”---PeterNewmark10. “Translationistheexpressioninonelanguage(ortargetlanguage 譯入語)ofwhathasbeenexpressedinanother language(source language 原語), preservingsemanticandstylisticequivalences. ”---Dubois13.Translationortranslatingisacommunicativeactivityordynamicprocessinwhichthetranslatormakesgreatefforttothoroughlycomprehendawrittenmessageortextinthesourcelanguageandworksveryhardtoachieveanadequateoranalmostidenticalreproductioninthetargetlanguageversionofthewrittensourcelanguagemessageortext.二、翻譯標準1. 翻譯的標準概括為言簡意賅的 四個字：“忠實（faithfulness ）、通順（smoothness）”。忠實指的是忠實于原文。通順指的是譯文的語言必須合乎規(guī)范、通俗易懂。？嚴復對翻譯曾經提出“信（faithfulness）、達（expressiveness）、雅（elegance）”的標準：“譯事三難：信、達、雅。求其信已大難矣，顧信矣不達，雖譯猶不譯也，則達尚焉?！?. “泰特勒三原則”：（1）ThattheTranslation shouldgiveacompletetranscript oftheideasoftheoriginalwork ；（2）Thatthestyleandmannerofwritingshouldbeofthesamecharacter withthat oftheoriginal ；（3）ThattheTranslation shouldhavealltheeaseoforiginalcomposition. ”（1）譯作應完全復寫出原作的思想；（2）譯作的風格和手法應和原作屬于同一性質； （3）譯作應具備原作所具有的通順?！?？？（譚載喜，2006）泰特勒指出，這三項原則是好的翻譯所必備的條件，它們次序的排列是恰當的、自然的，是按重要順序排列的，如果在不得已的情況下要犧牲某一個原則就要注意到它們的次第和比較上的重要性，決不能顛倒主次，以犧牲思想內容的忠實來求得譯文的優(yōu)美和流暢。奈達提出了著名的“動態(tài)對等”。他對翻譯所下的定義:所謂翻譯,是在譯語中用最切近而又最自然的對等語再現源語的信息,首先是意義,其次是文體。Translatingconsistsinreproducinginthereceptorlanguagetheclosestnaturalequivalentofthesource-languagemessage,firstintermsofmeaningandsecondlyintermsofstyle.(Nida&Taber,1969:12).這一定義明確指出翻譯的本質和任務是用譯語再現源語信息 , 翻譯的方法用最切近而又最自然的對等語。？紐馬克“文本中心”論：紐馬克把要翻譯的對象看成文本，并根據語言的功能把文本分為表達型、信息型和召喚型三大類。表達型包括嚴肅的文學作品、聲明和信件等；信息型包括書籍、報告、論文、備忘錄等；召喚型包括各種宣傳品、說明書和通俗小說等。他認為不同的文本應該用不同的翻譯方法（紐馬克把翻譯方法分為語義翻譯和交際翻譯兩種。前者強調忠實于原作“原作者”；后者強調忠實于譯作“讀者”）,不同的評價標準，不同的“等效”要求。？其他翻譯標準？劉重德： 信達切許淵沖：信達優(yōu)；美化之藝術，創(chuàng)優(yōu)似競賽； （三美論：意美、音美、形美；等化、深化、淺化；知之、好之、樂之；發(fā)揮譯入語優(yōu)勢）傅雷：重神似不重形似錢鐘書：化境魯迅：凡是翻譯，必須兼顧兩面：一則當然力求其易解，一則保存著原作的豐姿。林語堂：音美、意美、神美、氣美、形美郭沫若：好的翻譯等于創(chuàng)作三、翻譯過程理解和表達是翻譯的兩個主要步驟。譯者對原文的正確理解在翻譯過程中至關重要；譯者的表達須具有準確力和表現力，語言須具有生動性和形式美。分析原文就是細致處理詞位的所指意義和聯想意義、研究句法和語篇結構。理解和領會原文是從事無論何種翻譯的基本功力。如果譯者確實理解了原文的涵義，又能得心應手地駕馭譯語，那么翻譯就是一個很自然的駕輕就熟的過程。翻譯的過程可以簡單分為：理解—表達 ---校核三個階段，或理解---表達兩個階段。四、翻譯分類：？2. 從涉及到的符號來看，翻譯可分為語內翻譯（ intralingualtranslation ）（通過同一語言中的一些語言符號解釋另一些符號，如把古漢語譯成現代漢語），語際翻譯（interlingual translation ）（通過一種語言符號解釋另一種語言符號，如把英語譯成漢語），符際翻譯（intersemiotic translation ）（通過非語言的符號系統解釋語言符號或用語言符號解釋非語言符號，如用手勢語解釋一則新聞。 ）從翻譯的手段來看，翻譯可分為口譯、筆譯和機器翻譯。從翻譯的題材來看明，翻譯可分為專業(yè)性翻譯（翻譯法律、科技文獻、專業(yè)學術論著等）、文學翻譯（翻譯小說、詩歌、戲劇等文學作品）和一般性翻譯（翻譯各種應用文和新聞報道等）。從翻譯方式上來看，翻譯可分為全譯、摘譯和編譯。泰特勒（Tytler,1748-1814 ）的翻譯理論和思想主要見于《論翻譯的原則》一書。該書是西方翻譯理論的第一部專著，在書中，泰特勒提出了著名的翻譯三原則： 1、譯文應完整地再現原文的思想內容(Thatthetranslationshouldgiveacompletetranscriptoftheideasoftheoriginal work.)；2、譯文的風格、筆調應與原文的性質相同 (Thatthestyleandmannerofwriting shouldbeofthesamecharacter with that oftheoriginal.) ；3、譯文影響原文一樣流暢 (Thatthetranslationshouldhavealltheeaseoftheoriginalcomposition.) 。八、常用翻譯方法、策略與技巧1. 直譯與意譯（LiteraltranslationandFreetranslation ）英語與漢語的語言結構與文體結構有相同的一面，漢譯時可照譯，即所謂“直譯”——既忠實原文內容，又符合原文的語言與文體結構。由于人們在感情，在對客觀事物的感受及社會經歷等方面會有相似之處，英漢語言表達中有少量相同或近似的表達方式，這些表達方式的字面意義，形象意義相同或近似，隱含意義相同，也就是說，這些表達方式的字面意義和形象意義所傳達出的文化信息是相同的，可以互譯。？“意譯”則從意義出發(fā)，只要求將原文大意表達出來，不需過分注重細節(jié)，但要求譯文自然流暢。由于文化因素的影響，在翻譯時無法保留原語的字面意義和形象意義，可將原文的形象更換成另一個譯文讀者所熟悉的形象， 從而轉達出原文的語用目的， 譯出隱含意義。英漢兩種語言不同的發(fā)展歷史，民族文化，風俗習慣造成了兩個民族獨特的語言與獨特的表達方式。因此，翻譯時必須對兩種語言文化基礎有基本的認識，不能逐字翻譯。凡語言都有習慣表達，言外之意。在深入領會原作的精神實質的前提之下，不拘泥于原作的字面形式，創(chuàng)造性的表達原作思想，但不可添枝加葉，改變原作的風格。注：在翻譯界通用的方法是將“直譯”與“意譯”相互結合。任何一篇好的翻譯作品，并不是單純的某一種翻譯方法貫穿始終，而是在保持原文內容的準確性，不引起歧義的情況下，將這兩種翻譯方法在同一翻譯作品中并用，相得益彰。筆者對翻譯界的這種做法完全認同。筆者認為，兩種翻譯方法在任何一篇翻譯作品中都能并用的話，一定可以譯出一部優(yōu)秀的翻譯作品。2. 歸化和異化（domesticationandforeignization ）？異化和歸化是在 1995年由美國翻譯理論家勞倫斯·韋努蒂（ LawrenceVenuti）在《譯者的隱形》（TheTranslator ’sInvisibility ）一書中提出來的。從歷史上看，異化和歸化可以視為直譯和意譯的概念延伸，但又不完全等同于直譯和意譯。直譯和意譯所關注的核心問題是如何在語言層面處理形式和意義，而異化和歸化則突破了語言因素的局限，將視野擴展到語言、文化和美學等因素。按韋努蒂（ Venuti）的說法，歸化法是“把原作者帶入譯入語文化”，而異化法則是“接受外語文本的語言及文化差異，把讀者帶入外國情景” 。Venuti，1995:20）由此可見，直譯和意譯主要是局限于語言層面的價值取向，異化和歸化則是立足于文化大語境下的價值取向，兩者之間的差異是顯而易見的，不能混為一談。歸化（domestication ）是指在翻譯中采用透明、流暢的風格，最大限度地淡化原文的陌生感的翻譯策略（Shuttleworth&Cowie，1997:43-44）。它應盡可能的使源語文本所反映的世界接近目的語文化讀者的世界，從而達到源語文化與目的語文化之間的“文化對等” 。異化（foreignization ）是指偏離本土主流價值觀，保留原文的語言和文化差異（ Venuti，2001:240）；或指在一定程度上保留原文的異域性，故意打破目標語言常規(guī)的翻譯Shuttleworth&Cowie，1997:59）。它主張在譯文中保留源語文化，豐富目的語文化和目的語的語言表達方式。用通俗的語言概括，即歸化法要求譯者向譯語讀者靠攏，采取譯語讀者習慣的譯語表達方式，來傳達原文的內容；異化法則要求譯者向作者靠攏，采取相應于作者使用的原語表達方式，來傳達原文的內容。注：異化時不妨礙譯文的通順易懂，歸化時不失去原文的味道，同時，我們應堅持對語言形式采取歸化的策略，而對其文化因素進行異化處理。這樣，譯文作品可兼兩策略之長而避其短，使兩者有共同發(fā)展的空間。由此，在實際翻譯過程中歸化與異化應該是相輔相成，并有互補的辯證統一關系。翻譯理論知識概要第一部分：翻譯術語1.DefinitionsoftranslationTranslationcanberoughlydefinedasareproductionorrecreationinonelanguageofwhatiswrittenorsaidinanotherlanguage.Beingaverycomplicatedhumanactivity,itswholepictureisnevereasytodescribe.Scholarswithdifferentacademicbackgroundshaveattemptedtodefineitfromvariousperspectives.(1).LinguisticViewsonTranslationTranslationtheoristsfromthelinguisticschoolconceiveoftranslationasalinguistic activity andsomebelieve that translation theory is abranch oflinguistics,approachingtheissuesoftranslatingprimarilyfromtheviewpointofthelinguisticdifferencesbetweensourceandtargettexts.Translationmaybedefinedasthereplacementoftextualmaterialinonelanguage(thesourcelanguage)byequivalenttextualmaterialinanotherlanguage(thetargetlanguage). (Catford,1965:20).Translationtheoryderivesfromcomparativelinguistics,andwithinlinguistics,it is mainly an aspect of semantics; all questions of semantics relate totranslationtheory.(Newmark,1982/1988:5).(2).CulturalViewsonTranslationIn the cultural approach, translation is regarded not only asatransfer oflinguisticsigns,butalsoasacommunicationofcultures,i.e.translationisan"interculturalcommunication";hencethetermsof"interculturalcooperation","acculturation",and"transculturation".翻譯不僅涉及語言問題 ,也涉及文化問題。譯者不僅要了解外國的文化 , 還要深入了解自己民族的文化。不僅如此, 還要不斷地把兩種文化加以比較 , 因為真正的對等應該是在各自文化中的含義、作用、范圍、感情色彩、影響等等都是相當的。翻譯者必須是一個真正意義的文化人。人們會說：他必須掌握兩種語言 ; 確實如此, 但是不了解語言當中的社會文化, 誰也無法真正掌握語言 (王佐良,1989)。(4).SemanticViewsonTranslationThisviewfocusesonthesemanticequivalencebetweenthetwolanguages,aswellexpressedbyEugeneNida(1986):"Translatingmeanstranslatingmeaning".Translationisrenderingthemeaningofatextintoanotherlanguageinthewaythattheauthorintendedthetext(Newmark,1988:5).Semantic translation: the translator attempts,within the bare syntactic andsemanticconstraintsofthetargetlanguage,toreproducetheprecisecontextualmeaningoftheauthor(Newmark,1982:22).Insemantictranslation,greaterattentionispaidtorenderingtheauthor'soriginalthought-processesintargetlanguagethantoattemptingtore-interpretsourcetext inawaywhichthetranslator considers moreappropriate for thetargetsetting(Shuttleworth&Cowie,1997:151).(5).FunctionalViewsonTranslationFunctionalistsbelievethattranslationisaspecificformofhumanactionwithacertain purpose,akindoflinguistic service providedtothesociety.Translatorsshouldtakeinto accounttheneedsoftheclient, ?thereaderaswell asthepurposeoruseofthetranslation:(6).CommunicativeViewsonTranslationThisapproachviewstranslation asacommunicativeprocesswhichtakesplacewithinasocialcontext.Communicativetranslation:thetranslatorattemptstoproducethesameeffectonthetarget languagereadersaswasproducedbytheoriginal onthesourcelanguagereaders( Newmark,1982:22).Communicativetranslationisgenerallyorientedtowardstheneedsofthetargetlanguagereaderorrecipient. Atranslator whoistranslating communicatively

willtreatsourcetextasamessageratherthanamerestringoflinguisticunits,andwill beconcernedtopreserve sourcetext's original function andtoreproduce

itseffectonthenewaudience(Shuttleworth&Cowie,1997:21).Theaboveviewshelpustounderstandthecomplexnaturearemanyfactorswhichaffectthetranslationprocess,humanactivity.

oftranslation.Sincetheretranslationisacomplicated2.Translation Criteria PutForwardbyFamousTranslators orTranslation TheoristsSomewell-knowntranslatorsortranslationtheoristsathomeandabroadhaveputforwardcriteriatojudgethequalityofatranslation.(1). 嚴復(1853-1921):TriplePrincipleofTranslation信(faithfulness): 忠實準確達(expressiveness}: 通順流暢雅(elegance): 文字古雅YanFuputforward

this

"Three-character

Guide”

inhispreface tothetranslationofT.H.Huxley's

bookEvolution

andEthics andOtherEssays(《天演論》譯例言

1898):譯事三難信達雅。求其信己大難矣。顧信矣不達。雖譯猶不譯也。則達尚焉 ......易曰修辭立誠。子曰辭達而已。又曰言之無文，行之不遠。三者乃文章正軌。亦即為譯事楷模。故信達而外，求其爾雅。此不僅期以行遠已耳。實則精理微言。用漢以前字法句法，則為達易。用近世利俗文字，則求達難。往往抑義就詞，毫厘千里。審擇于斯二者之間，夫固有所不得已也。豈釣奇哉。 ......Translationhastodothreedifficultthings:tobefaithful,expressive,andelegant. Itisdifficultenoughtobefaithfultotheoriginal,andyetifatranslationisnotexpressive,itistantamounttohavingnotranslation.Henceexpressivenessshouldberequiredtoo.TheBookofChangessaysthatthefirstrequisiteofrhetoricistruthfulness.Confuciussaysthatexpressivenessisallthatmattersinlanguage.Headdsthatifone'slanguagelacksgrace,itwon'tgofar. Thesethreequalities,then,arethecriteria ofgoodwriting and,Ibelieve, ofgoodtranslation too. Hencebesidesfaithfulness andexpressiveness, Ialso aimatelegance. Istrive for elegancenotjusttomakemytranslationstravelfar,buttoexpresstheoriginalwriter'sideasbetter,forIfindthatsubtlethoughtsarebetterexpressedinthevocabularyandsyntaxofpre-Hanprosethanthoseofthevulgarwritingsoftoday.Usingthelatteroftenleadstodistortionofmeaning,which,howeverslight,resultsinvastmisunderstanding.Weighingtheprosandcons,Ioptedfortheformer,asamatterofnecessity,nottryingtobedifferentYanFu’sfirsttwocriteriaofbeingfaithfultotheoriginaltextincontentandbeingexpressiveintranslationaregenerallyacceptable,buthisinterpretationof"elegance"hasarousedplentyofcriticismbecause,inhisopinion,onehastoresorttothevocabularyandsyntaxofpre-Hanprosetoachieve"elegance".YanFu'scriteriaarealsocontroversialforhisemphasisontheequalstatusofthethreeconflicingprinciples.Despitethis,Yan’scriteriaarestillpopularinChina,buttheinterpretationofhiscriteriahaschanged.Nowadaystomanytranslators,"elegance"implies"thesafeandsoundpreservationofthetasteandshadeoftheoriginal”(黃龍,1988:90)or"運用讀者所最樂于接受的文體,使譯文得以廣泛流傳，擴大影響"(勞隴，《翻譯通訊》1983年第10期).(2). 魯 迅 信 （ faithfulness) 順（smoothness) ？(3). 林語堂 忠實{faithfulness) 通順(smoothness) 美(beautifulness) ？翻譯的標準問題，大概包括三方面。我們可依三方面的次序討論。第一是忠實標準，第二是通順標準，第三是美的標準。這翻譯的三層標準，與嚴氏的 "譯事三難"，大體上是正相比符的。(4). 傅雷:神似(resemblanceinspirit) ？以效果而論，(文學)翻譯應當像臨畫一樣，所求的不在形似而在神似。 (《高老頭》重譯本序，1951)(5). 錢鐘書：化境(reachingtheacmeofperfection) ？文學翻譯的最高境界是 "化"，把作品從一國文字轉變成另一國文字，既能不因語文習慣的差異而露出生硬牽強的痕跡，又能完全保存原有的風昧，那就算得入于 "化境"。十七世紀有人贊美這種造詣的翻譯，比為原作的 "投胎轉世"(thetransmigrationofsoul), 軀殼換了一個，而精神姿致依然故我。換句話說，譯本對原作應該忠實得以至于讀起來不像譯本，因為作品在原文里絕不會讀起來像經過翻譯似的。 (《林紓的翻譯》，1964)(6). 劉重德：信（faithhlness ）？達（expressiveness）切（closeness)信于內容(tobefaithfultothecontentoftheoriginal);達如其分(tobeasexpressiveastheoriginal);切合風格(tobeasclosetotheoriginalstyleaspossible).(《渾金璞玉集》，1994:9)(7). 許淵沖：三重標準(threelevelsofcriteria)( 《翻譯的藝術》，1984:26)標 準 低標準 中標準 高標準內容忠實(信) 明確 準確 精確(三似) 意似 形似 神似(三化) 淺化 等化 深化形式通順(達) 易懂 通順 揚長(雅,或傳神)(8).AlexanderFraserTytIer( 泰特勒):ThreePrinciplesofTranslationAlexander F.Tytler, a famousBritish translation theorist, put forward theclassicalcriteriainhis EssayonthePrinciplesofTranslation (1790):Thetranslationshouldgiveacompletetranscriptoftheideasoftheoriginalwork(譯作應該完全傳達原作的思想)；2)Thestyle andmannerofwriting inthetranslation shouldbeofthesamecharacterwiththatoftheoriginal( 譯作的風格與筆調應當與原作保持一致 )；3)Thetranslationshouldhavealltheeaseoftheoriginalcomposition(譯作應當和原作一樣流暢 ).Tytlerfurtherpointsoutthattheabove-saidthreeprinciplesarearrangedandrankedaccordingtotheorderoftheirsignificance,andthat,whentheyarenotsimultaneously attainable, thefirst shouldbeheldtoatthesacrifice ofthethirdprinciple,thenthesecond.(9).EugeneA. Nida(奈達):FunctionalEquivalence( 功能對等)？EugeneA.Nida,afamousAmericantranslationtheorist,putforwardhisrecentinterpretationoffunctionalequivalenceinhis LanguageandCulture:ContextinTranslating (2001:87):1)Aminimal,realisticdefinitionoffunctionalequivalence:Thereadersofatranslated text shouldbeabletocomprehendit tothepoint that theycanconceiveofhowtheoriginalreadersofthetextmusthaveunderstoodandappreciatedit.(最低限度而又切合實際的功能對等定義： 譯文讀者對譯文的理解應當達到能夠想像出原文讀者是怎樣理解和領會原文的程度 ).2) Amaximal, ideal definition of functional equivalence: Thereaders of atranslatedtextshouldbeabletounderstandandappreciateitinessentiallythesamemannerastheoriginalreadersdid.( 最高限度合乎理想的功能對等定義：譯文讀者應當能夠基本上按照原文讀者理解和領會原文的方式來理解和領會譯文 ).3.Classificationoftranslation(1). Jakobson(1896-1982)Intralingualtranslationorrewordingisaninterpretationofverbalsignsbymeansofothersignsofthesamelanguage.2)??Interlingual translation ortranslation properisaninterpretation ofverbalsignsbymeansofsomeotherlanguage.3)??Intersemiotictranslationortransmutationisaninterpretationofverbalsignsbymeansofsignsofnonverbalsignsystems.e.g.原文：子曰：“學而時習之，不亦樂乎!有朋友自遠方來，不亦樂乎!人不知而不慍，不亦君子乎!”譯文一: 孔子說:“學習了而時常溫習，不也高興嗎！有朋友從遠方來，不也快樂嗎 !別人不了解我，我并不怨恨，不也是君子嗎？” (徐志剛 譯)譯文二:TheMastersaid，"Tolearn andatduetimestorepeat whatonehaslearnt，Isthatnotafterallapleasure?Thatfriendsshouldcometoonefromafar,Isthisnotafteralldelightful?Toremainunsouredeventhoughone ’smeritsareunrecognizedbyothers,Isthatnotafterallwhatisexpectedofagentleman?(Waley譯)[點評] 原文同譯文一之間的轉換屬于語內翻譯 (intralingualtranslation), 即用同一語盲的其他語言符號對原文迸行闡釋或者重述 (rewording) 。原文同譯文二之間的轉換屬于語際翻譯(interlingualtranslation) ，即兩個不同語言之間所進行的轉換。原文：A:Whatdoesyourwatchsay?Itsays“fivepastthree”.[點評] 在這一對話中，B實際上是在迸行一種翻譯，這種翻譯叫做符際翻譯(intersemiotictranslation) ，即語言同非語言符號之間的代碼轉換。當 A詢問B幾點鐘的時候，B只能看鐘或者看手表，而鐘或者手表并不能說話， B只能根據鐘表的時針和分針來確定具體兒點鐘了。而B所言實際上是言語傳達一個非言語信息 (non-linguistic message)。將非言語信息用言語傳達出來是翻譯的一種方式，這不是從一種語言到另一種語言的轉換過程，而是從非語言交際系統到語言交際系統的過程。非語言交際系統和語言交際系統的共同特征是兩者都屬于"符號系統"(即用于交際的系統)。雅可布遜Jakobson)將這種由非語言交際系統到語言交際系統的轉換過程稱為符際翻譯是恰當的。其實，我們每個人每一天、每一刻都在迸行著符際翻譯而不自知也。從這個意義上說，我們每個人都是某種意義上的譯者(Herveyet.al1995:8-9).(2).PeterNewmark( 紐馬克):CommunicativeandSemanticTranslation( 交際翻譯與語義翻譯)？PeterNewmark,afamousBritishtranslation theorist,putforwardhis conceptsofcommunicative and semantic translation in his Approaches to Translation(1982/1988:39):1)Communicativetranslation attempts toproduceonits readers aneffect ascloseaspossibletothatobtainedonthereadersoftheoriginal.( 交際翻譯力圖對譯作讀者產生盡可能接近原作讀者所獲得的效果 ).2)Semantictranslation attempts torender, asclosely asthesemanticandsyntacticstructuresofthesecondlanguageallow,theexactcontextualmeaningoftheoriginal.( 語義翻譯力圖在譯作語言的語義結構和句法結構允許的情況下，譯出原作在上下文中的準確意義).4.NatureandScopeofTranslationWhatis translation? Somepeoplebelieve it isascience, others takeit asanart,andyetmanyconsideritacraft,orrather,askill.Ofthesevariedopinions,whichoneholdstrueforourpurpose?Theanswerdependsonhowweunderstandorinterprettheword"translation",fortheveryword"translation"itselfisambiguous,andtheChineseequivalent"'fanyi"soundsevenfuzzier.Fanyi,inChinese,mayeitherstandforasubjectofthecurriculum,ajobpeopleengagein,apieceofliterarywork,orthetranslatingorinterpretingworkitself.Sometimes,"fanyi"mayevenrefertothetranslatororinterpreterhimself/herself.Iftheword"translation"referstoasubject,namely,thestudyoftranslationtheoryandskills,itisnodoubtascience,justasanysubjectis,withitsownrules,lawsandprinciplesforthetranslatorstoabideby;however,ifitreferstosomespecific piecesoftranslation, thenit ismorelike anart, witheachpiecemanifestingitsowncharmsandstyleinthecreativehandsofthetranslator;whereas,ifitreferstoaprocess,inwhichsomethingistranslated,thenwemayregardit asacraft orskill. Forunlike anybranchofnatural science, theprocessoftranslationhasitspeculiarity,andnoneofitsrulesandprinciplesareuniversally applicable. Besides, it entails a lot of practice —particularcraftsmanshipandskillsaredisplayedbythetouchesofdifferenttranslators.Translationcoversaverybroadrange.Intermsoflanguages,itcanbedividedintotwocategories:fromnativelanguagesintoforeignlanguagesandviceversa;intermsofthemode,itcanbedividedintooralinterpretation,writtentranslationandmachinetranslation;intermsofmaterialstobetranslated,thereistranslationofscientificmaterials,translationofliteraryworkssuchasnovels,stories,prose,poetry,drama,etc.,translationofpoliticalessayssuchastreatisesonsocialproblems,reports,speeches,etc.,andtranslationofpracticalwriting(asofficialdocuments,contractsandagreements,notices,receipts,etc.);intermsofdisposal,itcanbeeitherfull-texttranslation（全文翻譯）,abridgedtranslation（摘譯）oradaptedtranslation（編譯）.5.PrinciplesorCriteriaofTranslationTheso-calledprinciplesandcriteriaoftranslationareactuallythetwosidesofthesamething.Theformerlaysemphasisonthetranslator,whoshouldfollowthemwhiletranslating;whilethelatteronthereaderorcritic,whomayusethecriteria to evaluate translation works. Wheneverprinciples or criteria oftranslation areunderdiscussion inChina,YanFu’s"three-character guide", whichwasfirstproposedin1898,wouldevokecontroversy,namely,theprincipleof"信、達、雅"(faithfulnessexpressivenessandelegance).InthepastdecadesMr.Yan'sprincipleoftranslationhasbeengenerallyregardedasaplumb-lineformeasuringtheprofessionalleveloftranslationandagoalfortranslatorstostriveafter.However,intheapplicationofthisprinciple,peoplehavecometofindsomelimitationstothethreecharactersandputforwardavarietyofnewstandardsinstead.Threekindsofopinionsareexpressedontheprincipleoffaithfulness,expressivenessandelegance.Thefirstgroupmaintainstheoriginalthreecharacters,andinthemeantime,addssomenewconceptstothecharacter"雅".Accordingtothem,"雅"meansfarmorethantheEnglishword"elegance".Apartfromthetraditionalinterpretation,italsomeansclassicism,theadherencetotheoriginalstyleandflavor.Thesecondgroup,however,arguesthattheword"雅"isoutofplaceintranslation.WhileadoptingthefirsttwocharactersofMr.YanFu'sprinciple,itdiscardsthecharacter"雅"andtriestofindsomeothernewcriteriainstead.Noticeably,therearerevisionssuchas"信、達、切"(faithfulness,expressivenessandcloseness),"信、達、貼"(faithfulness,expressivenessandfitness),andsoon.Thethirdgroupofpeople,bycastingawaythethree-wordguide,proposesomenewprinciplesorcriteriaoftranslationoftheirown.Ofthevariouspopulartheoriestwoofthemaremostinfluential:spiritualconformity(神似)andsublimatedadaptation(化境).Theformer,proposedbyFuLeiemphasizesthereproductionofthespiritortheflavoroftheoriginal,whilethelatter,advocatedbyQianZhongshu,focusesonthetranslator'ssmoothandidiomaticChineseversionforthesakeoftheChinesereader.Despitethevarietyofopinions,twocriteriaarealmostunanimouslyaccepted,namely,thecriterion offaithfulness/accuracy （忠實、準確)andthat ofsmoothness(流暢).Wemayalsotakethesetwocriteriaastheprinciplesoftranslationingeneral. Byfaithfulness/ accuracy, wemeantobefaithful notonlytotheoriginalcontents, totheoriginal meaningandviews, butalsototheoriginal formandstyle.Bysmoothness,wemeannotonlyeasyandreadablerendering,butalsoidiomaticexpression inthe target language,free fromstiffformulaandmechanical copyingfromdictionaries.6.LiteralTranslationandFreeTranslationTheprocessoftranslationconsistsoftwophases:comprehensionandexpression.Generallyspeaking,comprehensionisofforemostimportance,andexpressionisthenaturalconsequenceofthoroughcomprehension.However,inthepracticeoftranslationwemayfindthatnowandthensomewordsintheirusualsensesareverydifficulttodealwithbecauseofthedisparitybetweentheEnglishandtheChineselanguages.Inthiscase,wehavetoresorttosomespecialmeansoftranslation.Literaltranslationandfreetranslationaretwousefulapproachesindealingwithsuchawkwardsituations.Theso-called literal translationoriginal words and sentences";sentimentsandstyleoftheoriginal".takesthewholetext (discourse)oftranslation. Furthermore, it

,superficially speaking, means"nottoalter thestrictly speaking, it strives "to keep theIttakessentencesasitsbasicunitsandinto consideration atthesametimeinthecoursestrives toreproduce boththeideological contentandthestyleoftheoriginalworksandretainsasmuchaspossiblethefiguresofspeech.TherearequitealotofexamplesofsuccessfulliteraltranslationthathavebeenadoptedasidiomaticChineseexpressions.Forexample,crocodile'stears,armedtotheteeth,chainreaction,gentlemen'sagreement,andsoon.Similarly,someChineseidiomsalsofindtheirEnglishcounterpartsthroughliteraltranslation.Forexample,紙老虎(papertiger),一國兩制(onecountry,twosystems),andsoon.Freetranslationisanalternativeapproachwhichisusedmainlytoconveythemeaningandspirit oftheoriginal without trying toreproduceits sentencepatternsorfiguresofspeech .Thisapproachismostfrequentlyadoptedwhenitisreallyimpossibleforthetranslatortodoliteraltranslation.Forexample:·Adam'sapple 喉結·atsixesandsevens 亂七八糟·Itrainscatsanddogs. 大雨滂沱·Don'tcrossthebridgetill yougettoit. 不必擔心過早。(不必自尋煩惱)·Doyouseeanygreeninmyeye? 你以為我是幼稚可欺的嗎 ?Theaboveillustrationscannotbetranslatedliterally ，otherwise，theChineserenditionwouldmakenonsenseatall ，letalonetheoriginalmeaning.Literal translation andfree translation, however,arerelative concepts. Inotherwords,thereisnoabsolute “l(fā)iteral ”，norentirely "free" versioninthepracticeoftranslation,andoveremphasizingeitherofthemwouldresultinridiculousconsequences.Let'sscrutinizethefollowingtwopracticalcases.OriginalEnglish1Ilovetigercat,Britishmoviesonpublictelevision，fluffyblouses,thenuclearfamily,(HelenSnow，MyChinaYears)ChineseVersionA:我愛虎貓, (愛)電視上放映的英國影片，有絨毛的短衫，核心家庭，ChineseVersionB:我喜歡豹貓, 喜歡公共電視臺播放的英國電影，喜歡蓬松、柔軟的棉毛衫，喜歡一夫一妻制的家庭，Comment:Apparently,thesetwoChineseversionsarefarfrombeingperfect.Otherthingsaside,therenderingofthephrasenuclearfamilyposesaseriousproblemofrepresentation.VersionArenders"thenuclearfamily"as"核心家庭"bymeansofliteraltranslation.However,thisversionistoostiff,thereforeitfailstoconveytheoriginalmeaningtotheChinesereader—formostChinese,theyhavehardly anyideawhat"核心家庭"really means.VersionBadoptstheapproachoffreetranslationandputsitinto"一夫一妻制"；evidentlyitgoestoofaranddistortstheauthor'soriginalintention,andindoingso,thetranslatorabusesthepracticeoffreetranslation.Infact,thenuclearfamilyhasnothingtodowitheitheroftheversions.AcloseexaminationofitsdefinitioninanEnglish-Englishdictionaryshedslightonthisphrase:nuclearfamily,afamilygroupthatconsistsonlyoffather,motherandchildren.Therefore,theproperrenderingofthephraseshouldbewordstothiseffect:acozysmallfamily,namely,theChineseequivalent小家庭".OriginalEnglish2:MaoTse-tungwaswellbred,butinsidehewasmadeofsteel,ofhardresistance,oftoughtissue—thekindoftissue theBoxersthought theyhadbymagic,andbaredtheirsolarplexusestoforeignbullets.(ibid.)ChineseVersionA:毛澤東有很好的教養(yǎng)，內部是鋼，有堅強的抗力，是堅韌的材料制成的。這是義和團設想的由于神力具有的，可以把腹部袒胸給外國人的子彈的那種材料。ChineseVersionB :毛澤東教養(yǎng)有素，精神支柱鐵鑄鋼打，不怕高壓，是由堅韌的組織構成的。這種組織，就是義和拳認為他們通過魔法得到的那種組織袒胸露體，刀槍不入。Comment:Theword"tissue"canhardlyberenderedintoChineseeitherinliteraltranslationorfreetranslation，norcouldthemetaphor"insidehewasmadeofsteel"beproperlyrenderedwithoutgraspingtheessenceofthewholesentence.However，sincethereisnocorrespondingexpressionsinChinese,thetranslatorstacklethemaccordingtotheirownunderstanding.InversionA，"tissue"isfreelyrenderedas"材料"(material)，whileversionBliterallyas"組織"(organictissue)—bothfailtoconveytheoriginalmeaningandattitudeofthewriter.Byadoptingtranslationskillssuchasamplification,omission，conversionandrestructuring，wemaytranslatetheoriginalEnglishsentenceasfollows:RevisedVersion:毛澤東外表溫文爾雅，但內心深處卻鋼鑄鐵打，既堅韌，又抗壓—在他的身上可以看到當年義和團自信所具有的那種神力，面對洋槍洋炮也敢袒胸露懷。Fromtheaboveanalysis,wecometotheconclusionthatthereisnoobviousdistinctionbetweenliteraltranslationandfreetranslation,norisitnecessarytodistinguishonefromtheother.Thekeypointforatranslatortograspistocomprehendtheoriginalthoroughly,andthenputitintoidiomaticChinese.Intheprocessoftranslation,specificapproachessuchasliteralorfreetranslationmaybeofsomehelp,butweshouldavoidthetwoextremes.Intheapplicationofliteraltranslation,weshouldendeavortoridourselvesofstiffpatternsandrigidadherencetotranslationrules,tryingtobeflexible;whileinthepracticeoffreetranslation,weshouldbecautiousofsubjectivity,avoidinggroundlessaffirmation orarbitrary fabrication. Whateverthecircumstances, wemayalternateorcombinethesetwoapproacheswhenitisnecessary.7.Omission ？Omissionisatechniqueoppositetoamplification.True,atranslatorhasnorighttosubtractanymeaning