Unit 10 Attributive Clauses.ppt

1、Unit 10 Attributive Clauses,1,Attributive Clauses,Of various English subordinate clauses, the attributive clause is perhaps the most complicated and therefore it always poses a hard nut for the translator to crack. This is either because of the disparity between English and Chinese syntax or because

2、 of their habitual modes of expressing the same idea in different ways. For example: The saga of the White Star Liner Titanic, which struck an iceberg and sank on its maiden voyage in 1912 白星公司班船泰坦尼克號在1912年的處女航中因撞上冰山而沉沒的傳聞軼事 the railings where doomed passengers and crew members stood 那些慘遭厄運的乘客和船員曾站過

3、的欄桿旁,2,IA Comparative Study of Englishand Chinese Attributive Structures II. Restrictive Attributive Clauses III. Non-Restrictive Attributive Clauses IV. Attributive Clauses Functioning as Adverbials,Attributive Clauses,3,IA Comparative Study of Englishand Chinese Attributive Structures,As some ling

4、uists have pointed out, an English sentence may be followed by an unlimited number of attributive clauses behind the word being modified, while a Chinese sentence allows only a limited amount of words preceding the word being modified. And eventually, there is no correspondence between their sentenc

5、e structures. A comparative study of English and Chinese attributive structures helps us to bring this disparity to light.,4,IA Comparative Study of Englishand Chinese Attributive Structures,This is the cat. 這就是那只貓。 This is the cat that killed the rat. 這就是那只捕殺了老鼠的貓。 This is the cat that killed the r

6、at that ate the cake. 這就是那只捕殺了偷吃了蛋糕的老鼠的貓。 This is the cat that killed the rat that ate the cake that was put in the house. 這就是那只捕殺了偷吃了放在房間里的蛋糕的老鼠的貓。 This is the cat that killed the rat that ate the cake that was put in the house that Jack built. 這就是那只捕殺了偷吃了放在杰克修建的房間里的蛋糕的老鼠的貓。 Apparently, its impossi

7、ble for a translator to put all the information into one Chinese sentence in the same sequence as in English.,5,IA Comparative Study of Englishand Chinese Attributive Structures,Thus, a readable Chinese version of the above English sentence 3,4,5 should be respectively rendered like this: 3. 這就是那只捕殺

8、了老鼠的貓。老鼠偷吃了蛋糕。 4. 這就是那只捕殺了老鼠的貓。老鼠偷吃了放在屋里的蛋糕。 5. 這就是那只捕殺了老鼠的貓。老鼠偷吃了放在屋里的蛋糕。屋子是杰克蓋的。 Therefore, some specific methods are needed to tackle the problems in the translation of English attributive clauses.,6,II. Restrictive Attributive Clauses,Restrictive attributive clauses, which are characterized by t

9、he absence of a comma between the subordinate clauses and the principal clauses, are very closely related to the nouns or pronouns (also called antecedents) that they are modifying. The meaning of the complex sentence would not be complete unless the restrictive attributive clause is taken into cons

10、ideration. Generally, the following three methods are used to translate restrictive attributive clauses.,7,1. Combination （合并法）,This is the most common practice of translating English attributive clause that is not too long. In this case, an English restrictive attributive clause is embedded in the

11、Chinese sentence with “.的”structure and directly placed before the words being modified (the antecedents). By combination, we have actually converted an English complex sentence into a Chinese simple sentence. The people who worked for him lived in mortal fear of him. 在他手下工作的人對他怕得要死。 Pollution is a

12、pressing problem which we must deal with. 污染是我們必須解決的一個迫切問題。 July and August are the months when the weather is hot. 七八月是天氣很熱的月份。 In the room where the electronic computer is kept, there must be no dust at all. 在存放電子計算機的房間里，不能有一點灰塵。,8,2. Division （分譯法）,Sometimes, an English sentence with a restrictiv

13、e attributive clause is too long or too complicated for the translator to take as a single sentence. In this case, we may divide it into two or several parts, placing the attributive clause after the principal clause to conform to the Chinese usage, repeating the antecedent being modified.,9,2. Divi

14、sion,They are striving for the ideal which is close to the heart of every Chinese and for which, in the past, many Chinese have laid down their lives. 他們正在為實現(xiàn)一個理想而努力，這個理想是每個中國人所珍愛的，在過去，許多中國人為了這個理想而犧牲了自己的生命。 Newton invented a paper lantern illuminated by a candle which he carried with him to light hi

15、s way to school on dark winter mornings. 牛頓發(fā)明了一只點蠟燭的紙燈籠，在昏暗朦朧的冬天早晨上學時帶著燈籠照路。,10,2. Division,Sometimes, however, we may translate a restrictive attributive clause without repeating the antecedent. He managed to raise a crop of 200 miracle tomatoes that weighed up to two pounds each. 他種出了200個大得驚人的西紅柿，

16、每個重達兩磅。 A fuel is a material which will burn at a reasonable temperature and produce heat. 燃料是一種物質，在適當溫度下能夠燃燒并放出熱量。 They worked out a new method by which production has now been rapidly increased. 他們制定出一種新方法，采用之后已迅速提高了生產。,11,3. Mixture,By mixture here we mean combining the principal clause and the a

17、ttributive clause into a single Chinese sentence without any distinction. This method is usually adopted in translating English “there be” structure. There were men in that crowd who had stood there every day for a month. 在那人群中，有些人每天站在那里站了一個月。 There is a man downstairs who wants to see you. 樓下有人要見你。

18、 Fortunately, there are some chemical fuels that are clean and smokeless. 幸好有些化學燃料是潔凈無煙的。 There are some metals which possess the power to conduct electricity and the ability to be magnetized. 某些金屬既能導電，又能被磁化。,12,3. Mixture,Besides, there are some English complex sentences with a very simple principa

19、l clause, laying their emphasis on the attributive clauses. In this case, the principal clause may be condensed into the subject of a simple sentence, with the attributive clause as its predicate. “We are a nation that must beg to stay alive,” said a foreign economist. 一位外國經濟學家曾說過，“我們這個國家不討飯就活不下去”。

20、We used a plane of which almost every part carried some identification of national identity. 我們駕駛的飛機幾乎每一個部件都有國籍的某些標志。 Good clocks have pendulums which are automatically compensated for temperature changes. 好的鐘擺可以自動補償溫度變化造成的誤差。,13,III. Non-Restrictive Attributive Clauses,Non-restrictive attributive c

21、lauses are characterized by a comma between the principal and the attributive clause. In comparison with restrictive attributive clauses, non-restrictive attributive clauses hold a loose relationship with the antecedents, functioning as a supplementary part in the sentence. In terms of translation t

22、echniques, there is no significant difference between these two kinds of attributive clauses. However, the method of division is adopted more frequently in translating non-restrictive attributive clauses than in translating restrictive attributive clauses, while the method of combination is just the

23、 other way around.,14,1. Division,Several methods of division are adopted in the translation of non-restrictive attributive clauses. (1) Translating into Compound Sentence by Repeating the Antecedents I told the story to John, who told it to his brother. 我把這件事告訴了約翰，約翰又告訴了他的兄弟。 Fine grains of dust ca

24、n reflect blue light, which coarse grains of dust can not. 微?；覊m能反射藍光，但粗?；覊m卻不能。 The process of combining with oxygen is oxidation, of which burning is one type. 與氧結合的過程就是氧化，燃燒就是其中的一種。 This is a college of science and technology, the students of which are trained to be engineers or scientists. 這是一所科技大

25、學，該校學生將被培養(yǎng)成工程師或科學工作者。,15,1. Division,(2) Translating into Compound Sentence by Omitting the Antecedents After dinner, the four key negotiators resumed their talks, which continued well into the night. 飯后，四個主要談判人物繼續(xù)進行會談，一直談到深夜。 He saw in front that haggard white-haired old man, whose eyes flashed red

26、 with fury. 他看見前面那個憔悴的白發(fā)老人眼里閃耀著憤怒的目光。 This type of meter is called a multimeter, which is used to measure electricity. 這種儀表稱為萬用表，用來測電。,16,1. Division,(3) Translating into Independent Sentences One time there was a violent thunderstorm, the worst I had ever seen, which obscured my objective. 有一次是暴風驟雨

27、，猛烈的程度實為我平生所僅見。這場暴風雨遮住了我的目標。 Nevertheless the problem was solved successfully, which showed that the computations were accurate. 不過，問題還是圓滿地解決了，這說明計算很準確。,17,2. Combination,Non-restrictive attributive clauses can also be translated by using the method of combination. This is the usual case when we try

28、 to avoid a loose structure and take coherence into consideration. The sun, which had hidden all day, now came out in all its splendor. 整天躲在云層里的太陽，現(xiàn)在又光芒四射地露面了。 He liked his sister, who was warm and pleasant, but he did not like his brother, who was aloof and arrogant. 他喜歡熱情洋溢的妹妹，而不喜歡冷漠高傲的哥哥。 Transis

29、tors, which are small in size, can make previously large and bulky radios light and small. 采用體積較小的晶體管可以使先前那種大而笨重的收音機變得又輕又小。,18,IV. Attributive Clauses Functioning as Adverbials,Some attributive clauses (both restrictive and non-restrictive) function as the adverbial in the complex sentence, having a

30、 very close logic relationship with the principal clause and indicating the cause, result, purpose, time, condition, concession, etc.,19,1. Translating into Adverbial Clauses of Cause,You must grasp the concept of “work” which is very important in physics. 你必須掌握“功”的概念，因為它在物理學中很重要。 A solid fuel, like

31、 coal or wood, can only burn at the surface, where it comes into contact with the air. 煤或木材之類的固體燃料只能在外層表面燃燒，因為表面可以接觸空氣。 We know that a cat, whose eyes can take in many more rays than our eyes, can see clearly in the night. 我們知道，由于貓的眼睛比人眼能吸收更多的光線，所以貓在黑夜也能看得很清楚。,20,2. Translating into Adverbial Clause

32、s of Results,Copper, which is used so widely for carrying electricity, offers very little resistance. 銅的電阻很小，所以被廣泛地用來傳輸電力。 There was something original, independent, and heroic about the plan that pleased all of them. 這個方案富于創(chuàng)造性，獨具一格，且很有魅力，因此他們都很喜歡。,21,3. Translating into Adverbial Clauses of Concess

33、ion,He insisted on building another house, which he had no use for. 他堅持要再造一幢房子，盡管他并無此需要。 The scientist, who was dog-tired, went on with the experiment. 那位科學家雖已筋疲力盡，但還是繼續(xù)進行實驗。 Electronic computers, which have many advantages, cannot carry out creative work and replace man. 盡管電子計算機有許多優(yōu)點，但是它們不能進行創(chuàng)造性工作，也不能代替人。,22,4. Translating into Adverbial Clauses of Condition,Men become desperate for work, any work, which will help them to keep alive their families. 人們拼命想得到工作，不管什么工作，只要能維持一家人的生活就行。 A body that contains