Some people think translation is easy: As long as you know some grammatical rules of a foreign language you can translate with the help of a dictionary. Is it really so? Now look at the following seemingly easy sentences and see if you can translate them easily. ( Can you see what is wrong with the translations provided in brackets? l) He is easily the best student in the class.((她很容易地成了班上最好的学生。) 2) The stranger robbed his wife(那个陌生人抢了他的妻子。) )lcan' t agree more.(我不能同意更多的了。) 4) They gave the boy the lie.(他们对男孩说谎。) 5) This is a very good price.(这是一个非常好的价钱。) 6) Her mother died of difficult labor.(他母亲劳累而死。) There doesn't seem to be any new words for most students and none of the sentences is very complicated in grammar. Now, lets analyze them one by one. ) He is easily the best student in the class(她很容易地成了班上最好的学生。) He is the best student in the class with ease.(她很轻松地成了班上最好的学生。) The word" easily” in Sentence I is not of the usual sense and can' t be translated as容易地 It means“ by far”. So the sentence should be translated as她绝对/无疑是班上最好的学生or他比 班上别的学生要好得多 2) The stranger robbed his wife(那个陌生人抢了他的妻子。) The meaning of抢了他的妻子 in the translation of sentence2 is ambiguous. It may mean the stranger took away the woman and made her his own wife. But what was actually taken was not the woman but her money or personal belongings. So a clear translation should be那个陌生 人抢了他妻子的钱(东西) 3)Ican' t agree more.(我不能同意更多的了。) Sentence 3 uses a negative form to express the meaning of the superlative degree. The translation is wrong because"agree here is an intransitive verb(when used as a transitive verb, it is often followed by a that-clause) and"more"is not its object but its adverbial. So the sentence should be translated as我完全同意 or more vividly我举双手赞成
6 Some people think translation is easy: As long as you know some grammatical rules of a foreign language you can translate with the help of a dictionary. Is it really so? Now look at the following seemingly easy sentences and see if you can translate them easily. (Can you see what is wrong with the translations provided in brackets?) 1) He is easily the best student in the class.(她很容易地成了班上最好的学生。) 2）The stranger robbed his wife.(那个陌生人抢了他的妻子。) 3) I can’t agree more.（我不能同意更多的了。） 4) They gave the boy the lie.（他们对男孩说谎。） 5) This is a very good price.（这是一个非常好的价钱。） 6) Her mother died of difficult labor.（他母亲劳累而死。） There doesn’t seem to be any new words for most students and none of the sentences is very complicated in grammar. Now, let’s analyze them one by one. 1) He is easily the best student in the class. (她很容易地成了班上最好的学生。) He is the best student in the class with ease. (她很轻松地成了班上最好的学生。) The word “easily” in Sentence 1 is not of the usual sense and can’t be translated as 容易地 . It means “by far”. So the sentence should be translated as 她绝对/无疑是班上最好的学生 or 他比 班上别的学生要好得多. 2）The stranger robbed his wife.(那个陌生人抢了他的妻子。) The meaning of 抢了他的妻子 in the translation of Sentence 2 is ambiguous. It may mean the stranger took away the woman and made her his own wife. But what was actually taken was not the woman but her money or personal belongings. So a clear translation should be 那个陌生 人抢了他妻子的钱（东西）. 3) I can’t agree more.（我不能同意更多的了。） Sentence 3 uses a negative form to express the meaning of the superlative degree. The translation is wrong because “agree” here is an intransitive verb (when used as a transitive verb, it is often followed by a that-clause) and “more” is not its object but its adverbial. So the sentence should be translated as 我完全同意,or more vividly 我举双手赞成
4) They gave the boy the lie.(他们对男孩说谎。) Sentence 4 is an idiomatic way to express certain ideas. Here" give"does not mean"make somebody possess something”, but rather" scold"or" punish”:他们指责男孩说谎(他们指责男 孩编造的这个说谎言) 5) This is a very good price.(这是一个非常好的价钱。) Good"is a typical word whose meaning is often vague. Sentence 5 is an utterance by a customer. So it would be better to translate it simply as真便宜 6) Her mother died of difficult labor.(他母亲劳累而死。) Some people tend to think a word in one language may al ways be turned into a corresponding word in another language. So they make an equation between“ labor”and“劳动 As a matter of fact, "labor"has some meaning that is not covered by Chinese 312]. In sentence 6 it means"give birth to a baby, emphasizing the process". So the sentence actually means ftff 亲死于难产。(劳累or苦工 can be translated as" hard labor”or“ Thard work.)Don' t be too sure of yourselves and consult the dictionary more III The classification of translation 1. In view of language of translation, it can be classified into intralingual translation and interlingual translation. Intralingual translation or rewording(change the wording of sth spoken or written) is an interpretation of verbal用文字的 signs by means of other signs of the same language, e. g... Interlingual translation is an interpretation of verbal sigI some other language, e. g 2. In view of the way of translation, it can be classified into interpretation(consecutive interpretation and simultaneous interpretation) and translation. Consecutive interpretation: the interpreter takes notes while the speaker speaks the renders (interpret) a speech in a different language after the speaker Simultaneous interpretation: Simultaneous interpretation is used in various situations uch as business conferences, graduation ceremonies, any situation where there is not pause between each statement allowing time for the interpreter to relay (fik) information to the 3. In view of the style(XA)of translation, it can be classified into literary translation and non-literary translation. Literary translation: translation of novels, poems, essays and
7 4) They gave the boy the lie.（他们对男孩说谎。） Sentence 4 is an idiomatic way to express certain ideas. Here “give” does not mean “make somebody possess something”, but rather “scold” or “punish”. 他们指责男孩说谎（他们指责男 孩编造的这个说谎言）. 5) This is a very good price.（这是一个非常好的价钱。） “Good” is a typical word whose meaning is often vague. Sentence 5 is an utterance by a customer. So it would be better to translate it simply as 真便宜. 6) Her mother died of difficult labor.（他母亲劳累而死。） Some people tend to think a word in one language may always be turned into a corresponding word in another language. So they make an equation between “labor” and “劳动”. As a matter of fact, “labor” has some meaning that is not covered by Chinese 劳动. In sentence 6 it means “give birth to a baby, emphasizing the process”. So the sentence actually means 他母 亲死于难产。（劳累 or 苦工 can be translated as “hard labor ” or “hard work”.）Don’t be too sure of yourselves and consult the dictionary more. Ⅲ.The classification classification classification classification of translation translation translation translation 1. In view of language of translation, it can be classified into intralingual ntralingual ntralingual ntralingual translation translation translation translation and interlingual nterlingual nterlingual nterlingual translation translation translation translation. Intralingual Intralingual Intralingual Intralingual translation translation translation translation or rewording rewording rewording rewording (change the wording of sth spoken or written) is an interpretation of verbal 用文字的 signs by means of other signs of the same language, e.g.….. Interlingual Interlingual Interlingual Interlingual translation translation translation translation is an interpretation of verbal signs by means of some other language, e.g.…... 2. In view of the way of translation, it can be classified into interpretation interpretation interpretation interpretation (consecutive interpretation and simultaneous interpretation) and translation. translation. translation. translation. Consecutive onsecutive onsecutive onsecutive interpretation interpretation interpretation interpretation: the interpreter takes notes while the speaker speaks then renders（interpret） a speech in a different language after the speaker. Simultaneous Simultaneous Simultaneous Simultaneous interpretation interpretation interpretation interpretation: Simultaneous interpretation is used in various situations such as business conferences, graduation ceremonies, any situation where there is not pause between each statement allowing time for the interpreter to relay（传达） information to the interpretee. 3. In view of the style（文体）of translation, it can be classified into literary literary literary literary translation translation translation translation and non- literary literary literary literary translation translation translation translation. Literary translation: translation of novels, poems, essays and
plays. Non- literary translation: translation of political essays, news texts, scientific and technical texts, financial and commercial texts, practical writing I The standard of translation The term"standard of translation""in fact covers two aspects: the principle of translation and criterion of translation. If the translator hopes to succeed in translation, he or she must follow some principles; if the reader or critic wants to judge whether the translation is successful or not, he or she has to depend on certain criterion. Actually, the so-called principles and criteria of translation are the two sides of the same thing. The former lays emphasis on the translator who should follow them while translating; while the latter on the reader or critic, who may use the criteria to evaluate translation works There are five criteria mentioned here. but the former two of them are influential criteria ccepted by most of the translators There are two influential criteria accepted by most of the translators 1. One is set up by Yan Fu(2)on the basis of"faithfulness, expressiveness and legance'(faithfulness: to be faithful to the content of the original; expressiveness: to be as expressive as the original; elegance to be elegant if a translator uses words or sentence patterns before Han Dynasty.)信、达、雅)(信:意义不倍(背)本文,忠实于原文;达:尽译文语言 所能事以求原义明显,不拘泥于原文形式,信、达二者统一;雅:脱离原文而片面追求译文 本身的古雅。他认为只有译文本身采用“汉以前字法句法”一—一实际上即所谓上等的文言文 才算登大雅之堂。)(加上课本p8中间的内容评论) 2. The other is put forward by Lu Xun( ii )on the basis of"rather being faithful in thought than smooth in language((宁信而不顺) 3. The new China witnesses two important scholars on translation. One is Fu Lei and the other is Qian Zhongshu. The former suggests achieve the 'spirit'of the original or expression resemblance”(神似).(译文同原文如果能在形式上和精神上同时一致起来,或称能达到“形 似”和“神似”,这是翻译的高标准。川Mr. Qian Zhongshu puts forward the ideas of transfiguration or conversion” which aimed at“ perfectionˇ(化境).(所谓“化境”‘就是原 作向译文的“投胎转世”,文字形式虽然换了,而原文投胎的思想、感情、风格、神韵都 原原本本的化到了译文的境界里了,丝亳不留下翻译的痕迹,让读者读译作就完全像在读原 作一样。化境是比传神更高的翻译标准。) They two follow the principle of faithfulness 4. In the Eastern Jin Dynasty, there appeared another translator, the monk Dao An(iLs) He suggested"preaching according to the original without any deduction or addition"(4 而传,不令有损言游字:按照原文的本意 In the history of western translation theories, there appeared a lot of translation theorists Here we only mention some representative opinions on translation criteria. Alexander Raster
8 plays. Non- literary translation: translation of political essays, news texts, scientific and technical texts, financial and commercial texts, practical writing. Ⅳ. The standard standard standard standard of translation translation translation translation The term “standard of translation” in fact covers two aspects: the principle of translation and criterion of translation. If the translator hopes to succeed in translation, he or she must follow some principles; if the reader or critic wants to judge whether the translation is successful or not, he or she has to depend on certain criterion. Actually, the so-called principles and criteria of translation are the two sides of the same thing. The former lays emphasis on the translator who should follow them while translating; while the latter on the reader or critic, who may use the criteria to evaluate translation works. There are five criteria mentioned here, but the former two of them are influential criteria accepted by most of the translators. There are two influential criteria accepted by most of the translators. 1. One is set up by Yan Fu (严复) on the basis of “faithfulness faithfulness faithfulness faithfulness , expressiveness expressiveness expressiveness expressiveness and elegance elegance elegance elegance” (faithfulness: to be faithful to the content of the original; expressiveness: to be as expressive as the original; elegance: to be elegant if a translator uses words or sentence patterns before Han Dynasty .)(信、达、雅). (信：意义不倍(背)本文，忠实于原文；达：尽译文语言 所能事以求原义明显，不拘泥于原文形式，信、达二者统一；雅：脱离原文而片面追求译文 本身的古雅。他认为只有译文本身采用“汉以前字法句法”——实际上即所谓上等的文言文， 才算登大雅之堂。) (加上课本 p.8 中间的内容评论) 2. The other is put forward by Lu Xun (鲁迅) on the basis of “rather being faithful faithful faithful faithful in thought thought thought thought than smooth in language language language language”(宁信而不顺). 3. The new China witnesses two important scholars on translation. One is Fu Lei and the other is Qian Zhongshu. The former suggests “achieve achieve achieve achieve the ‘spirit’ of the original original original original or expression expression expression expression resemblance resemblance resemblance resemblance”（神似）. (译文同原文如果能在形式上和精神上同时一致起来，或称能达到“形 似 ” 和 “ 神 似 ”， 这 是 翻 译 的 高 标 准 。 )Mr. Qian Zhongshu puts forward the ideas of “transfiguration transfiguration transfiguration transfiguration or conversion conversion conversion conversion” which aimed at “perfection perfection perfection perfection”(化境).（所谓“化境”‘就是原 作向译文的“投胎转世” ，文字形式虽然换了，而原文投胎的思想、感情、风格、神韵都 原原本本的化到了译文的境界里了，丝毫不留下翻译的痕迹，让读者读译作就完全像在读原 作一样。化境是比传神更高的翻译标准。） They two follow the principle of faithfulness. 4. In the Eastern Jin Dynasty, there appeared another translator, the monk Dao An (释道安). He suggested “preaching preaching preaching preaching according according according according to the original original original original without without without without any deduction deduction deduction deduction or addition addition addition addition” (案本 而传，不令有损言游字: 按照原文的本意). In the history of western translation theories, there appeared a lot of translation theorists. Here we only mention some representative opinions on translation criteria. Alexander Fraster
Tytler proposed the famous three principles in his essay on the principles of translation, in which he ght that "the translation should give a complete transcript of the ideas of the original work the style and the manner of writing should be of the same character with that of the original; the translation should have all the ease of original composition”(一、译作应完全复写出原文的思 想;二、译作的风格和手法应和原作属于同一性质;三、译作应具备原创作品的通顺) Exactly the three principles are all based on faithfulness What's the common point of these translation criteria? Despite the variety of opinions, two criteria(pl )are almost unanimously accepted, namely, the criterion of faithfulness/accuracy(忠实/准确) and that of smoothness(流畅/通顺)We may also take these criteria as the principles of translation in general. By faithfulness/ accuracy, we mean to be faithful not only to the original contents, to the original meaning and views, but also to the original form and style. Examples in the text book P10-13 are arranged to illustrate and explain that. By smoothness, we mean not only easy and readable rendering, but also idiomatic(ft if]) expression in the target language, free from stiff formula and mechanical copying from dictionaries. Examples in the text book P10-13 are arranged to illustrate and explain that VThe qualifications of a good translator( ( see students' book P13-14可以加上原来教案的 内容) Ⅵ。 Exercises A. Fill in the following blanks with what you have learned in the first chapter 1. Yan Fus 3-word translation criteria are 2. Translation in China has a long history of some 3. The two words used as the common criteria of translation in China today are 4. The criterion of translation put forward by Lu Xun(il )is by Mr Qian Zhongshu by the monk dao An is u Lel Is The criterion of translation put forward by Lu Xun( it )is rather being faithful in thought than smooth in language by Fu Lei is achieve the'spirit' of the original or expression resemblance by Mr Qian Zhongshu is transfiguration or conversion; by
9 Tytler proposed the famous three principles in his essay on the principles of translation, in which he thought that “the translation should give a complete transcript of the ideas of the original work; the style and the manner of writing should be of the same character with that of the original; the translation should have all the ease of original composition” (一、译作应完全复写出原文的思 想；二、译作的风格和手法应和原作属于同一性质；三、译作应具备原创作品的通顺).Exactly the three principles are all based on faithfulness. What’s the common point of these translation criteria? Despite the variety of opinions, two criteria (pl.) are almost unanimously accepted, namely, the criterion criterion criterion criterion of faithfulness/accuracy faithfulness/accuracy faithfulness/accuracy faithfulness/accuracy (忠实/准确) and that of smoothness smoothness smoothness smoothness (流畅/通顺). We may also take these criteria as the principles of translation in general. By faithfulness/ accuracy, we mean to be faithful not only to the original contents, to the original meaning and views, but also to the original form and style. Examples in the text book P10-13 are arranged to illustrate and explain that. By smoothness, we mean not only easy and readable rendering, but also idiomatic（地 道的） expression in the target language, free from stiff formula and mechanical copying from dictionaries. Examples in the text book P10-13 are arranged to illustrate and explain that. Ⅴ.The qualifications qualifications qualifications qualifications of a good translator translator translator translator (see students students students students’ book P.13-14)( P.13-14)( P.13-14)( P.13-14)(可以加上原来教案的 内容) Ⅵ. Exercises Exercises Exercises Exercises A. Fill in the following following following following blanks with what you have learned learned learned learned in the first chapter. chapter. chapter. chapter. 1. Yan Fu’s 3-word translation criteria are_______, _______, and_________. 2. Translation in China has a long history of some_______years. 3. The two words used as the common criteria of translation in China today are _______, and_________. 4. The criterion of translation put forward by Lu Xun (鲁迅)is______________; by Mr. Qian Zhongshu is ______________________; ______________________; ______________________; ______________________; by the monk Dao An is _________________________________; _________________________________; _________________________________; _________________________________; by Fu Lei is________________ ___________. ___________. ___________. ___________. (The criterion of translation put forward by Lu Xun (鲁迅)is rather being faithful faithful faithful faithful in thought thought thought thought than smooth in language; language; language; language; by Fu Lei is achieve achieve achieve achieve the ‘spirit’ of the original original original original or expression expression expression expression resemblance resemblance resemblance resemblance; by Mr. Qian Zhongshu is transfiguration transfiguration transfiguration transfiguration or conversion; conversion; conversion; conversion; by
the monk Dao An is preaching according to the original without any deduction addition). B. Answer the following questions. 1. What is meant by translation? 2. What was Karl Marx fond of saying about the importance of a foreign language? 3. What are the prerequisites for a qualified translator 4. What do you think should be the criteria of translation? C. Translate the following English into Chinese 1. source language and target language 2. Alexander Fraser Tytler 3. A History of Politics 4 On liber 5. An inquiry into the Nature and Cause of the Wealth of Nations(by A. Smith) 6. Evolution and Ethics and Other Essays(by T. H. Huxley) D. Translate the passage "Lyfe in the violin Case(on P. 153)into Chinese E. Read the whole Chapter from Text book P3 to P.14
10 the monk Dao An is preaching preaching preaching preaching according according according according to the original original original original without without without without any deduction deduction deduction deduction or addition.) addition.) addition.) addition.) B. Answer the following following following following questions. questions. questions. questions. 1. What is meant by translation? 2. What was Karl Marx fond of saying about the importance of a foreign language? 3. What are the prerequisites for a qualified translator? 4. What do you think should be the criteria of translation? C. Translate Translate Translate Translate the following following following following English English English English into Chinese Chinese Chinese Chinese 1. source language and target language 2. Alexander Fraser Tytler 3. A History of Politics 4. On Liberty 5. An Inquiry into the Nature and Cause of the Wealth of Nations (by A. Smith) 6. Evolution and Ethics and Other Essays (by T. H. Huxley) D. Translate Translate Translate Translate the passage passage passage passage “Life in the violin Case (on P.153) into Chinese Chinese Chinese Chinese” E. Read the whole Chapter Chapter Chapter Chapter from Text book P.3 to P.14