汉语兼语句英译的研究.doc

On the Translation of the Chinese Pivotal Sentence into English摘 要本论文意在研究汉语兼语句及其更好、更流畅的翻译方法。通过分析兼语句和相关类似句型以及它们的翻译，比如：主谓结构作宾语、连动句、双宾语句等等。首先，本文解释兼语句和类似句型的定义，然后将进行它们之间的对比以展示差异，最后讨论日常用到的兼语句的翻译方法。在进行对比与翻译时，将使用来自不同译者、不同作品的译文来帮助更好地解释兼语句的用法和译法。关键词：中文兼语句； 英译；对比AbstractThe thesis aims to study the Chinese pivotal sentence and ways of translating it better and more fluently. Through analyzing the meaning and translation of the pivotal sentence and similar, related sentences, such as subject-predicate structures as object, sentences of verbal construction in series, double-object sentences etc, we can find out more cultural differences between Chinese and English. First, this thesis will explain the definitions of the pivotal sentence and those similar sentences, then, comparisons are made to show differences between them, and finally, ways of translating the pivotal sentences usually used are discussed. Comparisons will be made through extracts from different translators and translations of different works to help better explain the usages and translating methods of the pivotal sentence. Key words: Chinese pivotal sentence; translation into English; comparisonTable of ContentsAbstracti摘 要ii1. Introduction11.1 Literature review11.2 Significance of Research on the Translation of the Chinese Simple Sentence1-21.3 Structure of this Paper22. Definition and Types of the Pivotal Sentence32.1 Definition of the Chinese Pivotal Sentence32.2 Types of Pivotal Sentences32.2.1 The Pre-pivot Verb Denotes Request, Permission or Compelling.32.2.2 The Pre-pivot Verb Denotes Emotion or Evaluation .42.2.3 The Pre-pivot Verb Denotes Naming, Choice or Appointment .42.2.4 The Pre-pivot Verb Denotes Cause and Effect .42.2.5 The Pre-pivot Verb Denotes Possesion or Existence .43. Difference between the Pivotal Sentence and Some Other Patterns.53.1 Difference between the Pivotal Sentence and a Sentence with Subject-predicate Structure as Object.5-63.2 Difference between the Pivotal Sentence and a Sentence with Verbal Construction in Series.63.3 Difference between the Pivotal Sentence and the Double-object Sentence.64. Various Ways of translating the Pivotal Sentence.74.1 Translation of a Pivotal Sentence Whose Pre-pivot Verb Denotes Request, Order or Permission.74.2 Translation of a Pivotal Sentence Whose Pre-pivot Verb Denotes Emotion or Evaluation.7-84.3 Translation of a Pivotal Sentence Whose Pre-pivot Verb Denotes Naming, Choice or appointment. .8-94.4 Translation of a Pivotal Sentence Whose Pre-pivot Verb Denotes Cause and Effect. .94.5 Translation of a Pivotal Sentence Whose Pre-pivot Verb Denotes Possession or Existence.9-105. Conclusion116. References125. Acknowledgement131. Introduction1.1 Literature ReviewNowadays, China is growing stronger as our government carried out many macroeconomic policies to facilitate hundreds of thousands of Chinese living condition as well as the globalization narrowing gap between countries. The world is witnessing the increase of Chinas national power, with the result that Chinese is widely heard all over the world, and more and more foreigners are eager to learn Chinese in their spare time. After 5000 years inheritance, change and development, Chinese preserved the essence of our long history and absorbed strengths of other languages. For us Chinese, carrying forward our language and having a better understanding of Chinese-English translation are quite crucial. The pivotal sentence, commonly used by everybody and everyday, plays an important role in our daily communication even after long history of vicissitude.There are a large amount of people both from China and abroad contribute a lot in the area of studying translation between Chinese and English, yet in the area of translating Chinese pivotal sentence, the figure is quite small. Some researchers have written a number of short articles about the translation of the pivotal sentences, they tried, firstly, to tell the readers a simple fact that what is Chinese pivotal sentence, how it is structured, and how it can be translated according to characters of its certain types, for example, that published in December 1982, then republished again in 2003, book analyzing translation which was written by several scholars in Xian tried to explore the translation of the Chinese pivotal sentence into English, yet the ways of translating only accounted for two pages; publishing his short thesis in Journal of Southeast Guizhou National Teachers College in 2000, teacher Peng Sixiang classified and explained ways of translating the Chinese pivotal sentence in his own way by the helps of few relevant materials in Chinese, English and even Japanese. However, such literatures are scanty and limited because there are too few scholars devoted to the study of translating the Chinese pivotal sentence into English, it is hard to find out some useful materials, if any, they usually appear in grammar books covering only a few pages or one page, even a few lines, let alone any authoritative works at home or abroad. What my work focuses on in this area is summarized from relevant knowledge, helping to extend the value of study, and whats more significant, to call for more attention to this area from the public. 1.2 Significance of Research on the Translation of the Chinese Simple SentenceChinese civilization is extensive and profound; every sentence represents the combination of modern and cultural tradition. Through communication in politics, commerce and culture, China has learnt a lot from other countries, including language. In order to promote social and human progress, Chinese should be better understood by other countries. As the basic communication tool, English simple sentences are classified into five types: SV (subject + verb), SVC (subject + verb + complement), SVO (subject +verb +object), SVOO (subject + verb +indirect object + direct object) and SVOC (subject +verb +object + object complement). We use them frequently when we communicate in English. However, it is a big problem to translate every Chinese sentence into English so that communication may be easier, because Chinese sentences cannot be twisted into English directly, they need some changes. For example,(1) 用英语怎么说?The translation can not be: “How to use English to say?” The correct translation should be “How do you say it in English?” because the former isnt correct English, but typical Chinglish imposing the Chinese sentence pattern on English. (2) It is a wise man that never makes mistakes.Most Chinese will translate this sentence like this: 聪明的人是不会犯错误的. However, the correct translation of this sentence is :再聪明的人也会犯错误 or 智者千虑必有一失. Here, the reason why we make mistakes in translating it is not only our lack of knowledge in English culture but also we dont know well about the structure of grammar.The above sentences are simple one, but complex sentences are based on simple sentences. If one is unable to translate simple sentences, translation of complex ones will be out of the question. Therefore, the translation of the simple sentence is of great value.1.3 Structure of this PaperThis paper consists of five parts. The first part is an introduction, which makes a review of the literature on the study of the Chinese pivotal sentence and discusses the significance of this kind of study. The second part deals with the definition of the pivotal sentence and its classification. The third part distinguishes the differences between the pivotal sentence and some other pattern that look like it on the surface. Then, we come to the paramount part - the translation of the pivotal sentence, where the translation of its five sub-types is discussed, illustrated with daily-used sentences and sentences from translations of books by famous translators. At the end is the conclusion.2. Definition and Types of the Pivotal Sentence2.1 Definition of the Chinese Pivotal SentenceThe predicate of the Chinese pivotal sentence consists of a verb-object phrase and subject-predicate phrase, but these two phrases are not independent of each other, but interconnected to each other, that is, the object of the verb-object phrase is at the same time the subject of the subject-predicate phrase. For example: 你请他来 (You invite him to come), in this Chinese sentence, the object of “请” is “他”, and on the other hand, “他” also serves as subject of “来”. This kind of Chinese sentence is named the pivotal sentence, and “他” is the pivot. This English name comes from the fact that the segment that serves both as the object of the first verb and the subject of the second verb is like a pivota short shaft around which something turns.Whats more, the second verb in the pivotal sentence does not have any subject-predicate relationship with the sentences subject, that is, the two verbs in a pivotal sentences predicate do not share the same subject. The predicate of a pivotal sentences subject-predicate phrase can be adjective, subject-predicate phrase, noun or, mostly, verb.For example:(3) 这个消息使我很高兴。This news made me very happy.The pivot is “我”, and “高兴” is its predicate;(4) 祝你身体健康。 Wish you the best of health.Here, the pivot is “你”, and its predicate is the subject-predicate phrase “身体健康”.2.2 Types of Pivotal SentencesAccording to the different kinds the first verb of the pivotal sentence, it can be classified into five types. They are: the Pre-pivot Verb Denotes Request, Permission or Compelling, the Pre-pivot Verb Denotes Emotion or Evaluation, the Pre-pivot Verb Denotes Naming, Choice or Appointment, the Pre-pivot Verb Denotes Cause and Effect and the Pre-pivot Verb Denotes Possession or Existence.2.2.1 The Pre-pivot Verb Denotes Request, Permission or CompellingIn this type, the first verb, which denotes request, permission or compelling, usually includes “请”, “叫”, “让”, “要”, “派”, “准”, “命令”, “要求”, “批准”, “禁止”, “阻止” and so on, for example,(5) 我们请她跳舞。We invited her to dance.(6) 我叫我的小孙子从家乡带来一点土豆。 I told my grandson to bring some potatoes from the countryside.(7) 餐厅规则禁止客人在此区域抽烟。 The rule and principle of this restaurant forbids customers smoke in this area.2.2.2 The Pre-pivot Verb Denotes Emotion or EvaluationThe first verb of this type mostly means positive or negative opinion of people, such as:喜欢, 不喜欢, 爱, 恨, 敬佩, 尊敬, 表扬, 欣赏, 原谅, 嘲笑, 责备, 训斥, etc., the predicate after the pivot indicating reason, for instance: (8) 我们原谅他年纪小。 We forgave him for his young age.(9) 人们赞扬他办事公道。 People praise him for his fairness.(10) 斯塔德迈尔嘲笑他的对手打球差劲。 Stoudmire mocked his opponent for his lack of skills in playing basketball.2.2.3 The Pre-pivot Verb Denotes Naming, Choice or AppointmentThe first verb of this type usually includes: 让, 叫, 选举, 选择 and so on. The verb after the pivot in Chinese are: “做”, “为”, “当”, “是”, however, these words may be changed to other words or eliminated as the translation varies, for example:(11) 我们都选他做班长。 We all chose him to be the monitor.(12) 在美国第四十四任总统选举上，美国人们选择了贝拉克奥巴马为美国总统。 In the forty-forth presidential election, the America public elected Barack Obama the president. (13) 路克认了菲尔做舞蹈教练。 Luke let Phil to be his dance coach.2.2.4 The Pre-pivot Verb Denotes Cause and EffectIn this type, the first verb indicate objective cause, without any intention on the part of the subject, such as “使”, “让”, “令”, “弄得” and so on, for example, (14) 他所做的使我吃惊。What he did surprised me / was surprising to me.(15) 弟弟的成绩让父母欣慰。My brothers mark delighted our parents / was delighted to our parents.(16) 切斯特的行为令他的老师失望。 What Chester did disappointed his teacher / was disappointing to his teacher.2.2.5 The Pre-pivot Verb Denotes Possession or ExistenceIn this type, the first verb is “有”, either denoting possession or existence, for example, (17) 操场上有几个人在跑步。On the playground there were several people running.(18) 他有篇文章论述翻译问题。He has an article which discusses translation.(19) 附近的森林里有一只野兽时常吃人。In the neighboring forest there is a beast which eat human from time to time.3. Difference between the Pivotal Sentence and Some Other PatternsOn the surface, the Chinese pivotal sentence is similar to some other patterns, including sentences with subject-predicate structure as object, verbal construction in series, and double objects. To help analyze the pivotal sentence and its translation, it is valuable to distinguish between them.3.1 Difference between the Pivotal Sentence and a Sentence with Subject-predicate Structure as ObjectA sentence with subject-predicate structure as object has the form “NP1+VP1+ NP2+ VP2”. It looks quite like an ordinary pivotal sentence superficially, but it differs from the latter in that the “NP2+VP2” as a whole functions as the object of VP1, for example, (20) 领导希望他来主持会议。The leader hopes he will host the meeting.(21) 我知道他要来。I know he is coming.These two patterns can be distinguished as follows:Firstly, consider the semantic type of the first verb. In a sentence with subject-predicate structure as object, VP1 indicates communication, cognition or attitude, such as, “说”, “听说”, “知道”, “得知”, “明白”, “希望”, “发现”, “记得”, “以为”, “猜想”, “意识到”, “赞成”, “反对”, “相信”, “怀疑”, and so on.Secondly, consider possible pauses in the speech flow. In a pivotal sentence, the pivot is connected tightly to the first verb with no speech pause, while a sentence with subject-predicate structure as object allows short pause after the first verb, for example,(22) 我叫小王来。I asked Xiao Wang to come.(no pause: pivotal sentence)(23) 我希望小王来。 I hope that Xiao Wang will come.(pause allowable: sentence with subject-predicate structure as object)The following are examples of more sentences with a subject-predicate construction as object, which must not be mistaken for pivotal sentences:(24) 我想 | 他明天不会来了。I think (that) he wont come tomorrow.(25) 华生担心 | 公司规模变得太大而没有效率。Watson was worried (that) his company was getting too big to be efficient.(26) 迈克尔相信 | 总有一天他会和安娜结婚。Michael believes (that) he will marry Anna someday.(27) 乔治猜想 | 她还不到20岁。George guessed (that) she is not yet twenty.Here are some examples from literary works:(28) 但我是向来不爱放风筝的，不但不爱，并且嫌恶他，因为我以为这是没出息孩子所做的玩艺。(From The Kite, by Lu Xun) I myself had never enjoyed flyin