第四单元转换和顺序调整法.doc

转换法 (the Shift of Perspective- Negation and Affirmation in Translation)
Homework Checking:
Keys:
1. Day after day she does the same: washing, sweeping, and cooking.
她日复一日地做着同样的家务：洗衣服，拖地板，做饭。
2. She is a complicated girl – moody, sensitive and skeptical.
她是个性格复杂的人：喜怒无常，多愁善感，疑神疑鬼。
3. I’m really busy this morning: 2 classes, a meeting, and an interview.
我今天上午的确很忙，要上两节课，开一个会，还要接受一个采访。
4. Better be wise by the defeat of others than by your own.
从别人的失败中吸取教训比从自己的失败中吸取教训更好。
5. “Reading makes a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man…”
“读书使人充实，讨论使人机智，笔记使人准确。”（培根:《论读书》王佐良译）
6. As he began talking, words poured out.
他一开讲，就滔滔不绝地讲个没完。
7. But it’s the way I am, and try as I might, I haven’t been able to change it.
不过我就是这个脾气，虽然竭力想改，终究还是改不了
8. Before handing in your translation, you have to read it over and over again and see if there is anything in it to be corrected or improved.
交出翻译之前必须多读几遍，看看里面有没有要修改的地方。
9. Outside it was raining cats and dogs as she shut the door.
她关门时外面正下着滂沱大雨。
10. Your parents or your wife or your son or your best friends might be expecting you back home safe and sound.
也许你的父母，妻儿，或者你最好的朋友都在盼望你平安回家呢。
Teaching Contents
1. Motivation
Some linguists say “Every language has its peculiarities in negation.” And there is indeed an important difference between Chinese and English in negation---negation in way of thinking and in mode of speaking. Native speakers have their own way of thinking in the negative and expressing negative implication, quite different from ours.
2. Translation Skills

Some Idiomatic Expressions:
★ Keep off the lawn! 请勿践踏草地！
★ I couldn’t agree more with you. 我完全同意你的看法。
★ I lay awake almost the whole night.
原译：我整晚醒着躺在那儿。
改译：我躺在那儿，几乎一夜没睡。/几乎一夜没合眼。
★ He was the last man to say such things. 他绝不会说这样的话。
★ They are non-local laborers in Beijing. 他们是在北京打工的外地民工。
★ We must never stop taking an optimistic view of life. 我们要永远对生活抱乐观的态度。
★ 王先生这几年一直是全勤。Mr. Wang has never missed a day’s work for years.
★ I do think that it is beyond his power to fulfill the task. 我的确认为要完成这项任务是他力所不及的。
2.1 正说反译

正说反译是指译出（原）语正面说或肯定说而译入语无法正译通顺，或者译者想以反译方法更能体现原意，即按译入语习惯采用的相反的翻译表述方法。例如：
1. I will be here for good, this time. (正说)
这次我再也不走了。（反译）
2. She got extremely excited before she reached her home. （正说）
她还没到家就激动得不得了了。（反译）
3. She was a total stranger to us. (正说)
我们当时根本就不认识她。（反译）
4. Keep off the lawn! 正说)
请勿踏草地。（反译）
5. He has refrained from making any comment on that issue. (正说)
他就那个问题并未发表任何评论。（反译）
构成正说反译的要素体现在译文中含有诸如：无、勿、别、没、否、不、莫、非、未等表示否定的词。
英语中，有一部分词本身就含有汉语的否定意义，或构成带有汉语否定意义的词，但它们并不都表示否定意义，有些只是一种表达而已。这类词有：
① 动词：miss, refrain (from), ignore, refuse, hate, fail, excuse, neglect, exclude, wander, 等等；
② 形容词：absent, short (of), continuous, ignorant, free from, strange, bad, regardless of ,ill,等等；
③ 名词： failure, absence, refusal, ignorance, little，等等；
④ 介词： out of, without, except, until, before, beneath, 等等；
⑤ 连词：unless, before, until, rather than, 等等；
⑥ 副词：undoubtedly, continuously, absently, barely, rarely, never, hardly, seldom, little, 等等；
⑦ 短语：but for, out of order, in no way, in the air, instead of, 等等。
练习：
例1： That’s a thing that might happen to any man.
原译：这样的事情可能发生在任何人身上。
改译：这种事情谁也难免。
例2; This book is a fool to that both in plot and execution. 这本书不论在情节上还是在写作技巧方面，都不及那一本。
例3； He was 75, but he carried his years lightly. 他七十五岁了，可是并不显老。
例4： His speech leaves much to be desired. 他的讲话很不如人意。
例5: John was a fool for danger. 约翰是天不怕地不怕的。
例6：When Stephen was introduced to the old couple, they said simply, “We’ve read your article. We expected to meet an older man.”
译文：当史蒂夫被介绍给这对老年夫妇的时候，他们只是淡淡地说：”我们看过你的文章，没想到你这么年轻。”

2.2 反说正译
反说正译是指原语以表示否定意义或带有否定意义的词所表述的句子，通过反译无法顺畅表示原句意义，或译者以另外一种方式表达原句意义，以正译的方法表达原句意义的翻译表述方法。例如：
1.They are not difficult to tell apart. (反说)
它们很容易区分。（正译）
2. Isn’t it funny! 真逗！
3. I am never at a loss for a word; Pitt is never at a loss for the word.
我总可以滔滔不绝，而皮特却总可以字字珠玑。
（这句话是英国18世纪大演说家Charles James Fox所说，他认为对手William Pitt 比他更出色）
4. 男儿有泪不轻弹，皆因未到伤心处。
Men only weep when deeply hurt.
5. 他的暗示没有引起我的注意。
His hint escaped my notice.
6. Praise helps to rub off the sharp edges of daily contact. Nowhere is thus truer than in marriage. Yet it is perhaps in the home that the value of praise is less appreciated than elsewhere.
赞美之辞能够化解日常交往中的种种摩擦。这一点在婚姻生活中表现得最为真切。可惜的是，家庭也许恰恰是最不重视赞美的价值的地方。
3. Some Traps in Negative Structures
否定句在英语中比比皆是。否定句有多种形式：部分否定、全部否定、双重否定、意义否定等。同时，否定还有多种变化：如否定的各种转移，形式否定但意义肯定等。否定句的翻译常常有很多的陷阱，一不小心就会在翻译上闹笑话。
1. not…because
The engine didn’t stop because the fuel was finished．引擎并不是因为燃料耗尽而停止运转。
In that city，we had never suffered discrimination because we were Jews 我们在那个城市从未因为是犹太人而遭受歧视。
This version is not placed first because it is simple．此方案并不因为简易而放在首位。
2. cannot…too
You cannot be too careful in proofreading. 校对时，越仔细越好。
3. all／every．．．not
All that glitters is not gold． 发光的不一定都是金子。
everything is not straightened out． 并非每一个问题都弄清楚了。
4. both…not
But you see，we both cannot go． 但是我告诉你，我们俩不能同时都走。
Both the instruments are not precision ones． 这两件东西不都是精密仪器。
5. for all…
He seemed as fresh as ever，for all that I never saw him drink or eat． 尽管我从未见到他喝点什么或吃点什么，他似乎仍然精神饱满。（for all 表示让步，译为“尽管、虽然”）
For all I knew, the files we were supposed to photograph were already on their way． 说不定那些该由我们去拍摄的文件已在途中。
for all somebody knows 既具有正面意义，也具有反面意义。正面意义是“据……所知”；反面意义是“不知道”、“谁知道”、“亦未可知”、“说不定”，总之，强调的是ignorance。
He may be dead for all I know. 说不定他可能死了。
It might have been tomato-soup for all we knew. 那可能是西红柿汤，谁管他呢。
For all he knows, we might be in Boston. 他不知道我们可能在波士顿。
He could be in Brazil now, for all I know. 他可能在巴西，谁知道呢。
6. It be + adj. + n. + that… 再……也会（也可能），无论……也会（也可能），即把that分句译成肯定的。
It is a good workman that never blunders．智者千虑，必有一失。
It is a long lane that has no turning． 路必有弯。(凡事总有变化，不会永远不变。)
It is an ill wind that blows nobody good．再恶的风，也不会吹得人人都不舒服。（对于帆船来说，不利于东行船只的风，利于西行的船只。因此，没有一种风会使所有的船只都受害。由此引申为：坏事未必对人人都有害处，或“天下无绝对的坏事”）
It is a good horse that never stumbles． 好马也有失蹄时。