[文学]英汉语言对比.docVIP

An Advanced Course New Approaches to Translation Chapter One A Historical View of Translation What is translation? Different definitions: Changing (speech or writing) from one language into another (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English); Giving the meaning of (sth. said or written) in another language (The Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English ); Expressing in another language, systematically, retaining the original sense （American Heritage Dictionary）. The questions puzzling the translator; Must his translation give the words or the ideas of the original? Should his translation read like an original or a translation? Should his translation reflect the style of the original or that of his own? Should his translation read as a contemporary of the original or one of the translation? Whether or not his translation may add to or omit from the original? Should his translation of verse be in prose or in verse? The necessity of considering translation itself: The above questions can not be solved with the general definition and so we are supposed to gain an insight into translation itself. A historical view of translation may perhaps, helps us see both sides of the coin. The historical records of translation in the West: The first traces of translation date 3,000 B.C. during the Egyptian old Kingdom, in the area of the First Cataract, Elephantine, where inscriptions in two languages have been found. The inscriptions on the Rosetta Stone are written in Egyptian and Greek. We can get a lot of historical legends to show that translation did take place in the earliest kingdoms. Assyria is a country of many people, many races and hence a country in which many languages are spoken. And Sargon likes his noble deeds and achievements eulogized in all the languages. Therefore, we can imagine the magnificence of translation done in the ancient Assyria 5,000 years ago. The ancient Babylonia symbolizes the very beginning of urban civilization around 2,100 B.C. In or