4..选词法diction.ppt

Translation Skills --- Diction The objectives of this lecture: I. to conclude the equivalence between English and Chinese at Word Level II. to discuss how to identify the accurate meaning of an English word in the process of English-Chinese translation. III. to focus on the eight techniques of translating English words Diction : the proper choice of words and phrases on the basis of accurate comprehension of the original to express meaning, is one of the basic translation techniques. In the practice of translation, what perplexes us most frequently is how to find an equivalent in the language to be translated into. Great care is called for in the translation of “familiar” English into Chinese, as their meaning vary with the change in collocation or context. e.g. Tension is building up. Without context, both “tension” and “build up” may have various explanations. Thus this sentence may be translated into different Chinese expressions accordingly: 形势紧张起来。/电压在加强。/张力在增大。/ 压力在增强。 Hardships Difficulties Experienced in Translation “Translation requires endless effort. Even though the translator may have made a thousand of corrections and improvements, he or she still feels that something is still left to be desired. … He is always well aware that ‘translation is a thankless job.’ He really has tasted the sweetness and bitterness ( known the hardships and difficulties ) of doing translation. When the merit of the original work cannot be fully expressed, he is not satisfied with his own translation. Or when he feels complacent with his translation and yet it cannot be highly appreciated by the readers, he may talk much about his work done but it is still in vain.” 翻译的甘苦 “翻译大概是没有止境的工作。译者尽管千改万改, 总觉得没有到家。…… 译者常感叹 ‘翻译吃力不讨好’, 确是深知甘苦之谈。达不到原作的好, 译者本人也自恨不好。如果译者自以为好, 得不到读者称好, 费尽力气为自己叫好, 还是吃力不讨好。” -----杨绛《失败的经验》 杨绛先生在她的《失败的经验》一文中，就形象地称翻译是“一仆二主”，译者要“同时伺候两个主人：一是原著，二是读者”。译者在两个主人之间来往伺候，苦莫大焉：他既要对原作“尽忠”，忠心耿耿，一丝不苟，决不偷工减料，偷懒耍滑，