英語長句的翻譯技巧
英語長句是很復(fù)雜的句子,很多人覺得在翻譯長句時(shí)很是吃力。那么英語長句有哪些翻譯方法媕娿?下面由學(xué)習(xí)啦小編為大家整理的英語長句的翻譯技,希望大家喜歡!
英語長句的翻譯技巧
1.順譯法
順譯法是指在處理一些敘述層次依次相連,跟漢語相近的長句時(shí),按原句的自然順序進(jìn)行翻譯,并根據(jù)具體情況,適當(dāng)增加或省略有關(guān)的連接詞。例如:
例一:Visual cues from audience members can indicate that a speech is dragging, that the speaker is dwelling on a particular point for too long, or that a particular point requires further explanation.
聽眾的眼神可以表明,演說過于拖沓,演說者在某一點(diǎn)上講的太多,或者在某一點(diǎn)上還需要作進(jìn)一步的解釋。
例二:But art history focuses on much more than this because art reflects not only the political values of a people, but also religious beliefs, emotions, and psychology.
但是藝術(shù)歷史注意的不僅僅是這些,因?yàn)樗囆g(shù)反映的不單是一個(gè)民族的政治價(jià)值觀,而且還有他們的宗教信仰、情感和心理特點(diǎn)。
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2.倒譯法
有時(shí)英語長句的結(jié)構(gòu)層次與漢語相反,要從英語原文的后面譯起,自下而上,顛倒次序進(jìn)行翻譯。一般來說,英語長句不符合漢語習(xí)慣的情況比較多,所以在翻譯實(shí)踐中,倒譯通常要多于順譯。
例一:It remains to be seen whether the reserves of raw materials would be sufficient to supply world economy which would have grown by 500 percent .
如果世界經(jīng)濟(jì)真的以5倍于現(xiàn)有的速度增長,那么原材料的儲(chǔ)備是否能充分滿足其需求,尚不得而知。
例二:And I take heart from the fact that the enemy, which boasts that it can occupy the strategic point in a couple of hours, has not yet been able to take even the outlying regions, because of the stiff resistance that gets in the way.
由于受到頑強(qiáng)抵抗,吹噓能在幾個(gè)小時(shí)內(nèi)就占領(lǐng)戰(zhàn)略要地的敵人甚至還沒有能占領(lǐng)外圍地帶,這一事實(shí)使我增強(qiáng)了信心。
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3.分譯法
當(dāng)英語長句中的主句與從句、或介詞短語及分詞短語等所修飾的詞與詞之間的關(guān)系不是很密切,并且各具有相對(duì)的獨(dú)立意義時(shí),可根據(jù)漢語一個(gè)小句表達(dá)一層意思的習(xí)慣,對(duì)原文的各個(gè)意思層進(jìn)行分解,再按時(shí)間順序、邏輯順序安排,可增減適當(dāng)?shù)脑~語以便于短句之間的銜接。例如:
例一:The behaviorists maintain that, like machines, humans respond to environmental stimulation as the basis of their behavior.
行為主義者堅(jiān)信,人像機(jī)器一樣,對(duì)環(huán)境的刺激作出反應(yīng),這是行為的基礎(chǔ)。
例二:A physically mature female deer in good condition who has conceived in November and given birth to two fawns during the end of May or first part of June, must search for food for the necessary energy not only to meet her body's needs but also to produce milk for her fawns.
一只成熟健壯的母鹿,在11 月份懷胎,5 月底或6 月初生下兩只幼鹿,這時(shí)她必須尋找食物以獲得必要的能量,這不僅是為了滿足自身的需要,也是為了給幼鹿生產(chǎn)乳汁。
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4.綜合法
有些英語長句順譯或倒譯都不合適,分譯也有困難,這時(shí)就應(yīng)仔細(xì)推敲,或按時(shí)間先后,或按邏輯順序,有順有倒、有主有次地對(duì)全句進(jìn)行綜合處理。
例一:But without Adolph Hitler, who was possessed of a demoniac personality, a granite will, uncanny instincts, a cold ruthlessness, a remarkable intellect, soaring imagination and until toward the end,when drunk with power and success, he overreached himself an amazing capacity to size up people and situations, there almost certainly would never have been a Third Reich.
例二:Energy is the currency of the ecological system and life becomes possible only when food is converted into energy which in turn is used to seek more food to grow, to reproduce and to survive.
能量是生態(tài)系統(tǒng)的貨幣,只有當(dāng)食物變?yōu)槟芰?,能量再用來獲取更多的食物以供生長、繁殖和生存,生命才成為可能。
例三:By the middle of the year, he warned, the Soviet Union would overtake the United States in the number of land-based strategic missiles, the result of a massive Soviet effort beginning in the mid-1960s, after the Cuban fiasco, to achieve at least parity and possibly superiority in nuclear weapons.
他警告說,到本年年中蘇聯(lián)將在地基戰(zhàn)略導(dǎo)彈的數(shù)量上超過美國,因?yàn)樘K聯(lián)在古巴事件中失敗后,從60 年代中期起就大力發(fā)展導(dǎo)彈,目的是為了在核武器方面至少達(dá)到同美國均等,并力爭(zhēng)超過美國。
分析英語長句時(shí)的方法
(1)找出全句的主語、謂語和賓語,從整體上把握句子的結(jié)構(gòu)。
(2)找出句中所有的謂語結(jié)構(gòu)、非謂語動(dòng)詞、介詞短語和從句的引導(dǎo)詞。
(3)分析從句和短語的功能,例如,是否為主語從句,賓語從句,表語從句等,若是狀語,它是表示時(shí)間、原因、結(jié)果、還是表示條件等等。
(4)分析詞、短語和從句之間的相互關(guān)系,例如,定語從句所修飾的先行詞是哪一個(gè)等。
(5)注意插入語等其他成分。
(6)注意分析句子中是否有固定詞組或固定搭配。
英語長句的翻譯技巧和策略
1、 順序操作
英語中,若長句中的各個(gè)句子在邏輯關(guān)系、表達(dá)順序上與漢語一致,可以保留原句的句子結(jié)構(gòu),順句譯出。“斷句”是翻譯的關(guān)鍵。
例1、 But all I could make use of was all that was valuable: I had enough to eat and supply my wants, and what was all the rest to me? If I killed more flesh than I could eat, the dog must eat it, or vermin; if I sowed more corn than I could eat, it must be spoiled; the trees that I cut down were lying to rot on the ground; I could make no more use of them but for fuel, and that I had no occasion for but to dress my food.
譯文:但我只取我所需,只取能為我所用的:有的吃有的用,我還要那些多余的干嘛?如果捕獵過多,我吃不完,只能留給狗吃,或讓害蟲吃掉;如果種糧過多,我吃不了,只能放著腐爛變臭;如果伐木過多,多余的木材只能扔在地上,任其腐朽,除了當(dāng)柴火,別無它用,而我也只有做飯時(shí)才會(huì)燒柴火。
解析:此句的斷句剛好是各個(gè)分號(hào),容易識(shí)別。語言較為簡(jiǎn)單,順勢(shì)翻譯即可。
2、 句式重構(gòu)
句式重構(gòu)就是根據(jù)原文的結(jié)構(gòu),按照漢語敘事的習(xí)慣重新組合句子使得漢語行文更加流暢自然。
例2、 It is impossible to express theflutterings of my very heart when I found all my wealth about me: for as the Brazil ships come all in fleets, the same ships which brought my letters brought my goods: and the effects were safe in the river before the letters came to my hand.
譯文: 巴西的船只編隊(duì)航行,其中一艘船帶來了我的信,同時(shí)也把我的貨物運(yùn)載過來了:這封信送達(dá)我手中之前,財(cái)產(chǎn)已經(jīng)安全抵達(dá)里斯本河了。當(dāng)我知道我的財(cái)富近在眼前時(shí),心中一陣陣激動(dòng)狂喜之情無法言表。
解析:當(dāng)然此句也可以按照原文的順序翻譯。但是漢語在很多情況下,按照“原因在前,結(jié)果在后”或“前提在前,結(jié)論在后”的順序來陳述因果關(guān)系的,英語恰恰相反。本句的中調(diào)是強(qiáng)調(diào)“It is impossible to express the flutterings……”的部分,所以句子結(jié)構(gòu)調(diào)整下更為符合漢語的表達(dá)。
例3、 Food manufacturers are flooding the UK with new products in response to rising demand from a population hungry for “something different”.
譯文:英國人極想“嘗鮮“,對(duì)新產(chǎn)品的需求與日俱增,針對(duì)這種情況,食品生產(chǎn)商們正一個(gè)勁兒地向英國市場(chǎng)投放各種新產(chǎn)品。
解析:面對(duì)長句,首先應(yīng)該摸清句子的語義邏輯:a population hungry for “something different”——> in response to rising demand ——>Food manufacturers are flooding the UK with new products。所以應(yīng)該從后朝前翻譯,對(duì)句子進(jìn)行句式重構(gòu)。
3、 變?cè)~為句
英語句子依靠關(guān)聯(lián)詞在句子中“穿針引線”,邏輯嚴(yán)密,但結(jié)構(gòu)復(fù)雜。漢語大多分成若干簡(jiǎn)短的句子,逐點(diǎn)交待。英漢翻譯時(shí),如含有動(dòng)賓關(guān)系或主謂關(guān)系的表達(dá),介詞詞組,名詞詞組等以句子形式翻譯出。
例4、 Time, however, and the satisfaction I had that I was in no danger of being discovered by these people, vegan to wear off my uneasiness about them.
譯文: 然而,隨著時(shí)間流逝,我深知自己不會(huì)被這些人發(fā)現(xiàn),心里感到滿足,惶恐不安的情緒也漸漸被驅(qū)散了。
解析: 若是直譯,可能會(huì)譯為“然而,時(shí)間以及深知不會(huì)被這些人發(fā)現(xiàn)的滿足心理,把我的不安驅(qū)散了”,讀起來十分拗口。此句把“time”變?cè)~為句,變?yōu)椤彪S著時(shí)間的流逝“。把“the satisfaction……”這句改為主謂結(jié)構(gòu),增強(qiáng)譯文可讀性。