
英语中的冠词是一种位于名词之前的虚词,用来说明名词所指的人或事物。英语中的冠词仅有三种,即定冠词、不定冠词和零冠词,但汉语却根本没有冠词,所以在翻译过程中,我们或多或少都会遇到如何处理有关冠词的问题。
主要有以下几种译法:
一方面直接翻译。对不定冠词增加量词,而定冠词往往可以省略:
A policeman stood in front of the main entrance to the theater, keeping the pedestrians away.(薄冰,2000: 67)一个警察站在剧院大门前,不让行人靠近。
To gossip is a fault; to libel, a crime; to slander, a sin.(薄冰,2000: 81)背后说三道四是一种缺点;污蔑诽谤是一种犯罪:低毁中伤是一种罪孽。
另外,在许多情况下,由于汉语没有冠词,翻译时需要直接省略各类冠词:
Whatever the quality of the debates in Election 2016, they are unlikely to equal the most famous political debates in American history which occurred long before the invention of radio and television.不管2016年的竞选辩论质量如何,‘它们都不大可能与美国历史上最著名的政治辩论相提并论,那时世界上还没有发明收音机和电视机。
我不管~我就是要躺赢
The only American industry unaffected by the general depression of trade is the beauty industry. American women continue to spend on their faces and bodies as much as they spent before the coming of the slump.美国惟一没有受到经济大萧条影响的行业就是美容业,美国妇女们花在脸上和身体上的钱像大萧条之前一样。
我负责赚钱养家~你负责貌美如花
练习(1)
Our American girls themselves are becoming aware that they need the stimulus, the discipline, the knowledge, the interests of the college in addition to the school, if they are to prepare themselves for the most serviceable lives. (Alice Palmer)
此外,对于某些固定短语会由于添加或改变冠词,其含义也大相径庭,需要我们特别注意:
A: She insisted on keeping house for him.她坚持为他管理家务。
B: She insisted on keeping the house for him她坚持为他保留房子。
A: The sabotage is out of question a fresh blow to international peace efforts. 那次阴谋破坏对国际和平努力无疑是一个新的打击。
B: Without the participation of ten thousand workers, completion of such a mammoth undertaking in so short a period would be out of the question. 如果没有上万名工人参加,在这样短的时间内完成如此巨大的工程是决不可能的。
天朝上国的天朝上锅(最大天文望远镜)
英语冠词使用的微妙之处需要我们在翻译时根据语境进行灵活处理,仔细体味其中的深刻涵义,增加适当的词汇,以准确忠实地再现原语的意思。
A fluent speaker never lacks a word, but an accurate speaker never lacks the word. (何小玲,2003)讲话流利的人从不缺少词汇,但讲话精确的人从不缺少恰当的词汇。
练习(2)
Historically, the Chinese saw China as "the Middle Kingdom”一as the center of the world, the celestial empire, "all under heaven". Other nations existed, but they were barbarian, of no consequence. The Chinese became aware of other civilizations, but these were too remote to be viewed as either threats or alternatives. To the Chinese theirs was not a civilization, but the civilization.(何小玲,2003)
答案(1 & 2)
1)美国的女孩子们自己也意识到,如果他们想把自己培养成最为有用之才,除了中学教育之外,他们还需要大学的激情、纪律、知识和雅趣。
2)在历史上,中国人把中国视为“中央帝国”——世界的中心,也就是天朝,“中国即天下”。其他国家虽然存在,却皆蛮夷之邦,无足轻重。中国人也逐步意识到其他文明的存在,但他们太遥远,不足以构成威胁,也谈不上取而代之。对中国人而言,他们的文明不是众多文明中的一种,而是最优秀的文明。
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上一篇词形变化请用力戳——http://weibo.com/ttarticle/p/show?id=2309404042028819297077