李长栓《非文学翻译理论与实践》第2版复习笔记(简明英语的基本原则)【圣才出品】

李长栓《非文学翻译理论与实践》第2版复习笔记第4章简明英语的基本原则简明英语首先要求确定写作的目的和读者群，根据读者的需求和知识水平，确定写作的内容和风格。

从简明英语运动的发展来看，简明英语一直是面向大众的英语。

由于大众的受教育程度不一定很高，所以，简明英语从内容、句式到用词，都力图做到清晰易懂、言简意赅；形式上做到一目了然。

简明英语不仅受到一般公众的欢迎，也受到专业人士喜爱，所以，即使撰写学术论文，也提倡使用简明英语。

一、篇章布局合理简明英语要有清楚的条理。

如果要传达的信息很多，一定要把信息拆分成符合逻辑的信息单元。

每个单元使用标题和小标题。

标题和小标题要有内容，不仅仅是为了打破文件形式的单调。

对于每一个信息单元，应当首先陈述要点，然后予以解释和论证。

遇到复杂的信息，要使用列表(bullet points)，或举例、画图加以解释。

二、言简意赅“Vigorous writing is concise.A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences,for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.”—William Strunk,Jr.,The Elements of Style 简明英语的一个重要特点是言简意赅，要言不烦。

文件是否受到重视，不在于它的长短。

很多国际机构和政府部门就明确规定不接受过长的文件。

要缩短文件，做到言简意赅，可以从很多小的地方着手：1.避免重复(1)已经说过的，不再说；读者知道的，不再说；读者可以推知的，不再说。

(2)消除意思重复，可以使用以下手段：①两个词意思相同的，只留一个英语中有一些同义词对(redundant pairs)，其中一个来自法语或拉丁语，意思几乎相同，使用时只需保留一个简单的。

例：full and complete,true and accurate,hopes and desires,each and every,first and foremost,any and all,various and sundry,basic and fundamental,so on and so forth.②修饰语的意思已经被隐含的，不用修饰语有些修饰语的意思已经包含在中心词里(redundant modifiers)，应当去掉该修饰语，例：The end result of this merger will be higher unemployment.(end)the underlying principle of this document(underlying)③词本身已经隐含其范畴的，不用范畴词a.通常，一个词本身就可表明其范畴(类别)(redundant categories)，所以不必再用表示范畴的词。

例：time的范畴是period，所以不用说time period；同样，不用说pink in color,shiny in appearance。

b.有时，可以把形容词变为副词，以消除范畴词。

例：The holes must be aligned in an accurate manner.【改写】The holes must be accurately aligned.c.有时，可以形容词变为名词，把多余的名词去掉。

例：The educational process and athletic activities are the responsibility of county governmental systems.【改写】Education and athletics are the responsibility of county governments.④避免冗长的表达方式和“慢启动”句子有些表达方式(元话语)，没有很大实际意义，只是推迟主要意思的到来，应当尽量不用或少用。

例：For all intents and purposes,American industrial productivity generally depends on certain factors that are really more psychological in kind than of any given technological aspect.【改写】American industrial productivity depends more on psychological than on technological factors.类似的词还有：usually,often,sometimes,almost,virtually,possibly,perhaps,apparently, seemingly,in some ways,to a certain extent,sort of,somewhat,more or less,for the most part,to all intents and purposes,in some respects,in my opinion,at least, may,might,can,could,seem,tend,try,attempt,seek,hope.as everyone knows,it is generally agreed that,it is quite true that,as we can plainly see,literally,clearly,obviously,undoubtedly,certainly,of course,indeed, inevitably,very,invariably,always,key,central,crucial,basic,fundamental,major, cardinal,primary,principal,essential.2.直截了当有些文章故弄玄虚，把简单的问题复杂化、抽象化，这是简明英语所应避免的。

例：Pursuant to the recent memorandum issued August9,1996,because of financial exigencies,it is incumbent upon us all to endeavor to make maximal utilization of telephonic communication in lieu of personal visitation.【改写】As reported in our August9memo,use the telephone as much as possible,instead of making personal visits,to save the company money.三、信息流动通畅在写作时，要把先发生的事情或己知的内容(旧信息)放在前面，把新信息放在后面。

排列顺序不当，违反人的认识规律，可能会造成理解困难，有时需要读几遍才能掌握句子强调的重点，有时可能无法读懂(口头交流时可以不遵守这一规律，因为可以通过较重的语调表示强调)。

写作和翻译时可以采用以下方法排列信息：1.指出每个施动者，按逻辑顺序叙述各项动作。

例：Its decision on allocation of ESF assistance will be taken subsequent to receipt of all project applications at the Committee’s meeting.【改写】When all applicants have submitted their project applications,theCommittee will meet to decide how much ESF aid it will grant to each one.这条规则不可绝对化。

英语把时间、条件、原因状语放在后面的例子同样常见。

谁先谁后，取决于上下文的衔接(见下一条规则)。

脱离上下文，无论怎样排列都可以。

这是一条处理句子信息结构的规则；至于段落的信息结构，则是首先提出问题，然后回答问题。

2.保证段落各句层层推进把旧信息或已知信息放在句首，新信息或复杂信息放在句末，可以使论述层层推进，帮助读者抓住论证的线索。

例：The court of auditors’report criticizes agricultural spending and proposes some new measures to prevent fraud.Their proposals include setting up a special task force with powers to searchfarms.Such powers are not normally granted to Commission officials,but fraud prevention is now one of the EU’s main priorities.3.句子的结尾要有力(1)如有必要，把不重要的信息移向句子左侧，避免有气无力的结尾。

例：Complete institutional reform is advocated by the report in most cases.【改写】What the report advocates,in most cases,is complete institutional reform.(2)通过其他手段把句子重心后移。

例：For EU enlargement several alternative scenarios could be considered.【改写】There are several scenarios that we could consider for EU enlargement.读者或听众印象最深的，是最后看到的或听到的。

四、使用短句1.用简单的句型(1)There are three common types of splices that are used in electrical connections.【改写】Three types of splices are used in electrical connections.(2)It is important that all employees read the safety handbook.【改写】All employees must read the safety handbook.(3)There are three other considerations that outweigh…【改写】Three other considerations outweigh…2.限制句子长度根据美国证券和交易委员会编写的写作手册，句子平均长度应为15—20个单词，句子要长短结合，长句不超过三项信息。