论英语形容词的中文翻译

论英语形容词的中文翻译摘要:讨论了英语形容词中译过程理解与表达两个重要环节,以达到把准确生动表达出原文修饰词与被修饰对象的关系,创造出生动,鲜明,充满美感的译文。

关键词:准确理解充分表达忠实流畅形容词在英语的数量仅次于名词和动词,它是用来描述人物,事物或地点的性质,因此形容词的翻译十分重要。

准确,生动的译文会令被修饰词生动的呈现在读者面前。

翻译包括理解和表达两个步骤,而准确度理解是表达的基础。

理解方面谈到理解形容词应该注意的三点:一,根据上下文的语境来确定词义;二,要注意区别主观和客观形容词;三,要注意区分形容词作定语和表语意义的不同。

这就要求在翻译过程中要勤查字典,品味词义。

由于英语和汉语是在不同的文化背景下形成的两种截然不同的语言,在表达过程中为保证词义不变,汉语在许多方面要做适当调整,以达到忠实,流畅,符合汉语的表达习惯。

在用汉语表达过程中,涉及到三个方面:一,英语形容词汉译时词类的转换;二,英语形容词汉译时词语的增加;三,汉语“四字格”和叠词的运用。

总之,翻译英语形容词时,根据上下文准确理解词义是关键的一步,充分表达是第二步。

同时,我们也应该充分利用汉语的优势使译文生动,鲜明,充满美感,但不能一味的追求华丽的词藻而超过“信”的范围。

1 IntroductionIn English,there are a large number of adjectives,the number of which is just smaller than that of nouns and verbs. English adjectives are used to describe the quality of people,things,places etc.So the translation of English adjectives is very important.An accurate and vivid translation will make our versions full of color.“Translation is a kind of re-creation. The process of translation must go through two steps:comprehending the original and creatively using ano ther language to reproduce it”(Xiao,19).Thus accurate comprehension is the foremost concern in translation.2 Comprehension of English adjectivesWhen we talk about the comprehension of English adjectives,three points should be mentioned.2.1 Comprehend the meanings of adjectives according to the definite contexts.Some English adjectives have many meanings which usually vary with different contexts.So we must deal with them carefully and confine the meanings through contexts.For example,“green”is a comm on adjective,its basic meaning is a color between blue and yellow in thespectrum or the color of growing grass,like“as green as grass”(像青草般绿的).When used to describe fruit,it means that the fruit is unripe,like “apples too green to eat”(生得不能吃的苹果).When used to describe a person,it means the person is immature, inexperienced and easily fooled,like“a green young novice”(无经验的年轻新生).When used to describe someone’s spirits,it means someone is full of vigor,like,“live to green old age”(老当益壮).When used to describe someone’s attitude,it means someone is extremely envious,like,“I was absolutely green when I saw his splendid new car”(我看到他那辆漂亮的新车很眼红).From the examples,we can conclude that the impact of contexts on adjective meanings is great.Besides we must also pay attention to the commendatory or derogatory meanings of adjectives in different contexts according to the writer’s different feelings.For example:They enjoyed every bit of the communist’s simply,unsophisticated hospitality.他们处处受到共产党员的淳朴的,真心诚意的款待。

(commendatory)Djilas was not amused by Zhdanov’s unsophisticated sense of humor.德热拉斯队日丹诺夫那种不到家的幽默感到难受。

(derogatory)There are some adjectives with derogatory or commendatory meanings. Like,“childish” is usually used to describe an a dult who behaves like a child and is immature and silly,so it is a derogatory word.However,“childlike” is used to describe any person who is like a child, innocent and not devious,so it is a commendatory word.2.2 Pay attention to distinguish subjective and objective adjectives.In English,there are several pairs of adjectives with the same roots,among them,some express subjective meanings, others objective meanings.For example:SubjectiveObjectiverespectful表示尊敬的,respectable应该受到尊敬的;tolerant容忍的,容许的,tolerable可容忍的,可忍受的;perceptive有洞察力的,perceptible可使发现的,显而易见的;disappointed感到失望的,disappointing令人失望的;Here,let’s see a pair of examples to deepen our understanding.John is desirous of travelling to Hangzhou.约翰渴望到杭州旅游。

(subjective meaning)For Henry,nothing is more desirable than taking a walk in theevening.对亨利来说,没有什么比晚间散步更惬意了。

(objective meaning) The adjectives ending in ed mostly have subjective meanings;the ones ending in ing mostly have objective meanings. For example:a demanding father一位要求严格的父 a knowing smile一个会意的微笑2.3 distinguish the different meanings when adjectives are used as attributes and predicativeIn English,there are some adjectives which can be used as attributes and predicative,but the meanings are always different.For example: He is a very indifferent tennis player. 他是个极其平凡的网球运动员。

He is very indifferent to what others say about him.他对别人说他什么并不在意。

She had a particular reason for giving up the plan.她对放弃那个计划有特别的理由。

She was very particular about dressing. 她对衣着很挑剔。

In the course of translation,many things deserve our attention,whichdemands we often consult dictionaries,not only English-Chinese dictionaries,but also English-English dictionaries,taste the meanings carefully,and lay a solid foundation for the stage of expressing.3 Reproduction of English adjectivesAs English and Chinese are born and developed in different social and cultural backgrounds they are two entirely different languages.While translating English into Chinese,we must make appropriate adjustment to guarantee that the original meanings should keep unchanged and attain clearness of meanings and fluency in language.“What is correct translation?That is,we should faithfully express all the meanings of the original,according to the expression habits of Chinese language as many as possible”(Lin,103).3.1 Conversion“Because there are a lot of dissimilarities between English and Chinese in grammar and habitual expression methods, we must change the ‘part of speech’in order to keep the original meanings unchanged”(Guo,and Li,eds 76).The fact that English and Chinese are two completely different languages determines that we should not follow the“parts of speech” of the original mechanically in translation. In fact,while translating English adjectives, we are often required to convertthe “parts of speech”to conform to the usage of Chinese.3.1.1 English adjectives can be converted into Chinese verbs sometimes.(1)In English,there are some adjectives which express feelings,wishes,intentions etc.When used as predicative or adverbials,they are often converted into Chinese verbs.For example:At the same time,we are hopeful that we’re going to be able to continue our meeting with these people,these individuals.同时,我们希望将能继续与这些人和这些个人会晤。