第一周教案 翻译(DOC)

一、Translation concerning negation

Aims: to understand the features of Chinese and English as regards negation, the application of negation in the process of translation

Key points: the application of negation in the process of translation

Difficulties: affirmative in Chinese but negative in English, negative in Chinese but affirmative in English

Teaching procedures:

Negation being an important conception in one’s expression of thoughts, expressions of negations is to be found in any tongue. This is naturally true of Chinese and English. However, the ways of indicating negation are quite different in the two languages. This frequently causes a lot of trouble to translators, who if not careful enough, would often make mistakes.

1. Features of the two languages as regards negation

1. Both languages have negatives or expressions formed with negatives. In modern Chinese, the much-used negative words are: 不,没,别. These words express three different meanings: 不signifies denial of a statement;没denial of a being or occurrence(,非and 否can be put under this category);别dissuasion or prohibition(甭,勿,and 莫can be put under this category)

The often-used negatives in English are “not”, and “no”, in addition to “nothing”, ”nobody” “none”, “without”, “ neither…nor”, “never”, etc.

Chinese negatives are generally capable of producing derivatives, particularly the word 不, 无and 非. Their derivatives are equivalent to English words formed by adding affixes, e.g. 不法unlawful, 不便inconvenient, 无边boundless,非正规irregulars

In English, apart from using negatives to express negation, words with a negative sense can be formed by adding affixes to root words. The affixes thus used are mainly “less” suffix “un” “in”, and “non”

However, English words formed with affixes with a negative, while adjective and nouns formed with “un”such as “unavoidable” and “unbelief” are negative, for instance, verbs formed with affixes such as “unclasp” and “uncork” affirmative.

⊙In Chinese, words formed with negatives are generally negative in sense but in some cases they assume new meaning like 非常, which practically means 很.

In English, the same word formed with a different affix differs in meaning (compare

discord with uncord). Sometimes, words formed with different affixes with a negative sense would produce words with different implications---derogatory and the other non-derogatory. For instance, immoral means 不道德,and is therefore derogatory while unmoral means 非道德,无道德观念的,and is therefore non derogatory.

2.英语为肯定式,汉语译作否定式(affirmative in English but negative in Chinese) You are quite a stranger here.

Wet paint

Keep off the lawn

I failed to understand your meaning.

A person who does a regrettable action is often regretful afterwards.

一个人做了不该做的事,日后往往会懊悔.

Another person runs to avoid doing anything else, to dodge a decision about how to lead his life or a realization that his life is leading nowhere.

另一个人跑步则是为了避而不做别的事,不对如何生活作出决定,不去感受自己生活碌碌无为.

3. 英语为否定式,汉语译为肯定式(affirmative in Chinese but negative in English) Where is the wretched girl? Why do you not come when I call you?

Pierre: hey, what the …! You old fool.

Lena: don’t talk to me that way! I am not your wife.

Even so, I still insist that for the individual himself nothing is more important than his personal, interior sense of right and wrong and his determination to follow that rather than to be guided by what everybody does or merely the criterion of “social usefulness.”

即便如此,我仍然坚持认为,对个人而言,最重要的莫过于这种根植于个人心灵深处的是非感，以及坚决按这种是非感行事的决心，而不是随波逐流，或仅仅以是否“对社会有益”为准则。

I have read your article. I expect to meet an older man.

4. Double negative

There is no rule that has no exception.（条条规则都有例外）

There is not any advantage without disadvantage.（有利有弊）

It never rains but it pours.(不鸣则已，一鸣惊人)

The sea food goes against my stomach.

His speech leaves no room to improvement.