翻译中的语法对等

翻译中的语法对等

Translation can be viewed as a creative job. It involves some knowledge of source language and target language. So it is difficult for translators to grasp the grammar of original language. In the progress of translation practice, the grammar context limits the translation, and can not properly express the original meanings of text. The result is that the translation is not pure or smooth. Therefore, it is necessary to notice the grammatical phenomenon to make translation fluent and faithful.

When translating a text or a sentence, it is unavoidable to meet the problems of the tense and voice of the verbs, the translation of adverbs and adjectives. Generally, when a translator deal with the tense and voice, he only adds to the Chinese character “着”, “了”, “过” and “被”. And when he translates the adverbs an d adjectives, he just uses the Chinese character “地” and “的”.

For example:

1) “I passed you on the road?”

“Monseigneur, it is true. I had the honor of being passed on the road.”

原译:“在路上我屡次经过你面前了吗?”

“爵爷,是的。我曾经有过被经过的荣幸。”(Fan 4)

Looking at the translation, it is too uncomfortable to read. When translating the past tense “passed”, it is translated to “经过了”, but the word “honor”, its parts of speech is changed. And the meaning of the whole translated sentence is not clear. The reason is that the translation is restricted by the phrase “of being passed” and the passive voice of the structure “being passed”. In fact, the meaning of the sentence is that it is the servant’s honor to meet Monseigneur on the road. So the translation is as follows:

“我多次在路上从你面前经过了吗?”

“爵爷,是的。在路上能够看到您从我面前经过深感荣幸。”

2) The report noted proposals that eating less fat and more food with whole grains other fibers can protect against cancer.

原译:这份报告特别提到了“少食脂肪,多吃含全粮食物和其他纤维素的食物能预防癌症的那些建议。(ibid. 5)

It is obvious to find that attributive clauses in the original sentence are arranged without being adjusted. It is not idiomatic Chinese, although it is not wrong grammatically. It makes readers confused.

3) 语言这个东西不是随便可以学好的,非下苦功夫不可。

原译:Language is not easy to learn, you must pay great effort. (ibid. 5) According to the rules of English grammar, the translation is right. But it is not idiomatic English because the number of the use of nouns is more than that of verbs. The Chinese character “学好”is a verb, while it is usually translated to a noun “mastery” in English. So it is necessary to adjust the order of words. And meanwhile, the parts of speech of the Chinese character “随便”need to be changed into a adjective. So the idiomatic translation is as follows:

The mastery of language is not easy and requires painstaking effort.