定语从句的翻译方法

On the Translation of Attributive Clauses

from English into Chinese

1. Introduction

Attributive clause, a very complicated part of a sentence, often appears in both written and spoken English and causes the difficulty of English learners to understand it, or to put it into Chinese. This is because it is quite different from Chinese in placement, structure and function and hard to be identified. Following is my preliminary study of English attributive clauses and handing of them in terms of translation practice.

2. Types of English attributive clauses

The attributive clause in English generally varies in restrictive and non-restrictive ones. The former is usually led by a relative pronoun or relative adverb and closely attached to the antecedent. It is not separated from the head by a break in intonation, or by a comma in writing. It forms an integral part of the noun phrase, without which the head cannot be identified as the specific object. The latter does not restrict the referential meaning of the antecedent, and is separated by a comma from the main clause. If it is taken away, the antecedent still refers to the same person or thing (章振邦，1995：210 ). See the following examples:

1) There were few students that escaped without serious injuries.（逃出来的学

生无不受重伤者。）

2) There were few students, who escaped without serious injuries.(没有几个学

生，他们都逃出来了，无重伤者。)

As shown in the above examples, the that-clause is restrictive while the

who-clause is non-restrictive. They mean differently though the words used are the same except the relative pronouns. More examples:

3) Shaoshan, where (=in which) Chairman Mao was born, is visited by

thousands of people everyday.

4) The village rich in national flavor and beautiful in environment has become a

resort most people like to visit.

Apart form those introduced by relative pronouns, an attributive clause can also be headed by a relative adverb (as in example 3), or can have no relative to link with its antecedent (as in example 4).

3. Differences between English attributive clauses and Chinese attributes

3.1 Different in placement

Attributive clauses, or rather attributes in Chinese grammar, are common in English and Chinese but different in placements. Chinese attributes are generally preposed, i.e. placed before the center words being modified; English attributive clauses are postposed: placed after the center words that are modified. See the following:

1) 他只是一个年方十二的男孩。

（He is a boy whose age is only at twelve. ）

2) 我迟到的理由羞于启齿。

（The reason why I was late for class is ashamed to mention. ）

3) The girl who was wounded in the war is his sister.

(那位在战场上受伤的女孩是他的妹妹。)

4) Water pollution is a pressing problem (that) we must dead with.

( 水污染是我们必须处理的紧迫问题。)

An analysis enables us to see the Chinese attributes are always positioned before the center word or antecedents ( nouns or pronouns ) such as “男孩”“理由” ,“女孩”and “问题”，while the English attributive clauses go right after the antecedents like “ boy “ , “reason”“girl” and “problem” respectively.