第一讲翻译的定义
第一讲翻译的定义/中国翻译史简介
英汉翻译
2011.2—2011.6
第一讲翻译概论
Focus:
The Definition of Translation;
The History of Translation in China
翻译中的笑话
How are you?
－怎么是你？
How old are you?
－怎么老是你？
Are you rious？
你是席尔瑞斯吗？
No，I'm kidding.
不，我是凯丁。
不宰客
No Killing
试译下列句子：
1. Most Tibetans are deeply religious.
2. He is the last man she would marry.
3. 请勿倚靠车门。
参考答案
1. Most Tibetans are deeply religious.
－－大多数西藏人都是虔诚的教徒。（词类转译法）
2. He is the last man she would marry.
－－她绝不会嫁给他。（她死也不会嫁给他）（词义引申）
3. 请勿倚靠车门。
－－Plea keep clear of the door/gate.(正反、反正表达法）
I. What Is Translation?
Translation is of great importance in learning a foreign language. Many of tho who learn English will be English-Chine translators in the future. There are many translation
theories and techniques for you too learn .
Without knowing the theories and the techniques one will most likely take a roundabout cour in translation work. That’s why it is necessary for you to have a good command of both the source language and the target language, and of the theories and the techniques in translation.
Translation is an activity of reproducing in one language the ideas which have been expresd in another language.
－－翻译是把一种语言所表达的思想用另一种语言重新表达出来的活动。
Translation may be defined as follows:
The replacement of textual material in one language (SL) by equivalent textual material in another language.
翻译可作如下界定：用一种语言（目的语）的文本材料对等地再现另一种语言（出发语）的文本材料。
Eugene Nida
Translation consists in reproducing in the receptor language the clost natural equivalent of the source-language messages, first in terms of meaning and condly in terms of style. （Eugene Nida, famous American translation theorist ）
翻译就是接受语言复制出与原语信息最接近的自然等值体---首先是就意义而言,其次是就其风格而言.（奈达）
Traduire, c’est comprendre et faire comprendre.
简单地说，翻译= decode（解码） +recode（重新编码）
或者，to understand (理解）+ to be understood（被理解）
Translation is a science ：
Translation is an art
Lin Yutang was once a reprentative. In his essay “On Translation” he declares that translation is an art who success depends on one’s artistic talent and enough training. Besides the, there are no t rules for translation and there is no short-cut for art .
From the examples mentioned above we can e that translation is an art, a brilliant art. Like painting, enables us to reproduce the fine thought of somebody, not in colors, but in words, in the words of a different language. It demands a broad and profound knowledge.
In other words , a translator should have an understanding of literature and art, rhetoric and aesthetics; otherwi, he can hardly accomplish the task of reproduction of the original.
Translation depends on the artistic level and the technique of the translator. Whoever has a good command of translation both in theory and technique can offer satisfactory translations ,it is becau ,as pointed out in this lecture ,
translation is not only a science with its own laws and methods, but also an art of reproduction and recreation.
II. Prerequisites for a Translator
扎实的两语功底
e.g.
You are telling me！
你正在告诉我。（×）
我早知道了/还用你告诉我。（√）
Now you are talking！（informal：at last you are saying something agreeable.)
现在你正在谈话。（×）
你这样说才合我的意思。（√）
季先生乃中国学界的泰斗。
Mr. Ji is a renowned master in the academic circles of China.
丰厚的文化底蕴：
The woman in charge of the accounts department is an absolute dragon. 负责财务的那个女人是一条绝对的龙。（×）
负责财务的那个女人简直是个母老虎。（√）
His party is a hawk, but he himlf is a dove.
他的政党是只鹰，但他是只鸽子。（×）
虽然他的政党是主张用武力解决问题的，但他却是主张和平的。（√）
娴熟的翻译技巧
严谨的科学态度
Guo Moruo （郭沫若）
“Translation is creative work. Good translation is as good as writing and may be even bett
er than the original. Sometimes translation is more difficult than writing . A writer must have experience in life , but a translator has to experience what the writer has experienced. At the same time a translator must not only be proficient in his mother tongue but also have a very good foundation in a foreign language. Therefore , translation is not easier than writing at all.”
III History of Translation in China
Xuan Zang 玄奘（602-664）
Xuan zang was nt to India to make a study of the Buddhist scriptures. He stayed there for 17years.
After he returned home from India, he translated 75 volumes of Buddhist scriptures in the following 19 years.
He also translated some works of Laozi into Sanskrit , he was the first person to introduce Chine classics to foreigners.
His translation standard “ to be both true and coherent” （既须求真，又须喻俗）is still acceptable .
He made great contribution to the theory and practice of translation.
严复（1854-1921，生于福州）
He propod the translation standard “ Faithfulness, Expressiveness and Elegance”
He translated the following works:
Evolution and Ethics and Other Essays (T.H. Huxley)《天演论》（赫胥黎）An Inquiry Into the Nature and Caus of the Wealth of nations (A.Smith) 《原富》（亚当·斯密）
