顶真，又名“顶针”、“联珠”、“蝉联”或“链式结构”，是用前句末尾的词语作为后句开头的词语，或用前段最末的句子作为后段开头的句子，能令语气连贯，表意清新，上递下接，环环相扣。顶真能使句子联系紧密，反映事物间的辩证关系，又能表达回环复沓的思想感情，增强节奏感。

英语修辞格“anadiplosis” (epanastrophe)的格式与作用同汉语的顶真是一样的，如：

例 1：It's the profit now, not the product. Half the time, we cheat the foremen, the foremen cheat the management, the management cheats the customers. (J. B. Priestley：The Future of the English)

（参考译文:现在重要的是利润，而不是产品。经常是我们欺骗工头，工头欺骗厂方，厂方欺骗顾客。）

例 2: He retained his virtues amidst all his misfortunes —— misfortunes which no prudence could foresee or prevent.

（参考译文：他身处逆境仍保持其美德——深谋远算所无法预知和预防的逆境。）

既然这一修辞方式在汉英两种语言体系中存在共性，那么，是不是顶真一定可以译为Anadiplosis呢？下面，我们就从曹雪芹对甄士隐一家生活环境的描写入手，分析两位译者对《红楼梦》顶真辞格的翻译。

1) 这阊门外有个十里街，街内有个仁清巷，巷内有个古庙，因地方窄狭，人皆呼作葫芦庙。庙旁住着一家乡宦，姓甄，名费，字士隐。 (第一回）

这石上所云文字，犹如电影中的远景——近景——特写镜头一 般，按照从大到小，由远及近的次序，流畅自然、条理清晰地展现在读者面前。这段文字之所以具有这样好的修辞效果，无疑应归因于作者在句中运用了顶真：街——街、巷——巷、庙——庙，三次衔接，不仅富有音律美，而且语言紧凑，逻辑严密。

那么，这种紧凑、连贯的语言，能否从形式到内容，“移植”到译入语之中呢？

杨译：

Outside this Chang-men Gate was a certain Ten-li Street, off which ran the Lane of Humanity and Purity; and in this lane stood an old temple, which being built in such a narrow space was known from its shape as Gourd Temple. Beside this temple lived a gentleman named Zhen Fei, Whose courtesy name was Shiyin.

霍译：

Outside the Chang-men Gate is a wide thoroughfare called Worldly Way; and somewhere off Worldly Way is an area called Carnal Lane. There is an old temple in the Carnal Lane area which, because of the way it is bottled up inside a narrow Cul-de-Sac，is referred to locally as Bottle-gourd Temple. Next door to Bottle-gourd Temple lived a gentleman of private means called Zhen Shi-yin ...