词语省略，言简意赅
2015-05-31 16:59:12 etogether.net 网络 次
考题实例：While there are almost as many definitions of history as there are historians, modem practice most closely conforms to one that sees history as the attempt to recreate and explain the signific
考题实例：While there are almost as many definitions of history as there are historians, modem practice most closely conforms to one that sees history as the attempt to recreate and explain the significant events of the past. （1999）
几乎每个历史学家对历史都有自己的定义，但现代实践与一种定义最接近，即认为历史就是试图重现和解释过去的重大事件。
The existence of the giant clouds was virtually required for the Big Bang, first put forward in the 1920s, to maintain its reign as the dominant explanation of the cosmos. （1998）
巨大的宇宙云的存在，实际上是使二十年代首创的大爆炸论得以保持其宇宙起源论的主导地位所不可缺少的。
一般来说，汉语较英语简练，因此时，许多在原文中必不可少的词语要是原原本本地译成汉语，就会成为不必要的冗词，译文会显得十分累赘。省略法在英汉翻译中使用得非常广泛，其主要目的是删去一些可有可无、不符合译文习惯表达法的词语。请看下面一例翻译试题：
In the 1880s the United States was a land sharply divided between the immensely wealthy and the poor.
the 1880s即the eighties of the nineteenth century（19世纪80年代），land此处意为country，不能理解为“土地”；between the immensely wealthy and the poor照字面翻译为“在巨大的财富和贫穷之间”。如果照英语原文结构翻译，势必造成译文的不顺。为了清楚地表达英语原文的意义，同时也符合汉语习惯表达法，可以考虑省略介词between，同时增添“两极”二字。
参考译文：在19世纪80年代，美国是一个巨富与赤贫两极严重分化的国家。
省略技巧的常用情况
1．代词的省略
英语中各类代词的使用十分频繁，要是在译成汉语时，如不省略读起来就会很别扭。
(1) He put his hands into his pockets and then shrugged his shoulders.
他将双手放进衣袋，然后耸了耸肩。
(2) After getting up，I wash my face，brush my teeth，and comb my hair.
起床后，我洗脸，刷牙，然后梳头。
(3) They went in to dinner. It was excellent, and the wine was good. Its influence presently had its effect on them.
他们进入餐室用餐。美酒佳肴，顿受感染。
2. 冠词的省略
汉语中没有冠词，英语中的定冠词a, an如果不具有量词one的含义，便可以省略，不定冠词the如果不具备指示代词this, that, these, those的含义，也应当省略。
1) Any substance is made of atoms whether it is a solid, a liquid, or a gas.
任何物资，不论是固体、液体或气体，都由原子组成。
2) Any substance is made of atoms whether it is a solid, a liquid, or a gas.
任何物资，不论是固体、液体或气体，都由原子组成。
3) The direction of a force can be represented by an arrow.
力的方向可以用箭头表示。
3. 介词连词的省略
英语词句之间的连接依靠介词和连词来完成，而汉语讲究不言而喻，故将英语译成汉语时，可尽量省略介词和连词。
(1) The difference between the two machines consists in power.
这两台机器的差别在于功率不同。
(2) If I had known it, I would not have joined in it.
早知如此，我就不参加了。
(3) Like charges repel each other while opposite charges attract.
同性电荷相斥，异性电荷相吸。
4. 动词的省略
英语凡是句子就少不了动词，而汉语不要动词句子也能成立。
(1) When the pressure gets low, the boiling point becomes low.
气压低，沸点就低。
(2) Solids expand and contract as liquids and gases do.
如同液体和气体一样，固体也能膨胀和收缩。
(3) For this reason television signals have a short range.
因此，电视信号的传播距离很短。
5. 非人称代词“It”的省略
如果it在句中表示时间、距离、天气或作形式主语宾语，在译汉语时应省略。
(1) Outside it was pitch-dark and it was raining cats and dogs.
外面一团漆黑，大雨倾盆。
(2) This formula makes it easy to determine the wavelength of sounds.
这一公式使得测定声音的波长十分简单。
(3) It was not until the middle of the 19th century that the blast furnace came into use.
直到十九世纪中叶，高炉才开始使用。
练习：代词的省略
1 We have 7 days in a week.
2 You can never tell!
3 They say it‘s so.
4 Is it a he or a she?
5 As it is, we got there at 10.
6 In ancient Rome we have patricians, knights, plebeians, slaves…
7 I threw the ball to Tom and he threw it to Mary.
8 How strongly an airplane is built depends on its type and purpose.
1. 一个星期有七天。 2. 谁也没法预料！ 3.据说是这样。 4. 生的是男孩还是女孩？ 5. 事实上，我们10点钟就到了那里。 6.在古罗马，有贵族、骑士、平民、奴隶…。7.我把球传给汤姆，汤姆又把球传给玛丽。 8. 制造飞机应坚固到什么程度，是由飞机的类型和用途来决定的。
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