转移一般受双语表达法机制的制约,也反映语感机制的句法优化作用。
1. 否定部位转移
将否定放在句中哪-一个部位上,双语在大体相同之处,还可能各有不同之处。常见的情况是否定置于动词前与否定置于形容词或名词前的转移:
(i) All grapes are not sweet.
并不是所有的葡萄都是甜的。
(ii) 我认为自己并不漂亮。
I don't think I am pretty.
当然,汉语也可以否定动词:“我并不认为自己就是一个美人”,这时双语可以实现同步:
I don't set up myself for a beauty.
但一般说来,汉语倾向于否定判断词“是”:
(i) The gardener's life, as a rule, is not all cakes and flowers.
一般说来,种花人的一生也并不是四季如花。
(ii) Gardens are not made by singing "Oh, how beautiful" and sitting in the shade. (R. Kipling)
这是英国作家吉卜林的名句,汉译否定判断词仍是“是”:花园并不是为了哼哼曲子而建造的悠哉悠哉的庇荫之地。
汉英互译中动词否定式与名词否定式之间的转移似乎是最常见的:英语通常否定名词,汉语倾向于否定动词。如:
(i) Who loves not women, wine and song remains a fool his whole life. (M. Luther)
不爱女人、美酒和音乐的人只好一辈子当傻瓜了。
(ii) I have no hesitation to agree that I am an agnostic; I do not pretend to know what many ignorant men are sure of.
我毫不犹豫地承认我是一个不可知论者;我决不佯装我懂得许多无知者自以为懂得的东西。
2. 主语转移
双语转换中常需转移主语以利行文:
(i)天才的百分之一是灵感,百分之九十九是汗水。
Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.
(ii)作者掌握了该学科的基本理论,这一点是没有问题的。
The author's grasp of the rudiments of the theory of the subject is unquestionable.
汉语句短,语流呈板块型扩展式。这时转移主语,择善而从,可以举纲张目,加强句子的组织性。这一点对汉译外至关重要。如:
(iii)如今,做个大丈夫也有他的难处。譬如吵嘴,你就是有理,却也只能装着无理,拱手告降。
One of the embarrassments of being a good husband today is that you are not permitted to defend yourself in a quarrel and have to go down on your knees pretending that you are not on the right side.
3. 重心转移
双语转换中句首重心与句尾重心往往不需要转换。比如,当英语说“Figures don't lie.”时,重心似乎在“don't lie”,译成汉语“数字是不会撒谎的”,重心也是判断语“不会撒谎”,因为汉语的判断句中判断词后是重心。但是,英语句子“Extremes meet, as the whiting said with its tail in its mouth.”(Thomas Hood) 的汉译则是“正像鳕鱼把自己的尾巴塞进嘴里时说的,这叫做‘两极相通’”,重心由句首转移到了句尾。
英语以“be”为联系动词的句子汉译时表语很可能要与主语作位置转移,这时也常常带来重心的微差。比如:“To do each day two things one dislikes is a percept I have followed scrupulously : everyday I have got up and I have gone to bed." (S. Maugham)
“我有一条恪守不移的成规:每天做两件我最不乐意做的事:起身和上床”。另外例如:“Cooking is not like life. If you get a bad meal, you don't have to eat it.”汉译的重心转移了:“生活可不像做菜:一个菜没有烧好,你可以不吃。”
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