《英汉互译》词语选择

3.1　词语的选择

翻译是语言之间的转换，它遵循一定的语言规范，而不是语言的随意表达。在语言中，词是最小语言单位和语法单位，并且可以独立使用。无论是在笔译还是在口译当中，我们始终会面对词语的选择问题。可以说是否选择合适的词语直接关系到翻译的效果。如果选择的词语能够恰当地表达说话者的意思，那么翻译就能够做到自然和通顺。反之，翻译就变得晦涩难懂。面对如此多的词语，如何选择合适的词语呢?首先我们应该了解英汉两种语言词语方面的差异性，相较汉语词义的严谨和精确而言，英语的词义则比较灵活多变，而且英语词义对上下文的依赖性并不像汉语词义的依赖性那么大。另一方面，“words do not have meaning; people have meaning for words”，这句话可以译为“词本无义，义随人生”。从中我们可以看出英语的词义更具有变化性，并且随着人类社会的发展和社会的进步，会不断涌现一些新的英语词汇，即便是同一个单词，词义也会随之扩展。翻译中词语的选择主要通过以下两种方式:根据词语搭配和上下文选择词义，根据词语搭配和上下文变通词义。

3.1.1　根据词语搭配和上下文选择词义

3.1.1.1　词语搭配

英语语言中普遍存在一词多类、一词多义的现象。英语的词义可以根据词的联立关系来确定，与其他词的搭配不同，词的涵义也就不同。在这一点上，汉语的一词多义现象远不及英语。因此，我们有时可以根据与之相搭配的词以及该词的类属和它在句中所起的作用，即根据词语搭配和上下文去确定该词的词义。如:

例1:We finally succeeded in launching of a manned space vehicle，or the creation of a nuclear weapon.Such gigantic efforts，involving an entire nation's economic and technological resources and utilizing the skills of thousands of scientists and engineers，are widely publicized and become identified as the real purpose of scientific investigation.

【译文】我们终于成功地发射了有人驾驶的宇宙飞船并制造出核武器。这样一些牵涉到整个国家的经济资源和技术资源及运用千千万万科学家与工程师技能的巨大成就，被看成是科学研究的真正目的。

【分析】effort往往翻译为“努力”。实际上effort还有多层意思，如“成就”、“成果”。而且，effort作这两个意思解时，可以是单数或复数。但结合从上下文来看，特别是根据它前面一句launching of a manned space vehicle，or the creation of a nuclear weapon来分析，因此我们可将effort翻译成“成就”。

例2:Catch the star that holds your destiny，the one that forever twinkles within your heart.Take advantage of precious opportunities while they still sparkle before you.Always believe that your ultimate goal is attainable as long as you commit yourself to it.

【译文】追随能够改变你命运的那颗星，那颗永远在你心中闪烁的明星。当它在你面前闪耀时，抓住这宝贵的机会。请谨记，只要你坚持不懈，最终的目标总能实现。

【分析】如果此处的catch直译成“抓住”，那么翻译出的句子会变得简单而又毫无意境可言。如果我们结合语篇的语境，翻译成“追随”，那么从译文变得贴切而生动。在翻译时，我们应充分考虑到英汉两种语言的不同，充分发挥我们的创造性，选择出精当、贴切的词语，努力使我们的译文准确、生动。

3.1.1.2　英语中的同义词问题

在英语中，不同的词形表达的意思却是相同的，这就要求我们在理解词语和选择词义时参考上下文。虽然同义词的基本意义相同，但其内在含义存在很大差异，所以其搭配关系也不尽相同。

例1:It is indeed the most magnificent drawing-room I have ever seen.

【译文】那的确是我所见到的最豪华的客厅。

例2:The buildings around the Circus are rather nondescript，though some of them are large and quite imposing.

【译文】广场周围的建筑物并不起眼，不过其中有一些还比较高大宏伟。

【分析】在这两句中，magnificent和imposing两词虽然词形不同，但都有“宏伟，壮观”之意，但我们应该根据后面的宾语选择前面合适的意思。因此这两词在这两句中并没统一翻译成相同的意思。

由此可见，一个词不仅有表面的意义，还有内涵、联想的意义。英汉两种语言在表达方式、语言结构、文化背景上存在很大差异，因此，译者在翻译时不能囿于一定之规，一定要考虑到语境的影响。

3.1.1.3　语境

在翻译过程中，语境对于理解原文和构建译文起着非常重要的作用。事实上语篇是一个有机的整体，并不是词、短语和句子的简单罗列。如果把词语从语境中分离出来，那么词语就失去了生命力和活力，翻译出的文章也必将失去色彩。因此，我们要结合相应的语境去理解词义，从语篇整体把握原文和构建译文，使译文更加通顺流畅、更加合乎逻辑。如:

例:“It's true that peanuts have many uses，”said father，“but they're most beloved in one respect.Unlike nice-looking apples，peaches，and pomegranates，which hang their fruit on branches and win people's admiration with their brilliant colors，tiny little peanuts bury themselves underground and remain unearthed until they're ripe.When you come upon a peanutplat lying curled up on the ground，you can never immediately tell whether or not it bears any nuts until you touch them.”

【译文】爹爹说:“花生的好处固然很多，但有一样是很可贵的。这小小的豆不像好看的苹果、桃子、石榴，把它们的果实悬在枝上，鲜红嫩绿的颜色，令人一望而发生羡慕的心。它只把果子埋在地底，等到成熟，才容人把它挖出来。你们偶然看见一棵花生瑟缩地长在地上，不能立刻辨出它有没有果实，非得等到你接触它才能知道。”

【分析】在翻译中，译文所要表达的必须和原文的意思相对应，这种对应不仅是字面的对应，更重要的是在语义内涵和概念范围上的对应。此句中的brilliant通常译成“棒的，聪明的”，但在此句当中显然不能这么翻译，否则会让读者不知所云，所以我们应结合整篇语境去推敲词意，所以，brilliant应译为“鲜红嫩绿的”。从而使译文读起来比较通顺和贴切。

3.1.2　根据词语搭配和上下文变通词义

语言具有广泛性和变化性。英汉两种语言中的词语并不是一一对应的。有时我们在翻译的时候找不到与目标原文相对应的词语，从而选择了与原文意思相差较大的词语，这样做的后果是使翻译出的文章变得很生硬，从而失去了美感，也背离了翻译的标准。因此，我们要学会立足于原文特定的具体语境分析词义，判断和把握原文作者赋予这个词的确切含义，将其改变成一种适于表达原文精神实质的新义。这样可以有效避免生搬硬套地逐句死译，使译文更加通顺流畅。这就是所谓的变通词义。

3.1.2.1　词义的转化

翻译时，如果完全生搬硬套字典所给的字面意思，“对号入座”，会使译文生硬晦涩，含糊不清，甚至令人不知所云。因此，应根据上下文和原词的字面意思，作适当的转化。即便是同一个词，在不同的上下文中可能也有不同的意义，译者必须要根据相应的语境选择其相对应的正确意义，并且需要按照相应的搭配习惯和表达习惯加以再现。一定要结合语境，因为上下文不只是语言问题，它实际上提供了一个社会场合或情境，正是它决定了词义。

例1:By now the loose dust had all been blown away，leaving the roadway clean，and the rickshaw man quickened his pace.

【译文】路上浮尘早已刮净，剩下一条洁白的大道，车夫也跑得更快。

【分析】由于原语文化和译语文化之间的差异，原语中的词汇可能在译语文化中有不同的含义。因此，译者必须做出灵活的调整，以达到预期的交流目的。若把clean死译为“扫除”，不通顺。但转化为“洁白”，就能把原文的信息充分地传达出来，且易于读者理解。

例2:It happened during the winter of 1917.A bitter north wind was blowing，but，to make a living，I had to be up and out early.

【译文】这是1917年的冬天，大北风刮得正猛，我因为生计关系，不得不很早上路。

【分析】若把“up and out”死译为“进和出”，不通顺。但转译为“上路”，把原文的信息充分地传达出来，且易于读者理解。

例3:True learning implies a clear insight into human activities.Genuine culture involves the skillful manipulation of human relationships.

【译文】世事洞明皆学问，人情练达即文章。

【分析】若把culture死译为“文化”，并不能体现原文的意思。但转化为“文章”，就能充分体现原文的意义。

3.1.2.2　词义的具体化

在翻译过程中，由于原文中的词语比较抽象和笼统，我们需要做出相应的转化，使词语变得具体化，从而使语义变得明确。做到“一目了然”。

例1:There is more to their life than political and social and economic problem，more than transient everydayness.

【译文】他们的生活远不止那些政治的、社会的和经济的问题，远不止一时的柴米油盐问题。

【分析】everydayness由“日常性”这一抽象概念具体引申为日常生活所必需的“柴米油盐”问题，既生动又形象，明确了本句的含义。

例2:Having stood here for several hundred years，the statue had now come to detest it as a kind of forced drudgery.

【译文】这尊塑像站了几百年了，他觉得这是一种苦役。

【分析】forced drudgery由“强迫性工作”具体转译为“苦役”，将塑像拟人化，生动地展现出stand here对于它来讲也是一种苦役，使原句语义清晰明了。

例3:There was no ceiling，only crooked，bare rafters overhead，conveniently accessible for a rope to hang from.A most suitable place，indeed，for such a purpose.

【译文】这是个上吊的好地方，屋顶上没有顶棚，弯弯扭扭的木头椽子露在外面，随便哪根椽子都可以搭上绳子。

【分析】句中such a purpose若按字面意思解释应为“这样的目的”，结合上下文内容，我们可以得知，文中对于目的的具体所指是“上吊”。所以在译文中，句首将此词语具体化处理，使句中意思一目了然，消除了误解的可能性。(www.chuimin.cn)

3.1.2.3　词义的抽象化

如果原文词语词义比较具体和简单，不能直接用做翻译用词;而且有时也是译文的要求，太具体化的词义不符合相应语言的表达习惯。当遇到上述两种情形时吗，我们需要将这些具体的词进行抽象化处理，拓展它们的词义，使译文更符合表达习惯。

例1:We had no confidence in today's ambush because we were sure he had escaped last night.It seemed as useless as a blind man lighting a candle.

【译文】去设埋伏我们都没有信心，想他一定在昨天晚上就早溜了，今天去也是瞎子点灯白费蜡。

【分析】如果对“a blind man lighting a candle”直译，翻译出来的句子会不伦不类，而应该根据句子的需要，拓展译文的意思，使翻译出来的句子符合我们的表达习惯。

例2:Brain drain has been Kangding's No.1 concern; as a matter of fact，it has been an epidemic in this area.

【译文】人才外流一直是康定的头号问题，实际上，它已经成为那一地区带普遍性的严峻问题。

【分析】本句中这三个词都不能按照各自的本义去翻译，我们需要将这三个词进行抽象化翻译，brain由“头脑”抽象化为“人才”，concern由“关心的事情”抽象化为“问题”，epidemic由“流行病”抽象化为“带普遍性的严峻问题”。

3.1.3　词义选择中的常见错误

3.1.3.1　主观化

在翻译中，有时我们太过于注重个别词的词义，而没有结合语篇的语境去理解文章中词语词义，或者没有参考相关的资料，就凭着自己主观想法对文章做出判断，这样会使翻译出的文章完全脱离了原文的意思。这就是翻译的主观化现象，也是我们在翻译过程中最经常犯的错误。例如:

例1:Provided you fulfill the terms of the credit，we will accept and pay at maturity.

【译文】我行将承兑并于期满时支付信用证项下提示的汇票。

【分析】如果把此句中的accept和maturity分别翻译为“接受”和“成熟”，那么就背离了句子要表达的意思，忽略了这两个词在外贸英语中的特别意义。事实上在此处，accept意为“承兑，即远期汇票的付款人接受汇票，正式确认如期支付汇票金额的责任”;maturity意为“(票据的)到期”。

例2: The world arms bazaar is a Rubik's Cube of complex and shifting relationships and one of the world's largest business.

【译文】世界上军火市场像魔方一样错综复杂、变幻不定，而且是世界上最大的买卖之一。

【分析】句子中的Rubik's Cube，指的是匈牙利人鲁比克发明的魔方，用在这里是用来形容军火市场上的复杂和多变。如果按字面直译，就违背了句子要表达的意思，使译出的文章不够准确。

3.1.3.2　混淆词性

一词多类是英语的一大特点，即一个词可能属于不同的词性。因此，在翻译时必须首先确定词语在句子中的具体词性，再根据其词性来选择适当的词义。如:

例1:Never trouble trouble till trouble troubles you.

【译文】麻烦没来找你，就别去自找麻烦。

【分析】此句中共出现了四次trouble，但分属于不同的词类，第一、四个trouble是动词，第二、三个trouble是名词。

例2:Einstein，who developed the Theory of Relativity，arrived at this theory through mathematics.

【译文】爱因斯坦创立了相对论，他是通过数学得出这一理论的。

【分析】此句中的develop除了具有“发展”的意思外，还有一个重要意思是“创立，发明”。英语中一词多义的现象很普遍，因此要结合具体语境去理解词义。

【练习】

1.The chess-board is the world: the pieces are the phenomena of the universe; the rules of the game are what we call the laws of nature.The player on the other side is hidden from us.We know that his play is always fair，just and patient.But also we know，to our cost，that he never overlooks a mistake，or makes the smallest allowance for ignorance.

2.It was the best of times，it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom，it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief，it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of light，it was the season of darkness; it was the spring of hope，it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us，we had nothing before us; we were all going direct to Heaven，we were all going direct the other way.

3.As the night was fast falling，and as the moon，being past the full，would not rise early，we held a little council: a short one，for clearly our course was to lie by at the first lonely tavern we could find.

4.Love begins with a smile，grows with a kiss，ends with a tear.When you were born，you were crying and everyone around you was smiling.Live your life so that when you die，you're the one smiling and everyone around you is crying.

5.I was not delivered unto this world in defeat，nor does failure course in my veins.I am not a sheep waiting to be prodded by my shepherd.I am a lion and I refuse to talk，to walk，to sleep with the sheep.I will hear not those who weep and complain，for their disease is contagious.Let them join the sheep.The slaughterhouse of failure is not my destiny.

6.After the fall of France，Germany was incomparably stronger than England on the ground，about equally matched in the air，and gravely inferior at sea.

7.Last December，the Post first reported that probes were being made in each of those cities，but officials refused to confirm the story.

8.She clothed her children in strange raiment and gave them masks，and at her bidding the antique world rose from its marble tomb.A new Caesar stalked through the streets of risen Rome，and with purple sail and flute-led oars another Cleopatra passed up the river to Antioch.

9.And we appear to talk exclusively about people we know who have been committed to mental hospitals，about people we know who have been booked on drunk driving charges，and about property，particularly about property，land，price per acre and C-2 zoning and assessments and freeway access.

10.The other lady，who was fuller，and higher in color，with a small determined nose supported by vigorous black eyebrows，gave a good-humored laugh.“That is what our daughters think of us!”

11.During the wartime，years like these would have meant certain death for many people，many would have become beggars and others would have been compelled to sell their children.

12.Early in October，a dusting of snow appears on the surrounding mountain summits，gradually it worked its way lower until one morning we wake up to find that the snow has reached us.

13.Even the ameba is a far smaller and far more powerful information processor than today's best chips.

14.Lexicography provides at its best a joyful sense of busyness with language.One is immersed in the details of language as in no other field.Sometimes the details are so overwhelming and endless they sap the spirit and depress the mind.Often at the end of a hard day's work one realizes with dismay that the meager stack of finished work one has accomplished has an immeasurably slight impact on the work as a whole.

15.Many believe that man is not solving these problems quickly enough and that his selfish pursuit of possessions takes him past the point of no return before he fully appreciates the damage.

16.There is more agreement on the kinds of behavior referred to by the term—intelligence than there is on how to interpret or classify them.But it is generally agreed that a person of high intelligence is one who can grasp ideas readily，make distinctions，reason logically and make use of verbal and mathematical symbols in solving problems.

17.People of all classes—the rich man dealing with the Internal Revenue Service as will as the poor woman struggling with the welfare department—felt the treatment they had received had been bungled not efficient; unpredictable not rational; discriminatory not uniform; and all too often insensitive rather than courteous.

18.As a result，California's growth rate dropped during the 1970's，to 18.5%—little more than two thirds the 1960's growth figure and considerably below that of other western states.

19.But if the open air and adventure mean everything to Defoe，they mean nothing to Jane Austen.Hers is the drawing room and people talking and by the many mirrors of their talk revealing their characters.And if when we have accustomed ourselves to the drawing room and its reflections we turn to Hardy，we are once more spun around.

20.Under the law of competition the employer of thousands is forced into the strictest economies among which the rates paid to labor figure prominently.The price which society pays for the law like the price it pays for cheap com forts and luxuries is great but the advantages of this law are also greater than its cost—for it is to this law that we owe our wonderful material development which brings improved conditions in its train.