英汉语言结构的很大不同是,汉语是意合(parataxis,paratactic)语言,以神统形,没有明显的衔接手段(cohesive ties)。有学者把这种不用衔接手段而达到的语义连贯称为“隐性连贯( covert coherence)”(连淑能1993)。
Nida (1982)称英语为形合(hypotaxis,hypotactic)语言。形合是指英语造句要使用各种明显的衔接手段,如各种连词、关系代词、介词、分词、代词、逻辑过渡词、同义词或近义词、类语( lexical phrases)等,因此英语的语义连贯是以显性连贯( overt coherence)为特征的,意形并重。
汉语句子追求语义关系上达意,不追求形式完整;英语句子不仅追求达意,而且还追求形式逻辑的合理性:英语造句用的是“形合法”,汉语造句用的是“意合法”。
例1
而且,事态不久又有恶性发展,半个月之后,一个给我家担水的人夫出来做证说,杀人的不是我爹,亲眼所见,王小姐到我家来的时候,出来迎她的是我的母亲,而且,手里提着一把切菜刀。
Moreover, things soon got worse in a perilous way, for half a month later, a man who was
hired to fetch water for us came forth testifying that it was not my father who committed
the murder and that, he saw with his own eyes, it was my mother, when Miss Wang got to our
house, that came out to greet her, and with a kitchen knife in her hand.
例2
当我去开国际笔会的时候,在这样一个各国作家汇集来谈国际和平与文化平等的场合里,我这读洋书长大的台湾人就发现,你可以和大家谈莎士比亚、歌德、托马斯曼、海明威,你就是不能谈曹雪芹、庄子、韩非或张爱玲,因为文化商品,大半是单向输出。
As I attended the International Pen Club where writers from various countries assembled to
talk about world peace and cultural equality, I discovered, as a Taiwanese who was brought
up to receive a foreign education, that you could talk to people about Shakespeare, Goethe,
Thomas Mann, or Hemingway, but simply not Cao Xueqin, Chuangtze, Han Feizi, or Eileen Chang
because cultural commodities are mostly one-way exports.
例3
彩虹是值得一提的,雨季的时候,在黄昏时分往往能见到彩虹,这个时候,如果是在飞来寺,需要回头向东南拍摄,彩虹的位置通常是在德钦河谷之上,背景是白玛雪山。
Rainbows are worthy of mention, for during the rainy seasons, they are often seen at the
twilight when, if you are at the Feilai Temple, you need to turn round to the southeast to
photograph the rainbows that are usually found over the Deqin Valley, with the snow-capped
Baima Mountain in the background.
例4
而美国的庄园主在苹果、梨子、葡萄、西瓜之类的瓜果快熟的时候.就在报刊上登广告,招揽游客去农场摘水果度假,城里的人热烈响应,纷纷根据广告上的示意地图开车前往,水果随便吃,累了可以在树下草地休息,呼吸新鲜空气,聆听鸟儿的歌唱,直到太阳西斜,人们还可以在农舍小住一夜,品尝农庄主人准备的别有格调的晚餐,享受到一个别致的假期。
But when fruits like apples, pears, grapes, and water melons are getting ripe, plantation-owners in America will put advertisements in the newspapers and magazines attracting visitors
to pick them and spend their holidays there, to which city residents respond quickly by driving
forward in force according to the sketch map in the ads, and they can eat whatever fruits, take
a rest under the tree when tired, breathe fresh air, listen to birds' song until the sunset, or
choose to stay there over the night to taste / sample the farmer's specially-prepared dinner of
unique flavor, enjoying a special holiday.
例5
以上译例表明,要翻译汉语的小句、流水句、松散句、无主句、短语等,必须使用英语的各种衔接手段(见译文中的斜体字),来把零散的汉语连接成一个英语的整体。也就是说,汉英翻译就是“化零为整”的
正如王力先生在他的《中国语法论》中说的那样:“西洋语法是硬的,没有弹性;中国语法是软的,富于弹性。所以英国人写文章往往化零为整,而中国人则往往化整为零。”(引自冯树鉴,1983)
转载请注明原文地址: