英语翻译技巧:十种常见的翻译腔
中外文化历史背景不同,造成了不同的思维方式和不同的语言表达形式。语言的形式与内容,句子的表层结构与深层意义,在不同的语言文化下是有很大区别的。下面小编就和大家分享英语翻译技巧:十种常见的翻译腔,希望能够帮助到大家,来欣赏一下吧。
英语翻译技巧:十种常见的翻译腔
1. 作为……
第一个要介绍的翻译腔是什么?答案是as,意思是“当作、作为”,但在翻译时不一定要把这个字翻出来哦!要先想想某句话若换用中文说出来,是否能有更好的表达方式,看看这类的例子吧!
原文:As a husband, he is affectionate.
翻译腔:作为一个丈夫,他十分地深情。
→ 他是个深情的丈夫。
2. ……之一
这类的翻译腔经常被读者忽略,先看看“砚乃文房四宝之一”这句话没问题吧?但再看看“李白是中国伟大的诗人之一”,发现哪里不对劲了吗?这句话若翻成“李白是中国伟大的诗人”是不是简洁许多,也没有改变原文的意思呢?还可以参考以下的例子:
原文:He’s one of the famous writers.
翻译腔:他是有名的作家之一。
→ 他是位有名的作家。
3. 被动用法
中文里的被动用法不如英文常见,因此在转换语言时别忘了要先想想“这种讲法地道吗?”,适时调整主动及被动的用法,这样译文才会读起来比较顺。
原文:His opinion isn’t accepted.
翻译腔:他的意见不被人们接受。
→ 他的意见大家都不接受。/ 大家都不接受他的意见。
4. 关于……/有关……
这与前面所提到的“作为……”十分类似,与英文相比,介词在中文相对不怎么重要,因此在翻译as及about等介词时,一样可以多想想我们中文里是否有这样的用法,才不会显得画蛇添足。
原文:We have talked about norovirus today.
翻译腔:我们今天已经讨论过关于诺罗病毒的事了。
→ 我们今天讨论过诺罗病毒了。
5. 连接词
你会说“一年有春、夏、秋和冬”吗?相信不会!但是在翻译时大家很容易把多余的“和”或是“以及”翻进去,看看这例子吧!
原文:In the park, we sang and danced.
翻译腔:我们在公园唱歌和跳舞。
→ 我们在公园唱歌跳舞。(我们是不是更习惯这种说法呢?)
6. 复数
从句子里的某个单词是否加了s或是其他的形态变化来看,我们可以借此判断单复数,但是中文没有这样的变化,我们会在名词前加上“许多”或是数量,甚至不加修饰只透过前后文来强调复数,而不是加上“们”,看看以下的范例吧!
原文:All of the doctors in the city have disappeared.
翻译腔:在这城市所有的医生们都消失了。
→ 这城市所有的医生都消失了。
7. 修饰词太长
大家应该知道,修饰词是用来修饰补充的,在一个英文单词前后要加上几个形容都可以,但是中文没有这样的用法,因此如果遇到特别长的修饰词,不妨将原句切割成两三句,这样不只能够完整表达原意,还能让语意更加通顺。看看以下例子吧!
原文:I saw a girl who talks and looks like your sister.
翻译腔:我看到一个说话像且长得也像你姐妹的女生。
→ 我看到一个说话像你姐妹的女生,而且她们长得也很像。
8. 多余的修饰词
看过了太长的修饰词,知道什么是多余的修饰词吗?举个例子:孙中山先生成功地推翻了满清。因为推翻本身就是个已经“完成”的行为,因此无须再将原文中出现的successful翻译出来。下面的例子也是:
原文:Melody is mainly seen as an outstanding singer.
翻译腔:Melody 主要地被视为一个卓越的歌手。
→ Melody 被视为一个卓越的歌手。
9. 当……
看到when,是不是就想翻成“当……时”?其实不需要每次都翻出“当”,不然整篇文章就会如余光中先生所说:“五步一当,十步一当,当当之声,遂不绝于耳了!”尤其有些句子加了“当”,你会发现整句话变得很像“英式中文”,看看例子就知道了:
原文:When you finish the draft, send it to me.
翻译腔:当你写完稿子的时候,把它寄给我吧。
→ 稿子写完后就寄给我吧。
10. 弱动词
举个例子,像press(压)这个字可以转变为apply pressure,也就是施加压力,这里的apply就是弱动词。
在此弱动词为意思比较笼统的动词,而目前中文最常出现的弱动词,大家一定猜得到,就是“进行”“作出”。如果被滥用,许多动词将会慢慢被分解成繁琐的短语,失去动词本身的力量。
原文:The audiences gave good reactions to the speaker last night.
翻译腔:昨晚听众对演讲者作出十分热烈的反应。
→ 昨晚听众对演讲者反应十分热烈。
翻译资格考试一级笔译考试精选习题
Appealing Returns
丰厚诱人的回报
Contingent fees, in which clients pay lawyers only if a case is won, have long been a feature of America’s legal system. Many other countries used to bar them, wary of importing America’s ambulance-chasing culture. But a belated acceptance of their benefits means they are now widely allowed. “No-win, no-fee” arrangements help shift risks from parties to a suit to their lawyers, and make it less likely that a would-be plaintiff decides not to press a strong case for fear of a big financial loss.
只有在胜诉后才需要向律师付费的“风险代理收费制”一直是美国法律体系的一个特色。其他许多国家曾禁止这种操作,担心将美国的讼棍文化“引狼入室”。但这种收费制的好处终于得到迟来的认可,如今已被广泛采用。有了“不赢不收钱”的协定,风险就从诉讼各方转移到了他们的律师身上,也就不大会发生原本颇有些胜算,却因为害怕白白烧钱而放弃打官司的情况。
They accepted money from third parties to fund cases in exchange for some of the winnings. Litigation finance has since taken off. Fortune 500 companies and New York’s elite law firms increasingly tap outside capital when pursuing multi-million-dollar suits.
他们接受第三方的资金来支付诉讼开支,作为交换,向对方支付部分诉讼赔偿所得。自那之后,诉讼融资业务蓬勃发展起来。《财富》世界500强公司和纽约的精英律师事务所在打数百万美元的官司时,越来越多地利用外部资本。
Funds that invest in litigation are on the rise. In the past 18 months some 30 have launched; over $2bn has been raised. Last year Burford Capital, an industry heavyweight, put $1.3bn into cases – more than triple the amount it deployed in 2016. Lee Drucker of Lake Whillans, a firm that funds lawsuits, says he gets calls weekly from institutional investors seeking an asset uncorrelated with the rest of the market – payouts from lawsuits bear no relation to interest-rate rises or stock market swings.
投资于诉讼案件的基金逐步增多。过去18个月里成立了约30支这样的基金,融资超过20亿美元。去年,业界“大腕”伯福德资本(Burford Capital)为资助诉讼案件投入了13亿美元,是2016年投入金额的三倍多。诉讼资助公司Lake Whillans的李·德鲁克(Lee Drucker)说他每周都会接到机构投资者的电话,他们想寻觅一种与市场其余部分不相关的资产——诉讼赔偿金与利率上涨或股市起伏没有任何关联。
Such outside funding does not just enable plaintiffs to pursue potentially lucrative cases. It also allows law firms to hedge risk. Some clients, worried about the misaligned incentives caused by law firms’ sky-high hourly rates, insist on partial or full contingency-payment schemes. Outside funding lets firms recoup some revenue even if they do not win a case. “Firms that lose are still going to take a bath,” says Nicholas Kajon of Stevens & Lee. “But the write-off won’t be quite as bad.”
这样的外部资金不仅能让原告方发起有可能会带来大笔赔偿金的诉讼,还能让律师事务所对冲风险。一些委托人担心律师事务所按小时收取的天价费用会造成不当激励,因而坚持部分或全部采用风险代理付费方案。有了外部资金,律师事务所就算没能赢得诉讼也能挽回部分收入。“输了官司,律所还是会亏一大笔钱,”Stevens & Lee律师事务所的尼古拉斯·卡永(Nicholas Kajon)说,“但会少亏一些。”
Returns are usually a multiple of the investment or a percentage of the settlement, or some combination of the two. Funders of a winning suit can expect to double, triple or quadruple their money. Cases that are up for appeal, where the timespan is short – usually 18-24 months – and the chance of a loss slimmer, offer lower returns. New cases that are expected to take years offer higher potential payouts.
诉讼投资的收益通常为投资额的一个倍数或赔偿金的一定比例,或者两者兼有。胜诉案件的资助者所获收益可能会是其出资金额的二到四倍。准备上诉的案子审理时间短——通常在18到24个月之间,败诉的可能性相对较低,投资回报也较低。那些预计将耗时多年的新案子可能会带来更高的回报。
A maturing market means more sophisticated offerings. To spread risk, funders are bundling cases into portfolios and taking a share of the proceeds. Last year Burford ploughed $726m into portfolio deals, compared with $72m into stand-alone suits.
市场日渐成熟,出现了更复杂的投资方式。为了分散风险,诉讼融资机构将案件打包成投资组合,从中抽取一部分收益。伯福德去年投入了7.26亿美元用于组合投资各类案件,而在单个案件上的投入为7200万美元。
As funders compete for high-quality investments, opportunities in new markets arise. Bentham IMF, a litigation funder based in New York, has joined Kobre & Kim, a law firm, to set up a $30m fund for Israeli startups to pursue claims against multinationals – for example, over trade-secret violations. A burgeoning secondary market is likely to develop further, allowing investors to cash out before long-running suits are closed. Burford recently sold its stake in an arbitration case concerning two Argentine airlines for a return of 736%. Such mouth-watering profits should keep luring capital into the courtroom.
随着诉讼融资公司争相抢夺高质量的投资项目,在新市场中也出现了机会。总部设在纽约的诉讼融资公司Bentham IMF与高博金律师事务所(Kobre & Kim)共同设立了一个规模达3000万美元的基金专门支持以色列的创业公司向跨国公司索赔——例如在侵害商业机密方面。一个新兴的二级市场看来会进一步发展,让投资者得以先一步套现离场,而不用等待一宗旷日持久的诉讼案尘埃落定。伯福德近期出售了自己在一个涉及两家阿根廷航空公司的仲裁案中的股份,回报率达736%。如此令人垂涎的利润水平应该会吸引资本源源不断地流向法庭。
翻译资格考试一级笔译考试精选习题
The Future of News back to the Coffee House
新闻产业的未来,重回咖啡屋时代
The internet is taking the news industry back to the conversational culture of the era before mass media
互联网正在将新闻产业带回到大众传媒出现前的时代。
Three hundred years ago news travelled by word of mouth or letter, and circulated in taverns and coffee houses in the form of pamphlets, newsletters and broadsides. “The Coffee houses particularly are very commodious for a free Conversation, and for reading at an easier Rate all manner of printed News,” noted one observer. Everything changed in 1833 when the first mass-audience newspaper, the New York Sun, pioneered the use of advertising to reduce the cost of news, thus giving advertisers access to a wider audience. At the time of the launch America’s bestselling paper sold just 4,500 copies a day; the Sun, with its steam press, soon reached 15,000. The penny press, followed by radio and television, turned news from a two-way conversation into a one-way broadcast, with a relatively small number of firms controlling the media.
三百年前,新闻以口头或书面形式传播,并且以小册子、简报的形式在小餐馆或咖啡屋中流传。据一名观察员说,咖啡屋是进行自由交谈的不二选择,并且也是休闲阅读的理想场所。但是事情在1883年发生重大转变,第一个面向大众的报纸,纽约《太阳报》诞生,并且首次引入广告来降低新闻成本,一举两得地为赞助商寻到更多的观众。当纽约报纸面世时,美国销量最好的杂志每天可以卖4500份;但是《太阳报》却很快达到15000的销量。报纸以及随后而来的广播、电视将新闻传播方式从两方面的交流变为一方面的由少数公司控制的传播。
Now, as our special report explains, the news industry is returning to something closer to the coffee house. The internet is making news more participatory, social, diverse and partisan, reviving the discursive ethos of the era before mass media. That will have profound effects on society and politics.
现在,正如我们的特别报道所言,新闻产业正在向之前咖啡屋相近转变。互联网使新闻变得更易参与,更具有社会性,更容易听到不同的声音,让新闻从大众传媒时代重回百家争鸣的盛况。这对社会及政治将产生重大影响。
In much of the world, the mass media are flourishing. Newspaper circulation rose globally by 6% between 2005 and 2009, helped by particularly strong demand in places like India, where 110m papers are now sold daily. But those global figures mask a sharp decline in readership in rich countries.
在世界大部分地区,大众传媒都在蓬勃发展。世界范围内的报纸销量从2005年到2009年增长了6%,特别是有巨大需求的印度地区,每天就有1亿1千万的销量。但在富裕国家读者人数却大幅下降。
Over the past decade, throughout the Western world, people have been giving up newspapers and TV news and keeping up with events in profoundly different ways. Most strikingly, ordinary people are increasingly involved in compiling, sharing, filtering, discussing and distributing news. Twitter lets people anywhere report what they are seeing. Classified documents are published in their thousands online. Mobile-phone footage of Arab uprisings and American tornadoes is posted on social-networking sites and shown on television newscasts. An amateur video taken during the Japanese earthquake has been watched 15m times on YouTube. “Crowdsourcing” projects bring readers and journalists together to sift through troves of documents, from the expense claims of British politicians to Sarah Palin’s e-mails. Social-networking sites help people find, discuss and share news with their friends.
过去十年整个西方世界中,人们逐渐放弃报纸和电视,而是通过其它的方式与时俱进。更引人著目的是更多的普通民众参与到新闻的收集、分享、筛选和讨论中。推特使人们可以随时随地将他们的所见所闻相互分享。各种各样的文件被无数在线用户上传。手机拍客们拍摄的阿拉伯暴乱以及美国龙卷风的视频和照片在社交网络中广泛传播并且为电视报道所引用。YouTube上一部摄于日本地震期间的相关视频被浏览一千五百万次。“众包”将读者与记者紧密联系在了一起,共同处理各种新闻文件,从英国政客的消费声明到Sarah Palin的邮件。社交网络为人们与好友之间寻找、讨论和分享新闻提供了平台。
And it is not just readers who are challenging the media elite. Technology firms including Google, Facebook and Twitter have become important (some say too important) conduits of news. Celebrities and world leaders, including Barack Obama and Hugo Chávez, publish updates directly via social networks; many countries now make raw data available through “open government” initiatives. The internet lets people read newspapers or watch television channels from around the world: The Guardian, a British newspaper, now has more online readers abroad than at home. The web has allowed new providers of news, from individual bloggers to sites such as the Huffington Post, to rise to prominence in a very short space of time. And it has made possible entirely new approaches to journalism, such as that practised by WikiLeaks, which provides an anonymous way for whistleblowers to publish documents. The news agenda is no longer controlled by a few press barons and state outlets, like the BBC.
不仅仅是读者在向传统传媒发起挑战。包括谷歌、脸谱、推特在内的科技公司也逐渐成为新闻传播的重要渠道。包括奥巴马在内的许多名流和政要通过社交网络公布他们的实时动态。互联网打破了人们阅读报纸及收看电视频道的地域限制:《卫报》,一份英国报纸,现在较其本土读者有更多的网上读者。从博客到类似Huffington Post的网站,互联网使更多人成为新闻的可能提供者,在很短时间内就获得大量关注。互联网也为新闻的发布提供了一种全新的可能,正如维基解密所做的那样,为揭密者提供匿名发布信息的平台。新闻媒体再也不会为少数传媒巨头或部分政府部门所控制,就像BBC。
In principle, every liberal should celebrate this. A more participatory and social news environment, with a remarkable diversity and range of news sources, is a good thing. A Texan who once had to rely on the Houston Chronicle to interpret the world can now collect information from myriad different sources. Authoritarian rulers everywhere have more to fear. So what, many will say, if journalists have less stable careers? All the same, two areas of concern stand out.
原则上来说,每个自由主义人士都应该为此庆祝。一个更具有参与性与社会性的新闻环境,一个更加集思广益、百家争鸣的新闻环境是值得庆祝的。德克萨斯人曾经必须依靠Houston Chronicle来与外界保持联系,但现在却可以通过无数的渠道得到他们想要的消息。专治统治者忧心忡忡。但也有很多人发问,这会不会对记者这个职业产生冲击呢?同样引起关注的还有两点。
The first worry is the loss of “accountability journalism”, which holds the powerful to account. Shrinking revenues have reduced the amount and quality of investigative and local political reporting in the print press.
首先就是担心负责任的媒体会越来越少,这些媒体会对他们报道的内容负责。经费的减少降低了调查研究和本地政治报道的数量和质量。
But old-style journalism was never quite as morally upstanding as journalists like to think. Indeed, the News of the World, a British newspaper which has been caught hacking into people’s mobile phones, is a very traditional sort of scandal sheet. Meantime, the internet is spawning new forms of accountability. A growing band of non-profit outfits such as ProPublica, the Sunlight Foundation and WikiLeaks are helping to fill the gap left by the decline of watchdog media. This is still a work in progress, but the degree of activity and experimentation provides cause for optimism.
但传统传媒却并不总是像记者所想像的一样高尚。世界新闻报,一份英国报纸,被指证窃听人们的手机,这是非常普遍的丑闻之一。同时,互联网正在传播一种新的责任形式。一些个还在增加的非盈利组织,像Propublica、Sunlight Foundation以及wikiLeaks,正在帮助减小由于“看门狗”媒体下降带来的断带。这是一项仍未完成的任务,但是活动和实验的程度为乐观主义者提供了信心。
The second concern has to do with partisanship. In the mass-media era local monopolies often had to be relatively impartial to maximise their appeal to readers and advertisers. In a more competitive world the money seems to be in creating an echo chamber for people’s prejudices: thus Fox News, a conservative American cable-news channel, makes more profits than its less strident rivals, CNN and MSNBC, combined.
第二个值得关注的就是党派性。在大众传媒时代,地方寡头必须保持相对的公正性以吸引读者和赞助商。在一个更具有竞争性的世界中,金钱似乎正在为偏见提供肥沃的土壤:就像Fox News,一家美国保守派有线新闻电视台,比没有它言语犀利的两家CNN和MSNBC合起来赚得还要多。
In one way the increasing availability of partisan news is to be welcomed. In the past many people – especially right-wing Americans, since most American television was left-leaning – had nothing to watch that reflected their views. But as news is becoming more opinionated, both politics and the facts are suffering: witness some American conservatives’ insistence that Barack Obama was born outside America, and others’ refusal to accept that taxes must rise.
在某种情况下,大量政党新闻的涌入是会被欢迎的。在过去,许多人——特别是右翼人士,因为大多数美国电视是左倾的——在电视上找不到反应他们政治立场的节目。政治与事实都在忍受固执己见的新闻的打击:有人坚称奥巴马是在国外出生的,也有人拒绝接受税收必须上调。
What is to be done? At a societal level, not much. The transformation of the news business is unstoppable, and attempts to reverse it are doomed to failure. But there are steps individuals can take to mitigate these worries. As producers of new journalism, they can be scrupulous with facts and transparent with their sources. As consumers, they can be catholic in their tastes and demanding in their standards. And although this transformation does raise concerns, there is much to celebrate in the noisy, diverse, vociferous, argumentative and stridently alive environment of the news business in the age of the internet. The coffee house is back. Enjoy it.
有什么需要做的呢?在社会层面需要我们做的并不多。新闻产业的转型势不可挡,任何意图阻止转型的行为都注定失败。但个人确实可以采取有效措施来减轻前面提到的几种担心。大众作为新式传媒的缔造者,可以自己对所谓事实的真实性把关并公开信息来源。而作为新闻受众的时候,大众可以接触更多领域的信息并且降低需求的标准。虽然转型确实带来了一些麻烦,但更值得庆祝的是在互联网时代有这样一个集思广益、百家争鸣的新闻平台。咖啡屋时代即将回归。与它共舞吧!