Unit 2

1. Unit 2 • Comparison between Chinese & English and the Translation between the Two Languages

2. List of Contents: • I. Comparison in Vocabulary • II. Comparison in Sentence Structure • III. Comparison in Discourse

3. How do you translate the following? • 1. 同学 classmates, schoolmates, roommates, fellow students (alumnus—alumni?), students, etc. 同班同学、同校同学、同宿舍同学、非同校同学或同校但不同时学习的同学（校友）、老师称呼同学们 • 2. 师兄/姐/弟/妹 upperclassmen (高年级生，学长）? Lowerclassmen? fellow students? students from an upper class / lower class? students from a higher/lower/senior/junior class?

4. 3. 老乡 fellow-townsman? fellow-villager? country fellow? somebody from one’s hometown, people from the same province/ city/ hometown / home village?

5. I. Comparison in Vocabulary • 1. English word formation is varied and complicated: • Prefixes alter the meanings of words; normal → abnormal regular → irregular • Suffixes alter the parts of speech. short → shorten friend → friendly • There are exceptions to each rule: hard → hardly cook → cooker In contrast, Chinese word formation is far less complicated, though the following pairs of words are different from each other in meaning, tone, or emotion. 老王&王老; 父亲&老爸

6. Ways of Building/Making English Words • 1). Combinations blackboard, white house, egg plant, goldfish, forget-me-not, People’s Republic of China • 2). Initials WTO, MBA, FOB, L/C, CAAC, G.M.T, DIY • 3). Abbreviations intercom（互通，互相联络）, ad, fax, ltd., co. • 4). Derivatives act: actor, actress, active, activity, actively, action, inactive, inactively, inaction（不做事）

7. 2. In human relationship, English wording is simple as one word may be used to refer to different people. • “cousin” refers to: 堂兄、堂弟、堂姐、堂妹、表哥、表弟、表姐、表妹 • “uncle” refers to: 叔叔、伯伯、舅舅、姑父、姨丈 • “brother-in-law”: 姐（妹）夫、内兄（弟）、夫（妻）的兄弟 • “grandparents”: 爷爷奶奶、外公外婆 • “father-in-law”: 家公、岳父 “nephew”侄子(女)、外甥(女) • -In contrast, different Chinese words have to be used to refer to these different people.

8. 3. In English polysemy (the co-existence of different meanings for the same word or phrase) is quite common while in Chinese this is not the case. white man 白人 white coffee 加了牛奶的咖啡 white lie 无伤大雅的谎言 white soul 纯洁的心灵 Therefore, when we translate something from English into Chinese, different Chinese words may be used for the same English word in different contexts.

9. a1. John is very ambitious as he wishes to pass the TOEFL with a high mark and win a scholarship for his study abroad. a2. The enemies are very ambitious and they want to defeat and kill all of us. （1雄心勃勃） （2野心勃勃） b1. His father warned him of what might happen. b2. The government warned the political dissidents against striking and breaking the social order. (1提醒) (2警告)

10. 4. In both Chinese and English, collocation plays a major role. It happens between verbs and nouns, adjectives and nouns, etc. • speak a language 讲一种语言 • tell a story 讲一个故事 • tell a lie 撒一次谎 • look at me 看着我 • look after a baby 照看婴儿

11. read newspaper • 看(读）报纸 • read one’s mind • 猜出一个人的心思 • a silly / serious mistake • 一个愚蠢/严重的错误 • an important / great contribution • 一个重要的/伟大的贡献

12. 5. How do the differences in vocabulary affect the expressions? • In English, various forms of words are used to refer to varied lexical and logical relationships, while in Chinese, choice of words, word order and the inner logical relationship between words, help to determine the meanings of sentences. • e.g.: He is regarded as a respectable teacher, who is widely respected by his students and to whom even some of his colleagues are respectful. • 大家认为他是个值得尊敬的老师，他的学生普遍尊重他，而他的一些同事也对他充满敬意。

13. 6. Therefore, when we translate something from English into Chinese, extra words may be added to represent verb tenses in English, whereas when we translate something from Chinese into English, various forms of words may be used to stand for verb tenses, speeches, tones, etc. e.g.: 1) In the evening, after the banquets, the concerts and the table tennis exhibitions, he would work on the drafting of the final communique. 晚上在参加宴会、出席音乐会、观看乒乓球表演之后，他还得起草最终的公报。（添加动词）

14. 2) This maiden lived with no other thought than to love me and be loved by me. 这个少女完全是为了与我之间的爱情而活着。(改变表达) 3). After eating and drinking, the old man went to the theatre. 酒足饭饱之后，老人去了戏院看戏。（增词）

15. 7. Expressiveness In English, nouns, prepositions, adjectives and adverbs are all very expressive, while in Chinese verbs, phrases and short sentences are more expressive. • When translating English into Chinese, nouns, prepositions, adjectives, etc., may be put into verbs, adverbs，conjunctions, or phrasal verbs; while predicate verbs may become object complements.

16. 1) That happened in my presence. • 那件事发生的时候，我就在现场。（介词-动词） • 2) She is shivering with cold. 她冷得发抖。（谓语动词-宾补） 她因为冷而发抖。（介词-连词） • 3) Dusk found little John crying on the street. 黄昏的时候，（人们）发现小约翰在大街上哭。（名词-状 语） • 4) The injured panda was found crying at the foot of the mountain. 有人发现受伤的熊猫在山脚下哭。（被动-主动）

17. How do you understand the following Chinese expressions with “吃”? • 吃白食/闲饭: lead an idle life • 吃闭门羹: be refused admission as an unwelcome guest; be denied entrance at the door • 吃不了兜着走: bear all the consequences; find oneself in serious trouble • 吃不消: be unable to stand • 吃醋: be jealous

18. “吃豆腐”: flirt with a woman; tease a woman flirtatiously • 吃官司: be sued in a court of law • 吃苦: bear/suffer/endure hardships • 吃亏: suffer losses • 吃素的: person who is easily taken advantage of; be useless; be good for nothing • “吃香”: be very popular

19. II. Comparison in Sentence Structure • 1. English – hypotaxis VS Chinese – parataxis Hypotaxis (形合): lexical devices （语言形式）are used to link up phrases and clauses to represent grammatical and logical relationships. Parataxis (意合): Inner meanings of words and clauses are relied on to represent grammatical and logical relationships.

20. In English, lexical devices like conjunctions, relative pronouns /adverbs, prepositions, etc., are used for connection to indicate relationships between words and clauses. In Chinese, few such lexical devices are used. Therefore, in Chinese – English translation, pronouns, conjunctions, and prepositions, etc., are usually added; in contrast, in English-Chinese translation, such words are usually omitted.

21. 1) 母亲对比尔说，“你一定要做完作业才可以出去玩。” “You must finish yourhomework before going out to play,” said Mother to Bill. (增加人称代词) • 2) 雪白 → as white as snow • 3) 赌博使得张小财这样一位七十年代人人羡慕的万元户如今变得一贫如洗。 Gambling has turned Zhang Xiaocai, a wealthy man everyone admired in the 1970s into oneas poor as a church mouse now. (意译-增加代词-用成语替代) • 4) 韩信将兵，多多益善。 When General Hanxin commands the troops, the more the better. （增加从句引导词）

22. 5). 我们应该相互尊重，相互学习，取长补短，共同进步。 • We should respect and learn from each other anddraw upon each other’s strong points to offset our own deficiencies for achieving common progress. (增加连词和介词) • 6) 再苦，也不能苦了孩子。 However poor we are, weshouldn’t makeour children suffer. (增加人称代词、系动词) • 7) 在互联网上下载东西时千万要警惕电脑病毒。 You must stay on the watch for computer viruses when downloading data from the Internet. (增加代词)

23. 2. In English, the core of a sentence falls in the beginning, while in Chinese, it comes in the end. • 1) I was all the more delighted when, as a result of the initiative of your Government, it proved possible to reinstate the visit so quickly. 由于贵国政府的提议，有可能很快恢复这次（被中断了的）访问，这使我感到特别高兴。 • 2) He became acutely delusional at the age of 30 in 1959. By this time he was about to become a full professor at MIT, where he’d been teaching since he was 23. 他从23岁起就在麻省理工学院执教，1959年他30岁，马上就要成为正教授，就在这个时候他患上了严重的妄想症。

24. 3)毛主席说，“一切反对派都是纸老虎。” (引语后置) “All the counterrevolutionaries are paper tigers,” said Chairman Mao. (Quotation is put in the beginning.) • 4) 就因为某个当权者作出的一个决定，学生们就得学一种外语。(主句后置) The students have to learn a foreign language just because someone in authority has made a decision. (The main clause is put in front of the subordinate clause.)

25. 3. English – Static while Chinese – Dynamic 1) With a basket in her hand, she trudged up the alley toher lodging. 她提着篮子，拖着沉重的脚步，走进一条小巷，来到了她的住处。（介词→动词） 2）One major goal is increasededucational opportunities for girls and women, which has been shown to lower birth rates and improve the family standard of living. 一个主要目标是扩大女孩和妇女受教育的机会，表现在降低生育率和提高家庭生活水平。 (形容词→动词)

26. 4. English – Impersonal（重物称） while Chinese – Personal （重人称） • In English, very often the subject of a sentence is impersonal while a Chinese sentence usually has a personal subject. 1) What happened to him? 他出什么事了？ 2) 他死于缺少医疗。 The reason for his death is lack of medicare. 3) 有志者，事竟成。 Where there is a will, there is a way.

27. 5. English – Passive while Chinese – Active • The Passive Voice is often used in English while the Active Voice is more often used in Chinese unless “被”, “由”, or “据说”, etc. are used. 1) It is said that Bill Gates was once the richest man in the world but now he only ranks No.3. 据说，比尔·盖茨曾经是世界上最富有的人，但现在他只排第三。 2)这位客人受宠若惊，深为感动。 The visitor was flattered and impressed. 3) 他们由于资金短缺，无法按时完成项目。 The lack of fund prevented them from finishing the project in time.

28. 6. English – more long sentences while Chinese – more short sentences • In English, long sentences are often used, with relative pronouns, relative adverbs, conjunctions, prepositions, and participles （分词）to link up clauses so as to make a compact complex. In contrast, short and parallel sentences are more used in Chinese.

29. 1) “外园”是那所中学的一个文学刊物。我为那个刊物做编辑和专栏撰稿人。这段经历对我的影响很大。 My experience in the 'Wai Yuan', a literature publication of the high school, where I worked as an editor and a columnist, exerted a significant influence on me.

30. 2) 结果，我的视野开阔了，我的思想更加成熟了；我获得了独当一面的能力，增强了合作精神，大幅度地提高了人际沟通能力。 As a result, my horizon was broadened, my mind became more mature, I gained an ability in undertaking a task independently, my willingness to work in a team was enhanced, and my interpersonal skills were dramatically improved.

31. 3) 今年暑期，我在深圳报业集团实习，为深圳经济日报撰稿。该报是当地一家大报纸，在全国的发行量达四十多万。 This summer, I conducted a field practice in Shenzhen Press Group, working as a reporter for Shenzhen Economic Daily, a leading local newspaper with a circulation of 400,000 all over China.

32. 7. English – post modifier （重后修饰语）while Chinese – pre-modifier （重前修饰语） • In English, the modifiers of a sentence and the subordinate clauses of a complex sentence are usually put in the end while in Chinese they come more often in the beginning.

33. 1)他第一次来听课，就被课堂上活跃的气氛吸引住了。1)他第一次来听课，就被课堂上活跃的气氛吸引住了。 He was attracted by the lively atmosphere in the classroom when he attended his first class • 2) 经过无数次尝试以后，他们终于找到了解决问题的方案。 They finally came up with the solution to the problem after numerous trials.

34. 3. Comparison in Discourse • Discourse: a lexical unit more than a sentence that expresses a complete meaning in a certain context. • 1) Structural Linking 句法衔接 In English, lexical devices like conjunctions, relative connectives（联系用语）, and sequence markers to link up sentences into a discourse. In contrast, parallel structures and successive actions are used to link up Chinese sentences into a discourse. (P20)

35. 2) Lexical Linking 词汇衔接 • In English, lexical devices like using pronouns and repetitions of words to link up sentences into a discourse. In contrast, parallel structures and successive actions are used to link up Chinese sentences into a discourse. These devices are also used in Chinese. • eg. 一年，两年，三年，你的望眼将穿 ，一年，两年，三年，我的归心似箭。 • Year in year out you’ve been looking forward with eager expectation to my home-coming; year in year out I’ve been looking forward with great anxiety to returning home.

36. 3) Logical Linking 逻辑衔接 • Logical linking includes both apparent linking（显性衔接） and covert linking （隐性衔接）. In Chinese, covert linking is often used while apparent linking is more often used in English. Therefore, when translating from Chinese into English, linking devices like connectives should be added. • eg. 当别人 惊叹他的成功时，他说了一句话：“感谢智慧给了我机会和财富” • When others hailed his success with admiration, he only said: “I’m grateful to wisdom for giving me the opportunity and wealth.”