A Course in English-Chinese Translation

1. A Course in English-Chinese Translation

2. A General Survey to Translation

3. Warming-up Exercises: • 1.He would be the last man we could turn to  for help. • 2. Next to no wife, good wife is best. • 3. Half of the prize money he spent, and the rest was laid aside for a rainy day. • 4. John does not work hard because he wants to earn money. • 5. I always like to say the nicest things about her and she deserves them.

4. 1.He would be the last man we could turn to  for help. • (decision of meanings of words) • 2. Next to no wife, good wife is best. • (knowledge about idioms) • 3. Half of the prize money he spent, and the rest was laid aside for a rainy day. • (literal or free )

5. 4. John does not work hard because he wants to earn money. • (special negative sentences) • 5. I always like to say the nicest things about her and she deserves them. • (diction)

6. The general survey of translation • Brief introduction to China’s translation history (four waves) • Definitions of translation • Classification of translation • Prerequisites （必备条件）for translators

7. Brief introduction to China’s translation history (the First wave) • The first wave of translation in China’s history began with the introduction of Buddhism（佛教） into the country in the Six Dynasties (222-589) when Buddhist monks set about translating classics of Buddhism into Chinese. • This first wave of translation activities lasted into the Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279) Dynasties.

8. Brief introduction to China’s translation history (the First wave) • The most notable monastic translators of this period included An Shi-gao（安世高） (active between 148-170), Dharmaraksa （达摩）(232-309), Dao An（道安） (312 or 314-385), Kumarajiva（鸠摩罗什）(350-409), Hsuan-tsang（玄奘） (600-664) , among others.

9. Brief introduction to China’s translation history (the Second wave) • The second wave began in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties around the 17th century when Jesuit missionaries（耶稣传教士） from the West came to China to spread Catholicism and teach science. This period lasted for a span of about 200 years.

10. Brief introduction to China’s translation history (the Second wave) • It was an age when science was gaining importance in the Western world. • The most remarkable achievements during these two centuries were the introduction of such basic sciences as mathematics, geometry（几何学） and astronomy（天文学）

11. Brief introduction to China’s translation history (the Third wave) • The third wave started in the mid 19th century and ended after the May 4th Movement. • activity in the third wave was focused on works of social and military sciences. However, towards the end of the 19th century, literary translation began to flourish.

12. Lin Zexu, the special imperial envoy to Guangdong province in 1838, was regarded as the first Chinese who opened his eyes to look at the outside world. • Yan Fu, has not only translated many western books on sciences, but put forwards the famous three principles on translation：Faithfulness, expressiveness and Elegance.

13. Brief introduction to China’s translation history (the fourth wave) • The fourth wave of translation activity began after the May 4th Movement, was characterized by the translation of Marxist classics and proletariat（无产阶级） literary works. • This wave was once interrupted by the outbreak of the Cultural Revolution, but resumed its momentum in the late 1970s.

14. Brief introduction to China’s translation history (the Fourth wave) • In this period, many famous translators appeared. Lu Xun, the distinguished writer and translator, has introduced many literary works, such as “ 毁灭” “死魂灵”, etc. • Another was Zhu Shenghao(朱生豪), a well-known translator of Shakespeare's works.

15. Definitions of translation • By Chinese scholars • 1. 唐朝(618-907)贾公彦《义疏》“译即易， 为换易言语使相解也”  • 2. 宋代(960-1279)法云(1088-1158)《翻译名义集》“夫翻译者，谓翻梵天之语转成汉地之言。音虽似别，义则大同.”

16. Definitions of translation • by Oxford English Dictionary:“to turn from one language into another” • by Webster’s Third New International Dictionary:“to turn into one’s own or another language.” • by Chinese dictionary《辞海》and《汉语大词典》：“把一种语言文字的意义用另一种语言文字表达出来”

17. Definitions of translation • by American Translation Theorist Eugene A. Nida —尤金·奈达 in late 1960s: • Translation consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source language, first in terms of meaning and secondly in  terms  of style. • 翻译, 是在译语中用切近而又最自然的对等语再现原语的信息。首先是意义, 其次是文体。 

18. Examples: Translation improvement • 1) The motor did not stop running because the fuel was finished. • 马达没有停止转动，因为燃料用完了。 • 2) My daughter is very dear to me. • 我女儿对我很亲。 • 3) I doubt whether he likes this book. • 我怀疑他喜欢这本书。 • 4) I doubt whether he does not like this book. • 我怀疑他不喜欢这本书。

19. The disadvantages of the above definitions for translation: • - The social, cultural contexts are neglected • - The communicative nature of translation is not revealed • - That translation is a creative practice is not mentioned as Luxun once pointed out: “真正精妙的翻译，其可宝贵，实不在创作之下；而真正精妙的翻译，其艰难实倍于创作”

20. Scientific definition for translation: • - Translation means both the process and product of the language transferring activity. • - Translation means more than just the transferring of the meaning; it is also a communication of the two thoughts, cultures, and societies. • - Translation is a creative practice which largely involves the hard work and genius of the translator

21. Scientific definition for translation: • - Translation is an interdisciplinary subject which is closely related with semantics, semiotics(记号语言学), rhetoric, psychology, sociology, anthropology etc., and it is developing toward a independent science—translatology.

22. Scientific definition for translation: • - Translation is an art. Translation Aesthetics is an indispensable part of translatology. • - Translation is a purposeful activity, and it serves at least the promotion of mutual understanding and communication • Page 6:

23. Classification of translation • - According to how many languages involved: • －intralingual translation语内翻译translating from one dialect to another, or an ancient poem into modern language within the same language; • －interlingual translation 语际翻译translating between two different languages. (what we normally refer to)

24. Classification of translation •  - According to means involved: • —translating 笔译 • — interpreting 口译 • consecutive interpretation (连续传译) • simultaneous interpretation (同声传译) • —machine translating机器翻译

25. Classification of translation • - According to text type: • Translation of practical writing 应用文翻译 • Translation of scientific writing 科技翻译 • Translation of political writing 政治翻译 • Translation of news text 新闻翻译 • Translation of literature 文学翻译

26. Classification of translation • -According to the ways of handling the source text (c.f. text book P7): • 全译Full text translation (what is discussed in this course) • 节译Abstract translation • 摘译extract translation • 编译editing translation • 译述free rendering

27. Prerequisites for translators • 1. Linguistic proficiency(熟练/精通): • 2. Encyclopedic（如百科词典的）knowledge: • 3. Sense of responsibility： • 4. translation techniques

28. 1. Linguistic proficiency(熟练，精通): • vocabulary; • precision; • grammar;

29. 2. Encyclopedic（如百科词典的）knowledge: • the broadening of the range and scope of our general knowledge: especially the cultural and historical affairs, traditional custom, and the subject matter, etc.

30. 3. Sense of responsibility： • Following the original work’s intention； • Professional ethics； • Improving competence

31. Eg: • 克林顿总统1998年访华的高潮是在北京大学发表演讲。演说现场直播所用的同声翻译由美国自己提供—这是美国总统首次直接对中国民众发表讲话。通过电视观看演说的美国评论员认为这是一个惊人的成功。但在中国，克林顿的演说一结束，中央电视台的主持人就向观众表达歉意，因为美国人“翻译的中文不伦不类”。虽然演说词的翻译在意思上到位，但表述拙劣，容易造成误解，堪称失败的翻译。

32. 中新网1月17日电 据法新社报道，伊朗官方通讯社IRNA今天早上报道， • 伊朗总统内贾德已允许美国有线电视新闻网继续在伊朗工作。美国有线电视新闻网将“伊朗拥有和平利用核能的权利，这样的权利是不可剥夺的”，错误地翻译为“伊朗有权发展核武”。美国有线电视新闻网意识到这一错译后，已就此纠正并澄清了内贾德的讲话，它还就此作出了道歉。同时，雇佣这名口译人员的翻译公司也已就此对美国有线电视新闻网进行了道歉，这家公司的老板霍华德称:“显然，我们对此非常重视，我们将永远不会再用他了。”她说，这名翻译以前的工作纪录非常好，其中包括为美国有线电视新闻网所提供的服务。她说，没有理由相信这位翻译故意误译了内贾德的话。

33. Recommended materials and sources • 英汉百科翻译大词典》曹焰．张奎武主编，人民日报出版社，1992 • 《新世纪汉英大词典》，惠宇主编．外研社，2002 • 《英汉互译实用教程》 郭著章 武汉大学出版 2004 • 《汉英翻译基础》 陈宏薇 上海外语教育出版 • 《散文佳作108篇》(英汉、汉英对照)乔萍等编著 译林出版社 • 《实用翻译教程》，冯庆华，上海外语教育出版社，2002 • 《英汉翻译教程》，庄绎传，外语教学与研究出版社，1999 • 《英汉翻译基础》，古今明，上海外语教育出版社，1997 • 《翻译论》，许钧，湖北教育出版社，2003 • http://www.tac-online.org.cn/中国译协网 • http://www.china-translate.net/中国翻译网 • http://www.zgfy.org/中国翻译网 • http://tscn.tongtu.net/中国翻译研究

34. Module tests for the final academic score • 学业成绩评价 ＝ 形成性评价（50％） ＋终结性评价（50％）