-
English
and
Chinese
belong
to
two
different
language
families:
English,
the
Indo-European
family and
Chinese,
the Sino-Tibetan
family.
The two
languages also
have
different
cultural
backgrounds.
Translation
is
an
interlingual
and
intercultural
transfer
and
multi-dimensional
contrastive
studies
of
the
two
language
and
cultures
are
therefore
essential.
Therefore,
before
translation,
we
should
pay
attention
to
the
cultural elements.
According
to
the
difference
between
English
and
Chinese
translation,
There
are
ten
pairs of
features
which we should
take
into consideration
when
we translate
English
to
Chinese.
1 Synthetic and Analytic
(
综合语和分析语
)
A
synthetic
language
is
characterized
by
frequent
and
systematic
use
of
inflected
forms to express
grammatical relationships.
An
analytic
language
is
marked
by
a
relatively
frequent
use
of
function
words,
auxiliary
verbs, and changes
in
word order
to
express
syntactic
relations,
rather
than
of inflected
forms.
Modern
English
has
become
a
analytic
language,
but
Chinese
is
a
typical
analytic
language.
Inflection(
变化词形
),
word order
（安排词序）
and the use
of function
words(
运用虚
词
) are
employed as the three grammatical devices in
building English sentences.
1.1 Inflectional vs. Non---inflectional
In
English,
nouns,
pronouns
and
verbs
are
inflected.
Such
grammatical
meaning
as
parts of speech,
gender, case, person, tense, aspect,
voice,
mood and non--finite
verb,
can
bta,expressed
by
the
use
of
inflected
forms
with
or
without
the
help
of
function
words
and
word
order,
whereas
in
Chinese
this
is
generally
not
true:
the
above
grammatical
meanings
are
mostly
implied
in
contexts
or
between
the
lines,
though
often with the help of word order and
function words,
e.g
They
told
me
that by
the end of the
year
they
would have been
working
together
for thirty
years.
他们告诉我，到（那年）年底，他们在一起工作就有三十年了。
1.2 Words Order: Flexible vs.
Inflexible
Word
order
in
English
is
not
so
rigid
as
in
Chinese.
More
ways
of
inversion
grammatical or
rhetorical, are often seen in English.
e.g Interrogative
inversion(
疑问倒装
)
（
1
）
What
in the world do
you mean?
你的意思究竟是什么啊？
（
2
）
Exclamatory
inversion (
惊叹倒装
)
What
a beautiful voice
you have!
你有多么好的嗓音啊！
The
flexible
word order
in
English
is
mainly the result of the
grammatical concord of
words
in the sentence
which
is
achieved by
inflection. When expressing temporal or
logical
sequences,
English
may
make
full
use
of
inflections
and
function
words
to
make its word order flexible, while
Chinese, with the help of function words ,arranges
its
word order according to
certain rules of temporal or
logical
sequences
：
Category
two contains only
four items, and 2 I shall say no more about them
except that,3 since
they are under
consideration,4 we should not let the grass grow
under feet, but attempt,
as early as
possible, to arrive at a common understanding in
the interest of humanity
，
按照汉
语的思维习惯重新排序，组成三个句子，顺序为
1-3-5-4-2
< br>（
.
为了人类的
利益，
我们应该不失时机，
力图尽快达成共识。
除此之
外，
别的我就不多说了。
）
1.3 The Use of Function
Words
：
English and Chinese
Make Use of Different Types of
Function
Words.
English
function
words
include
the
article, prepositions, auxiliary verbs,
coordinators
and
subordinators.
While
Chinese
function
words
include
particles,
connectives
and
prepositions. Each has
its own features in the use of these words.
e.
g
They
are students
of our school.
他们是本校的部分学生。
They
are
the
students of our
school.
他们是本校的全体学生。
Chinese is rich in
particles ,such as aspect particles (
动态
助词：
着，
了，
过
)
，
structural
particles
(
结构助词：的，地，得
)and emotional
particles (
语气助词，呢，吗，吧）
e.g
这回我可亲眼看见
啦
！
（感叹语气）
This time I
’
ve
actually seen it for myself.
English
has a
large number of
prepositions and prepositional phrases which are
often
in
use,
while Chinese has a few prepositions
which are
mostly
“
borrowed
”
from
their
corresponding verbs.
e.g: Peter drew his knife on the
robber.
彼得拔刀向那个强盗坎
去
。
Who
,whom
,whose,
that
,what
,which
,when
,where,
why
and
how,
there
are
conjunctive
and
relative
pronouns
are
used
as
coordinating
and
subordinating
in
English ,this phenomenon
is rare in Chinese.
e.g. Practically
all substance expand
when
headed and contract
when
cooled.
几乎所有的物质都是热胀冷缩的。
1.4 Intonation vs. Tone
The
above
three
grammatical
devices,
inflection, word order, and
the
use of
function
words, have much to
do with the role of phonetic features in the two
language.
English is an
intonation language while Chinese is a tone
language.
2 Rigid vs. Supple
(
刚性与柔性
)
English
sentence
structure
is
composed
of
none
phrase(s)
and
verb
phrase(s).
It
has
become an invariable custom to have a
subject before a verb , and therefore a sentence
does
not
contain
a
subject
and
a
verb
is
felt
to
be
incomplete.
The
subject(s)
must
agree with the predicate verb (V) in
person and number, etc. This rigid
S
—
V concord
forms
the kernel of sentence .with the predicate verb
controlling other main members.
English
sentences,
however
long
and
complicated,
can
be
reduced
to
five
basic
patterns: SV
, SVP, SVO,
SV
oO, SVOC.
English
sentence
can
be
summarized
as
these
five
patterns
or
their
variants(
变式
),
expansion(
扩展
),
omission, combination (
组合
) ,
or inversion.
English
subject-predicate
structure
appears
rigid
as
a
result
of
certain
grammatical
bonds,
including
the
patternization
and
the
principles
of
grammatical
and
notional
concord.
Chinese however, is relatively free
from the government of S
—
V
concord and formal
markers.
The
subject
—
predicate
structure
is
unusually
varied,
flexible
and
therefore
complicated and
supple.
The subject of a Chinese
sentence is varied, often optional:
文章翻译完了。
（受事主语）
This article has been translated.
累得我站不起来了。
（无主句）
I
’
m so exhausted
that I can
’
t stand up.
The predicate of a Chinese sentence is
also varied and complicated:
e.g 1
天高云淡。
（形容词作谓语）
The
sky is high and the clouds are pale.
2
他出国留学去了。
（连动式谓语）
He has gone aboard for further studies
.
In addition, there are quite a few
“
illogical
”
< br> expressions in Chinese :
晒衣服：
to bask in the sun
恢复疲劳：
to get refreshed
晒太阳：
to sun
one
’
s clothes
恢复健康：
to recover
one
’
s health
More
ambiguity
can
be
found
in
Chinese
due
to
the
lack
of
connectives,
inflections
and other grammatical markers:
1
他欠你的钱（他
+
欠你钱
/
他欠你的
+
钱）
2
热爱人民
的总理（热爱
+
人民的总理
/
热爱人民的
+
总理）
In
addition,
the
suppleness
of
the
Chinese
language
also
manifests
itself
in
the
“run
--
on”
sentences,
which
is
composed
of
the
“full
sentence”
and
the
“minor
sentence”.
3. Hypotactic VS Paratactic
(
形合与意合
)
Hypotactic
is
the
dependent
or
subordinate
construction
or
relationship
of
clauses
with
connectives.
Parataxis
is
the
arranging
of
clauses
one
after
the
other
without
connectives showing
the relation between them.
To clarify
the relations between
words
phrases or clauses,
English
more often
resorts
to overt
cohesion
（显性接应）
frequently
using various cohesive ties such as relatives,
connectives, prepositions, and some
others.
e.g
When
I try to understand
what
it
is that prevents so many Americans
from
being as
happy
as
one
might
expect,
it
seems
to
me
that
there
are
two
causes,
of
which
one
goes much deeper than
the other.
By
the
contrast,
Chinese
more
frequently
relies
on
convert
coherence
and
context,
focusing on
temporal or
logical sequences. Chinese
more often resorts to
word
order,
contracted
sentence,
four-character
expressions,
and
some
grammatical
or
rhetorical
devices such as
repletion, antithesis, and parallelism. Compare
English with
Chinese:
人（若）不犯我，我（则）不犯人。
We
will not attack
unless
we
are attacked.
聪明一世，糊涂一时。
（对偶）
Smart as a rule,
but
this time a fool.
4 Complex Vs. Simplex(
繁复与简短
)
With
plenty of subordinate clauses and phrases, English
has comparatively longer and
more
complicated sentences
than Chinese.
English
sentence-building
is characterized
by
an
“
architecture
style
”
(
楼房建筑法
)with
extensive
use
of
longer
or
subordinate
structures,
while
Chinese,
a
“
chronicle
style<
/p>
”
(
流水记事法
)with
frequent
use
of
shorter or composite
structures. Therefore, English sentences are often
complex while
Chinese sentences are
often simplex.
e.g In the
doorway lay at least twelve umbrellas of all sizes
and colors.
门
口放着
一堆雨伞，少说也有十二把，五颜六色，大小不一。
(cf.
门口放着至少十二把五颜六色，大小不一的雨伞。
)
5 Impersonal VS. Personal
(
物称与人称
)
English
often
goes
with
an
impersonal
style,
in
order
to
hide
writer
and
reader
and
some
features
of
impersonal
are
passives,
begin
with
it
and
abstract
nouns.
By
contrast,
Chinese
prefers
to
use
a
personal
style,
which
is
featured
by
much
more
actives
in
form
but
passives
in
sense,
personal
subjects,
or
subjectless
and
subject-omitted sentences
when the subject
is self
evident,
unknown or
implied
in the
context.
1
．
An idea
suddenly struck me.
我突然想到了一个主意。
2
．
Alarm
began to take
entire possession of him.
他开始变得惊恐万状。
6
Passive Vs. Active
(
被动与主动
)
(1)
Passives
of
various
forms
are
frequently
used
in
English
mainly
due
to
the
following reasons: (1)
when the agent of an action is self-evident or
unknown, it is
unnecessary or
impossible to mention the agent. (2) Syntactic
factors: for cohesion,
balance and
focuses,
and weight.( 3)
Rhetorical
factors:
for
variation(.4) Stylistic
factors:
more
passive
in
informal
writing
,notably
in
the
objective,
non-personal
style of scientific articles, news
items, and government communication.
By
contrast, Chinese often use active forms including
those in passive sense. e. There
are
some reasons for the limited use of the Chinese
passive forms.
Instead,
Chinese
generally
prefer
to
use
active
forms;
beside
there
are
many
other
ways
to denote passive sense which is usually expressed
in the English passive form.
1)Notional passives:
这锅饭能吃十个
人。
(
不说“这锅饭能被十个人吃”
)
A pot of
rice like this can feed 10
people.
2
）
Subjectless or
subject-omitted sentences
为什么总把这些麻烦事推给我？
Why should all
the
unpleasant jobs
be
pushed onto
me ?
3) Using
generic persons(
通称或泛称
)
人们普遍认为
……
..
It is generally considered
that
……
.
7. Static
Vs. Dynamic (
静态与动态
)
English
makes
more
use
of
nouns,
adjective
and
preposition,
and
is
therefore
more
static. Conversely,
Chinese often employs verbs, and therefore more
dynamic.
1
The
doctor
’
s
extremely
quick
arrival
and
uncommonly
careful
examination
of
the
patient brought about
his very speedy
recovery.
医生迅速
到达
，并非常仔细地
检查
了病人，
因此病人很快就
康复
了。
< br>
The
conversion
of
the
English
nominal
style
into
the
Chinese
verbal,
e.g.
English
nouns converted into
Chinese verbs, adjectives into adverbs, etc., is
often employed in
translation e.g He is
a good
eater
and
sleeper
.
他能
吃
能
睡
。
He has someone
behind
him.
有人
给他撑腰
。
8 Abstract Vs.
Concrete
（抽象与具体）
In
English, nominalization
often results
in abstraction. The
method of abstract diction
is found in frequent use of abstract
nouns. By contrast, Chinese prefers to use
concrete
or
specific
words
and
employs
a
“down—
to
—earth
style”
expressing
abstract
ideas
often by metaphors, similes,
allegories, or other device for making a thing
plain.
e.g I
marveled at the relentless
determination
of the rain.
雨无情地下个不停，我感
到惊异。
We
also
use
Conversion
of
English
abstract
words
into
Chinese
concrete
words,
figurative
expressions or verbs.
e.g
He had surfaced with
less
visbility
in
the policy decisions.
在决策过程中
，他已经
不那么
抛头露面
了。
9. Indirect VS. Direct
(
间接与直接
)
The wider
use of such device as euphemism, understatement,
litotes, indirect negation,
periphrasis
as
well as the
impersonal
style and abstract
makes English
more
indirect
than Chinese.
9.1
Euphemism(
委婉
)
Compared with Chinese, English
euphemism is widely use in all kinds of subjects,
e.g sanitary engineer( = garbage
man)
清洁工
2. meat
technologist(=butcher)
屠户
9.2
Understatement
（克制陈述）
A statement which is not strong enough
to express the full or true facts or feelings,
i.e.
makes
big
thing
seem
trifle,
particularly
common
in
English,
is
known
as
understatement.
For
example,
an
Englishman
will
say
“I
have
a
little
house
in
country
.
” Finally, you will find
that the little house is a place with 300
bedrooms.
9.3
Litotes
Litotes
is
a
way
of
expressing
a
thought
by
its
opposite,
in
Chinese
there
are
many
litotes, such as
“未尝不可”
，
“难免错误”
“无不遗憾”
e.g To
my no small astonishment, I found the house on
fire.
我发现房子着火了，这使我大吃一惊。
9.4
Indirect
Negation
（间接否定）
A
strange feature of the syntax of subordination in
colloquial English is the transfer of
the negative
from a
subordinate that-clause where semantically
it belongs to the
main
clause. e.g.
“
I
do not think he will come.
”
instead of
“
I think he will
not come
”
. But in
Chinese we often say
that
“我想他不会来”
instead of
“我不想他来”
.
Other
ways of
using affirmative
forms to express
negative
meanings are often
found
in implied subjunctive, disjunctive
questions, ellipsis, swearword, and ironical
idioms.
e.g Y
ou could have
come at a better time.
你来得
不<
/p>
是时候。
9.5
Tactful
Implication(
婉转暗示
)
English
speakers
are
often
careful
not
to
case
offence
or
upset
people
in
their
expression, which leave gaps in the
development of thoughts.
e.g. It can be
worse.
还可以。凑合吧。
Y
ou
are late for the last
time.
你被解雇了。