科技英语的文体特征及翻译规律

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3.2 Flu ency

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Ⅳ

. Suggestions for the Translators of EST

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Conclusion

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Bibliography

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Introduction

English,

undoubtedly,

is

an

important

language

in

the

world.

EST

(English

for

Science

and

Technology)

is

an

applied

linguistic

form

which

is

widely

used

in

the

fields of academy and technology.

I. Objective and Need for Study

By a comparative research in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar of EST and

Basic English, there is no essential difference between them. However, this does not

mean that EST has little or no features of its own. EST, as a particular branch of ESP

(English

for

Special

Purposes),

has

formed

the

lingual

characteristics

of

its

own

relating

to

glossary,

accidence,

syntax

and

so

on

after

a

long

evolvement,

among

which high specialization is its chief feature. EST translation is a perfect combination

of

linguistic

and

specialized

knowledge,

which

uses

highly

technical

or

esoteric

language

to

state

an

objective

reality.

Therefore,

it

demands

concise

index

system,

clear evaluation criteria and scientific evaluation methods.

To discuss and improve the quality of EST translation is of important significance

both in theory and practice. For the translators, the key to good translation is to build a

solid

linguistic

foundation

of

both

English

and

Chinese,

and

they

should

have

obtained relative translation skills and theories of EST as well.

II. Organization of the Thesis

The whole thesis mainly falls into five parts.

The first part gives a general introduction to the stylistic features of EST, such as

nominalization, passive voice and so on. An abundance of instances are cited and the

definition of each feature is discussed in details.

The second part is the central part of the thesis.

It focuses on the principles of

EST translation. Translation is integrated art; therefore, various methods of translation

should be applied comprehensively and reasonably. Four main principles are analyzed

in this part: literal translation, shift of perspective, omission and amplification.

1

In

the

third

part,

the

paper

briefly

introduces

the

standard

of

EST

translation,

including faithfulness and fluency. Only the two requirements are satisfied correctly

can a translation script be an excellent one.

The

fourth

part

puts

forward

some

requirements

for

the

EST

translators.

They

should have not only a good command of both

English and Chinese but also a rich

fund of scientific knowledge as well as the theory of translation.

The

last

part

is

the

conclusion

which

summarizes

the

major

findings

of

the

present study, at the same time; limitations and suggestions for further study are also

stated.

The whole thesis applies the examples and contrast to demonstrate the main idea.

I. The Stylistic Features of EST

1.1

Nominalization

Nomination,

which

is

crucial

to

English,

is

profoundly

manifested

in

EST

translation.

A Grammar of Contemporary English

has put forwarded that the wide use

of

nouns

is

one

of

the

characteristics

of

EST,

for

scientific

English

is

a

terse

and

vigorous style which is objective and accurate. It emphasizes on the fact of existence,

not

the

act

of

doing

something.

In

scientific

English,

it

is

commonly

seen

that

a

sentence is replaced by a noun phrase

“

a noun that denotes an action + of + a noun + a

modifier

”

. That is to say, a statement which is expressed by verbs in general English is

substituted

by

noun

phrases

in

scientific

English,

and

this

is

the

so-called

nominalization. Pay attention to the following sentences:

a. The earth rotates on its own axis, which causes the change from day to night.

b. The rotation of the earth on its own axis causes the change from day to night.

The

nomination

structure

“

the

rotation

of

the

earth

on

its

own

”

turns

this

complex

sentence

to

a

simple

one,

and

makes

the

concept

or

proposition

more

definite

and

precise.

Another example:

2

Archimeds first discovered the principle of displacement of water by solid bodies.

This sentence is translated into

“

阿基米德最先发展固体排 水的原理。

”

In this

sentence,

“

of displacement of water by solid bodies

”

is a prepositional phrase which

replaces the appositive clause

“

that water was displace by solid bodies

”

and highlights

the fact

“

displacement

”

.

1.2

Passive Voice

It

is

notorious

that

in

Chinese

active

voice

is

widely

used

either

in

spoken

or

written

language,

while

in

English

it

is

exactly

opposite.

According

to

the

figures

provided by John Swales from University of Leeds, at least one third of predicates in

EST are presented in

passive voice,

because the stress

of EST is

more

on accuracy

and inference. Third person or plural are widely used in the translation instead of 1

st

or

2

nd

person

to

avoid

the

absurd

supposition

by

subjective

interpretation.

For

example:

a. We can store electrical energy into two mental plates separated by an insulting

medium.

We

call

such

a

device

a

capacitor,

or

a

condenser,

and

its

ability

to

store

electrical energy capacitance. We measure capacitance in farads.

The whole passage is tedious and burdensome with

“

we

”

as its subject from the

beginning

to

the

end.

It

is

particularly

the

case

in

translation

in

that

literary

works

transfer not only information but also aesthetic value. Therefore, such construction is

uncommon in EST translation.

b. Electrical energy can be stored in two metal plates separated by an insulating

medium. Such a device is called a capacitor, or a condenser, and its ability to store

electrical energy is termed capacitance. It is measured in farads.

In the above passage, the subjects

are

“

electrical

energy

”

,

“

such a device

”

,

“

its

ability

”

and

“

it (capacitance)

”

respectively which stand out well at the beginning of

each sentence. Four different subjects avoid repetition successfully and contain a large

amount

of

information.

The

whole

passage

is

coherent,

natural

which

give

a

gull

expression to the advantages of passive voices.

3

1.3

Non-finite Verbs

As

EST

demands

accuracy

as

well

as

conciseness,

non-finite

verbs

are

commonly used in

the translation.

In the

practical

use, to make the objectives clear

and definite, non- finite

verbs often serve as

attribute,

adverbial modifier and so

on,

such as:

Their report, published in the journal Nature, conclusively linked cases of manic

depression in an Amish family to genes in a specific region of human chromosome.

< br>他们在

《自然》

杂志上所发表的报导，

< br>把一家爱梅西人中患有狂郁症的几个

病人与人体上

11< /p>

号染色体所在的特定部位的基因联系起来。

In

the

above

example,

the

past

participial

phrase

“

published

in

the

journal

Nature

”

takes the place of the non-restrictive attributive clause

“

which was published

in the journal Nature

”

.

Draw a comparison between sentence a and b:

a. A direct current is a current which flows always in the same direction.

b. A direct current is a current flowing always in the same direction.

It is easy to find that sentence b is much better than a in structure and expression.

As mentioned before, EST demands accuracy and conciseness. Using non-finite

verbs in place of various subordinate clauses highlights the main content of the essay,

and it is also quite eye-catching.

1.4

Sentence in Common Use

Certain

sentence

patterns

are

commonly

applied

in

scientific

articles,

which

distinguish

EST

from

other

English

styles,

such

as

“

< br>it

…

that

…”

passive

voice,

conditional clause, ellipsis construction and so.

“It…

tha t

…”

is often used to capture

the

attention

of

readers

so

as

to

emphasize

the

part

which

contains

important

information, such as the subject and the object of a sentence. While translating, it is

much better to add

“

是

”

,

“

正是

”

,

“

恰恰是

”

before the intensifiers. For example:

It is in industry that metal have found their greatest use.

正是在工业上金属得到了最大限度的应用。

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