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Unit 6
科技文体翻译
教学目标及基本要求：
了解科技英语的词汇、句法特点，掌握科技文体的翻译技巧。
教学重点：
1)
英语科技词语的构成
2)
科技英语的句法特点
教学难点：
科技英语的翻译方法
实用训练：
英译汉：
Scientific prediction
for the next 30 years
汉译英：技术创新
1 .Formation of English Technical Terms
One
of the most distinctive features of EST is its
technical terms
，
which not
only
account for a large part of
English vocabulary
，
but also
are the must important source
of new
coined words in modern
English
，
ranging over an
extensive area of various
fields.
A mastery of them will
benefit us a great deal in the translation of EST.
In
terms of form
，
English
technical terms may be classified into three
categories,
namely, single words (e. g.
robot
机器人，
Internet
因特网，
etc. ) , compound forms(e.
g.
feedback
反馈，
splashdown
溅落，
etc.)and phrases(e. g. on-and-off-the- road
路
面
越
野
两
用
的
，
anti-
armored-fight-vehicle-
missile
反
装
甲
车
导
弹
，
< br>power
transmission relay
system
送电中继体系，
etc. ).
Since most of the technical
terms
come out of the basic rules of
word-formation
，
it's
necessary for us to conduct a
Brief
survey of their formation.
1.
Affixation
缀合式科技词语
Affixation
is
an
important
means
of
coining
new
English
words
and
technical
terms
，
with prefix
and suffix as inseparable elements of the words
being coined. The
advantage of
affixation is evident: it is the most flexible
means of forming new woods
and its
potential of creation is almost
boundless
，
therefore it is
extensively used in the
formation of
technical terms.
Besides
prefix and suffix of English
origin
，
there are
some foreign
bor
rowings
，
noticeably
the Latin
ones, e.g.
bio-(
生命、生物
)
therm
o-(
热
)
，
electro- (
电
),aero-(
空气
)
，
carbo-
(
碳
),
hydro-(
水
), -ite(
矿
物
)
，
-mania(
热、狂
), etc.
If we
are familiar with these
prefixes and
suffixes
，
many
technical terms of such formation can
be translated appropriately. The following are
some typical examples.
miniultrasonicprober =mini +ultra
+sonic +prober
微型超声波金属探伤仪
macrospacetransship=macro +space +trans
+ship
巨型空间转运飞船
teletypesetter=tele +type
+setter
电传排字机
bathythermograph=bathy +thermo
+graph
海水测温仪
1
barothermograph=baro +thermo
+graph
气压温度记录器
deoxyrihonucleic=de +oxy +ribo+
nucleic
脱氧核糖核的
photomorphogenesis=photo +morpho
+genesis
光形态发生
2.
Compounding
复合式科技词语
Two or more words combined to form a
new word is called compounding. English
technical terms formed by compounding
generally take three forms: combining with a
hypthen (e.g. salt-
former
卤素，
dew-
point
露点
, pulse-
scaler
脉冲定标器
) or without
it (e.g.
fallout
放射性尘埃，
hovercraft
气垫船，
waterlock
水闸，
thunderstorm
雷暴
)
，
or two or more separate words
forming a word combination ( e.g. stem cell
干细胞，
optical
drive
光驱，
satellite
antimissile observation
system
卫星反导弹观察系统
).
Most
of
such
compound
words
may
be
translated
literally,
i.e.,
Put
the
Chinese
equivalents of the separate elements
together and we get the Chinese equivalents of
the compound words. Sometimes
，
however
，
there
are exceptions. For
example
，
bull's
ey
e
靶心
)
，
c
at-and-mouse
航向与指挥的
)
，
dog house(
高频高压电源屏蔽罩
)
，
etc.
一
literal translation in tackling such terms may lead astray.
Therefore
whenever we
are confronted with
unfamiliar terms and are not sure of their
meaning
，
we should
frequently consult dictionaries of
relevant specialties. In many cases some
additional
explanations are needed to
make the original meaning clear and accurate.
3
.Blending
缩合式科技词语
This is a
variant of
compounding
，
omitting the latter part of the first word and
clipping off the first part of the
second word.
Sometimes
，
however, either the first
part or the second part of the
overlapped word may be clipped to form a new word.
This blending of words generally
possesses the combined meaning of both; therefore,
literal translation is used in
translating such terms
，
with
one element modifying the
other.
Occasionally
，
a new name is
given to the blending.
bit=binary+ digi
t(
二进制
)
位，比特
blog=web
+log
博客
brunch=bre
akfast
十
lunch
早午餐
/
晚早餐
copytron = copy+
electron
电子复写技术
gravisphere=gravity
+sphere
引力范围
medicare= medical
+care
医疗保健
netizen=net+
citizen
网民
smog=smoke +fog
烟雾
telex=teleprinter+
exchange
电传
ms
首字母缩略式科技词语
An
acronym is a word formed from the initials or
other of several words.
Acronyms
are
widely
accepted
to
coin
English
technical
terms.
With
the
rapid
development
of
science
and
technology
，
more
and
more
acronyms
are
being
extensively
used
in
various
fields.
Simple
and
brief,
acronyms
sometimes
tend
to
cause
ambiguity in meaning.
Therefore
，
it is up to the
translator to discern their actual
meaning in different contexts.
ADP automatic data
processing
自动数据处理
AIDS Acquired Immune Deficiency
Syndrome
艾滋病
EDF'M
electronic data processing
machine
电子数据处理机
2
DINK
double income , no
kids
双收人无子女家庭
GSV
guided space
vehicle
制导宇宙飞船
Laser
light amplification by stimulated
emission of radiation
激光
RAM
random access
memory
随机存取存储器
UFO
unidentified
flying object
不明飞行物
WWW
World Wide
Web
万维网
Sometimes
，
an
acronym happens to be an actual English
word
，
or it may possess
more than one meaning.
In this
case
，
special attention
should be paid to pick out the
right
equivalent in Chinese.
MOUSE
minimum orbital unmanned satellite of
the earth(
仪表载重
50
公
斤以
下的
)
不载人的最小人造地球卫星
SALT
Strategic
Arms Limitation
Talks
限制战略武器会谈
SNAP
subsystem for
nuclear}auxiliary power
辅助
(
原子
)
核动力子系统
space nuclear
auxiliary power
空间核辅助能源
systems for nuclear auxiliary
power
辅助核动力系统
AS air
scoop
空气收集器
air se
asoned
风干的
(
木材
)
air
speed
空速，气流速率
air
station
航空站，飞机场
American
Standard
美国标准
atmosphere arid
space
大气层与宇宙空间
automatic
sprinkler
自动洒水车
automatic
synchronizer
自动同步器
5 .Proper Nouns
专有名词科技词语
Many of the technical terms in English
are borrowed from proper nouns such as
names of people
，
p
laces
，
firms
，
trade marks
，
organizati
ons
，
etc.
，
< br>normally beginning
with a capital
letter.
In such
cases
，
consulting relevant
dictionaries will be of great
help .
Transliteration is the usual way in translating
proper nouns. Sometimes
，
a
label
to the corresponding translation
is necessary to indicate the nature of the given
words.
Xerox
静电复制
(derived
from a trademark )
IBM System
IBM
系统
(derived from a US
corporation)
Kuru
库鲁病
} derived
from a place in eastern New Guinea)
Alfven
wave
阿尔文波
(derived from the
Swedish astrophysicist Hannes Alfven)
Chandler's
wobble
钱得拉波动说
(derived
from
the
US
astronomer
Seth
Carlo
Chandler )
Of
course
，
there are some other
forms of technical terms in English. To name a
few
，
Clipping(e. g.
“
la
b
”
comes from
“
laboratory
”
)
，
Back-formation(e.
g.
“
to lase
comes f
rom
“
laser
，
Coinage(e. g.
“
quark
，
Functional Shift (e. g. in the
phrase
“
to
contract the terminal
，
the wo
rd
“
contract
verb)<
/p>
，
Borrowing(e. g.
“<
/p>
gene
，
and so on. In
whatever
circumstances
，
the
discrimination of the original meaning and the
contextual analysis
are of vital
importance. Only when we get an accurate
understanding of them
，
can we
put them into Chinese exactly as they
actually mean.
II
.Characteristic Syntax of EST
3