大学英语六级翻译技法:(三)替代法

(三)替代法

在体现篇章连贯方面,汉语多用重复,而英语多用替代手法。这一差异除了语用传统等历史因素之外,可能是由于汉语人称代词“他(们)”、“她(们)”与“它(们)”在语音上完全一样,很容易造成误解的缘故,而英语中则不存在由于发音相同而产生的指代关系混淆。因此汉语重复出现名词的地方,英语中常用代词替代。

I.用人称代词替代上文提到的名词

1)人们仿佛把时间当成一件实在的东西来对待。我们筹划时间,节约时间,浪费时间,偷取时间,消磨时间,压缩时间,我们为时间的使用做出解释,我们还为时间收取费用。

Time is treated as if it were something almost real.We budget it,save it,waste it,steal it,kill it,cut it,account for it;we also charge for it.

2)荷兰是欧洲唯一允许安乐死的国家,尽管严格意义上说安乐死在荷兰不合法。

The Netherlands is the only country in Europe which permits euthanasia,although it is not technically legal there.

3)如果你经久地,坚定地在你的想象中给自己描绘一个形象,你将会被引往这个形象。

Hold a picture of yourself long and steadily enough in your mind's eye,and you will be drawn toward it.

II.用物主代词替代上文提到的名词

1)富人有富人的烦恼,穷人有穷人的快乐。

While the rich have their own troubles,the poor have their own happiness.

2)要相信群众,依靠群众,尊重群众的首创精神。

Trust the masses,rely on the masses and respect their initiative.

3)你的父母可能想让你的名字用一辈子,但你要记住,他们为你起名字的时候几乎还没见过你呢,所以他们取名字时所怀的愿望和梦想不见得符合你的愿望和梦想。

Though your parents probably meant your name to last a lifetime,remember that when they picked it they had hardly met you,and the hopes and dreams they valued when they chose it may not match yours.

III.用强势关系代词或强势关系副词whoever,whichever,whatever,whenever,wherever来替代汉语中的重复。

1)你可以什么时候有空什么时候去那儿。

You may go there whenever you are free.

2)你愿意告诉谁就告诉谁——对我来说无所谓。

Tell whoever you like—it makes no difference to me.

3)所有这些书都是免费的,你喜欢哪本就拿哪本。

All these books are free.You may take whichever you like.

4)哪里有紧急情况发生,哪里就有人民解放军战士。

Wherever emergency occurs,there are soldiers of the People's Liberation Army.

IV.英语还常用one,ones,so等其他代词替代前文的内容

1)有些城市失去了本来的目的,但还没有发现新的目的。

Some cities have lost their original purpose and have not found a new one.

2)当人们实际只提出功能性问题时,计算机可能使人造成这样的错觉,他们提出的是根本性的问题。

The computer may foster the illusion that people are asking fundamental questions when actually they are asking only functional ones.

3)他离婚了,我也离了。

He is divorced and so am I.

4)在体育比赛中,如果同时有白人和黑人在场,他们分别支持相互对立的一方,其结果便是摩擦——摩擦太多以至于许多比赛场地只允许白人进入。

At sports events,if whites and blacks are present,they support opposing sides and the result is friction—so much so that in many grounds only whites are allowed.

V.英语中除了用代词之外,还经常用同义词或近义词来指代上文提到的内容,以避免重复

1)他们说,科学的发展与其说由于伟大天才的真知灼见,不如说是由于更为普通的东西,如技术和工具的改进。

Science moves forward,they say,not so much through the insights of great men of genius as because of more ordinary things like improved techniques and tools.

2)所谓方法论是指一般的历史研究中的特有概念,还是指历史研究中各个具体领域适用的研究手段,人们对此意见不一。

There is no agreement whether methodology refers to the concepts peculiar to historical work in general or to the research techniques appropriate to the various branches of historical inquiry.

3)有些哲学家说,权利只存在于社会契约中,是责任与权利相交换的一部分。

Some philosophers argue that rights exist only within a social contract,as part of an exchange of duties and entitlements.