爱华网On the Process of Translation
林晓燕 Since translation is as a kind of communication,it is essential for us to have an adequate understanding of the process of it.Actually,the whole process of translation is reading,comprehension and expression are the two main processes. Reading Process As the first process,it is extremely important for a translator to read over the text at least twice.The first reading is primarily designed to get a general overall view of the content.During the second reading a translator should pay very special attention to details,so that information which may be given toward the end of a story or a novel can be mentally classified as significant for earlier parts of the text in which the TL may require more specific information than may be explicit in a particular instance. Comprehension Process Comprehension is the premise of translation.Comprehension can be divided into single sentence understanding and article understanding.Words meanings,grammatical structure,logic relationships,context,cultural background knowledge and professional knowledge are involved in single sentence understanding. Singgle Sentence Understanding Words Meanings There are many common words in the stock of English words.We often take a word's basic meaning for granted as its meaning.What's worse,We tend to find its equivalence in other languages.Sometimes,all these will mislead us to misunderstanding.Let me show you an example.Every life has its roses and thorns.At the first sight of rose,we often refer it to a kind of beautiful flower.Or we may label it as a symbol of showing love.When it comes to thorns,it may evoke one's past painful memory of being stabbed with a thorn.But we should understand this sentence from its extended meaning.In this sentence,"roses and thorns" means "sweetness and bitterness".Thus,sometimes,we should judge a word's meaning by its extended meaning.What's more,the subject content of the original sentence,the part of speech of the lexi,collocation
relation,commendatory or derogatory sense also should be taken into consideration. Grammatical Structure Only by structure analysis,can we fully understand long complex
sentences.First,we just find out the subject,the predicate,and the object
of the main clause.Next,the same case goes to the subordinating
clause.Then,cross out all the modifiers.What's more,translate the main
force of the clauses.Finally,add the modifiers'meanings to each clause
respectively.
Logical Relationships
Logical analysis can cover the shortages of comprehension caused by lexi
and grammar.
Context
No context,no meaning.Sometimes,a simple sentence may have many meanings
according to different contexts.Let's take the following sentence as an
example.A policeman is coming.Just suppose you get lost in a strange
city.At this time,a policeman is coming.In this case,this sentence means
all right,I can ask a policeman for help now.When a thief is commiting
a crime and a policemam is coming.Under such circumstance,this sentence's
meaning should change ining.Under such circumstance,this sentence's
meaning shing.Under such circumstance,this sentence's meaning should be
changed into runing away quickly. Cultural Background Knowledge
Sometimes,an idiom or common saying is included in an English
sentence.Therefore,the surface meaning is quite different to the inner
meaning.If we lack of some indispensable cultural background knowledge,we
are unable to figure out its inner meaning,let alone to translate it
correctly.
Professional Knowledge
The original sentence may have something to do with professional
knowledge.If a translator ignore this phenomenon or is not familiar with
the knowledge in this field,he or she is likely to comprehend the meaning
of the sentence incorrectly.
Article Understanding
The key to understand an article is to grasp the main idea and make clear
the arrangement of the ideas.First of all,there are four types of
texts,namely,narrative,descriptive,expositive and argumentative
texts.Each type of text has its own features.So it is necessary for us
to make out which text category the original belongs to.Next,read the text
and get the main idea.Then identify grammar and make clear the
relations.In the end,weigh words' meanings based on context.
Expression Process
The expression process has three steps.First,make out the preminary
draft.The first draft should be consistent with the content and form of
the original text.Second,check out your draft.You should focus on
logic.With reference to the original text,you modify your draft.Pay
attention to your translation structure.If necessary,you should adjust
your translation structure occording to Chinese expression
habits.Third,make the final decision.Reread your TLT and polish it.
Revising Process
A.Let the TLT lie untouched for a few days.
B.Go over the TLT carefully for accuracy of content.
C.Set the TLT aside again for several days.
D.Read the TLT aloud since ears are much more sensitive to matters of
cohesion and rhythm than eyes are.
E.Polish the TLT for style.
F.Delete some unnecessary additions.
G.Make some adjustments for the accuracy of expression.
H.Correct some wrong spellings,punctuations or things like that. Conclusion
With the advent of global village,it is inevitable for us to communicate
with pople from many other countries.That is to say,Communication plays
an increasingly important role in today's world.At the same
time,translating means communicating.However,to a great
extent,communicating well or not lies in translating well or not.So it
is very necessary for us to master the process of translation.
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