论科技英语翻译中的词类转换.docx

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1、论科技英语翻译中的词类转换一、综述国内外对本课题的研究动态，说明选题的依据和意义:科技英语(English for Science and Technology,简称 EST )作为一门 学科始于二十世纪五十年代，科技英语是英语的一种语体,由于题材和使 用方式的特殊性而形成了词汇、语法、修辞等方面的特点。随着当今科 学技术的迅猛发展，国际学术交流的日益广泛，对科技英语的研究已受到 国际上普遍重视。英国著名的语言学家和翻译理论学家凯特福德(Catford )对于翻译中的转换做出了详细的研究。在国内，有韩其顺、 戴文进、戴炜华、阎庆甲、等一大批专家学者在科技英语翻译方面作出 了多年的努力与研究，其

2、中最具代表性是韩其顺主编英汉科技英语翻 译教程。他们分别从科技英语英语的特点、语言结构信息、语篇或是 语法的角度讨论词类转换在翻译中的应用。尽管当前国内外有众多专 家学者已致力于这方面的研究，但仍需系统全面地介绍词类转换的具体 操作方法及要点。为了学习和了解国外先进的科学技术，与别国进行科技 交流,人们需要学习和研究大量的国外科技文章，但目前仍有不少人无法 直接阅读外文文章,这就使得科技翻译越来越受到重视。由于英汉两中语 言在词汇构成词性使用上的差别，如何科技英语翻译中既能保持原文意 思又符合汉语的表达对中国和外国科技界进行信息和学术交流十分重The efforts that have bee

3、n made to explain optical phenomena by means of the hypothesis of a medium having the same physical character as an elastic solid body led, in the first instance, to the understanding of a concrete example of a medium which can transmit transverse vibrations, and, at a late stage, to the definite co

4、nclusion that there is no aluminiferous medium having the physical character assumed in the hypothesis.(5) More non-finite forms of the verb. Non-finite forms of the verb, namely infinitives, gerunds, the present and the post participles are frequently used in EST. For example:Today the electronic c

5、omputer is widely used in solving mathematical problems having to do with weather forecasting and putting satellite into orbitDifferent uses of the tense. In general English, the past tense is used to indicate things of the past that no longer exist now. But in scientific English, the past tense may

6、 just indicate time sequence. For example:When steam is condensed again to water, the same amount of heat is given out as it was taken in when the steam was formed.1.2 About ConversionCatford, a famous British linguist and translation theoretician, has made a most detailed research into translation

7、conversion” (Catford 21) and has fruitfully categorized conversion between levels, structures, word-class, units and systems. There are a lot of merits in the rules of translation conversion of this theory. He explained how changes should be made in language form in order to achieve equivalence in m

8、eaning. And his theory constitutes the direct theoretical basis for later development of form conversion.The word /conversionz, occurs in various discussions on translation with different meanings. Sometimes it is an equivalence of translation in such statements as translation is the shift from ST t

9、o TL system” . In other context it means “change” . And word conversion belongs to the latter meaning.1.3 Word Conversion: an Important Means in TranslationThe famous translator Lu Dianyang once defined word conversion as follows By conversion, we mean that in translation a word in one language belo

10、nging to a certain part of speech is not necessarily to be turned into one of the same part of speech in another language, ie. no correspondence of part of speech between two language is necessary in translation. We can not translate English mechanically word for word into another European language

11、to achieve adequacy, still less can we translate English into Chinese in this way. This is determined by the fact that Chinese and English are two entirely different languages. But we should know a translator is not supposed to change the z/part of speech77 of the original work at wilT7 . Therefore,

12、 in short, word conversion means the change of part of speech in translation.It has been generally accepted that word conversion is one of the most important translation techniques in EST translation and any other translation fields. The main reason is that English and Chinese belong to two differen

13、t language families, the former being a member of the Indo-European language family and the latter a member of the Chinese-Tibetan language family. In translation people can not always get an appropriate corresponding Chinese word for an English word of the same part of speech. A good translator wil

14、l therefore try all means to reproduce the thought of the author faithfully in another language, quite disregarding the part of speech of individual words used in the source language.Corresponding with the characteristics of EST and the differences between English and Chinese, in EST translation wor

15、d conversion can be divided into four categories: conversion into Chinese verbs, conversion into Chinese nouns, conversion into Chinese adjectives, and conversion into Chinese adverbs.2 Conversion into Chinese VerbsEnglish Nouns Converted into Chinese VerbsSince English verbs are quite limited in th

16、eir application, nouns often have to assist them in expression. Generally speaking, English nouns, especially those derived from verbs and nominalization words, can contain quite strong dynamic meaning, and they are often converted into Chinese verbs, for example:(1) Rockets have found application f

17、or the exploration of the universe.火箭已经用来探索宇宙。(英汉科技翻译教程，55)The air is made up of mixture of gases.空气是由若干种气体混合而成的。（科技英语翻译理论与实践，58 ）The operation of an electric machine needs some knowledge of its performance.操作电机需要懂得电机的一些性能。(科技英语翻译理论与实践， 57)Gerund, or a verbal noun, can be defined as, according to Ox

18、ford Advanced Learner7 s English-Chinese Dictionary, the -ing form of an English verb when used as a noun. It serves functionally as a noun in the original text, but retains some properties of a verb. Furthermore, we have no such -ing form in Chinese, so English gerunds, or verbal nouns, are always

19、converted into Chinese verbs.(2) Reversing the direction of the current reverses the direction of its lines of force.倒转电流的方向也就倒转了它的磁力线的方向。(科技英语翻译方法, 32)Radiating from the earth, heat causes air currents to rise.热量从地球辐射出来时，使得气流上升。（英汉科技翻译教程，20）Nouns in verbal and preposition phrases can be converted i

20、nto verbs.(3) He had a good knowledge of chemistry他精通化学(科技英语翻译方法，34)(4) A body is negatively charged when it has electrons in excess of its normal number.当物体所带电子超过正常数时，该物体便带负电。(科技英语翻译理 论技巧，59 )2.2 English Prepositions Converted into Chinese VerbsThe English language, called prepositional language77

21、, relies heavily on the use of preposition or prepositional phrases; on the contrary, the Chinese language is a verb-oriented one, in which there can be two or more verbs even in one simple declarative sentence. When the English preposition phrase functions as adverbial it is often converted into Ch

22、inese verb. For example:(5) The term laser stands for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.激光这个术语的原义是利用辐射的受激发射来放大光波。（科技翻译方法，39）(6) A force is needed to move an object against inertia.为使物体克服惯性运动，就需要一个力。2.3 English Adjectives Converted into Chinese VerbsWhen English adjectives, acti

23、ng as predicative, are used with prepositional to form an adjective phrase or followed by prepositional phrase, it can often have a Chinese verb as its translation equivalent. Such cases are quite common in EST translation.(7) Some region in this solid is devoid of electrons.该固体的某区域缺乏电子。(8) The atom

24、s of one element are different from those of all other elements.一种元素的原子不同于其它元素的原子。And some English adjectives, widely used to describe the psychology or state of a person such as one s consciousness, emotional activities and desires, are usually converted into Chinese verbs.(9) Advancing into the va

25、stness of space, man is becoming fully aware of the smallness of his planet.由于进入浩无涯际的太空，人类充分意识到本星球的渺小。(实用科 技英语翻译，79)Many scientists are hopeful that in time controlled thermonuclear fusion will solve the energy problems.许多科学家希望可控热核聚变到时将能解决世界能量的问题。(实用 科技英语翻译,79)Rontgen was certain that the fluorescen

26、t effect was not duo to cathode rays.伦琴确信，荧光效应不是起因于阴极射线。(英汉科技翻译教程， 57)2.4 English Adverbs Converted into Chinese VerbsFrom what has been discussed in the previous section, it can be seen that not only verbs but non-verbs, such as nouns (including verbal nouns), adjectives, including verbal adjective

27、s, namely, participles and prepositions are widely employed in English to denote certain actions. Adverbs are with no exception, especially those share with the same forms as preposition, such as on, off, up, in, out, over, behind, forward, away., when they serve as the predicative with -be, or as t

28、he object complements, they are often converted into Chinese verbs in translation. For instance:(10) Now the experiment is over.现在实验结束。(11) The reaction force to this action force pushes the rocket ship along.这个作用力所产生的反作用力推动宇宙飞船前进。(实用科技英语翻 译，81)Conversion into Chinese Nouns2.1 English Verbs Converte

29、d into Chinese NounsEnglish verbs can be classifies into state and action verbs. Professor Dai Wenjin states in his科技英语翻译理论与技巧that both state and action verbs can be converted into Chinese nouns in certain cases. In fact, these cases can be divided into two sub-types.First as for some English verbs

30、describing the characteristics or circumstances of the subject, and those concepts are difficult to express in Chinese verbs, they are often converted into Chinese nouns to attain a satisfactory translation. For example:(17) Vacuum rectifiers are characterized by the following.真空管整流器具有如下的特性。(实用科技英语翻

31、译，65)(18)The fiber-optic communication features high speed, large capacity and high reliability.光纤通信的特点是高速，大容量和高度可靠。(科技英语翻译技巧， 29)Second, when converting the English passive voice into the Chinese active voice with ”为(受，遭，挨)construction, the verbs serving as the predicate of the original sentence ar

32、e usually converted into a noun in the translated sentence.(19) It is clear that some scientist have been influenced by this theory.要。因而通过实例分析得出的结论具有普遍意义，而不仅仅是解决几个翻 译例子的问题。二、研究的基本内容，拟解决的主要问题：英语和汉语做为两中完全不同的语言在词性的选择用法上有很大的差 别，因此在做英汉翻译中为了使译文能够合乎汉语的表达方式，通常是 用词类转换法。词类转换法在科技英语翻译中是一种非常重要有用的方 法。本文根据前人相关领域的翻

33、译理论，从科技英语的特点出发，分析 英汉两种语言的差异，通过实例重点论述了词类转换在科技英语翻译中 的具体操作方法和要点。AbstractAs a special type of writing, EST has its own features. Thus in EST translation a variety of methods and techniques are employed. Here in EST translation into Chinese, meaning takes almost absolute precedence over form, so that tec

34、hniques of word conversion are widely employed which concern making changes in language form for faithful transference of meaning. Combing the features of EST with the difference between English and有些科学家显然受到了这种理论的影响。(20) The design will be examined by a special committee first.这项设计首先要受一个特别委员会的审查。3.2

35、 English Adjectives Converted into Chinese NounsWhen used as predicative, English adjectives can sometimes be converted into Chinese nouns, which is more likely to happen if the adjectives describe the characteristics of objects, and are often converted into Chinese 性，度，.体”，such as in the following

36、sentences:(21) Glass is much more soluble than quartz.玻璃的可溶性比石英大得多。(22) Why are electrons more mobile than protons or neutrons?为什么电子比质子或中子活动性大？(23) Evidence indicates that the outer core is about twice as dense as the material in the mantle.有证据表明，外地核的密度约为地幔物质的两倍。（英汉科技翻译教程，58）As is known English adje

37、ctives can be used with the to refer to a kind of person or thing that has the same nature. Such adjectives are then translated into Chinese nouns.(24) X is used in mathematics for the unknown in equation.X在数学等式中表示未知数。(25) The electrons flow from the negative to the positive.电子从负极流向正极。(实用科技英语翻译，68)E

38、nglish Pronouns Converted into Chinese NounsIn traditional grammar, pronoun is the only word class which can function as a substitute for another item. Grammarian Bo Bing classifies pronouns into eight categories (薄冰语;去,81). So pronouns are widely used in English. In EST material, it is demonstrativ

39、e pronouns (this, that, these, those.) that are more likely to be used. While in Chinese, pronouns are seldom used. To make the meaning of the original sentence clearer and simpler, English pronouns are usually converted into Chinese nouns the pronouns substitute.(26)The properties of semi conductor

40、s are different from those of conductors.半导体的性质与导体的性质大不相同。(实用科技英语翻译，72)The unit of weight is the gram, that of length is the meter, and that of capacity is the liter.重量的单位是克，长度的单位是米，容积的单位是升。3.4 English Adverbs Converted into Chinese NounsEnglish adverbs have a relatively important role in sentences

41、in that they are necessary complement for what they modify. In certain cases they may even contain conceptual meaning, and are better to be converted into Chinese nouns to make the sentences more fluent. Look at the following examples:(27) The device is shown schematically in Fig.5图五所示为这种装置的管图。(英汉科技

42、翻译教程，59)(28) Chlorine is very active chemically.氯的化学性质很活泼。4 Conversion into Chinese AdjectivesEnglish Adverbs Converted into Chinese AdjectivesThe use of adverbs is flexible; they can modify verbs, adjectives, other adverbs and even the whole sentence. For example:(29) She did not speak to him much.

43、 (Modify verb)He turned to a politically active youth. (Modify adjective)(30) Z/What happened?” I asked, rather sharply. (Modify adverb)Unfortunately, he didn t pass the CEM 6. (Modify whole sentence)Chinese as well as applying the translation theory, this thesis discusses the use of word conversion

44、 in EST translation, with emphasis on the conversion rules between various parts of speech, including the conversion into verbs, conversion into nouns, conversion into adjectives and conversion into adverbs.Key Words: EST; translation into Chinese; verb; noun; adjective; adverb摘要作为一种特殊的文体，科技英语有其独特的特

45、点。在汉译过程中必然会 使用多种翻译方法和技巧。在科技英语汉译中，意义总是比形式重要。 因此，词类转换这种翻译技巧就被广泛采用，因为它通过词类形式上的 转换来达到内容上的忠实。本文结合科技英语的特点和英汉双语的差异, 在翻译理论的基础上系统论述了词类转换这一重要翻译技巧在科技英 语这一特定语域中的具体操作及应用，重点论述了转换为汉语动词，转 换为汉语名词，转换为汉语形容词和转换为汉语副词。关键词：科技英语、汉译、词类转换、动词、名词、形容词、副词ContentsIntroduction1EST Translation and Conversion21.1 The Characteristics

46、 of EST2About Conversion31.2 Word Conversion: an Important Means inTranslation42 Conversion into Chinese Verbs5English Nouns Converted into Chinese Verbs52.1 English Prepositions Converted into Chinese Verbs6English Adjectives Converted into Chinese Verbs62.2 English Adverbs Converted into Chinese V

47、erbs7Conversion into Chinese Nouns72.3 English Verbs Converted into Chinese Nouns7English Adjectives Converted into Chinese Nouns82.4 English Pronouns Converted into Chinese Nouns9English Adverbs Converted into Chinese Nouns103 Conversion into Chinese Adjectives10English Adverbs Converted into Chine

48、se Adjectives103.1 English Nouns Converted into Chinese Adjectives11Conversion into Chinese Adverbs123.2 English Adjectives Converted into Chinese Adverbs12English Verbs Converted into Chinese Adverbs13Conclusion13IntroductionAs China is making every effort to catch up with the developed countries i

49、n the world, an easy access to information on advanced science and technology is of great help in our absorbing modern technology and achieving our goals. As such, EST (English for Science and Technology) translation into Chinese has become ever so important, and is a strong driving force for China7 s advancement of science and technol