2015英语翻译高级英语句子笔译：定语从句的翻译

　　第一部分：定语从句的翻译

　　一、 英汉修饰语的比较

　　英语中的修饰语主要是指定语和状语。作定语用的有形容词、名词、代词、数词、副词、不定式、动名词、介词、介词短语、从句和句子;作状语用的有副词、短语和状语从句等等。在将它们翻译成汉语时，需要掌握一些基本的规律。

　　定语的位置一般比较固定。单词用作定语时，多放在其所修饰的名词之前;短语和从句作定语时，一般置于其所修饰的名词之后。尤其是较长的定语从句，它的特点是“右开放型”，放在被修饰词语之后，一个句子可以向右扩展成无数个从句;而汉语则不同，其定语部分要置于被修饰词语的前面，也不能随意地无限扩展。英语的长定语在译成汉语时通常可以处理成短句子，也就是通常所说的拆句翻译，把长句拆成汉语的几个短句，一一说出。

　　状语的种类有很多，可以表示时间、地点、原因、条件、让步、目的等。翻译英语状语的难点在于较长的状语从句。根据不同的情况，对它们的位置和连接关系做出相应的处理。比如，时间状语从句，除了按常规的主从关系翻译之外，也可译成汉语的并列结构或条件句;地点状语从句可译成汉语的条件句;原因状语从句可译成汉语的主句;条件状语从句可译成汉语的假设句;让步状语从句可译成汉语的无条件句;目的状语从句可以置于句首或放在句末。

　　二、 定语从句的翻译方法

　　英语句子中某个需要修饰的词语后面可以接无数的定语从句，而汉语句子中需要修饰的词语前不能放过多的修饰语(定语)。另外，英语定语从句的结构还具有一些特点，即蔓生式(The rates at which the molecules move depend upon the energy they have.)，并列式(The house (that) he bought in 1968，and which he sold two years later，is again on the market.)，连环套式(There was one thing (that) he told me which I don’t believe at all.)。基于这些结构上的差异，在翻译定语从句的时候，可以选择以下几种方法：

　　1. 前置法

　　比较简短的英语定语从句，可以译成作定语的短语，置于所修饰词语之前。

　　例如：

　　·You must make full use of the money there is left to you and think of a plan to make more.

　　你必须充分利用所剩的钱，而且要想法赚更多的钱。

　　·The people who worked for him lived in mortal fear of him. 在他手下工作的人对他怕得要死。

　　·This is the cat that killed the rat.

　　这就是那只捕杀了老鼠的猫。

　　·For example, one function of friendship seems to fulfill is that it supports the image we have of ourselves, and confirms the value of the attitudes we hold.

　　例如, 友谊的一个作用似乎是支持我们在自己心目中的形象, 并使我们持有的价值观念更加坚定。

　　·Behaviorists, in contrast, say that difference in scores are due to the fact that blacks are often deprived of many of the educational and other environmental advantages that whites enjoy.

　　相反, 行为主义者认为, 成绩的差异是由于黑人常常被剥

　　夺了白人在教育及其他外界环境方面所享有的许多有条

　　件而造成的。

　　2. 后置法

　　当定语从句较长时, 如果翻译成前置的定语, 就会不符合汉语的表达习惯, 在这种情况下, 往往把该定语从句翻译成并列的分句, 放置于原来它所修词的后面。另外在处理此类定语从句时, 一般遵循的原则是：若保留先行词, 则在第二个分句中加以重复, 若省略, 则两个并列分句中均不再保留。当然, 在实际的翻译过程中也有例外。

　　·All the water that flows through the wide pipe in a second must somehow get through a narrow part too, which it can do only by going faster.

　　在一秒钟内流过粗管子的全部水量， 一定会以某种方式通

　　过细管子，这只有靠加快流速才能做到。(后置)

　　·Perhaps light is some sort of electric wave, whose nature we do not yet understand.

　　也许，光是某种电波，其性质我们尚不清楚。(后置)

　　·This will be particularly true since energy pinch will make it difficult to continue agriculture in high-energy American fashion that makes it possible to combine few farmers with high yields.

　　这种困境将是确定无疑的, 因为能源的匮乏使农业无法以

　　高能量消耗这种美国耕种方法继续下去了, 而这种耕种方

　　式使投入少数农民就可获得高产成为可能。(后置)

　　·“In short”, a leader of the new school attends, “the scientific revolution, as we call it, was largely the improvement and invention and use of a series of instruments that expanded the reach of science in innumerable directions.”

　　新学派的一位领袖人物坚持说：“简而言之, 我们所称谓的科学革命，主要指一系列器具的改进、发明和使用，这些改进、发明和使用使科学发展的范围无所不及。” (后置)

　　·The food supply will not increase nearly enough to match this, which means that we are heading into a crisis in the matter of producing and marketing food.

　　食品的供应将赶不上人口的增长, 这就意味著我们在粮食的生产和购销方面正陷入危机。(后置)

　　·You consulted the man who had no idea about that subject at all?

　　那个家伙对这一主题一无所知，你却去咨询他?(前置)

　　·They are striving for the ideal which is close to the heart of every Chinese and for which，in the past，many Chinese have laid down their lives.

　　他们正在为实现一个理想而努力，这个理想是每个中国人所珍爱的，在过去，许多中国人曾为了这个理想而牺牲了自己的生命。 (后置)

　　·Nearly everyone knows the story of “the dog that worried the cat that caught the rat that ate the grain that lay in the house that Jack built.”

　　几乎人人都知道这个故事：“杰克盖了房，房里堆了粮，耗子把粮吃光，猫把耗子抓着，狗又把猫逼上房。”(后置)

　　3. 溶合法

　　所谓溶合就是把原句中的主语和定语从句合并在一起，译成一个独立的句子。

　　例如：

　　·There are more and more foreign investors who have the intention to do business and live in Dalian.

　　越来越多的外国投资者有意向在大连经商和生活。

　　·They are a nation that must beg to stay alive.

　　他们那个国家不讨饭就活不下去。

　　·Objects that do not transmit light cause shadows.

　　不透光的物体造成阴影。

　　4.分离法

　　有些定语从句较长，结构较复杂，或意思上独立性较强，在逻辑意义上有追述、分层叙述、转折等作用。这时可将英语的定语从句从主句中分离出来，译成独立的成分。

　　例如：

　　·Nowhere is the clash between development and environment more visible than in China, where the world’s largest population faces pollution, deforestation and acid rain on a large scale.

　　在中国，发展与环境的矛盾表现得尤为明显。这个世界上人口最多的国家正面临着环境污染、森林减少以及大范围酸雨侵袭。

　　·There are 107 elements found in nature, most of which ( =and most of them)are metals.

　　自然界发现的元素有107种，其中大部分是金属。

　　5. 译成有状语功能的分句

　　·We know that a cat，whose eyes can take in many more rays

　　of light than our eyes, can see clearly in the night.

　　我们知道，由于猫的眼睛比我们人的眼睛能吸收更多的光线，所以猫黑夜也能看得很清楚。

　　(原因)

　　·Chaplin, whose mother was ill for many years, had to dance in streets to earn money .

　　由于母亲病了好多年，卓别林不得不到街头表演去挣钱。

　　(原因)

　　·I invited that friend, who came on time.

　　我邀请了那位朋友，他就按时来了。

　　(结果)

　　·He built a telescope through which he could study the skies.他做了一架望远镜，使他能够研究天空。

　　(结果)

　　·Anyone who wants to can go for a walk.

　　谁想去散步就可以去。

　　(条件)

　　·Nothing is difficult in the world for anyone, who dares to scale the height.

　　世上无难事，只要肯登攀。

　　(条件)

　　·The young man needed a visa that would enable him to study in the United States.

　　这位青年需要得到签证，以便前往美国学习。

　　(目的)

　　·But the Southern States wanted to set up a country of their

　　own, where they would be free to keep black slaves.

　　但是南方各州却想建立他们自己的国家，以便在那里他们可以随心所欲地继续把黑人当作奴隶。

　　(目的)

　　·The scientist, who was dog-tired, went on with the experiment.

　　那位科学家虽已筋疲力尽，但还是继续进行实验。

　　(让步)

　　·He insisted on buying another house, which he had no use for.

　　他坚持再买一幢房子，尽管他并无此需要。

　　(让步)

　　6. 其他译法

　　把翻译简单定语从句的方法贯通其中，如译成定语 + 句子成分(即把一个从句译成定语，另一个从句译成句子成分);或译成并列句(或句子成分)+ 状语从句(即把一个从句译成并列句或句子成分，另一个从句译成状语从句)等。例如：

　　·At one extreme are Hawaii and Brazil，where racial intermixture is extensive and continuing, and where racial discrimination is relatively minor.

　　处于一个极端的是夏威夷和巴西，在那里种族混合十分普遍，而且正在继续，因此，种族歧视较少。

　　(并列句+状语从句)

　　EXERCISES

　　I. SENTENCE TRANSLATION

　　1. Almost everything which really matters and which the world possessed at the commencement of the modern age was already known to man at the dawn of history.

　　2. And it helps to explain why so many inventions that were of Chinese origin or that had been known to the Greco-Romans were fully developed and exploited only by the Western Europeans.

　　3. Not surprisingly, the most complex political structures appeared in the Sudan, where long distance trade was most highly developed and where Islamic influence was the strongest.

　　4. This hope was nurtured by the great victories won by Genghis khan’s grandson, Hulagu, who was a Buddhist, and whose wife was a Christian.

　　5. They are striving for the ideal which is close to the heart of every Chinese and for which，in the past, many Chinese have laid down their lives.

　　6. It applies equally to traditional historians who view history as only the external and internal criticism of sources and to social science historians who equate their activity with specific techniques.

　　7. A youngster who has no playmates of his age living nearby may benefit greatly from attending nursery school.

　　8.The first two must be equal for all who are being compared，if any comparison in terms of intelligence is to be made.

　　9. Kissinger and his small group of aids toured the Forbidden City，where the Chinese emperors once lived in lofty splendor.

　　10.The time will surely come when the Chinese people will realize the four modernizations.