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1.Analysis of the Three Translated Versions of Youth
1.1 General knowledge on Youth and its three translated versions.Samuel Ullman,the author of Youth,was born in Germany in 1840,and for years,he and his prose poem Youth have been renowned and admired in the world.Youth has over ten versions.On account of the vigorous practices of translation,it is quite worthwhile to make a further study.
1.2 Equivalence at different levels.The following analysis of the three translated versions will show us a vivid explanation applying the principle of dynamic equivalence in the aspects of lexicology,syntax,rhetoric,semasiology and style as well.
1.2.1 At the lexical level.Diction plays a significant role in transferring the spirit of literary works.In order to achieve it,the writer usually selects the most appropriate words to express his meaning.The following examples illustrate how the translators successfully convey the spirit of the words with aesthetic effects via the analysis of the three versions by Zhang Aiqing (ZCV),Huang Ren (HCV) and Xu Hanlin (XCV) respectively:
Example 1:
Source Text: Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind.
ZCV: 青春不完全是生命的一段历程;它是一种心境。
HCV: 青春不全是生命的一段时光,而是一种心境。
XCV: 青春不是年华,而是心境。
Example 2:
Source Text…so long are you young
ZCV: 你就会年轻
HCV: 你就会青春常驻
XCV: 你就青春永驻,风华常存。
MCV: 你便风韵犹存。
Basically,all of the three versions are in accordance with the original meaning,however,those using the four-character phrases,also called as four-character combinations,are a special usage in Chinese language with leading effect.They include Chinese set phrases and other non-fixed combinations,most of which consist of four Chinese characters.XCV is focus on this ‘four-character phrases’ translation strategy,putting it into full practice,like“青春永驻、风华长存”.Concentrating on ZCV “你就会年轻”,compared with the remaining two“青春常驻”、“青春永驻”,在、ZCV turns out to be a bit redundant so that it can be improved by revisions.Here comes my debut (MCV) “风韵犹存”,taking the very first try to polish my comprehension along with the process of analysis.Redundancy,described by Nida (1964:33; 2004:141) as a feature of all natural languages,should be diluted through the translation process.
1.2.2 At the syntactic level.In linguistics,syntax refers to rules for the arrangement of words into sentences.Compared with the above-mentioned lexical level,syntax is of higher level,which helps a writer forms the general style of his work.Syntactic patterns are like the bones which shape the constitution of people’s bodies and support the weight. Example 1:
Source Text: Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity,of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease.
ZCV: 青春意味着勇气战胜胆怯、爱好冒险胜于贪图安逸。
HCV: 青春意味着勇敢胜于胆怯,冒险胜过安逸。
XCV: 青春气贯长虹,勇锐盖过怯弱,进取压倒苟安。
Example 2:
Source Text: Nobody grows old merely by a number of years.We grow old by deserting our ideals.
ZCV: 没有人只因为活了一些年纪就变老,只有当我们放弃理想时才会如此。
HCV: 没有人只因岁月流逝而老去,抛弃理想反而会使人变老。
XCV: 年岁有加,并非垂老,理想丢弃,方堕暮年。
Translation involves the conversion between two different languages,so the distinctions between these two languages should be first studied.(Li,2010:37) According to the researchers of comparative linguistics puts forward that,“one of the most significant features distinguishing Chinese from English is that Chinese emphasizes parataxis in syntax,while English,hypostasis.” In his translation,HCV uses four-character for a time,which is pleasant to the ears but not faithful to the original test,especially the four-character “摧皱皮肤” is strange to Chinese people,only considering from the literal lever; translating “wrinkle the skin” word for word to “摧皱皮肤” takes no account of the distinction between Chinese and English both culturally and historically.
Example 1 that conveys the specific meaning with a lot of connectives as attribute,such as,‘of courage over timidity,of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease’,correspondingly,let’s look at its Chinese version in Example 2,there I make a brief count of the words each translation uses,ZCV is 30 words in total,HCV 24 and XCV only 19 to prove the importance on succinctness.
1.3 Comparison of the versions at different equivalence levels.ZCV,HCV and XCV are selected as the sources of the analysis,for a comparative study with the application of dynamic equivalence in both meaning and style.After having analyzed Youth by comparison among the three translated version in the aspects of lexicology,syntax,rhetoric,semasiology and style,now comes the research result as follows:
1.3.1 Formal equivalence: ZCV.A close scrutiny of ZCV reveals how form-based the translation is,which is based on the level of surface structures constituting the form of the text.On the whole,it is faithful to the original source,yet it can’t convey the beauty of meaning and style.
For instance,the words chosen by the author,“这常见于六十岁的人而不是二十岁的小伙子”;“享受生活游戏的乐趣” are kind of redundant and inconsiderate,which should be more concise as well as contextual in both closeness and naturalness. 1.3.2 Semantic equivalence: HCV.Turning to HCV,it is almost the same as the previous one.Relatively,more progress it has been made at the contextual level,for its meaning is closer to the original version with accurate and brief expression.“担忧、恐惧和不自信会使心灵变得卑微,会使青春朝气归于尘土” is the most brilliant points achieving from the version.
1.3.3 Stylistic equivalence: XCV.It is no doubt that every phrase and expression in HCV can regard as a masterpiece,adhering the principle of KISS——keep it simple,which reaches the equivalence in style elegantly.(Zhang,2009) According to Larson (2007: 62),what the translator should convey was the deep structure,the meaning,for ‘it is this meaning that serves as the base for translation into another language.’ Upon reading Youth at the very first time,as a reader,I’m touched by its predominated tone of encouragement and splendid inspiration attitude towards life which leaves me a great impression lingering in my mind.XCV first and foremost conveys the meaning of the original to the receptor in the target language,and then produce a similar response upon the target language,giving priority to ‘meaning-oriented translation’ instead of ‘form-based literal translation’.
References:
[1]Nida, Eugene A.
1.1 General knowledge on Youth and its three translated versions.Samuel Ullman,the author of Youth,was born in Germany in 1840,and for years,he and his prose poem Youth have been renowned and admired in the world.Youth has over ten versions.On account of the vigorous practices of translation,it is quite worthwhile to make a further study.
1.2 Equivalence at different levels.The following analysis of the three translated versions will show us a vivid explanation applying the principle of dynamic equivalence in the aspects of lexicology,syntax,rhetoric,semasiology and style as well.
1.2.1 At the lexical level.Diction plays a significant role in transferring the spirit of literary works.In order to achieve it,the writer usually selects the most appropriate words to express his meaning.The following examples illustrate how the translators successfully convey the spirit of the words with aesthetic effects via the analysis of the three versions by Zhang Aiqing (ZCV),Huang Ren (HCV) and Xu Hanlin (XCV) respectively:
Example 1:
Source Text: Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind.
ZCV: 青春不完全是生命的一段历程;它是一种心境。
HCV: 青春不全是生命的一段时光,而是一种心境。
XCV: 青春不是年华,而是心境。
Example 2:
Source Text…so long are you young
ZCV: 你就会年轻
HCV: 你就会青春常驻
XCV: 你就青春永驻,风华常存。
MCV: 你便风韵犹存。
Basically,all of the three versions are in accordance with the original meaning,however,those using the four-character phrases,also called as four-character combinations,are a special usage in Chinese language with leading effect.They include Chinese set phrases and other non-fixed combinations,most of which consist of four Chinese characters.XCV is focus on this ‘four-character phrases’ translation strategy,putting it into full practice,like“青春永驻、风华长存”.Concentrating on ZCV “你就会年轻”,compared with the remaining two“青春常驻”、“青春永驻”,在、ZCV turns out to be a bit redundant so that it can be improved by revisions.Here comes my debut (MCV) “风韵犹存”,taking the very first try to polish my comprehension along with the process of analysis.Redundancy,described by Nida (1964:33; 2004:141) as a feature of all natural languages,should be diluted through the translation process.
1.2.2 At the syntactic level.In linguistics,syntax refers to rules for the arrangement of words into sentences.Compared with the above-mentioned lexical level,syntax is of higher level,which helps a writer forms the general style of his work.Syntactic patterns are like the bones which shape the constitution of people’s bodies and support the weight. Example 1:
Source Text: Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity,of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease.
ZCV: 青春意味着勇气战胜胆怯、爱好冒险胜于贪图安逸。
HCV: 青春意味着勇敢胜于胆怯,冒险胜过安逸。
XCV: 青春气贯长虹,勇锐盖过怯弱,进取压倒苟安。
Example 2:
Source Text: Nobody grows old merely by a number of years.We grow old by deserting our ideals.
ZCV: 没有人只因为活了一些年纪就变老,只有当我们放弃理想时才会如此。
HCV: 没有人只因岁月流逝而老去,抛弃理想反而会使人变老。
XCV: 年岁有加,并非垂老,理想丢弃,方堕暮年。
Translation involves the conversion between two different languages,so the distinctions between these two languages should be first studied.(Li,2010:37) According to the researchers of comparative linguistics puts forward that,“one of the most significant features distinguishing Chinese from English is that Chinese emphasizes parataxis in syntax,while English,hypostasis.” In his translation,HCV uses four-character for a time,which is pleasant to the ears but not faithful to the original test,especially the four-character “摧皱皮肤” is strange to Chinese people,only considering from the literal lever; translating “wrinkle the skin” word for word to “摧皱皮肤” takes no account of the distinction between Chinese and English both culturally and historically.
Example 1 that conveys the specific meaning with a lot of connectives as attribute,such as,‘of courage over timidity,of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease’,correspondingly,let’s look at its Chinese version in Example 2,there I make a brief count of the words each translation uses,ZCV is 30 words in total,HCV 24 and XCV only 19 to prove the importance on succinctness.
1.3 Comparison of the versions at different equivalence levels.ZCV,HCV and XCV are selected as the sources of the analysis,for a comparative study with the application of dynamic equivalence in both meaning and style.After having analyzed Youth by comparison among the three translated version in the aspects of lexicology,syntax,rhetoric,semasiology and style,now comes the research result as follows:
1.3.1 Formal equivalence: ZCV.A close scrutiny of ZCV reveals how form-based the translation is,which is based on the level of surface structures constituting the form of the text.On the whole,it is faithful to the original source,yet it can’t convey the beauty of meaning and style.
For instance,the words chosen by the author,“这常见于六十岁的人而不是二十岁的小伙子”;“享受生活游戏的乐趣” are kind of redundant and inconsiderate,which should be more concise as well as contextual in both closeness and naturalness. 1.3.2 Semantic equivalence: HCV.Turning to HCV,it is almost the same as the previous one.Relatively,more progress it has been made at the contextual level,for its meaning is closer to the original version with accurate and brief expression.“担忧、恐惧和不自信会使心灵变得卑微,会使青春朝气归于尘土” is the most brilliant points achieving from the version.
1.3.3 Stylistic equivalence: XCV.It is no doubt that every phrase and expression in HCV can regard as a masterpiece,adhering the principle of KISS——keep it simple,which reaches the equivalence in style elegantly.(Zhang,2009) According to Larson (2007: 62),what the translator should convey was the deep structure,the meaning,for ‘it is this meaning that serves as the base for translation into another language.’ Upon reading Youth at the very first time,as a reader,I’m touched by its predominated tone of encouragement and splendid inspiration attitude towards life which leaves me a great impression lingering in my mind.XCV first and foremost conveys the meaning of the original to the receptor in the target language,and then produce a similar response upon the target language,giving priority to ‘meaning-oriented translation’ instead of ‘form-based literal translation’.
References:
[1]Nida, Eugene A.