Abstract:Language vocabulary can be divided into substantive and functional words by their function. What substantives reflect is the perceptional object around us, while functional words refer to the words with grammatical meaning or functional meaning but no practical significance opposed to substantives. It includes article, preposition, conjunction, interjection and so on. Functional words are words which cannot act individually as syntactic component, connected or attached to the syntax of the various substantive significance. Its role is to organize substantives, making the complex combinations of substantives ordered, and allowing readers to understand the relationship between substantives and functional words equals to the relationship between content and form of function words more clearly. So, how to translate English functional words into Chinese without losing the original English meaning is an important part of translation. This article focuses on a series of studies in the process of translating English functional words into Chinese by making analysis and research. While translating some English phrases of sentences with functional words into Chinese by means of omitting, converting or adding and other situations, it isn’t hard to point out whether it is a minor or a decisive role.
Mr. Pan Wenguo set out the platform for comparison of Chinese and English lexical comparisons of functional words in his work Outline of the comparison between Chinese and English《汉英语对比纲要》,pointing out that “English functional words are forms of complementary and alternative, while Chinese functional words are products of semantic grammaticalization and primary means of filling the semantic gaps.” (英语虚词是形态的补充和替代,而汉语的虚词是语义虚化的产物和填补语义空缺的主要手段。) We can see that in English-Chinese translation, English functional words’ translating always occupies a pivotal position. And in other countries, there isn’t much information in this focus.
Key words: Omit; Convert; Add; Functional Words
摘 要:语言词汇按其功能分为实词和虚词。实词所反映的是我们身边可感知的客体,虚词与实词相对,是指没有实际意义但有语法意义或功能意义的词,包括冠词、介词、连词、叹词等。虚词是不能单独充当句法成分的词,有连接或附着各类实词的语法意义,其作用在于把实词组织起来,使极为复杂的实词组合变得更为有序,使得读者更清晰了解到实词与虚词的关系是内容与形式的关系。因此,如何将这些英语虚词译成汉语而不失英语原文的意思,是英译汉中的一个重要内容。本文着重对英语虚词在汉译的过程中进行了一系列的研究,通过英语某些句子在汉语翻译过程中对虚词的省略、转换、增添等情况的比较分析,总结出英语虚词在汉语短语、句子翻译中的次要和决定作用。
潘文国先生的《汉英语对比纲要》在词法方面阐述了汉英虚词的对比,指出英语虚词是形态的补充和替代,而汉语的虚词是语义虚化的产物和填补语义空缺的主要手段。可见,英语虚词在汉语翻译的过程中,一直占据着举足轻重的地位。而在国外,鲜有资料在此方面做专注。
关键词:省略;转换;增添;虚词