英文是静态语言,善用名;中文是动态语言,善用动词、形容词和副词,所以翻译过程中存在过渡现象。
如
在经济上,我们要加快建立社会主义市场经济体制。
Economically, we will speed up the establishment of socialist market economy.
在汉译英的过程中,我们并没有直接翻译“建立”为establish,也没有把“加快”翻译成为rapidly,而是把“加快”翻译成了动词speed up,把“建立”翻译成为了the establishment of。基本上在中文里只要出现了“副词+动词”的结构,我们一般都会把副词译成动词,把动词译成名词。
如
Television, it is often said, keeps one informed about current events, allowing one to follow the latest developments in science and politics, and offers an endless series of programs which are both instructive and entertaining.
人们常说,通过电视可以了解当前的时事,可以掌握科学和政治的最新发展,电视还播出了层出不穷的既有教育意义又有娱乐性的节目。
分析
it is often said,插入语表观点,需要提到句首翻译。
此类插入语还有:
it is often said that...
it is believe that...
it is guessed that...
it is thought that...
it is supposed that...
it is reported that...
Keeps one informed current events,这个keeps就是过渡词,它本身就是一个动词性很弱的单词,基本没有什么重要意义,它的存在就是为了informed的存在。所以在翻译过程中,我们直接将keeps省略,而翻译informed,后面一句中allowing one to follow仍然也用同样的方法处理。
参考
《十二天突破英汉翻译》(笔译篇)武峰