形合意合與翻譯

從形合意合談漢譯英

OnC-ETranslation

fromthePerspectiveofHypotaxisandParataxisOutline1

HypotaxisandParataxis2TwoWaysofForminganEnglishSentence

3MajorDifferencesinStructure

4SentenceCombination1WhatareHypotaxisandParataxis?

Ingeneral,hypotaxis

isharmonyinform,and

parataxis

isharmonyinmeaning.1.1Thedefinitionofhypotaxis

Hypotaxis

isthegrammaticalarrangementoffunctionallysimilarbut"unequal"constructs(hypo="beneath",taxis="arrangement"),i.e.,constructsplayinganunequalroleinasentence.Acommonexampleofsyntacticexpressionofhypotaxisissubordination

inacomplexsentence.1.2Thedefinitionofparataxis

Parataxis

isawayofwritingorspeakingthatfavorsshort,simplesentences,withtheuseofcoordinatingratherthansubordinatingconjunctions.(fromGreekfor“actofplacingsidebyside”;Para=beside+tassein=arrange).Itisaliterarytechnique,contrastedwithhypotaxis.

Itisalsousedtodescribeatechniqueinpoetryinwhichtwoimagesorfragmentsarecoordinatedwithoutaclearconnection.Readersarethenlefttomaketheirownconnectionsimpliedbytheparatacticsyntax.EzraPound,inhisadaptationofChineseandJapanesepoetry,madethecoordinationofimagesanimportantpartofEnglishlanguagepoetry.1.3Thethreedevicestoformasentence

Wordsareconnectedinthreewaystoformasentence:syntactical

devices,

lexical

devicesandsemantic

devices.Syntacticaldevicesandlexicaldevicespertaintohypotaxis,and

semanticdevicespertaintoparataxis.Thethreedevicesareusedinalllanguages,butsomeareusedmorefrequentlyinonelanguagethaninotherlanguages.Forexample,syntacticaldevicesandlexicaldevicesareusedmorefrequentlyinEnglishthaninChinese;andsemanticdevicesareusedmorefrequentlyinChinesethaninEnglish.Prof.YangRongguihadaninvestigationofADreaminRedMansionsbycountinghypotaxissentencesinthecorrespondingpartsoftheChineseversionandtheEnglishversion.Accordingtothestatistics,thereareaboutonlyabout28%ofhypotaxissentencesintheChineseversion,andabout97%ofhypotaxissentencesintheEnglishversion.1.4ProfessorWangLi’sargument

AfamouslinguistWangLi(王力)isthefirstChinesescholarwhopresentedtheconceptofhypotaxis

andparataxis.HestatesinChina’sGrammaticalTheory(《中國語法理論》，商務印書館1945年)thattheyaretwobasicmeanstoformlanguage.Heholdsthathypotaxisisameansbywhich“l(fā)oose”individualwordsareconnectedinto“concentrated”phraseandfurtherdiscourse(throughthechangeofwordformsandconnectionofwords);parataxisdependsonthemeaning,i.e.theinternallogicrelationshiptoformlanguage.Healsopointsoutthatthetwomeanscoexistinalanguagewithmoreemphasisononethantheother.ParataxisismoreoftenusedinChineseandhypotaxisisnotamust,whilehypotaxisismoreoftenusedinWesternlanguages,inwhichconnectingmeansareindispensibleinmostcases.

ProfessorWangLisays,“ThestructureofWesternlanguagesislikesomethingconnectedbyrings.Thoughtheyareconnected,thetracesoflinkingarevisible.Ontheotherhand,thestructureoftheChineselanguageislikeaseamlessheavenlyrobe,whichispiecedtogetherwithoutanytraces.”TheWesterngrammarishardandinelasticandtheChinesegrammarissoftandelastic.BecausetheWesterngrammarishard,therearemanystiffrequirementsinit,e.g.asubjectisindispensibleinafiniteclause.TheChineselanguageissoft,sothemainpurposeoftheChinesegrammaristoexpressmeaning,e.g.theobjectintheprecedingclausecanbeusedasthesubjectofthefollowingclause.(他買了一輛車，是國產的。)Foranotherexample,tworelevantthingscanbepiecedtogetherwithoutanyconnectivewords.(他買了一輛國產車，我買了一輛進口車。/冬天來了，春天還會遠嗎？)1.5Otherscholars’opinionsAfamousAmericantheoristoftranslationEugineA.NidapointedoutinTranslatingMeaningin1983,“ThemostimportantcontractbetweenChineseandEnglishis

hypotaxis

and

parataxis.”SomeChinesescholarscompareEnglishsentencestoatoweringtreewithmanybranches,abunchofgrapes,orastringofpearls;theyalsocompareChinesesentencestoabamboo,aplateofpearls,orwavesontheriver.Chinesesentencesareformedmainlybywayof

overtcoherence

(顯性連貫)throughmeaning.Englishsentencesareformedmainlybywayofcovert

cohesion(隱性呼應)thoughformativedevices.1.6Registeranddiachronicdifferences

Onthewhole,therearemorehypotaxissentencesinscientific,philosophical,law,andformalofficialwritings.Ontheotherhand,therearemoreparataxissentencesinliterarywritingsanddailyspeech.Diachronically,therearemorehypotaxissentencesinmodernChinesethaninancientChinese.Infact,modernChinesehasbeeninfluencedbyWesternlanguages,especiallyinscientific,philosophical,law,andformalofficialwritings.1.7Advantagesanddisadvantagesofhypotaxisandparataxis

Parataxis

isusedmorefrequentlyinChinese.Therearemoresentenceswithnosubject,sentenceswiththesubjectomitted,moreactivevoicesentences,andfewerconjunctionsinChinesethaninEnglish.Therefore,theChineselanguageismoreconcisebutmorediminstructure.Beingmoreconciseispreferredinliteraryworksanddailyspeech,anditsavestimeandspace,whichisespeciallyimportantintheinformationage.Besides,itisalanguagemoresuitableforpoetry.However,beingdiminstructuresometimesmayleadtovaguenessormisunderstanding,whichshouldbeavoidedinscientific,philosophical,law,andformalofficialwritings.

Ontheotherhand,hypotaxis

isusedmorefrequentlyinEnglish,inwhichpassivevoiceisoftenused,subjectisoftenamust,andconjunctionsandprepositionsarewidelyused.Therefore,Englishismorestrict,clearandlogicalonthesurface,anditisalanguagemoresuitableforscientific,philosophical,law,andformalofficialwritings.However,itisnotasflexibleandelasticastheChineselanguage.Besides,ittakesupmorespacewhenprinted.2TwoWaysofFormingEnglishSentences

Coordination

and

subordination

arewaysofcombiningwords,phrases,andclausesintomorecomplexforms.Thediscussionbelowexaminescoordinationandsubordinationofclauses.2.1Coordination

CoordinationofsentencesisagrammaticalstrategythattheideasintwoormoreINDEPENDENTCLAUSESareequivalentorbalanced.Coordinationcanproduceharmonybybringingrelatedelementstogether.Coordinationuses

coordinatingconjunctions(centralcoordinatorsareand,

but,

and

or)orpunctuation

(mainlysemicolon,colon

and

dash)tocombineshortindependentclausesintoasinglesentence.2.2Subordination

Subordinationisagrammaticalstrategythatoneideainasentenceismoreimportantthananotherideainthesamesentence.Tousesubordination,youplacethemoreimportantideainanINDEPENDENTCLAUSE(finiteclause)andthelessimportant(thesubordinate)ideainaDEPENDENTCLAUSE(finiteclauseornon-finiteclause).Subordinationusessubordinatingconjunctions(conjunctivepronouns,conjunctiveadverbs,relativepronouns,relativeadverbs)(e.g.that,who,what,which,when,where,how,etc.)totransformindependentclauses(mainclauses)intodependentclauses(subordinateclauses).Oritusesinfinitive,-ingparticipleor–edparticipletoformanon-finiteclause(includingabsoluteconstruction).2.3Examplesofcoordinationandsubordinationwithdifferentemphasis

E.g.1.Thegirlcried,andshethrewthegiftoutofthewindow.(Acompoundsentenceorcoordinationgivesequalimportancetobothideas.)

E.g.2.Thegirlcriedasshethrewthegiftoutofthewindow.

(Thesubordinateclausedownplaysthegirl’sthrowingofthegiftoutofthewindowandshowshowtheactionofthrowingthegiftoutofthewindowrelatestotheactionofcrying.)

E.g.3.Thegirlcried,throwingthegiftoutofthewindow.(Theparticipialphrasefurthersubordinatesthegirl’sthrowingofthegiftoutofthewindow.)

E.g.4.Crying,thegirlthrewthegiftoutofthewindow.

(Theparticipialphrasemakestheactionofcryinglessimportantandemphasizestheactionofthrowingthegiftoutofthewindow.)

E.g.5.Thecryinggirlthrewthegiftoutofthewindow.(Adjectivesgivetheleastemphasistothegirl’scrying.)2.4MeaningsinCompoundSentenceswith“and”Timesequence:Heopenedthedoor,and

thenweenteredtherestaurant.Result:Hedroppedtheplateofpastaonmymap,andIletoutacryofpainandhorror.Contrast:

Mysisterorderstea,and

Ialwaystakecoffee.Concession:Therestaurantownerswanttoservegoodfood,andyettheyneverquitegeteverythingright.Condition:Theyhavetolearntomakebettercoffee,and

thenI’llbehappier./Gostraight

and

you’llseeachurch./DothatagainandI’llcallapoliceman."Pure"addition:Theyservepasta,and

theyalsohaveanicerangeofpizzas.Explanation:Theyhaveonlyonechoicetostayinbusiness---and

that'stoimprovebothfoodandserviceimmediately.3MajorDifferencesinStructure3.1Flowing-watersentencesandrun-onsentences（粘連句，不斷句）E.g.1.不覺冬去春來，久困思動，今日醒來，陽光照屋，精神為之一振，扔在屋角的包袱一直未曾打開，趁天氣晴朗，一把拎了過來，抖出冬天換下的衣裳，上面尚有點點雨漬雪痕，便將它攤在窗前曬起。---《牡丹亭》Beforeverylong,winterpassedandspringarrived.OnedaywhenLiuMengmeiwokeup，hewaspleasedtofindthattheroomfullofsunshine.Hehadlainonthebedforalongtimeandnowfounditbettertogetupandmovearound.Hejumpedupandtookupthebundlewhichhehadthrowninthecorneroftheroommanydaysago.Hiswinterclothesstillhadstainsofrainandsnowandhehungthemupbythewindowtodry.E.g.2.憑窗站了一會,微微的覺得涼意侵入。轉過身來,忽然眼花繚亂。Standingatthewindowforawhile,Ifeltabitchilly.AsIturnedround,myeyessuddenlydazzledbeforethebrightlightandcouldnotseethingsdistinctly.E.g.3.在第一章首先討論了浪漫主義的起源，然后在第二章討論了浪漫主義的特點。

?Atfirst,theoriginofromanticismisdealtwithinchapterone,thenthecharacteristicsofromanticismarestudiedinchaptertwo.

√

First,theoriginofromanticismisdealtwithinChapterOne,andthenitscharacteristicsarestudiedinChapterTwo.3.2Adverbsorconjunctions?E.g.1.他似乎并不想去，另外他的衣服也不夠好。

？Heseemedtohavenodesiretogothere,besides,hisclotheswerenotgoodenough.

√

Heseemedtohavenodesiretogothere;

besides,hisclotheswerenotgoodenough.

√Heseemedtohavenodesiretogothere.Besides,hisclotheswerenotgoodenough.

√

Heseemedtohavenodesiretogothere,and

besides,hisclotheswerenotgoodenough.E.g.2.房價太高，而且地段也不太合適。

？Thepriceistoohigh,moreover,thehouseisn’tinasuitableposition.

√Thepriceistoohigh;

moreover,thehouseisn’tinasuitableposition.

√Thepriceistoohigh.

Moreover,thehouseisn’tinasuitableposition.

√Thepriceistoohigh,andmoreover,thehouseisn’tinasuitableposition.E.g.3.房子對我們來講不夠大，而且離城里太遠。

？Thehouseisn’tbigenoughforus,furthermore,itistoofarfromthetown.

√Thehouseisn’tbigenoughforus;

furthermore,itistoofarfromthetown.

√Thehouseisn’tbigenoughforus.

Furthermore,itistoofarfromthetown.

√

Thehouseisn’tbigenoughforus,and

furthermore,itistoofarfromthetown.E.g.4.她說是這樣的，可是她錯了。

？Shesaiditwasso,however,shewasmistaken.

√Shesaiditwasso;

however,shewasmistaken.

√

Shesaiditwasso.

However,shewasmistaken.

√Shesaiditwasso,

but

shewasmistaken.

（nevertheless與此同）E.g.5.一方面你收了她的禮物，另一方面你對全家都不禮貌。

？Ononehandyouhaveacceptedherpresents,ontheother(hand)youarerudetothewholefamily.

√

Ontheonehandyouhaveacceptedherpresents;

ontheother(hand)youarerudetothewholefamily.

√Ontheonehandyouhaveacceptedherpresents.Ontheother(hand)youarerudetothewholefamily.

√Ontheonehandyouhaveacceptedherpresents,butontheother(hand)youarerudetothewholefamily.E.g.6.下雨了，比賽取消了。

？Itrained，thereforethegamewascalledoff.

√Itrained;

thereforethegamewascalledoff.

√Itrained.Thereforethegamewascalledoff.

√

Itrained,so

thegamewascalledoff.E.g.7.他不努力，掛科了。

？

Hedidn’tstudyhard,thusfailedthetest.

√Hedidn’tstudyhard,andthus

failedthetest.E.g.8.他們聊了一會兒，然后上班去了。

？Theychattedforawhile,thentheywenttowork.√Theychattedforawhileand

then

wenttowork.3.3WithconjunctionsandwithoutconjunctionsE.g.1.他不來信，我不回信。

Because

hedoesn’twritetome,Idon’t/won’twriteback.Hedoesn’twritetome,and/so

Idon’twritebacktohim.E.g.2.要提倡科學，靠科學才有希望。

Wemustpromotescience,for

thatiswhereourhopelies.E.g.3.善欲人見，不是真善；惡恐人知，便是大惡。Agooddeedisnogooddeedifitisdoneforshow.Anevilisalltheworseif

itiscoveredup.E.g.4.車未停穩(wěn)，請勿上下。

Nevergetonoroffthebusbefore

itcomestoastandstill．E.g.5.你來了，我走。

If

youcome,I’llleave.

When

youcome,I’llleave.

Since

youhavecome,I’mleaving.3.4Topic-prominentorsubject/objectprominentE.g.1.全國到處都在興建新工廠。

?

Thewholecountryisbuildingnewfactories.

√

Newfactoriesarebeingbuilt

alloverthecountry.E.g.2.剛才校門口發(fā)生了一起交通事故。？Theschoolgatehappenedatrafficaccidentjustnow.√

Atrafficaccidenthappenedattheschoolgatejustnow.E.g.3.三十年來中國發(fā)生了巨大的變化。

？

Chinahastakenplacedgreatchangesinthelast30years.

√

GreatchangeshavetakenplacedinChinainthelast30years.E.g.4.聽到這個消息，她的手都在發(fā)抖。？Hearingthenews,herhandsweretrembling.√Whensheheardthenews,herhandsweretrembling.E.g.5.往窗外一看，有幾個學生在打籃球。

？

Lookingoutofthewindow,thereweresomestudentsplayedbasketball.

√Lookingoutofthewindow,Isawsomestudentsplayingbasketball.E.g.6.首先討論了浪漫主義的起源，最后討論了浪漫主義的影響。?At

Firstdiscussestheoriginofromanticism,atlastdealswiththeinfluenceofromanticism.√

First,theoriginofromanticismisdiscussed,andfinally/intheend

itsinfluenceisdealtwith.E.g.7.不了解中國的第一手資料是一大遺憾。

?DonotknowChinafirsthandisagreatpity.

√ItisagreatpitythatyoudonotknowChinafirsthand.

√

That

youdonotknowChinafirsthandisagreatpity.

√NotknowingChinafirsthandisagreatpity.E.g.8.酒不喝了。

Idon’tfeellikedrinkinganymore.E.g.9.只有勤奮才能取得好成績。Agoodscoredependsondiligence.E.g.10.今天食堂吃餃子。

Jiaoziareservedinthecanteen

today.E.g.11.叉子不好吃。

Ican’teatwellwithafork.E.g.12.從歷史上看，每個時代的人類互不相同，沒有所謂共同的“人性”。

Anexaminationofthehistoryofhumanitysuggestedthatmaninourepochissodifferentfrommaninprevioustimesthatitseemedunrealistictoassumethatmenineveryagehavehadincommonsomethingthatcanbecalled“humannature”.E.g.13.他開車心不在焉，幾乎肇事。Hisabsentmindduringthedrivingnearlycausedanaccident.E.g.14.午夜空氣涼爽，她又振作了精神。Thecoolmidnightairrestoredherspirits.E.g.15.欲購從速。

Wastenotimeifyou

wanttobuyit.E.g.16.電影糟透了，勸你別看。

？

Filmisverybad,Iadviseyounotsee.

√The

filmisverybad,and

Iadviseyounotseeit.

√

The

filmissobadthatIadviseyounotseeit.3.5MarkednounsorunmarkednounsE.g.1.馬是有用的動物。

？

Horseisusefulanimal.

√

Ahorseisa

usefulanimal.

√

Horses

areusefulanimals.

√

Thehorseisausefulanimal.E.g.2.我每天早上都一樣，洗臉，刷牙，吃早點，然后去上班。

？

Iamthesameeveryday,washface,brushteeth,havebreakfast,thengotowork.

√

Everydayisthesametome:Iwashmy

face,brush

my

teeth,havemy

breakfast,

andthen

gotowork.E.g.3.他到圖書館借書去了。

？

Hehasgonetothelibrarytoborrowbook.

√Hehasgonetothelibrarytoborrow

a

book/somebooks.4SentenceCombinationTherearethreemajorwaystocombinedifferentpartsintoonesentence.

1.Usingcoordinators

suchas“and,or,but…”.

2.Usingsubordinators

suchas“when,which,who,what,whose,that,when,where,…”.3.Using

non-finite

forms.

Thefollowingisadiagramtoshowhowasentencecanbeconstructed.Example:我坐在椅子上看電視。原句：Isatinthechair.IwatchedTV.合句：1.Isatinthechairand

watchedTV.2.Isatinthechairwhen

IwatchedTV.3.Isatinthechair,watching

TV.Exercises:1.WaldenPondisnowthesiteofmanytouriststands.ItwasoncepraisedbyThoreauforitsnaturalbeauty.2.Jimstoodinfrontofthemirror.Helookedathisimage.Hewonderedatthebigchange.Ithadcomeoverhiminrecentyears.3.Hespreadarumourthatthepresidentwasgoingtoresign.Therumourledtoagreatconfusioninthecountry.4.Stamp-collectingisoneofthemostcommonformsofcollecting.Stamp-collectingisahobby.Manypeoplecarryonthehobbyforyearsandsomepeopleforlife.5.Theastronautslearntsomething.Whattheylearntwashowtodealwithanenvironment.

Intheenvironmentthereisneitherweightnorgravity.6. Thesteepsurroundingslopeswerecappedwithsnow.Thesnowfedtwostreams.Thesestreamsplungeddowntojoininthevalleybelow.7.

Tomcametothepartyinpatchedjeans.Thissurprisedtheotherguests.Mostoftheguestswerewearingeveningdress.8. TelevisioncanhelpustoseethepatternofAmericanlife.Televisioncanhelpustounderstandtheevents.Theeventscanuniteusordivideus.9.

Philipreachedinhispocket.Philippulledoutapieceofpaper.Onthepaperhehadwrittendownthetitleofthebook.Hewassupposed