Essentials of Chinese-English Translation Practice Summarized

Precepts and Principles

1. Achieve a thorough word-by-word and sentence-by-sentence understanding of the Chinese original (逐字逐句吃透原意),

2. Follow the basic precept of sentence-for-sentence translation and flexible application of different approaches (遵循句对句翻译和灵活运用各种译法的基本准则),

3. Give a contextualized treatment of cohesion and coherence (上下文文气形意贯通),

4. Lay equal stress on structure, substance, and style (形式、内容、风格三者并重),

5. Don’t rely on just one dictionary for accuracy in expression and appropriateness in style; you will have to consult, among others, at least three authoritative monolingual English dictionaries before you can make a proper choice of word, and dictionaries of English usage and collocations are always helpful to ensure idiomatic use of English; to clarify a classical allusion, or to transmit a cultural, technical, or professional point, you will have to get an encyclopedia and specialized reference books ready at hand, and the more, the better. (勤查各类辞书),

6. Don’t attempt to compensate for inadequacies in translation by making too much use of explanatory notes, or your translation will be hardly readable. Notes are a necessary evil, and the fewer, the better. (尽量少加注释),

7. Don’t hastily rule out the possibility of translating a Chinese sentence by following basically the LEFT-RIGHT sequence of message / ideas as indicated by the order of sense units. This can hardly be called “literal translation”, for, strictly speaking, “literal translation” means giving a single word in place of each original word, i.e. word-for-word translation. (能顺序译则顺序译), and

8. Don’t try to get around a difficult point always by resorting to free translation, which should be employed sparingly, and used just right for the context both linguistically and culturally. (意译须用得恰到好处).

Procedures and methods

1. Read carefully and understand adequately the Chinese text

1) Examine the use of the punctuation marks, and see to it that the sentences are properly bounded;

2) Straighten out and rearrange in your mind ungrammatical structures which are highly possible in the writings of average Chinese writers or draftsmen of speeches.

3) Try to put proper interpretations, in the light of the context, upon confusing concepts, ambiguous expressions, and incoherent ideas, as often occur in a Chinese text.

4) Consider carefully and decide how to handle those hollow and superfluous words, hackneyed and stereotyped expressions, and official and political jargons, which are characteristic of the style of modern Chinese writings and especially of official documents and formal speeches. This poses a real challenge to any translator or interpreter. Retain those that may prove to be of political consequence, just to be on the safe side.

5) Analyze long sentences, and consider the necessity and possibility of breaking up a long sentence into shorter ones, necessity being the principal factor. Do not break up longer sentences at every turn for the convenience of translation, for such practices will eventually defeat the purpose of translation as an academic, artistic or professional pursuit.

6) Leave shorter sentences alone, for an attempt to combine shorter sentences into a longer one may result in an inadequate translation.

2. Resolve the Chinese sentence into semantic units through analyzing the sentence structure:

1) Distinguish the primary message from the secondary message(s).

2) Find out the logical relationships between the semantic units, especially of the secondary massage(s) to the primary message.

3. Select an appropriate English sentence structure according to the primary-to-secondary relationship and the logical relationships between the semantic units:

1) Consider which sentence structure to use: a simple sentence structure or a multiple sentence structure;

2) Consider the necessity of using the anticipatory it and/or the introductory there; 4) Place the secondary message(s) in a subordinate clause(s) or phrase(s);

5) Choose expressive means for the secondary message(s) either as a premodifier(s) or postmodifier(s):

(1) Noun phrase as appositive, adverbial, or complement

(2) Prepositional phrase as attribute, adverbial, or complement

(3) Adjective phrase as attribute, adverbial, or complement

(4) Participial phrase as attribute, adverbial, complement, or coordinate element

(5) Adverbial clause

(6) Relative clause:

As attribute

As adverbial (denoting cause or reason, condition, concession or contrast, purpose, or

result, etc.)

As connective element

As coordinate element

(7) appositional clause to postmodify a nominal subject or object

4. Decide the subject-predicate order of the English sentence:

1) Normal subject-predicate order

2) Inverted subject-predicate order or passive voice out of consideration for

(1) Coherence and cohesion; the use or non-use of cohesive indicators

(2) Stylistic effect of balance, contrast, emphasis, etc.

3) Partial or full inversion for cohesion, coherence, or a certain stylistic effect.

1) Front-position, or left-branching

2) Mid-position, or mid-branching

3) End-position, or right-branching

7. Proof-read carefully your English translation, or, better still, get someone else you think more careful than yourself to do the proof-reading before you finalize the text.

Techniques and conventions

1. Diction

1) Interpret and determine the true meaning of every word and expression in the original text:

(1) Complete a meaning: amplification

(2) Clarify a meaning: supplementation

(3) Ascertain a meaning: denotation or connotation

(4) Integrate two or more meanings into one: reduction or de-redundancy

(5) Separate one meaning into two or more: idiomaticalness

2) Collocation [See also Ch. XIII: 3. 1) (2) a. Collocation.]

A. Noun-centred:

Common nouns used

(1) With verbs transitive or intransitive

(2) With prepositions

(3) With adjectival premodifiers

(4) With postmodifiers

(5) With a to-infinitive

(6) With an appositional that-clause

Proper nouns / names used

(1) With the definite article

(2) With no article

B. Verb-centred:

Notional verbs used

(1) With adverbs

(2) With prepositions

(3) With clauses

(1) With noun phrases

(2) With adjective phrases

(3) With prepositional phrases

C. Adjective-centred:

Adjectives used

(1) With adverbials

(1) With prepositions

(2) With a to-infinitive