定语从句的英语翻译方法
限制性定语从句对所修饰先行项起限制作用,在意义上与先行项亲密不行分。如被省去,主句意思就模糊不清,甚至变得毫无意义。关系词和先行项之间一般不用逗号分隔。
(一)定语词组
①I have but one lamp by which my feed are guided. 我只有一盏指路明灯。
②It was so with the vast railroad yards with the crowded array of vessels she saw in the river. 火车站广阔场地,河里鳞次梯比船只,她也同样不能理解。
③Before following her in her round of seeking, let us look at the sphare in which her future was to lie. 我们暂且把她寻工作事搁下来不谈,先看一看她前途所寄予这个世界。
④...and the thread which bound her so lightly to girlhood and home were irretrievably broken ……而那些把她和少女时代以及家乡轻轻系住柔丝,不得不就此断绝了。
(二)并列从句
1)省略英语先行项
①The lungs are subjecd to several diseases which are treatable
by surgery. 肺易受几种疾病侵袭,但均可经手术。
②A little way on she saw a great door which, for some reason, attracted her attention. 又走了一些路,她观察一个大门,不知怎,引起了她留意。
③As a result, a hum of gossip was set going which moved about the house in that secret manner common to gossip. 结果就造成一阵闲谈,暗中在公寓里流传,闲谈一般都是如此。
④A will had been made which divide the small tax –eaten property equally among the remaining four, so that it was really of no interest to any of them. 遗嘱已立好,把这片快要给税吃光薄产平分给四个孩子,但谁都对此不感兴趣。
上述定语从句例句比(一)里定语从句例句长些,因此,就不宜译成定语词组成形式。否则,译句就会显得太长且不符合汉语表达习惯。如④就不宜译成“把这片快要给税吃光薄产平分给四个孩子中遗嘱早已立好,谁都对此不感兴趣。”这类从句不是长、难简单定语从句,一般就按原文挨次位置译。上面译句其次分句,有承前省略了主语,如③④,有借用第一分句不定语作规律主语,如①②
2)重复英语先行项
①At dimmer I found myself placed between Mrs. Bradly, and a shy drab girl who seemed even younger than the other. 席间,我发
觉自己坐在布拉得雷太太和一害羞乏味女孩子中间;她看上去比其余人都年轻。
②A writer--in fact every one of us in life--needs that loving-mother force from which all 一个作家——实际上生活中每个人——都需要慈母力气,它是制造一切源泉。
③Man possesses an expressive faculty that goes far beyond gestures, that allows and even compels him to express his thoughts, feedings, dreams, and inituitions. 人类具有远远超过于手势表达官能,这种官能不仅使人能够,而且使他要把思想、感情、幻梦、直觉表达出来。
这些先行项重复,有时用是代词如①②,有时用是限定词如③。汉译时,需重复先行项地方,就要重复。否则会影响意思连贯和清晰。我们一般采纳分述法将带定语从句英语复合句译成并列分词。分述法就将主句和从句分开翻译方法。此方法除了将定语从句译为并列分句外,还译为状语从句。
(三)状语从句
让我们来看看下例该怎么译:appreciates
He insisted on building another house which he had no use for.
上例能译成“他坚持再建一座他不用房子”或“他坚持再建一座房,这房他不用”吗?明显不能,由于这样译文令读者莫名其妙。这两种译文
是套用定语词组和并列分句形式而译,然而错了。
正确译文是:他虽自己不用,但仍坚持再建一座房。此句之所以这样译,是由于它含有状语从句意思。英语定语从句——尤其是非限制性定语从句——有时兼有状语从句职能,可以表示时间、条件、缘由、让步、目、结果等等关系。
兹再举几例说明限制性定语从句所表示状语意思:
①I think it will grow even on non-irrlgated land where there is a forest belt. 我想即使在没有浇灌土地上,只要有一条树林带,苜蓿还是会生长。(表条件)
②In a personed sense, I think of my eldest daughter, whose birthday is today. 就个人来讲,我想到我大女儿,由于今日是她生日。(表缘由)
(四)独立句
①He paid that peculiar deferente to women which every member of the sex appreciates. 他对女性殷勤令每个女人所赏识。
②What were the hopes and dreams that had made of them the incredibly stubborn warriors?是什么盼望,什么目标,什么抱负使他们成为坚韧到令人难以置信战士呢?
翻译英语There be 句型和带定语从句复合句时,常用溶合法。溶合法就是把原主句主语同定语从句溶合在一起而译成独立句方法。溶合法要
求转变句子构造形式。详细作法是,将原主句词或词组用作独立句主语,再将定语从句用作谓语,这样便译成独立句,如①将He paid that peculiar deference to women 压缩译为“他对女性殷勤”而定语从句“which every member of the sex appreciates”译为谓“令每个女人所常识”。
(五)复合宾语
①I also found on the ground near the tracks of the lamed groups of ants which were rulling grains of corn. 我还观察骆驼脚印边有很多蚂蚁在拖玉米粒。
②He did not find any one in the house who particularly cared to see. 他认为家里没有人特殊想知道。
当主句谓语动词是表示“感观”或“心理活动”等意义时,修饰宾语定语从句多译为复合宾语。
二、非限制性定语从句
非限制性定语从句同其先行项之间联系是松散。它不是先行项必不行少组成局部,而仅是对先行项作些描写或补充说明。非限制性定语从句前常有逗号将它与主语分开。非限制性定语从句也主要是采纳前面已说过分译法和溶合法来译。它常驻被译为并列分句、独立和状语从句,间或还可译为定语词组等。
(一)译成并列分句