浅谈考研英语同位语从句的翻译
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同位语从句是名词性从句的一种,其基本的构成形式,是通过陈述句、一般疑问句、特殊疑问句来构成的:比如:
He is a boy.
Are you a boy?
Who is a boy?
我们用他们分别来构成从句。陈述句直接加that引导,一般疑问句变陈述语序加whether或if引导,特殊疑问句保留特殊疑问词。构成如下:
I know the fact that he is a boy.
I have a question whether he is a boy.
I have a quesion who is a boy.
知道了其构成,我们在考试中就可以将其识别出来了,那么,识别出来以后,如何对他们进行翻译呢?主要有以下4种翻译方法。
1.保持句子本身的顺序。一般的同位语从句,可以按照句子的结构顺译,保持句序,有时为了点明,加“即,也就是”这样的连接词,会使句子更自然。当然,使用功能类似的标点,比如用冒号、破折号等标点符号也可,如:
Being interested in the relationship of language and thought, Whorf developed the idea that the structure of language determines the structure of habitual thought in a society.
【参考译文】Whorf对语言与思维的关系很感兴趣,逐渐形成了这样的观点,即在一个社会中,语言的结构决定习惯思维的结构。
再如:
During the Second World War,several governments came to the conclusion that the specific demands that a government wants to make of its scientific establishment cannot generally be foreseen in detail.
【参考译文】第二次世界大战期间,一些国家的政府得出结论:政府要向科研机构提出的具体要求通常是无法详尽预见的。
2.可以单独成句翻译。本文来源微博@鬼谷一喵,比如这句话:If the small hot spots look as expected,that will be a triumph for yet another scientific idea,a refinement of the Big Bang called the inflationary universe theory. 句中做同位语的是a refinement of the Big Bang called the inflationary universe theory这个部分,由于其中还有-ed分词做后置定语,可以把同位语单独译成一个句子成分:假如这些小热点看上去同预计的一致,那就意味着又一科学论说的胜利,这种论说即更完美的大爆炸论,亦称宇宙膨胀说。
The mere fact that most people believe nuclear war would be madness doesn’t mean that it will not occur.
【参考译文】事实上,大多数人认为核战争是残忍,但仅此一点并不意味着核战争由此不会发生。
3.可以译成定语。这种情况中往往同位语从句所修饰的名词做句子主语,如果把同位语从句译成定语,则不影响句子的其它成分。如:
The belief that failure is the mother of success has kept him go on experimenting.
【参考译文】失败是成功之母的信念使他继续进行实验。
4.可以译成宾语。一般说来,这样的同位语从句位于句末,后面就不再有其它句子成分,而且翻译的时候需要在名词后添加一个动词,或者将该抽象名词转译成动词。如:
There are signs that restaurants are becoming more popular with families.
【参考译文】有迹象表明,餐馆越来越受到家庭的青睐。(这里就在“迹象”一词后添加了“表明”,来顺接同位语从句的内容,是什么迹象。)