英语本科毕业论文Transformation of Part of SpeechIn EnglishChinese Translation

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1、第 14 页Transformation of Part of SpeechIn English-Chinese TranslationI. Introduction Any language in the world is following certain rules on purpose or without purpose. Each language has its own patterns to convey the interrelationships of persons and events, in no language may these patterns be igno

2、red, if the translation is to be understood by its readers. (Mona Baker, 2000:110) These two language systems, English and Chinese, with the former rather logic and latter rather pictographic, what character do they have? Mr Wangli put up forward two concepts in his famous writing Chinas Grammar The

3、ory hypostasis and parataxis, English emphasizes hypostasis, some linguists claim that English is full of connecting device，whereas Chinese parataxis, Chinese sentences are loosely structured, which usually adopt accumulative clause or independent sentences. There is one thing that should be noted i

4、s the position of the focus in a sentence, to be short: the core part is in at the beginning in English，while it is at back in Chinese. Two comparative examples demonstrate the dissimilarity apparently:For example: A tremendous achievement of the May 4th Movement was its public exposure of he ugline

5、ss of old stereotype and the old dogma and its call to the people to rise against them.For example: Its public exposure of ugliness of old stereotype and the old dogma and its call to the people to rise against them were a tremendous achievement of the May 4th Movement.Obviously, the former sentence

6、 is English type, while the latter one is Chinese pattern.We all know that it is always an extremely long sentence explaining before you know what happens when Chinese people are speaking, while English-spoken people are very direct, they always express their ends or results before telling you reaso

7、ns. This phenomenon creates huge obstacles for interpreters, because they have to remember lots of information before interpreting.The other thing is that English is static, Chinese is dynamic (周志培，2003：392-418). The representation of static in English is not rare, like using more nouns in a sentenc

8、e than Chinese, making full use of gerund, to-infinitive as linking device, nevertheless Chinese tends to adopt verb whenever it can. But in some cases, English use preposition as opposed to verb in Chinese. Apart from that, custom, history, and many other elements account for the transformation of

9、part of speech in English-Chinese translation.Hypostasis is based on sentence pattern, grammar serves as a bridge, put vocabulary (including changes of affix, tense as well as the collocation of words) into different position to form sentence structure with the purpose of communication and recording

10、, expressing the idea and communicating is the main starting point of hypostasis, that is to say the idea of human beings, culture, inner relation of each word are the starting points to form a sentence. Chinese language culture dates back to Fuxi (伏曦)，in order to record the quantity of collected wi

11、ld fruit, people of primitive society used stones. Gradually they drew pictures to show their meaning, from then on, language was developed accordingly. So at the beginning of Chinese being created, the purpose of it was to express idea.As translators, we are primarily concerned with communicating t

12、he overall meaning of a stretch of language. When we are doing translation work, the basic unit is a sentence not words, and the basic requirement of translation is faithfulness. To achieve that purpose, we need to start by decoding the units and structures which carry that meaning. Judging from all

13、 of the above, transformation of part of speech in English-Chinese translation is a must. This thesis deals with transformation of part of speech in the following aspects.II. The Similarity and Difference between English and Chinese2.1 The Identical Part of Speech in English and ChineseAccording to

14、the function of words, they can be divided into noun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun, conjunction, preposition and so on both in English and Chinese. Lets see what the functions of them are in the following passage.2.1.1 Definition and Grammatical Function of NounNouns can be divided into proper n

15、oun and common noun，which is not so obvious in Chinese. Common noun is a general name for a group of people or things, which can be divided into abstract noun, material noun, collect noun as well as individual noun. Proper noun is the name for a particular person, place, organization, country, etc.N

16、oun is very important in a sentence, understanding the function of them plays adominant role in understanding one sentence. The functions of nouns are:(1) Subject. It is the same both in Chinese and in English.(2) Object. Human beings and things can be the receptionist of action, therefore noun can

17、be object.(3) Predictive. The general structure is: subject + be+ predictive when it serves as predictive. (4) Direct objective and indirect objective. They are twins, which comes one after another. If there is no indirect object, there will be no direct object, we call it object only then. (5) Obje

18、ct of preposition. Noun can be after proposition as object (6) Attributive. Noun can be attributive no matter in English or in Chinese. It is not so complicated in Chinese, however it is a different case in English, because it involves singular form and plural form. The most typical example is man/w

19、oman+ noun. Man/Woman should be changed into men/women in English, which is not necessary in Chinese. (7) Appositive. There is one kind of clause called appositive clause, antecedent is a group of special words, like “idea”, “fact” those abstract noun. While in Chinese there is no appositive clause.

20、2.1.2 Definition and Usage of VerbsVerb is a kind of words describing the action and status of persons or things， verb and noun are the most important vocabulary in any language, without them, it is impossible to form sentences.The usage of verb is much more complicated in English than in Chinese. I

21、n English, verbs can be divided into five types: transitive verb, intransitive verb, predictive, auxiliary verb, a modal verb. In Chinese most verbs can be modified by “着, 了, 过”, which is compatible with simple past tense in English. Next let us see the usage of different verbs.Verbs have 16 tenses,

22、 which are based on changes of transitive verb, minus or plus auxiliary verb.(1) Content verb or its third singular form is aimed to present accustomed, commonly happened, immediate action, but some sensory verbs, like tell, hear, write, say, etc deliver past-time information. If they are added auxi

23、liary verb，dont, doesnt, the sentences become negative.(2) Past tense can describe action or existed situation in the past time. In the subjunctive mood sentence, there is exception that past tense sometimes displays action or situation at present or in the future.(3) If added will, shall or be goin

24、g to in front of verbs, it is called future tense, meaning actions, situation, or trend in the future.(4) If put should, would in front of verbs, it is called past future tense, displaying action or situation in the future standing on the point of past time.(5) If verbs are following auxiliary verb

25、have, has, it expresses the fact that the action or the situation happens in past time, which is not exact, and still have certain effect up to now.(6) It is almost the same, if verbs are following auxiliary verb had, it shows that the action or the situation happens before a period of past time, so

26、metimes this pattern is used in subjunctive mood. There are 16 tenses in active voice, the number is the same in passive voice, all of which depend on the changes of verbs, and we can say that the usage of verbs is quite complicated.2.1.3 Definition and Usage of PrepositionPreposition is always in f

27、ront of other words, one of the most active vocabularies, which cannot be a separate part in a sentence, it serves as links between other words.Preposition is always followed by nouns or phrases having the function of nouns, which are nouns, clause，pronoun, gerund or gerund phrase, infinitive or inf

28、initive phrases, numerable words. Preposition has the similar function in Chinese.2.1.4 Definition and Usage of AdjectiveAdjective is used to modify noun and pronoun, to describe the quality, size, ages, shape, color as well as nature of a certain object. Adjective can be in front of nouns, they hav

29、e the same usage both in English and Chinese. But, the position of adjectives can be after noun in English, whereas it is not the case in Chinese. There are comparative degree and superlative degree in English, which do not exist in Chinese.2.2 Different Part of Speech in English and Chinese(1) Auxi

30、liary. Auxiliary word is the word between word and word, between phrase and phrase to present some relation and meaning.In Chinese auxiliary cannot build a sentence by themselves, they have to be with other parts. Especially be noted are “吗，呢，吧” etc, their equivalence in English are what, why, how,

31、when. When we do translation, we are expected to pay attention to it, which should be called a kind of transformation of part of speech.(2) Article. There is article in English, but none in Chinese, therefore when doing English-Chinese translation, avoiding translating article is the most commonly u

32、sed skill, which is all right in most of situation, but it creates problems on some occasions, so we have to handle it with great cautions. 2.3 The Requirement and Limitation upon Transformation(1)There are always some parts of speech in one language which cannot be found in another language, even t

33、hough they may have identical concept, there are also some words that cannot be found equivalent words, like article, auxiliary etc.(2) It may have both equivalent meaning of words and the same part of speech, but from sentences point of view, we can only use certain part of speech, e.g. in English,

34、 subject can only be noun or noun phrase, which must not be verb, however it is always the case in Chinese.(3) English is hypostasis, Chinese is parataxis, the limitation, emphasis of the passage, and so on, and all contribute to the adjustment of part of speech.(4) In order to achieve a certain kin

35、d of effect, sentence must be re-structured, which leads to the conversion of part of speech.(5) This point is affected by custom and environment, which is rather complex, it cannot be explained in one sentence.III. The Classification of Conversion of Part of SpeechBecause of different linguistic sy

36、stems which English and Chinese belong to, when we translate English to Chinese, it is hard to translate word to word without changing their sentence pattern but if we did, the translation must be awkward and not in compliance with the practice of the target language. According to the common usage o

37、f vocabulary in magazines or newspapers, I simply classify transformation in the following groups. 3.1 The Conversion of Part of Speech of NounIn comparison with other languages, English is a materialized language, in which nouns are used more frequently, while Chinese are different, thus the conver

38、sion of word pattern is unavoidable. 3.1.1 Noun into Verb One of the characteristics of English words is that nouns accounts for a big proportion while in Chinese, verbs are more commonly used. That is why in English-spoken countries, people get used to abstract expression while Chinese prefer to us

39、e concrete expression. It is not surprising to find several verbs in Chinese sentence. While in English, every element in a sentence is played by words of particular part of speech. For example, Subject can only be a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase. However in Chinese, verb can be used in whatever pos

40、ition in a sentence, even in the subject position without changing its word pattern. Experts predict that the trend of Chinese is to emphasize the advantage of verbs, thus this kind of conversion in translation is rather common. In English, noun includes concrete noun and abstract noun. Of course, c

41、ommon nouns do not need to be converted into other parts of speech in translation e.g. man, woman, apple. While proper nouns may in the following situations: word itself implies a meaning of a motion or it is derived from a verb. Consider it in the following cases: For example: An increase in busine

42、ss requires an increase in the amount of money coming into general circulation. 交易增加，要求流通的货币量也增加。This example is very typical. In this sentence, three English nouns are converted into verbs in translation, otherwise, there will be many versions of translation but neither would be as easy as the abov

43、e one. Lets see another example: For example:Rockets have found application for the exploration of the universe.火箭已用来探索宇宙。We can see “application” and “exploration” are switched into verbs. If we don't convert the parts of speech, it can be translated into: "火箭已经找到了宇宙探索的应用" which is ra

44、ther wordy and difficult to say. From the above two examples, I can see the importance or conversion of parts of speech in translation. Because of the use of conversion of parts of speech, the translation is more simple and concise, as well as more informative. 3.1.2 Nouns into Adjective In English

45、writing, there are some proper nouns which are derived from adjectives and without determiners, such as success whose part of speech need to be changed in translation into Chinese. Seen in this sentence: For example:The maiden voyage of the newly-built steam ship was a success. 那艘新建轮船的处女航是成功的。 If we

46、 translate it word by word: 那艘轮船的处女航是个成功， it would be rather awkward. For example:He is a stranger to the operation of the electronic computer. 他对电子计算器的操作是陌生的。In this sentence “stranger” is the derivative of strange, part of speech of it is transformed into adjective. 3.1.3 The Conversion of Nouns i

47、nto AdverbsFor example: I have the honor to inform you that your application has been accepted.我很荣幸的通知你，你的申请已经被接受。 Clearly we can see "honor" was converted into adverb. For example:When he catches a glimpse of a potential antagonist, his instinct is to win him over with charm!只要一发现有可能反对的人，

48、他就本能地要用自己的魅力把此人争取过来。“Instinct” was converted into a verb too. This kind of conversion is not common in translation, and general principle for this is "名词+地". 3.2 The Conversion of Part of Speech of Verbs Verbs are a group of very important words which are also often transformed into other

49、parts of speech in translation. 3.2.1 Verbs into NounsIn translation from English to Chinese, there are many cases that verbs are converted into nouns. Usually this kind of verbs is derived from nouns by the addition of a prefix (like -fy, -ize) or simply use noun instead (just like the conversion o

50、f parts of speech in ancient Chinese). For example:The development of scientific research in China is characterized by the integration of theory with practice.中国科学研究发展的特点是理论联系实际。In this case, "Characterize" is derived from a noun by the adding "-fy" and "-ize"For exampl

51、e: Many voices have been raised demanding the setting up of an Arab common market. 许多人要求建立一个阿拉伯共同市场。 In this case, “setting” is a gerund, it is translated into verb.3.2.2 Verbs into AdjectivesAlthough it is seldom to translate verbs into adjectives, yet it still exists. For example:I wonder if the p

52、lay works in such a condition.我想这个计划在这样的条件下是否有效。In this sentence, the verb “work” is translated into adjective.3.3 The Transformation of Part of Speech of AdjectiveAdjective can be divided into two categories according to its function: one is the verb + adjective, it is predicative, another one is u

53、sed to modify noun, which is to say its functioned as an attributive. It is also very common to change adjectives to other part of speeches .It can be specified as follows:3.3.1 Adjectives into VerbsWhen the adjectives are used as predicative and express feeling, psychology and love, they are often

54、translated into verbs.For example: They are quite content with the data obtained from the experiment他们非常满足于实验中获得的数据。 When the adjectives are attributive in a sentence and at the same time they have the verb roots, like present or past participles of verbs, we usually translate them into verbs. The f

55、ollowing example will illustrate it. For example:The whales have not only suffered untold cruelty but now face total extermination.鲸不仅遭受了说不尽的虐待，而且现在正濒临彻底的灭绝。“Untold” in this sentence is past present, is functioned as an attributive, so we change its part of speech.3.3.2 Adjectives into NounsGenerall

56、y speaking, there are two rules for us to follow when we change adjectives into nouns. First, we adjust the meaning of whole sentence. For example:The book is less practical in the international trade field.这本书在国际贸易领域的实用性较差。Here, we translate practical to its noun practiceSecond, we put definite art

57、icle “the” in front of some adjectives describing human beings or something. Thus, we change it into a noun and often translated as a plural form.For example:Thanks for the aids from Red Cross; the deaf have recovered their hearing.多亏了红十字会的援助，聋人恢复了他们的听觉。“Deaf” is translated to noun, which means men

58、who cant hear .However, according to the usage “the+adjective” in our grammar book, this is only a noun phrase, and we can not consider it as transformation.3.3.3 Adjectives into AdverbsIf a noun in English is changed to a verb in Chinese, adjectives modifying the noun should be changed to adverbs a

59、ccordingly in Chinese. For example: Traditionally, there have been very good relations between the two countries.两国之间有着传统的友好关系。 For example:From then on, they lived very happily for the rest of their lives.从那以后，他们过着很幸福的生活。Obviously, “traditionally” and “happily” are translated into adjectives3.4 Tra

60、nsformation of Part of Speech of Adverbs Adverbs are often changed into many other parts of speeches, which can mainly be classified into the following groups:3.4.1 Adverbs into NounsIf adverb modifies the whole sentence not just a word, its generally translated into a noun.For example:The paper sai

61、d editorially that blogs have developed into a fourth source of news, after newspapers, radio and television.这家报纸的社论说，博客已经成了继报纸，广播和电视之后的第四中新闻来源.“Editorially” is shifted from an adverb to a noun.For example:Psychologically and culturally, it is difficult and sometimes threatening to look too closely

62、at failure.从心理学和社会文化学上讲，真正深入地剖析失败是非常困难的，有时还会令人心烦意乱，甚至寝食难安。 3.4.2 Adverbs into Adjectives In our translation, verbs can be changed into noun, and then the modifier of verb- adverb is often translated into adjectives.For example: The wide application of electronic computers affects tremendously the de

63、velopment of science and technology.电子计算机的广泛应用对科学技术的发展有很大的影响。Another kind of adverbs is often used before or after noun, this is equal to modify the noun. For example: The power plant supplies the inhabitants sixty Li about with electricity.这个发电厂为方圆60里的居民供电。Of course, this change is not a rule, we s

64、hould follow the habitual usage. 3.5 Conversion of Part of Speech of PrepositionSome experts claim that in English vocabulary, the number of noun is in the first place, while the preposition ranks the second. The role of connecting words and word phrases are played by preposition therefore the usage

65、 of prepositions is rather flexible. Some have made a survey that “of” is the most active one. It has 63 different usages in Oxford Dictionary. In Chinese, there are very few prepositions, then, its very difficult to find a proper preposition for its English equivalence, when we do English-Chinese translation. Therefore, sometimes we change preposition into verbs. Generally speaking, there are two types:First type is those having underlying meaning of action. Such as cross, past, throug