Translation of "Handling Long and Complex Sentences in Foreign Translation"

In the process of translating German texts, handling long and complex sentences often presents challenges, making this one of the more difficult aspects of translation. This is primarily due to the frequent occurrence of nested clauses in German expression, as well as the presence of numerous compound words, which are often long and intricate. As a result, entire sentences can become excessively lengthy and convoluted. Through ongoing exploration, I have gained new insights into the translation of such medium to long sentences. Here, I would like to discuss a typical sentence structure in German: nested clauses.

The most prominent characteristic of this structure lies in its logic. In an accumulating series of clauses, the meaning conveyed by each clause is related to a component mentioned earlier in the context, with the underlying thread being the logic inherent in the statement itself. Each independent sentence possesses its complete meaning, and these complete sentences are not entirely independent; rather, they exhibit logical connections. For example: "Mit dem aktuellen Streitwort „Asyltourismus“ kritisieren Politiker, dass manche Geflüchtete nicht in dem Land bleiben, in dem sie Asyl beantragt haben, sondern in eins weiter reisen, das ihnen besser gefällt." This sentence can be interpreted as having two linguistic levels: the first level is "Mit dem aktuellen Streitwort „Asyltourismus“ kritisieren Politiker, dass manche Geflüchtete nicht in dem Land bleiben, sondern in eins weiter reisen." Meanwhile, "in dem sie Asyl beantragt haben" and "das ihnen besser gefällt" exist at the second level, while also belonging to the first-level clause, and so on. German subordinate clauses can continue to nest in this manner indefinitely.

The main property of these sentences lies in their logic. In a group of subordinate clauses, the meaning of each subordinate clause is connected to a previously mentioned part of the context. What binds these subordinate clauses together is the consistent logic present in the sentence. These subordinate clauses appear entirely independent and each possesses a complete meaning. However, in reality, there is a logical connection among them.

When we comprehend the expressiveness of this sentence, each fragmented part conveys corresponding meanings. Looking at them individually, the first short sentence means: politicians criticize using the current buzzword “asylum tourism”; the second short sentence means: many refugees do not stay in the country; the third short sentence means: they apply for asylum here; the fourth short sentence means: but travel to other countries; the fifth short sentence means: which they prefer more. By combining the meanings of the first-level components, we can derive: "Politicians criticize some refugees who did not remain in the country but went to other countries using the current buzzword 'asylum tourism'." It is evident that the first level already showcases an overall framework, though it still lacks certain internal details and logic; therefore, we need to fill in the missing meanings at the second level according to logical relationships. Ultimately, the complete understanding should be: "Politicians criticize that some refugees did not stay in the country where they originally applied for asylum but instead continued to travel to a country they preferred." From the perspective of translation format, the fragmented clause structure in German no longer exists, as this form of expression does not hold in Chinese. Thus, during the translation process, we must convey the internal logic of the foreign expression in a way that conforms to Chinese expression habits.

In summary, when translating such sentences, the following steps and methods can be employed. First, identify the hierarchy to establish the main framework; generally, the first level already establishes the primary framework. Second, determine the logical relationships—such as cause-and-effect, contrast, conditions, etc. Next, delineate the key words associated with each subordinate clause. In the aforementioned example, "Land" and "eins" serve as key words. Then, integrate the contents of the subordinate clauses into the main framework according to the established logical relationships, while adhering to the target language's expression norms. Finally, check for any information omissions and ensure the language logic is accurate. By following this process, a complex long sentence can be translated clearly.

◀️：Handling Long Sentences in Translation from Foreign Languages to Chinese

▶️：On the Method of Sentence Division in Translating English Long Sentences into Chinese