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Finance And Economics
Manufacturing Industry
Entertainment And Media
Handling Long Sentences in Translation from Chinese to English
How to accurately and appropriately translate the information contained in a long sentence into Chinese needs to consider three aspects. Firstly, the translator should understand the original meaning from the author's perspective, excavate information, rather than arbitrarily infusing their own ideas into the translation, which goes against the fidelity of information processing. For example, in the following example, during the reading of the original text, I mistakenly interpreted the emotion between two leaves, understanding friendship as love. Therefore, translating "so gelb und häßlich" as slightly affected old woman with a yellowed complexion, incorrectly unearthed emotional information and underlying information, distorting the message the author originally intended to convey, which must be avoided in the translation process.
Source Text | Reference Translation | My Translation |
“Keine Spur„, beteuerte das erste,“ du glaubst, weil ich so gelb und häßlich geworden bin. Nein, bei mir ist das etwas anderes. „ | “一点没变。”第一片树叶加重了语气，“你这样想，是不是因为我现在变得又黄又丑了，你跟我不同，完全不像我的样子。” | A向他保证：“不，你一点儿没变。你这么问，是不是我年老色衰变成了一个黄脸婆……我俩不一样……” |
Secondly, translators should not take words at face value or adhere to an unyielding "loyalty" to the original text's information; they must also appropriately contextualize the information within the Chinese language environment. For instance, in this excerpt from Walter Benjamin's "One-Way Street," the translation produced by software is a complete literal translation that fails to convey the author's intended meaning accurately, thus falling short of fidelity. The term "Torbogen" can be clearly understood in the context of the preceding text about a woman as referring to a traditional Chinese "paifang" (archway), rather than the door arch described by Li Shixun or the "pailou" attributed to Wang Caiyong. It is precisely the significance of purity represented by the "paifang" that reflects Benjamin's irony regarding the woman's nighttime visit from a man. Therefore, while these two translations may appear loyal to the original text, they actually contradict the author’s intended message. This is a common mistake that translators are prone to make during the translation process.
Source Text | Translation (Li Shixun) | Translation(Wang Caiyong) |
Als sie ausgezogen war, lag die Öffnung des Torbogens von nun an wie eine Ohrmuschel vor mir, die das Gehör verloren hat. | 当她搬出去的时候，那座开启的门拱从此在我面前变成了一个失去听力的耳朵。 | 她搬走之后，大门敞开的牌楼就像失去听力的耳朵在我面前树立。 |
Translation (Translation Software) | My Translation | Reference Translation |
当她搬出去时，拱门的开口从今往后就像我面前的耳罩，已经失去了听力. | 当她搬走后，那个牌坊于我而言就如聋了的耳朵，（摆设罢了）。 | 自这位妇人搬走后，那敞开的牌坊在我眼中如同聋子的耳朵一样。 |
When translating long sentences, it is important to fully understand the original meaning, reorganize the information contained in the long sentence, and reconstruct its sentence structure in a way that conforms to the language usage habits of the target language. This requires translators to have a high level of proficiency in their native language and corresponding literary skills, ensuring that the translated long sentences are rhythmic without sounding stilted, read authentically and smoothly, and are appropriate and natural. We are not translating individual sentences but rather paragraphs composed of sentences.
Source Text | Reference Translation | My Translation |
Vom freundlichen Dorfe Maienfeld führt ein Fußweg durch grüne, baumreiche Fluren bis zum Fuße der Höhen, die von dieser Seite groß und ernst auf das Tal herniederschauen. Wo der Fußweg anfängt, beginnt bald Heideland mit dem kurzen Gras und den kräftigen Bergkräutern dem Kommenden entgegenzuduften, denn der Fußweg geht steil und direkt zu den Alpen hinauf. | 从友好的马延费尔德村，一条小路穿过绿色的树木丰富的走廊，到达高处，从这边往下看山谷，又大又严肃。在小径的起点上，有短草和强壮的山草的荒地很快开始向即将到来的上升，因为人行道陡峭而直接通往阿尔卑斯山。 | 从睦邻友好的村庄迈恩菲尔德到巍峨的阿尔卑斯山脚下有一条郁郁葱葱的林间小道。在小道上一开始会闻到两边牧场散发出的草木的芬芳。随后沿着陡峭的山路继续前行直达阿尔卑斯山。山顶极其壮观地俯视着另一边的山谷。 |
When we translate, we are not translating individual sentences but paragraphs composed of sentences. Therefore, when dealing with information in long sentences, we should not only explore, select, and edit the implicit information contained within them, but also know how to better express this information, making the translation clear and ensuring that the conveyed information is not influenced by the sentence structure of the original text. This allows Chinese readers to have a reading experience similar to that of foreign language readers, aligning with the views in Nida's theory of functional equivalence.
