Sentence restructuring in translation techniques

It is well known that the order of sentence structure in Chinese and foreign languages differs greatly. Chinese language focuses on conveying meaning first, with form as a secondary consideration, controlling form with meaning; while foreign languages primarily focus on form, with meaning as a secondary consideration, shaping meaning with form. When translating the same foreign text into Chinese, if it is translated according to its original sentence order, readers may find it strange and awkward to read. Only by translating according to a reasonable Chinese sentence structure can beautiful translation works be created.

For example: "Charles Chaplin n'a pas eu une enfance heureuse: tout jeune, il perd son père. Élevé par sa mère, une danseuse de talent, il connaît avec son frère une existence misérable dans une sordide mansarde de Londres." If we were to translate this, we might stop at the first stage, understanding the original text's meaning, and then roughly "expressing" it based on the general idea: "Charlie Chaplin did not have a happy childhood. At a very young age, he lost his father, raised by his mother, a talented dancer, he and his brother lived a miserable life in a dingy attic in London." This kind of translation is clearly inadequate. Let's look at the translations by the masters: "Charlie Chaplin's childhood was not happy. He lost his father at a young age and was raised by his mother. His mother was a talented dancer. Chaplin and his brother lived in a sordid attic in London, leading a poor life." It can be seen that the masters' translation does not simply arrange the sentences in the original order like us, but rather breaks down the sentence structure first and then combines them in a way that conforms to the Chinese order. For example, the first sentence "n'a pas eu une enfance heureuse" becomes "Charlie Chaplin's childhood was not happy." The second, third, and fourth sentences "tout jeune, il perd son père. Élevé par sa mère, une danseuse de talent" are combined into two sentences based on the Chinese meaning and logic: "He lost his father at a young age and was raised by his mother. His mother was a talented dancer." This better aligns with our speaking habits. In the last sentence "(il connaît avec son frère une existence misérable dans une sordide mansarde de Londres)", in Chinese, it is customary to present conditions before results, listing before summarizing. Therefore, it becomes: "Chaplin and his brother lived in a sordid attic in London, leading a poor life." This type of translation is more in line with Chinese expression habits, retaining the literary value of the original text.

Therefore, when translating, we must pay attention to the issue of sentence reorganization. Only when the Chinese expression is smooth and logical, can all the translation work done, such as understanding the meanings of all words and phrases, identifying the subject of the sentence, clarifying sentence components, have meaning. This is also what constitutes a complete translation manuscript.

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