Using Microsimulation to Create Synthetic Small-Area Estimates from Australia's 2001 Census
Paul Williams
Background
The aim of the project is to greatly improve the decision-support tools available to
State and Territory governments by providing them with:
? far more detailed small area data than has previously been available, via the creation of a synthetic small area database, plus
? the capacity to assess the current and future impact of possible policy
reforms and of likely demographic, social and economic changes at the
small area level, through the construction of microsimulation models on
top of the synthetic small area database.
In the past, all policy makers have been limited by a lack of detailed small area data.
The key source of small area data in Australia is the five yearly Census of Population
and Housing conducted by the ABS. The crucial advantage of the Population Census
is that it contains detailed small area socio-demographic information. At the greatest
level of geographic disaggregation, results are available for each of about 37,000 Collection Districts in Australia (with a Collection District containing about 200 households).
However, there are two important limitations to the Census data from the perspective
of policy makers. First, the amount of information collected from each household is relatively limited. For example, only gross household income is collected and then
only in broad ranges of income. There is also no information about the social security receipt, income sources, wealth or expenditure of households.
Second, unlike many other ABS collections, the full Census results are not publicly available as a unit record file. (A unit record file would contain the responses of each household as a separate record in a database.) Instead, output for the whole Census
file is only available as a pre-defined series of tables for each Collection District
(which commonly contain many confidentialised cells which limits their usefulness).
This means, for example, that relationships between characteristics of interest cannot
be fully explored (such as age by income by educational qualifications). In addition, microsimulation models – which have by now become of great importance to national policy makers across the industrialised world – cannot be constructed on top of the
pre-defined tables.
This project aims to fill this major gap in the information available to State and
Territory governments by creating synthetic small area data for each Census
Collection District. This is achieved by matching the characteristics of the households
from other datasets with aggregated information for each of the Census Collection Districts. Results are then available at the Collection District level, which can be used
for further analysis. Results at a level below the Collection District are not generated,
so that privacy concerns are satisfied.
Microsimulation
During the past two decades microsimulation models have revolutionised the quality
of information about the distributional and revenue impacts of policy changes available to policy makers in industrialised countries. Microsimulation models begin with a dataset that contains detailed information about the characteristics of each household and person within a sample survey or an administrative database. National level results are then calculated by adding together the results for each individual household. Microsimulation models have been assessed by the OECD (1996) and the US National Academy of Sciences (Citro and Hanushek, 1991) as one of the most useful tools available to policy makers for assessing the distributional consequences
of possible policy changes Such models are now widely used by national policy makers throughout the developed world (Harding, 1996; O’Donoghue and Sutherland 1996; Gupta and Kapur, 2000).
However, an important limitation of the models to date has been that results have only been available at the national level or, at best, at a State level. This is because the existing models have been constructed on top of ABS sample survey data, in which most geographic detail has been suppressed by the ABS to protect the confidentiality of those households who took part in the survey. Thus, it has not been possible in the past using these models to predict the spatial impact of possible policy changes upon the household sector.
To overcome this problem, during the past two years the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM) located at the University of Canberra has begun the construction of spatial microsimulation models. To date, these new types of model have combined data from the Population Census and the ABS sample surveys (such as the Household Expenditure Surveys). The new spatial microsimulation modelling techniques developed at NATSEM blend the Census and sample survey data together to create a synthetic unit record file of households for every Collection District. The first model to be constructed by NATSEM using these new techniques was the Marketinfo/99 model, which provided detailed regional expenditure and income estimates (Harding et al, 1999). This model has since been used in the analysis of poverty by statistical sub-division in the ACT (Harding et al, 2000) and for the analysis of poverty levels by postcode in Australia (Lloyd et al, 2001). The data have also been utilised by a range of major Australian organisations, including Lend Lease, the Commonwealth Bank and KPMG, for determining where to locate shopping centres and for examining the expenditure patterns of target customers.
The new modelling is also being used as the basis of a long-term major strategic planning model for provision of social security payments, which involves simulating the access patterns and characteristics of social security customers by small area. In addition, NATSEM has won a grant from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute to extend the existing modelling to simulate the Commonwealth rent assistance scheme and the impact of possible changes to that scheme (such as payment rates that vary with location).
These efforts to develop spatial microsimulation are at the leading edge internationally. Other countries where spatial microsimulation is being developed comprise the highly regarded CORSIM project in the US (Caldwell et al, 1998); and Leeds and Liverpool Universities in the UK (Voas and Williamson, 2000, Ballas and Clarke, 1999).
The initial investment has created a prototype model and demonstrated the feasibility
of constructing spatial microsimulation models. This project is expected to: ? refine the techniques used to create the synthetic small area data.
? provide much more extensive validation of the outcomes.
? add additional characteristics to the simulated households.
? simulate the impact of tax, social security and other changes at a spatial level.
? develop techniques for ageing the small area data forward through time.
? initiate linkages between NATSEM’s dynamic modelling of wealth and superannuation and the spatial projections of households.
The project seeks to create robust and validated spatial datasets and models that State and Territory policy makers can have confidence in and use. The spatial database and modelling framework will be of benefit to all levels of government in Australia – as well as a wide range of other organisations interested in the spatial distribution of socio-economic characteristics and the spatial consequences of policy and other changes.
Approach and timeline
The new regional microsimulation modelling techniques developed at NATSEM during the past few years blend the Census and ABS sample survey data together to create a synthetic unit record file for every Collection District. To date, NATSEM’s efforts have focussed upon the ABS Household Expenditure Survey (HES), although efforts are currently underway to extend the methodology so as to ‘regionalise’ other sample survey data. The existing model first recodes the HES and Census variables to be comparable, and then reweights the HES, utilising detailed sociodemographic profiles from the Census Basic Community Profiles. This is done for each Collection District separately, and a reweighted HES unit record file is generated for each District. Results and output are generated at the Collection District level or higher levels of geographic aggregation. Results are not available at a level below the Collection District.
2003
The new 2001 Census Basic Community Profiles will be released late in 2002. The first task envisaged for this project for 2003 is to create a new spatial microsimulation database, ‘regionalising’ the 1998-99 ABS Household Expenditure Survey by creating synthetic households whose characteristics match those shown in the new 2001 Census data. At the completion of this phase there will be a synthetic database of households for each Collection District in 2001, with far more detail than is available
in the Census about their estimated income, income sources, spending patterns and housing costs. At the conclusion of this phase, a database will be produced containing about 50 variables for each Collection District within their State or Territory. The 50 variables might, for example, include average gross income for each CD, average
investment income, average mortgages paid by labour force status of household head, average rent paid, poverty rates (using a range of poverty measures), housing affordability measures and relevant expenditure measures (such as expenditure on food as a percentage of total expenditure).
This new database will immediately answer many questions about the income of households and about possible areas of unmet need and poverty at the small area level. Analysis can also be undertaken by gender to examine, for example, whether there are particularly high poverty rates or low income levels for women or for men living in different areas. Similarly, questions of housing affordability and access are very important policy issues.
A second key task, for the second half of 2003, is to add estimated assets to the records of each of the synthetic households. Respondents to the Household Expenditure Survey are asked details about their income from various investments, such as dividends from shares and rental income from investment properties. In recent years NATSEM has developed income capitalisation techniques, to estimate the value of the assets that underlie the generation of these investment income flows (Kelly, 2001; Harding et al, 2002a). These techniques will be used to estimate the value of the superannuation, own business, shares, cash holdings and investment properties owned by each of the synthetic households. At this stage the value of owner-occupied housing will not be estimated, as there are major difficulties in accurately estimating the current value of housing by Collection District and household type. However, we hope in future work to draw upon sources of data available to the State and Territory to estimate this, and have also established links with Baycorp Advantage Pty Ltd, a company that has invested millions of dollars in a model to estimate the likely sales price of houses, with a current coverage of about 2/3 of Australian households.
In the second half of 2003 the work will also concentrate upon constructing microsimulation models on top of the newly created synthetic microdatabase. The existing program rules for income tax, the Medicare levy, and social security and family payments will be replicated in computer code so that, for example, the amount of income tax paid and age pension received under the current program rules can be estimated. The amount of Goods and Services Tax (GST) paid under the existing rules will also be estimated, drawing upon recent simulation in this area by NATSEM (Harding et al, 2002b).
The simulation of the rules of government programs is extremely complex, but this component of the work will draw upon the thousands of lines of computer code already written by NATSEM to undertake this task at the national level. However, simulating social security receipt and tax payments at the spatial level will require additional work and the development of new techniques. This is because the results arising from the initial programming for the simulated households will have to be benchmarked against other data, such as taxation statistics by postcode and Centrelink client numbers by region. In addition, it will be important to comprehensively check that when the results for the synthetic households are added together, they do sum to comparable national and State benchmark data. For example, it is possible that estimated GST collections by State produced by summing the estimated GST paid by the synthetic households living in each state may not match the estimates contained within government finance statistics. The accurate simulation of social security
payments and tax liabilities at the spatial level is thus considerably more complex than the simulation at the national level (which NATSEM has been doing for the past eight years).
At the conclusion of this phase an enhanced database will be produced for each Collection District summarising the estimated characteristics of households living in each particular District. This will contain all of the average values for each Collection District mentioned earlier, but now expanded to include such variables as average total wealth for households living in that Collection District, average accumulated superannuation, average income tax paid, average GST paid, average social security received, average family payments received, estimated percentage of households with an investment property, percentage of households with less than $100,000 in assets, percentage of households that are self-funded retirees or sole parents on pension, and so on.
Users of the database will thus have the capacity to undertake comprehensive analysis of the spatial patterns of income, wealth and spending, along with estimated social security payments and income tax and GST incidence. As noted earlier, questions of housing affordability and access are particularly important. After the simulation of income tax, it will be possible to calculate the disposable (after-income-tax) income of the synthetic households, and develop new housing affordability measures (such as the percentage of after-tax income devoted to housing). A range of other housing affordability variables will also be developed and added to the database. It is envisaged that, by the completion of this phase, a database containing about 100 variables for every Collection District within their State or Territory will be developed.
2004
One of the initial key tasks for 2004 will be to develop the capacity to change the rules of taxation, social security, housing assistance, and other programs and predict the consequent spatial distributional effects. For example, it would be possible to simulate the spatial distributional impact of changes in rent assistance, reductions in the income tax threshold, an increase in the top marginal tax rate, an increase in the GST rate from 10 to 11 per cent, or a liberalisation in the social security income test rules.
Having established the initial version of the new spatial databases and models, a significant part of 2004 will be devoted to determining whether the accuracy of the modelling can be improved. Critical to this phase will be collaboration with Chief Investigator Williamson, who will again visit NATSEM for a few weeks during this year and who has recently completed a 2 ? year UK research council funded programme on the creation of spatial synthetic microdata (Huang and Williamson, 2001). Also critical will be the assistance of the ABS. There are four areas where further work on techniques is expected to be particularly valuable, namely assessment and development of:
? improved methods of optimising the household weights;
? methods of uprating the HES data and, conceivably, the Census data, to reflect changes since the data were collected;
? new methods of validation;
? quality assurance techniques for spatial microdata; and
? techniques to describe the robustness of the results for each CD (e.g. an index that summarises whether the results appear particularly good or bad for a selected
CD).
One issue, for example, is that currently NATSEM creates the synthetic households by weighting to the publicly available Census Basic Community Profiles. Additional detail is available in the original Census data and it is possible that, by weighting to a more complex matrix, the characteristics of the synthetic households might be able to be made to match the characteristics of real households more closely.
Similarly, considerable work will be devoted to validation and the systematic testing
of the reliability of the results for different spatial units. For example, is there a trade off between accuracy and the size of the spatial unit for which synthetic households are being created? Is it the case that the results are particularly good for, say, 80 per cent of Collection Districts, but problematic for the remaining 20 per cent? Are results particularly good for metropolitan areas but less reliable for remotely settled areas?
This phase of the work will also draw upon the accumulated regional expertise and data of key users of small area data. They will be able to provide feedback about which CD results appear unusual to them, given their knowledge of that particular region. This ‘on-the-ground’ expertise is expected to be invaluable in further validating the model. Overall, the results from this phase will be used to refine the modelling and to increase our understanding of and confidence in the synthetic data.
2005
A key task for 2005 is to develop and test techniques for ageing the spatial microdata forward by 5 to 20 years. ‘Static ageing’ techniques are well developed in microsimulation (Harding, 1993) and are regularly used by NATSEM when, for example, ageing out-of-date ABS survey data up to the current world. Such static ageing techniques traditionally involve uprating (or inflating) incomes and housing costs to current or projected future levels and reweighting data to account for expected demographic or labour force changes (such as an ageing population or a reduction in unemployment).
The likely income and asset position of the ageing baby boomers is a key issue when planning future residential development and infrastructure. Because the economic capacity of the ageing baby boomers in their retirement will emerge as such an important issue, the goal is to inform the static ageing techniques with some results from NATSEM’s DYNAMOD dynamic microsimulation model (Kelly et al, 2001; King et al, 1999a, 1999b). Thus given the projections of the likely age/gender population structure of particular small areas in, say, 20 years, NATSEM could then change the weights attached to households in the synthetic small area database to reflect those new population targets. This would give an initial and immediate impression of the likely characteristics of those expected to be living in these areas in 20 years time. This would then be complemented by some imputation of the likely
wealth of these households, drawing upon existing NATSEM modelling of wealth and superannuation in the long term (Kelly et al, 2001).
The other key goal for 2005 is to prepare a series of technical papers documenting the construction of the GeoSim databases and models. Although documentation is a time-consuming and thus expensive task, NATSEM’s experience has shown that it is an essential part of the process of keeping models alive in the long term.
The final goal is to use the new modelling capacity to analyse a range of questions of interest, with the results to be presented at conferences and then written up for journal articles.
Australian Bureau of Statistics involvement
State and Territory governments have in the past been limited by the lack of detailed data on the socio-economic characteristics of households at the small area level. Given the lack of data available in the publicly available CDATA tables, such governments have often commissioned the ABS to produce specialised data or analysis from the Census unit record file (a data source which cannot be accessed by anyone outside the ABS). However, the data from the Census is limited, compared with the data available in other ABS national sample surveys - and detailed cross-classified tables at Collection District level typically contain many confidentialised cells that limit their usefulness.
Data limitations have been particularly pronounced for the smaller States and Territories seeking to understand more about the characteristics of their residents. For example, of the 7000 households included in the sample for the 1998-99 ABS Household Expenditure Survey, only 275 were from the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). As a result, even if the ACT government commissioned the ABS to provide further details about these households, the sample size is so small that little disaggregation can be undertaken.
Recognition of these existing data limitations is one of the important reasons lying behind the ABS’s proposed participation in this project. While the ABS cannot grant non-ABS officers access to the original Census unit record data, the ABS is prepared to commit resources to providing substantial output from the Census and other data as part of the work involved in creating and improving synthetic small area data. The ABS can see major advantages in detailed small area synthetic data being widely available to government and other agencies. In particular, imputation of detailed income and wealth data onto synthetic small area household data is one way to enhance the usefulness of the Census, in which very detailed income and wealth data will never be collected.
One important aspect of the ABS involvement is that the robustness of the simulation of additional characteristics onto the records of households can be checked. For example, while NATSEM and other non-ABS users do not have access to information about the geographic location of respondents to the ABS Household Expenditure Survey, the ABS does have this information. Thus, the ABS is in a position to provide
advice about how reliable the imputation of income and spending data to the synthetic households has been at a regional level.
National Benefit
Regional issues have recently assumed much greater importance in Australia. There is a growing realisation that the gains from economic growth have not been equally distributed amongst different regions in Australia (Gregory and Hunter, 1995, Vinson, 2000).
While national policy makers have utilised microsimulation models for the past decade in Australia to assess the revenue and distributional consequences of policy change, it has not previously been possible to assess the consequences of policy change upon households at a spatial or small area level. The Census data is the only comprehensive data source in Australia with detailed information about the characteristics of households at the small area level. However, only a relatively limited range of information is collected about households in the Census and the full Census records of all households are not available for public use (with such household level records being required for the construction of microsimulation models). As a result, the quality of information about the socio-economic characteristics of households and about the spatial consequences of policy change available to State and Territory policy makers has been very limited.
The significance of this research proposal is thus that it will lead to very substantial — and greatly needed — improvements in the quality of information available to policy makers and researchers about the regional distributional impact of changes in tax, social security and other policies.
The project will involve the development of robust synthetic small area data and models that will be of immense use to all levels of government as well as other organisations. While the project is at the cutting edge and thus innately high risk, the potential benefits are enormous. There are hundreds of organisations within Australia that would benefit from detailed data about the socio-economic characteristics of households at a small area level. Such organisations range from governments engaged in needs-based planning for health and other community services, to private sector companies interested in assessing the incomes and expenditures of households living in different areas, to Federal policy makers evaluating the spatial impact of national changes in government policies.
This project is also likely to be of great benefit to regional and rural communities. For the first time, detailed information will be available about how their incomes and wealth compare to those of residents of metropolitan areas. The new spatial database and model will help both State and Territory governments in identifying areas of unmet need and in their planning of the spatial provision of government services. The output from the research will be published in a series of conference and discussion papers and then in journal articles. NATSEM makes strenuous efforts to make its work accessible to non-economists and the public, including putting all papers on the NATSEM website, regularly presenting new research at conferences and contributing to the media. That NATSEM is successful in communicating its
results is evidenced by the intense public interest in NATSEM’s research, which regularly receives extensive national media coverage. The Centre’s website received around 1.5 million hits last year and about 200,000 copies of the Centre’s publications were viewed and downloaded in 2001
References
Ballas, D and G Clarke, 1999, ‘Modelling the local impacts of national social policies: A microsimulation approach’, Papers presented at the 11th European Colloquium on Theoretical and Quantitative Geography, Durham Castle, Durham, England, 3rd to 7th September.
Caldwell, S. B., Clarke, G. P. and L.A. Keister, 1998, Modelling Regional Changes in US Household Income and Wealth: A Research Agenda, Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, Vol 16, pp 707-722.
Citro, C. F. and E. A. Hanushek, 1991, The Uses of Microsimuation Modelling, Vol 1:Review and Recommendations, National Academy Press, Washington
Gregory, R. G. and Hunter, B., (1995), ‘The macro economy and the growth of ghettos and urban poverty in Australia’, Discussion Paper No 325, (paper presented as the Telecom Address at the National Press Club, April 22) , Centre for Economic Policy Research, Australian National University.
Gupta, A and V Kapur (eds), Microsimulation in Government Policy and Forecasting, Contributions to Economic Analysis Series, North Holland, Amsterdam.
Harding, A., 1993, Lifetime Income Distribution and Redistribution: Applications of a Microsimulation Model, Contributions to Economic Analysis Series, Amsterdam, North Holland. Harding, A., Microsimulation and Public Policy, (ed), Contributions to Economic Analysis Series, Amsterdam, North Holland, 1996.
Harding, A., Hellwig, O., Bremner, K. and Robinson, M., ‘Geodemographics of the Aged: Where they live, What they buy’” Paper presented at the ‘Geodemographics of Ageing in Australia’ Symposium, Brisbane, 2 December, 1999.
Harding, A., Lloyd, R., Hellwig, O and Bailey, B. 2000, Building the Profile: Report of the Population Research Phase of the ACT Poverty Project, Taskgroup Paper No 3, ACT Poverty Task Group, ACT Government, Canberra.
Harding, A., King, A and Kelly, S., 2002a, Incomes and Assets of Older Australians: Trends and Policy Implications, Agenda, Volume 9, Number 1.
Harding, A. ,Warren, N., Beer, G., Phillips, B. and Osei, K, 2002b, The Distributional Impact of Selected Commonwealth Outlays and Taxes, paper prepared for the Review of Commonwealth-State Funding, 14 March 2002.
Huang Z and Williamson P (2001) A comparison of synthetic reconstruction and combinatorial optimisation approaches to the creation of small-area microdata. Working Paper 2001/2, Population Microdata Unit, Department of Geography, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3BX.
https://www.doczj.com/doc/2f17887811.html,/~william/microdata
Kelly, S, 2001, ‘Trends in Australian Wealth – New Estimates for the 1990s’ , 30th Annual Conference of Economists, University of Western Australia, 26 September.
Lloyd, R., Harding, A. and Greenwell, H, 2001, ‘Worlds Apart: Postcodes with the Highest and Lowest Poverty Rates in Today's Australia’ Paper prepared for the National Social Policy Conference 2001. Sydney, Australia. July (about to be published by SPRC).
Kelly, S., Percival, R. and Harding, A. 2001, ‘Women and Superannuation in the 21st Century:
Poverty or Plenty?’ Paper presented to SPRC National Social Policy Conference 2001, University of NSW, July*
King, A., B?kgaard, H. and Robinson M., 1999a, ‘DYNAMOD-2: An Overview’, Technical Paper
No. 19, NATSEM, University of Canberra, December.
King, A., B?kgaard, H. and Robinson M., 1999b, ‘The Base Data for DYNAMOD-2’, Technical Paper No. 20, NATSEM, University of Canberra, December.
O”Donoghue, C and Holly Sutherland (eds), 2000, Microsimulation Modelling for Policy Analysis: Challenges and Innovations, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development), 1996, Policy Implications of Ageing Populations: Introduction and Overview, OECD Working Paper no. 33, Paris.
Treasurer (1998), Document No 2, Documents Related to Household Expenditure Survey tabled in Parliament, 11 November.
Voas, D and Williamson, P, 2000, ‘An Evaluation of the Combinatorial Optimisation Approach to the Creation of Synthetic Microdata’, International Journal of Population Geography, vol 6, pp 348-366.
Vinson, Tony, 2000, Unequal in Life: The Distribution of Social Disadvantage in Victoria and NSW, The Ignatius Centre, Melbourne, August.
Warren, N., Harding, A., Robinson, M., Lambert, S. and Beer, G. ‘Distributional Impact of Possible
Tax Reform Packages’, Main Report, Senate Select Committee on a New Tax System, Senate Printing Unit, April, pp 445-508, 1999.
第27卷第3期唐山师范学院学报2005年5月Vol. 27 No.3 Journal of Tangshan Teachers College May 2005 奈达翻译理论初探 尹训凤1，王丽君2 （1.泰山学院外语系，山东泰安 271000；2.唐山师范学院教务处，河北唐山 063000） 摘要：奈达的翻译理论对于翻译实践有很强的指导作用：从语法分析角度来讲，相同的语法结构可能具有完全不同的含义；词与词之间的关系可以通过逆转换将表层形式转化为相应的核心句结构；翻译含义是翻译成败的关键所在。 关键词：奈达；分析；转换；重组；核心句 中图分类号：H315.9 文献标识码：A 文章编号：1009-9115（2005）03-0034-03 尤金?奈达是美国当代著名翻译理论家，也是西方语言学派翻译理论的主要代表，被誉为西方“现代翻译理论之父”。他与塔伯合著的《翻译理论与实践》对翻译界影响颇深。此书说明了中国与西方译界人士思维方式的巨大差别：前者是静的，崇尚“信、达、雅”，讲究“神似”，追求“化境”；后者是动的，将语言学、符号学、交际理论运用到翻译研究当中，提倡“动态对等”，注重读者反应。中国译论多概括，可操作性不强；西方译论较具体，往往从点出发。他在该书中提到了动态对等，详细地描述了翻译过程的三个阶段：分析、转换和重组，对于翻译实践的作用是不言而喻的。笔者拟结合具体实例，从以下角度来分析其理论独到之处。 一 一般来说，结构相同的词组、句子，其语法意义是相同或相近的。然而奈达提出，同样的语法结构在许多情况下可以有不同的含义。“名词+of+名词”这一语法结构可以对此作最好的阐释。如下例： （1）the plays of Shakespeare/ the city of New York/ the members of the team/ the man of ability/ the lover of music/ the order of obedience/ the arrival of the delegation 在以上各个词组中，假设字母A和B分别代表一个名词或代词，它们之间存在着不同的关系。在the plays of Shakespeare 中，Shakespeare是施事，plays是受事，用公式表示就是“B writes A”；在the city of New York中，city和New York是同位关系，用公式表示就是“A is B”；the members of the team中，members和team是所属关系，即“A is in the B”；在the man of ability中，“B is A’s characteristic”；在the lover of music中，lover表示的是活动，即动作，music是它的受事，因此可以理解为（he/she）loves the music, 用公式表示就是“X does A to B”（X施A于B）或“B is the goal of A”（B为A的受事）；在the order of obedience中，obedience表示的是活动，order是它的受事，因此用公式表示就是“X does B to A”（X施B于A）或“A is the goal of B”（A为B的受事）；在the arrival of the delegation中，arrival表示动作，而delegation是动作的发出者，所以是“B does A”。 因此它们的结构关系如下所示： the plays of Shakespeare——Shakespeare wrote the plays. the city of New York——The city is New York. the members of the team——The members are in the team. the man of ability——The man is able. the lover of music——(He/She) loves the music. the order of obedience——(People) obey the order. the arrival of the delegation——The delegation arrives. ────────── 收稿日期：2004-06-10 作者简介：尹训凤（1976-），女，山东泰安人，泰山学院外语系教师，现为天津外国语学院研究生部2003级研究生，研究方向为翻译理论与实践。 - 34 -
奈达翻译理论简介 （一）奈达其人尤金?奈达（EugeneA.Nida）1914年出生于美国俄克勒荷马州，当代著名语言学家、翻译家和翻译理论家。也是西方语言学派翻译理论的主要代表，被誉为西方“现代翻译理论之父”。尤金是当代翻译理论的主要奠基人，其理论核心是功能对等。 尤金先后访问过90个国家和地区，并著书立说，单独或合作出版了40多部书，比较著名的有《翻译科学探索》、《语言与文化———翻译中的语境》等，他还发表论文250余篇，是世界译坛的一位长青学者。他还参与过《圣经》的翻译工作。他与塔伯合著的《翻译理论与实践》对翻译界影响颇深。此书说明了中国与西方译界人士思维方式的巨大差别：前者是静的，崇尚“信、达、雅”，讲究“神似”，追求“化境”；后者是动的，将语言学、符号学、交际理论运用到翻译研究当中，提倡“动态对等”，注重读者反应。中国译论多概括，可操作性不强；西方译论较具体，往往从点出发。他在该书中提到了动态对等，详细地描述了翻译过程的三个阶段：分析、转换和重组，对于翻译实践的作用是不言而喻的。 （二）奈达对翻译的定义 按照奈达的定义：“所谓翻译，是指从语义到文体（风格）在译语中用最切近而又最自然的对等语再现 源语的信息。”其中，“对等”是核心，“最切近”和“最自然”都是为寻找对等语服务的。奈达从社会语言学和语言交际功能的观点出发，认为必须以读者的反应作为衡量译作是否正确的重要标准。翻译要想达到预期的交际目的，必须使译文从信息内容、说话方式、文章风格、语言文化到社会因素等方面尽可能多地反映出原文的面貌。他试图运用乔姆斯基的语言学理论建立起一套新的研究方法。他根据转换生成语法，特别是其中有关核心句的原理，提出在语言的深层结构里进行传译的设想。 奈达提出了词的4种语义单位的概念，即词具有表述事物、事件、抽象概念和关系等功能。这4种语义单位是“核心”，语言的表层结构就是以“核心”为基础构建的，如果能将语法结构归纳到核心层次，翻译过程就可最大限度地避免对源语的曲解。按照4种语义单位的关系，奈达将英语句子归结为7个核心句：（1）Johnranquickly.（2）JohnhitBill.（3）JohngaveBillaball.（4）Johnisinthehouse.（5）Johnissick.（6）Johnisaboy.（7）Johnismyfather. （三）奈达翻译理论的经历阶段 奈达翻译理论的发展经历过三个阶段，分别是描写语言阶段、交际理论阶段和和社会符号学阶段。 第一个阶段始于1943年发表《英语句法概要》，止于1959年发表《从圣经翻译看翻译原则》。这一阶段是奈达翻译思想及学术活动的初期。 第二阶段始于1959年发表的《从圣经翻译看翻译原则》，止于1969年出版的《翻译理论与实践》。主要著作有《翻译科学探索》、《信息与使命》。在这10年中，奈达确立了自己在整个西方翻译理论界的权威地位。1964年出版的《翻译科学探索》标志着其翻译思想发展过程中一个最重要的里程碑。第三阶段始于70年代，奈达通过不断修正和发展自己翻译理论创建了新的理论模式———社会符号学模式。奈达在继承原有理论有用成分的基础上，将语言看成一种符号现象，并结合所在社会环境进行解释。在《从一种语言到另一种语言》一书中，奈达强调了形式的重要性，认为形式也具有意义，指出语言的修辞特征在语言交际及翻译中的重要作用，并且用“功能对等”取代了“动态对等”的提法，是含义更加明确。 三、对奈达翻译理论的评价 （一）贡献 奈达是一位硕果累累的翻译理论家。可以说，在两千年的西方翻译思想发展史上，奈达的研究成果之丰是名列前茅的。他的研究范围从翻译史、翻译原则、翻译过程和翻译方法到翻译教学和翻译的组织工作，从口译到笔译，从人工翻译到机器翻译，从语义学到人类文化学，几乎无所不包，从而丰富并拓展了西方的翻译研究领地。 奈达的理论贡献，主要在于他帮助创造了一种用新姿态对待不同语言和文化的气氛，以增进人类相互之间的语言交流和了解。他坚持认为：任何能用一种语言表达的东西都能够用另一种语言来表达；在语言之间、文化之间能通过寻找翻译对等语，以适当方式重组原文形式和语义结构来进行交际。因此也说明，某
To Equivalence and Beyond: Reflections on the Significance of Eugene A. Nida for Bible Translating1 Kenneth A. Cherney, Jr. It’s been said, and it may be true, that there are two kinds of people—those who divide people into two kinds and those who don’t. Similarly, there are two approaches to Bible translation—approaches that divide translations into two kinds and those that refuse. The parade example of the former is Jerome’s claim that a translator’s options are finally only two: “word-for-word” or “sense-for-sense.”2 Regardless of whether he intended to, Jerome set the entire conversation about Bible translating on a course from which it would not deviate for more than fifteen hundred years; and some observers in the field of translation studies have come to view Jerome’s “either/or” as an unhelpful rut from which the field has begun to extricate itself only recently and with difficulty. Another familiar dichotomy is the distinction between “formal correspondence” translating on one hand and “dynamic equivalence” (more properly “functional equivalence,” on which see below) on the other. The distinction arose via the work of the most influential figure in the modern history of Bible translating: Eugene Albert Nida (1914-2011). It is impossible to imagine the current state of the field of translation studies, and especially Bible translating, without Nida. Not only is he the unquestioned pioneer of modern, so-called “meaning-based” translating;3 he may be more responsible than any other individual for putting Bibles in the hands of people around the world that they can read and understand. 1 This article includes material from the author’s doctoral thesis (still in progress), “Allusion as Translation Problem: Portuguese Versions of Second Isaiah as Test Case” (Stellenbosch University, Drs. Christo Van der Merwe and Hendrik Bosman, promoters). 2 Jerome, “Letter to Pammachius,” in Lawrence Venuti, ed., The Translation Studies Reader, 2nd ed. (NY and London: Routledge, 2004), p. 23. 3 Nigel Statham, "Nida and 'Functional Equivalence': The Evolution of a Concept, Some Problems, and Some Possible Ways Forward," Bible Translator 56, no. 1 (2005), p. 39.
［摘要］传统的只围绕直译与意译之争，而奈达从《圣经》翻译提出功能对等即读者同等反应。“功能对等”翻译理论是奈达翻译理论体系的核心,是从新的视角提出的新的翻译方法，它既有深厚的理论基础,也有丰富的实践基础，对翻译理论的进一步完善是一大贡献。 ［关键词］功能对等；奈达翻译；英语论文范文 尤金·A·奈达博士是西方语言学翻译理论学派的代表人物之一。在他的学术生涯中，从事过语言学、语义学、人类学、通讯工程学等方面的研究，还从事过《圣经》的翻译工作，精通多国文字，调查过100多种语言。经过五十多年的翻译实践与理论研究，取得了丰硕的成果。至今他已发表了40多部专着、250余篇论文。“自八十年代初奈达的理论介绍入中国以来，到现在已经成为当代西方理论中被介绍的最早、最多、影响最大的理论。他把信息论与符号学引进了翻译理论，提出了‘动态对等’的翻译标准；把现代语言学的最新研究成果应用到翻译理论中来；在翻译史上第一个把社会效益（读者反应）原则纳入翻译标准之中。尤其是他的动态对等理论，一举打破中国传统译论中静态分析翻译标准的局面，提出了开放式的翻译理论原则，为我们建立新的理论模式找到了正确的方向。奈达在中国译界占据非常重要的地位。”“奈达的理论贡献，主要在于他帮助创造了一种新姿态对待不同语言和文化的气氛，以增进人类相互之间的语言交流和了解。”[1] 翻译作为一项独立的学科，首先应回答的问题就是：什么是翻译？传统翻译理论侧重语言的表现形式，人们往往醉心于处理语言的特殊现象，如诗的格律、诗韵、咬文嚼字、句子排比和特殊语法结构等等。现代翻译理论侧重读者对译文的反应以及两种反应（原文与原作读者、译文与译作读者）之间的对比。奈达指出：“所谓翻译，就是指从语义到文体在译语中用最贴切而又最自然的对等语再现原语的信息”，奈达在《翻译理论于实践》一书中解释道，所谓最切近的自然对等，是指意义和语体而言。但在《从一种语言到另一种语言》中，奈达又把对等解释为是指功能而言。语言的“功能”是指语言在使用中所能发挥的言语作用；不同语言的表达形式必然不同，不是语音语法不同就是表达习惯不同，然而他们却可以具有彼此相同或相似的功能。奈达所强调的是“对等”“、信息”“、意义”和“风格”，奈达从语义学和信息论出发，强调翻译的交际功能，正如他自己所说“：翻译就是交际”，目的是要寻求原语和接受语的“对等”。他所说的“信息”包括“意义”和“风格”，着重于交际层面。他实质上要打破的是传统的翻译标准。他把翻译看成是“语际交际”，也就是在用交际学的观点来看问题。交际至少应当是三方的事情：信息源点———信息内容———信息受者，也就是说话者———语言———听话者。奈达注重译文的接受者，即读者，而且都对读者进行了分类。奈达根据读者的阅读能力和兴趣把读者分为四类：儿童读者、初等文化水平读者、普通成人读者和专家。他曾说过，一些优秀的译者，常常设想有一位典型的译文读者代表就坐在写字台的对面听他们口述译文，或者正在阅读闪现在电脑显示屏上的译文。这样，就好像有人正在听着或读着译文，翻译也就不仅仅是寻求词汇和句法的对应过程。运用这种方法，译者就可能更自觉地意识到“翻译就是翻译意思”的道理。 可译性与不可译性是翻译界长期争论的一个问题。奈达对不同的之间的交流提出了新的观点。他认为每种语言都有自己的特点，一种语言所表达的任何东西都可以用另一种语言来表达。尽管不同民族之间难以达到“绝对的”交流，但是可以进行“有效的”交流，因为人类的思维过程、生产经历、社会反应等有许多共性。他这种思想主要基于他对上帝的信仰和对《圣经》的翻译。在他看来，上帝的福音即是真理，可以译成不同的语言，也可以为不同国家的人所理解。因此，他提出“最贴近、最自然的对等”。 奈达把翻译分为两种类型：形式对等翻译和动态功能对等。翻译形式对等是以原语为中心，尽量再现原文形式和内容。功能对等注重读者反映，以最贴近、最自然的对等语再现原文信息，使译文读者能够达到和原文读者一样的理解和欣赏原文的程度。奈达的形式对等要求严格地再现原语的形式，其实也就是“逐字翻译”或“死译”。奈达本人也不主张形式对等的翻译，他认为严格遵守形式无疑会破坏内容。 奈达的“功能对等”理论的提出是对译学研究的一个重大贡献。首先，他提出了一个新的翻译评价标准。他指出：翻译准确与否取决于普通读者正确理解原文的程度，也就是把译文读者反应与原文读者反应进行对照，看两者是否达到最大限度的对等。其次，他提出的“最贴切、最自然的对等”标准也不同于传统的“忠实”
The theory and practice of translation Eugene A. Nida and Charles R. Taber 1974 Contents 1.A new concept of translation 2.The nature of translating 3.Grammatical analysis 4.Referential meaning 5.Connotative meaning 6.Transfer 7.Restructuring 8.\ 9.Testing the translation Chapter One The old focus and the new focus The older focus in translating was the form of the message, and the translator too particular delight in being able to reproduce stylistic specialties, ., rhythms, rhymes, plays on words, chiasmus, parallelism, and usual grammatical structures. The new focus, however, has shifted from teh form of the message to the response of the receptor. Therefore, what one must determine is the response of the receptor to te translated message, this response must be compared with the way in which the original receptors presumably reacted to the message when it was given in its original setting. Chapter Two Translating consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source-language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style. But this relatively simple statement requires careful evaluation of several seemingly contradictory elements. Reproducing the message Translating must aim primarily at “reproducing the message.” To do anything else is essentially false to one’s task as a translator. But to reproduce the message one must make a good many grammatical and lexical adjustments. Equivalence rather than identity 。 The translator must strive for the equivalence rather than identity. In a sense, this is just another way of emphasizing the reproduction of the message rather than the conversation of the form of the utterance, but it reinforces the need for radical alteration of a phrase, which may be quiet meaningless.
[摘要] 尤金·奈达和彼得·纽马克的翻译理论在我国产生很大的影响。他们在对翻译的认识及处理内容与形式关系方面有共识亦有差异。他们孜孜不倦发展自身理论的精神值得中国翻译理论界学习。 [关键词] 翻译; 动态对等; 语义翻译和交际翻译; 关联翻译法 Abstract :Both Nida and Newmark are outstanding western theorist in the field of translation. They have many differences as well as similarities in terms of the nature of translation and the relationship between the form and content. Their constant effort to develop their theories deserve our respect. Key words :translation ; dynamic equivalence ; semantic translation ; communicative translation ; a correlative approach to translation 尤金·奈达( Eugene A1Nida) 和彼得·纽马克是西方译界颇具影响的两位翻译理论家, 他们在翻译理论方面有诸多共通之处, 同时又各具特色。 一、对翻译的认识 对翻译性质的认识, 理论界的讨论由来已久。奈达和纽马克都对翻译是科学还是艺术的问题的认识经历了一个变化的过程。 奈达对翻译的认识经历了一个从倾向于把翻译看作科学到把翻译看作艺术的转化过程。在奈达翻译理论发展的第二个阶段即交际理论阶段, 他认为, 翻译是科学, 是对翻译过程的科学的描写。同时他也承认, 对翻译的描写可在三个功能层次上进行: 科学、技巧和艺术。在奈达逐渐向第三个阶段, 即社会符号学和社会语言学阶段过渡的过程中, 他越来越倾向于把翻译看作是艺术。他认为翻译归根到底是艺术, 翻译家是天生的。同时, 他把原来提出的“翻译是科学”改为“翻译研究是科学”。到了上世纪90 年代, 奈达又提出, 翻译基本上是一种技艺。他认为: 翻译既是艺术, 也是科学, 也是技艺。 纽马克对翻译的认识也经历了一定的变化。最初, 他认为, 翻译既是科学又是艺术, 也是技巧。后来他又认为翻译部分是科学, 部分是技巧, 部分是艺术, 部分是个人品位。他对翻译性质的阐释是基于对语言的二元划分。他把语言分为标准语言和非标准语言。说翻译是科学, 因为标准语言通常只有一种正确译法, 有规律可循, 体现了翻译是科学的一面。如科技术语。非标准语言往往有许多正确译法, 怎么挑选合适的译法要靠译者自身的眼光和能力, 体现了翻译是艺术和品位的性质。但译文也必须得到科学的检验, 以避免明显的内容和用词错误, 同时要行文自然, 符合语言环境要求。纽马克虽然认为翻译是科学, 但他不承认翻译作为一门科学的存在。因为他认为目前的翻译理论缺乏统一全面的体系, 根本不存在翻译的科学, 现在没有, 将来也不会有。 二、理论核心 奈达和纽马克都是在各自翻译实践的基础上, 为了解决自己实践中的实际问题, 提出了相应的翻译理论。实践中要解决的问题不同, 翻译理论也就各成一派。但毕竟每种实践都要有一定的规律存在, 因此两位的理论又有着不可忽视的相似。 奈达提出了著名的“动态对等”。他对翻译所下的定义: 所谓翻译, 是在译语中用最切近而又最自然的对等语再现源语的信息, 首先是意义, 其次是文体。这一定义明确指出翻译的本质和任务是用译语再现源语信息, 翻译的方法用最切近而又最自然的对等语。同时这一定义也提出了翻译的四个标准: 1 (1) 传达信息; 2 (2) 传达原作的精神风貌;
Eugene Nida的翻译理论（转） 摘要：本文介绍了奈达的翻译思想，对其功能对等理论进行了分析，对奈达理论在翻译界的重要地位和重大影响进行了简单的评述。然后从五个方面探讨了当今翻译界对奈达思想的争论，介绍了争论中提出的新概念，并进行了一定的分析。最后，文章探讨了奈达思想形成的原因和在翻译实践中可以得到的启示。关键词：奈达功能对等争论启示一、奈达的翻译思想尤金·奈达（EugeneA.Nida）是公认的现代翻译理论奠基人之一。他供职于美国圣经协会，从事圣经翻译和翻译理论研究，其理论在中国甚至在全世界都有着重要的地位。奈达把翻译看作是一种艺术，力图把语言学应用于翻译研究。他认为，对翻译的研究应该看作是比较语言学的一个重要的分支；这种研究应以语义为核心包括翻译涉及的各个方面，即我们需要在动态对等的层次上进行这种比较。由于奈达把翻译和语言学密切联系，他把翻译的过程分成了四个阶段：分析（analysis），转换（transfer），重组（restructuring）和检验（test）。则翻译的具体过程就经过了下图的步骤。在这一过程中，奈达实际上是透过对原文的表层结构的分析，理解深层结构并将其转换重组到译文中。因此，在翻译中所要达到的效果是要让译文读者得到一个自然的译本。他曾说：“最好的译文读起来应不像翻译。”所以，他的翻译中另一个非常突出的特点就是“读者反应论”。他认为，翻译正确与否必须以译文的服务对象为衡量标准，并取决于一般读者能在何种程度上正确地理解译文。由此，他提出了他的“动态对等理论”。奈达在《翻译科学探素》(1964)一书中指出，“在动态对等翻译中，译者所关注的并不是源语信息和译语信息的对应关系，而是一种动态关系；即译语接受者和译语信息之间的关系应该与源语接受者和原文信息之间的关系基本相同”。他认为，所谓翻译，是指从语义到文体在译语中的最贴近而又最自然的对等语再现源语的信息（郭建中，2000）。所谓自然，是指使用译语中的表达方式，也就是说在翻译中使用归化，而不是异化。然而由于动态对等引起不少误解，认为翻译只要内容不要形式，在奈达的《从一种语言到另一种语言：论圣经翻译中的功能对等》一书中，他把“动态对等”的名称改为“功能对等”，并指出信息不仅包括思想内容，也包括语言形式。功能对等的翻译，要求“不但是信息内容的对等，而且，尽可能地要求形式对等”。二、奈达理论的评析毫无疑问，奈达是当代最著名也是最重要的翻译家之一，他的翻译理论，特别是他的功能对等理论在全世界的翻译界产生了重大的影响。约翰·比克曼（JohnBeekman）和约翰·卡洛（JohnCallow）的《翻译圣经》中说：“传译了原文意义和原文动态的翻译，称之为忠实的翻译。”而所谓“传译原文的动态”，就是指译文应使用目标语自然的语言结构，译文读者理解信息毫不费力，译文和原文一样自然、易懂。同时，他们也认为译者所要传达的是源语表达的信息，而不是源语的表达形式。在米尔德里德·L·拉森（https://www.doczj.com/doc/2f17887811.html,rson）的《意义翻译法：语际对等指南》中，当谈到形式与意义时，拉森说得更为直截了当：“翻译基本上是改变形式（achangeofform）……是用接受语（目标语）的形式代替源语的形式。”她还表示，语言的深层结构与表层结构是不同的，我们所要翻译的是深层结构，即意义，而不是表层结构，即语言表达形式。然而正如郭建中(2000)所说：“内容与形式，意译与直译，以译文读者和译文为中心与以原作者和原文为中心……是翻译理论和翻译实践中一个永恒的辩论主题。”虽然奈达在全世界有着重要的影响和极高的地位，但他的理论却也一直引起各家争议。关于奈达理论的争议，主要是围绕以下五点展开的：（一）对等理论的适用范围这是长期以来对奈达翻译理论的争议得最多最激烈的问题。许多的翻译家都认为其理论是不适合文学翻译的。以诗歌翻译为例，林语堂曾经说过：“诗乃最不可译的东西。无论古今中外，最好的诗（而尤其是抒情诗）都是不可译的。”而著名诗人海岸（2005）在他的《诗人译诗，译诗为诗》中也指出：不同文化背景之间的符号系统只能在所指层面达到一定的共享，建立在绝对理解上的诗歌翻译只能是一种难以企及的梦想。特别是英语诗中的音韵节律及一些特殊的修辞手法等均不能完全传译，正如辜正坤在《中西诗比较鉴赏与翻译理论》一书中所言，