零翻译-片段

为了从根本上解决可译性问题以适应当前翻译实务飞速增长的需要，邱懋如教授提出应该引进“零翻译”这一概念。

To radically solve the translatable problems in accordance with the increasing needs of translation practice, Professor Qiu Maoru raised that we should import the concept of zero translation.首先，语言是人类进行交际的最主要的工具。

不同的思维方式和生活习俗使语言形成了不同的表达方式；不同民族、国别的语言自然具有各自的语言风格。

就拿英语和汉语来说，它们分属截然不同的两种语系，因而在表达方式上相差甚远。

例如，我们无法在英语中找出一个“兄”或“弟”，“姊”或“妹”的单字；英语中的uncle到底是“叔父”、“伯父”、“姑父”、“舅父”还是“姨父很难分辨；英语中的cousin到底是男性还是女性得根据一定的上下文才能分清；汉语中的“万”字到了英语里则成了ten thousand(十千) 。

又如，有人叫你去时，你回答说“来了”，字面上用的是过去时，译为英语却成了“I’m coming”；中国人问人姓名用的“请教大名”绝对不能译为Please teach me your greatname? 而只能译为May I know(或ask 或have)your name? 或What’s your name,please ?First, language is the most important tool for human communication. Different ways of thinking and customs lead to different ways of expression. Thus there are distinct characters among languages of different ethnics and peoples. Take English and Chinese as an example, they belongs to two different language families, so there are considerable differences in their ways of expression. For instance, we cannot find a very single word to define ”brother who is older than me” or “brother who is younger than me”,”sister who is older than me” or “sister who is younger than me”; Also, it is hard to tell the exact meaning of the word “uncle”, because in English, it means “father’s brother who is younger than father”,“father’s brother who is older than father”,”father’s sister’s husband”, even “mother’s brother” as well. Meanwhile, the word “cousin”, we may not know it mea ns the male or female until we learn the whole context. Also, The Chinese word “Wan”, means ten thousand in English.Another example, if someone called you to go to somewhere, and you answered ”arrived”, you might see that literally the word is using the past tense, but when it is translated into English, it becomes “I’m coming”. When Chinese ask other people’s names, they would say “Qing Jiao Da Ming”,we can’t just translate it into the sentence “Please teach me your greatname?” We could only use the sen tence “May I know(ask,have)your name?” or “What’s your name, please”?其次，语言是文化的一部分，并对文化起着重要作用。

Second, language is a part of culture, and at the same time, it plays an important role in promoting the culture.有些社会学家认为，,语言是文化的冠石———没有语言就没有文化；从另一方面看，语言又受文化的影响，反映文化。

由于文化背景不同,有时对于不同社会的人，同一个词或同一种表达方式往往会具有不同的意义，而且有时还会造成语义空缺的现象。

例如，邓炎昌等在《语言与文化》一书中就引用过这样一个故事；罗马有一家鞋店，门口挂着一个牌子，招徕懂英语的顾客。

牌子上写道： Shoes for street walking. Come in and have a fit . 这个牌子引起许多懂英语的游览者的注意，他们聚在店前———不是看橱窗里所展出的商品，而是看牌子上的字，看后都哈哈大笑。

店主是意大利人，会说一点英语，但他不知道street walker 不是“逛大街的人”，而是“在街头拉客的妓女”，to have a fit 也不是“试穿”，而是“勃然大怒”。

过路人看了这块牌子当然感到滑稽可笑了。

Some socialists believe that language is the copestone of the culture, no language no culture; Meanwhile the language is influenced by culture and reflecting the culture. Due to the different cultural backgrounds, the same word or the same way of expression can lead to different understandings to people from different societies, sometimes it also causes semantic vacancy. For example, Professor Dengyanchang quoted a story in a book named language and culture: Once there was a shoe store in Rome which had a sign on its door for attracting customers who knows English. The sign reads: Shoes for street walking. Come in and have a fit. The sign drew a lot of attention of people who knows English, they gathered in front of the store, but they are not looking at the commodities the store displayed, but the sentence on that sign instead, and all of them burst into laughter eventually. The owner of this store is an Italian, and he knows a little English, but he doesn’t know the real meaning of street walker is the prostitutes who walk on the street to find their customers, he thought street walker means the people who walks on the street. What’s more, “to have a fit” doesn’t mean try the cloths, but fly into a great rage. So, the passers-by will surely feel funny.又如，中国文化中，思想往往与腹部联系在一起，像“满腹文章”、“满腹经纶”、“腹稿”、“腹议”、“满腹牢骚”等，英译时若将“腹”译出： a bellyful of essays ,a bellyfulof scholarship ,draft s in the belly ,criticism in thebelly ,a bellyf ul of complaint s 英语读者会感到莫名其妙，因为他们无论如何也没法将“满腹经纶”等与“腹”联系起来，因此，只好改译为： tohave one’s mind full of essays , to have one’smind full of scholarship , draft s worked out inone’s mind ,silent criticism ,full of complaint s.再次,由于政治、经济、科技的日新月异以及社会生活的飞速变化,在语言交流过程中必须创造新词( neologism) 才能与之相适应。

以英语为例，牛津大学出版社出版的《牛津新词词典》收录20 世纪80 年代到90 年代的英语新词便达2000 余条。