The Translator's GUIDE to CHINGLISH 中式英语之鉴 ●4taeu0日
THE TRANSLATOR'S GUIDE TO CHINGLISH 中式英语之鉴 by Joan Pinkham with the collaboration of Jiang Guihua 琼.平卡姆〔美〕编著 姜桂华 协助 外语教学与研究出版社 FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING AND RESEARCH PRESS
(京)新登字155号 图书在版纳目(CP)数据 中式英语之鉴/[美]平卡姆(Pinkham,J.)编著.-北京：外语教学与研究出版 杜，1998.12 ISBN7-5600-1559-X I.中.Ⅱ.平.Ⅲ.英语-翻译N.B15.9 中国版本图书馆CP数据核字(1999)第0329%号 版权所有翻印必究 中式英语之鉴 编著：琼·平卡姆[美] 协助：姜桂华 贵任编辑：吴文子 出版发行：外语教学与研究出版社 杜址：北京市西三环北路19号(100089) 网 址：http:/www.fltp.com.cn 印 刷：北京市鑫鑫印刷厂 开 本：850×11681/32 印 张：18 学 数：455千字 版 次：2000年5月第1版2000年5月第1次印刷 印 数：1-11000册 书 号：1sBN7-5600-1559-X/H874 定 价：22.90元 如有印刷，装订质量问题出版社负责调换
序 英语学了多年，虽说高不成低不就，纯正的英语总还是一直在 听、在读。可是，“纯正"的中式英语(Chinglish),却是第一次有机会 如此集中地赏析。琼，平卡姆女士的这部作品搜取了大量中式英 语的实例，分别部居，详剖细解，将中国人写英语易犯的文体修辞 毛病揭出了大半。 中式英语，因其半英半汉，不英不汉，被作者戏称为“具有汉语特 色的英语”。这样的英语每天都在我们中间出现，见于街头的广告 词，见于我们的英语报刊，见于政府报告的英译文本。而我们早已肴 惯，并不觉得怪异，如今由作者一一指出，才知道这种中式英语的可 笑。比如“农业获得丰收”，表达为“there have been good harvests"蛮 好，在后面添上“in agriculture”便成蛇足，因为“harvest'”本来就指农 业。再如“生活水平不断提高”，有人译为“living standards for the people continued to rise”,其中的“for the people"也属多余。“红"就 是“red”,“很少"就是“few”,既简单又清楚，何必赘言“red in color”, “few in number'”？(均见正文3-4页)诸如此类的现象，作者在本书 的第一部分多余的词里作了分析，所述分为“多余的名词和动词” “多余的修饰语”、“同义堆叠”、“重复指称”等类。 第二部分题为句子结构，从“名词肿胀症”、“代词与先行词”、“短 语和子句的位置”、“垂悬成分”、“平行结构”，“逻辑连词”六个方面， 分析了中式英语的构句特点。这里仅就第一个方面举一个例子。 所谓“名词肿胀症”，指的是句子里名词过多，且要位都被抽象 名词占尽。例如下面一句(172页)： A.The prolongation of the existence of this temple is due to the solidity of its construction
书中没有提供汉语原文，想来是“这座寺庙的能够持久，是因为其 建筑的牢同”之类。经作者改译，成为： B.This temple has endured because it was solidly built. 再转译人汉语，可作“这座寺庙建造得十分牢固，因此能历久不 败”。句A的四个抽象名词在句B中由两个动词和一个副词取代， 名词当家一变而为动词主宰，句子顿时有了生气。作者主张多用 动词，少用名词，多用意义具体的词，少用抽象含混的词。其实，一 般的英语倦辞书或写作教科书上也都是这么教的，只是写作者为 使文体显得“威严”、“科学”，不知不党便用起了抽象名词。英美人 写英语，中国人写汉语，又何尝不是如此。所以作者补充说，这样 的弊病并不能算中式英语的特色。 关于本书的用途，平卡姆女士在书前的“致读者”中已经说明。 它可以作教材，供高年级学生练习汉英翻译：又可以作读本，供翻 译工作者自行修习。为此，每一小节的后面都附有20个正误句例 和20个待改的病句。在作者看来，“翻译不是一门科学，而是一种 手艺。”研究翻译理论、构建翻译学的人，听了会作何想？或许我们 应该这样来理解她的话：翻译要想被尊为一门“学”，先得成为一种 “艺”，就像“烹饪学"那样，写一本烹调书，终不及做一手好菜更能 证明“学”的价值。 除了提高汉英翻译的技艺，本书还有一个更广的用途，那就是帮 助各行各业的中国人写好英语。两个用途其实有点相通，因为许多 中国人写英语，大概是心里先有了汉语的句子，再把它译过去。我自 己写英语总不能自如，怕也是落了这个毛病，但读了这本书，虽然谈 不上彻底摆脱汉语思雏，竞也有一种豁然明亮的感觉，因此恩把它推 荐给那些想在英语写作上进一大步、却苦于找不到帮手的朋友。 姚小平 2000年2月 于外研社研究发展中心
TABLE OF CONTENTS T0 the Reader. Part One:Unnecessary Words. I.Unnecessary Nouns and Verbs.3 II.Unnecessary Modifiers.26 IIL.Redundant Twins.63 【V,Saying the Same Thing Twice.90 V. Repeated References to the Same Thing 114 VI.Summing it All Up.l43 Part Two:Sentence Structure .169 VII.The Noun Plague.170 VIII.Pronouns and Antecedents. 202 IX.The Placement of Phrases and Clauses.243 X. Dangling Modifiers.283 XI.Parallel Structure.328 XII.Logical Connectives.376 XIII.Summing it All Up. . 428 Part Three:Supplementary Examples.454 Key to Exercises.526 Selected Bibliography.560
To the Reader This book can be used either in the classroom or for independent study.It is addressed primarily to Chinese translators and to ad- vanced students of English who are practicing translation.I hope, however,that it will prove equally useful to other Chinese who are called upon to write English and who wish to improve their mastery of it people working in journalism,foreign affairs,business, tourism,advertising,and many other fields Naturally,readers who open this book will have reached varying levels of skill in their second language.But to one degree or another, the work of all but the most highly trained and experienced among them will inevitably contain elements of Chinglish.Chinglish,of course,is that misshapen,hybrid language that is neither English nor Chinese but that might be described as "English with Chinese characteristics." In writing this Guide,I have assumed that my Chinese readers have a basic knowledge of English grammar and that if they want a review of the subject,they can find it in other books.My purpose is rather to show translators -and,by extension,others who are writing directly in English-how to recognize elements of Chinglish in a first draft and how to revise it so as to eliminate those elements. in other words,this book is intended to help them turn their work into real English such as might have been written by an educated na- tive speaker of the language. At institutions like Xinhua News Agency,China Daily,Foreign Languages Press,and the Central Translation Bureau,this task is
commonly entrusted to senior translators or editors or to foreign "pol- ishers"(who may be more or less competent to perform it).But in principle,much of the work could be done by the original translators -or writers-themselves.That is why throughout these pages I have sometimes referred to the "translator,"sometimes to the "pol- isher"or "reviser."The terms are not mutually exclusive:every translator rereading a first draft can and should be his or her own pol- isher. The examples of Chinglish presented here the "A-version"in each case)are authentic.That is,although some of them have been simplified for instructional purposes,none are invented.Most were found in draft translations that were corrected before the text ap- peared in print.Some were found in published materials-official documents,China Daily,the several English-language magazines, and so on.The source of an example is indicated only when it ap- peared in a foreign publication,such as the Far Eastern Economic Review or a U.S.newspaper. When an example of Chinglish is taken from a draft translation, the revision offered here (the "B-version")is,with few exceptions, the one decided upon by the polishers who revised it.If,however, the A-version appeared in print,the revision is one that I think should have been made and that I am suggesting now.In either case, the proposed B-version is not necessarily the only "correct"one. Translation is not a science but a craft,and craftsmen in any field may have different opinions as to the best solution to a given technical problem. It may seem presumptuous for a person who knows little of the Chinese language to proffer a work of this kind.My qualifications are
(from French to English)who has given much thought to problems of translation.In addition,during the 1980s and 1990s I spent eight years working as a polisher in Beijing,first at Foreign Languages Press and later at the Central Translation Bureau Bureau for the Compilation and Translation of Works of Marx,Engels,Lenin and Stalin).During those years I had the opportunity to work closely with a wide range of Chinese translators,from beginners fresh out of school to the most capable senior professors.I learned much from them all. Even with this background,however,I could not have produced this Guide without the help of two invaluable consultants who have kindly read and reread my manuscript.The first is my good friend Jiang Guihua,the retired chief of the English section at the Central Translation Bureau,who has examined every example with the criti- cal eye of a skilled reviser.The second is my husband Larry,who has given me the benefit of his expertise as a writer and as a professor of journalism who has had long experience both teaching and polishing in China.The criticism and advice of these two knowledgeable edi- tors,one native speaker of each language,have been,quite simply, indispensable. Joan Pinkham Amherst,Massachusetts 1 April 1999
致读者 本书可用于课堂教学，也可用于自学。其主要对象是中国的 翻译工作者以及做翻译练习的高年级英语学生。但是，我希望这 本书对需要用英语写作的其他中国人（包括新闻工作者，外事工作 者、从事商业、旅游业、广告业以及许多其他行业需要使用英语的 工作者)同样有帮助，而他们又都希望解够更好地掌握英语。 自然，当读者翻阅这本书时，他们使用第二语言的技能所达到 的水平是不同的。但是，除了那些造诣很深的，一般人的翻译中都 会不同程度地含有中式英语的成分。当然，所谓中式英语就是那 种畸形的，混合的、既非英语又非汉语的语文字，也可称其为“具 有汉语特色的英语”。 在写这本书的过程中，我心目中的中国读者已经掌握了基本 的英语语法：如果有人想复习一下他们的语法，可以去求助于有关 这方面的书籍。而我的目的则在于帮助翻译工作者以及其他直接 用英语写作的人懂得如何在初稿中找出中式英语的成分并将其修 改掉。也就是说，这本书是为了帮助他们将自己的写作修改成为 地道的英语，就像一个受过教育的以英语为母语的人写的一样。 在一些像新华社，《中国日报》社、外文出版杜、中央编译局的 单位里，这项丁作一般是由高级翻译、审校或外国专家做的（他们 域或多或少能够胜任这项任务)。但是，原则上，大部分工作可由译 者（或作者）自已来完成。为此，在整部书中，我有时用“译者”，有 4