论汉英翻译中悬垂修饰结构的种种表现

陈代球

(南方医科大学外国语学院,广东广州510515)

论汉英翻译中悬垂修饰结构的种种表现

陈代球

(南方医科大学外国语学院,广东广州510515)

英语悬垂结构是英语的一种严重错误,往往会给翻译带来麻烦。不仅英语初学者容易在这方面犯错,高水平的专业人士也需小心对待。我国的英语学习者往往对分词的逻辑主语比较注意,但是对其它悬垂结构却缺乏重视。本文拟对悬垂分词、句首悬垂动名词、句首悬垂不定式、句首悬垂介词短语及句首悬垂形容词等常见的悬垂结构进行分析,以引起大家的重视、提高英语译文质量。

汉英翻译; 逻辑主语; 悬垂结构

在阅读一本有关人事部三级级笔译资格证书的一本教材时,一次偶然碰见这样一个句子:他(鲁班)看见河面很宽,水流很急,两条小船来回渡人。书本上给的译文是:

On the swift waters of the wide river,he saw two small ferryboats hurrying to and fro with passengers1[1](P100)

仔细一看,这个译文其实是很值得商榷的。因为这个句子里的介词短语,从语法结构上来说,只可能修饰主句的主语或者谓语动词,但是两种解释都违背了汉语原文的意义。

其实,这句话里的介词短语是一个悬垂结构。众所所周知,悬垂修饰结构是一种严重的语言错误。但是在汉译英翻译实践中,悬垂结构似乎并没有引起译者的足够重视。经常可以看到由悬垂修饰结构引起的翻译错误。本文拟对悬垂分词、句首悬垂动名词、句首悬垂不定式、句首悬垂介词短语及句首悬垂形容词等常见的悬垂结构进行分析。

一、悬垂分词

分词,无论是现在分词还是过去分词,也不管是否出现在句首,都是同主句的主语发生关系,“…a participial phrase must modify the subject of the sentence(the subject of the main verb)1”。[2](P285)如果分词的逻辑主语同主句的主语发生了冲突,或者导致了并非汉语原文想要表达的意义,那么就出现了悬垂分词。

例如:

Using either military or peaceful means,most of the remaining enemy forces were put out of action1[2](P286)

这个句子给人的感觉是most of the remaining enemy forces是句首现在分词的逻辑主语。可是,事实上,原文想要表达的意义并非如此,而是我们通过军事或和平手段使敌军大部分残余力量失去了战斗力。因此,译文可改为:

Using either military or peaceful means,we put most of the remaining enemy forces out of action.

又如:

Conveniently situated,traffic from Jin Hui T ower to Beijing International Airporttakes only 1/2hourviatheThirdRing Road1[2](P286)

同样,在这个句子中,分词conveniently situated的逻辑主语成了traffic,而事实上原文真正想要表达的意义应为Jin Hui Tower地处方便。考虑到本句用分词真正的逻辑主语即Jin Hui T ower做主句的主语会使句子不流畅,所以当另想办法:

The Jin Hui T ower is conveniently situated,only 1/2 hour from the Beijing International Airport via the Third Ring Road.

当然,现在分词在有些情况下可以独立使用,而不用考虑其逻辑主语和主句主语是否一致。常见的情况如下:[3](P73)

1.副词+speaking 例如:generally speaking,strictly speaking,frankly speaking等;

2.V-ing+介词 例如:judging from,talking of,allowing for,owing to,according to等;

31V-ing+从句 例如:supposing/supposed that从句,providing/provided that从句,granting/granted that从句,allowing/ considering/given that从句。

二、悬垂动名词

句首动名词的使用规则跟分词一样,即动名词的逻辑主语必须同主句的主语一致,“Still,when the phrase stands at the beginning,that unexpressed subject must be logically related to the expressed subjects of the sentence…The rule here is simple:the implied subject of an opening gerund must be the same as the subject of the sentence1”[2](P294-295)

例如:After gaining some experience,these measures will gradually be introduced in other regions across the country.

谁gain some experience?难道是these measures?显然不是。但是这句话给人就是这样的感觉。正是因为没有处理好动名词的逻辑主语才导致了“这些措施在获得一些经验后”的错误意思。如果用动名词真正的逻辑主语来担任主句的主语,那么这个问题就解决了:

After gaining some experience,we will gradually introduce these measures in other regions across the country.

三、悬垂不定式

中国学生学习英语,整体上来说,对分词和动名词的逻辑主语和主句主语一致问题看得比较紧,但是对不定式、介词短语和形容词短语的逻辑主语往往却容易忽视。其实,句首动词不定式的逻辑主语的使用规则跟分词和动名词逻辑主语的用法一样,必须同主句的主语保持一致。(“…,the implied subject of an opening infinitive must be the same as the subject of the sentence1”)。[2](P298)也就是说,句首不定式的逻辑主语,默认为是主句的主语。如果这两者发生了冲突,就会导致悬垂不定式。

例如:In order to succeed,great efforts must be made.

在这个例句中,不定式“为了成功”的逻辑主语成了极大的努力,也就是极大的努力为了成功。这是不合逻辑的。正确的理解应该是人们为了成功需要付出极大的努力。明白了不定式“为了成功”的逻辑主语是“人们”,而不是“极大的努力”。就可以把原句改为:

In order to succeed,we/people/one should make great efforts.

又如:In order to serve you better,please fill out a deposit slip before approaching the window.

在这个句子中,句首不定式的真正的逻辑主语应当是提供服务的一方,相当于“we”之类的词。但是后面祈使句的隐含主语是“you”,也就是说,这个句子给人的感觉就是句首不定式的逻辑主语就是后面主句的主语“you”,但是这是明显不合逻辑的。整个句子可以改为:

In order to be better served,please fill out a deposit slip before approaching the window.

四、悬垂介词短语

句首形容词性的介词短语往往同句子主语发生关系,而副词性的介词短语往往则同主句的谓语动词发生关系。Joan Pinkham提到,“Any opening prepositional phrase that acts as an adjective will affix itself to the noun or pronoun that is the subject of its sentence”,“Any opening prepositional phrase that acts as an adverb will affix itself to the main verb in the sentence”。[2](P302-303)如果忽略了这一点,句子就会出现悬垂介词短语的问题。例如:

他(鲁班)看见河面很宽,水流很急,两条小船来回渡人。

书本上给的译文是:

On the swift waters of the wide river,he saw two small ferryboats hurrying to and fro with passengers1[1](P100)

在这个句子中,只能有两种理解:一是把这个介词短语理解成形容词性的,那就是跟主语he发生关系;另一种就是把介词短语理解成副词性的,那就是跟主句谓语动词saw发生关系。按照第一种理解,那就是:他在水里湍急的河面上;而按照第二种理解,意思则是:在水流湍急的河面上看见什么情况。很明显,这两种意义都有悖于原文,因为原文的意思是:两条小船在湍急的河面上来回渡人,而不是“他”(鲁班)在河面上,也不是“看见”这个动作发生在河面上。所以,可以看出,原来的译文是有着严重的问题的!

在对介词短语的用法有了正确的认识后,我们就可以把原译文改为:

He saw two small ferryboats hurrying to and fro on the swift waters of the wide river with passengers.

在这个修改后的译文中,由于介词短语on the swift waters of the wide river不是放在句首,因此没有只同主句主语或谓语动词发生关系的限制。改动后的句子中,由于介词短语放在了动词hurrying to andfro后面,所以修饰关系非常清楚,即修饰动词hurrying to and fro,也就是小船在水流湍急的河面上来回,合乎原文的意义。

再如:As leaders,it is necessary to get a clear picture of the problems and work out measures to solve them.

在这个句子中,句首介词短语“As leaders”的逻辑主语本应是诸如we、one或者people等指人的词。当读者读到这个介词短语后,自然会期望后面主句的主语是这些指人的词。但是,本句的主语竟然是“it”,矛盾便也由此而生。可以改为:

As leaders,we should get a clear picture of the problems and work out measures to solve them.

五、悬垂形容词短语

“Lastly,individual adjectives in an initial position,ones that are not part of prepositional phrases,can also dangle when they do not modify the subject of the sentence1”[2](P306-307)也就是说,当句首形容词短语没有修饰主句主语时,这个形容词短语就是一个悬垂结构。例如:

Tall and shy,Diana's stylish gowns were recently auctioned off for S|517 million1[2](P307)

“Tall and shy”的真实逻辑主语应为Diana,但是后面紧接的主句主语却是Diana's stylish gowns!所以,跟前面讲的各种悬垂结构一样,这也是一个严重的语言错误。从语法角度上来说,可以改为:

The stylish gowns of Diana,who was tall and shy,were recently auctioned off for S|517 million.

当然,从语义的角度来说,定语从句中“tall and shy”是多余的,因为这跟Diana的衣服拍卖了多少钱是没有关系的。

分词、句首动名词、句首不定式、句首形容词等都必须同主句的主语一致。如果这些结构真正的逻辑主语同主句的主语发生了冲突,就会导致严重的语言错误即悬垂结构。另外,句首介词短语可以同主句的主语或者谓语发生关系,如果既没有同主句的主语也没有同主句的谓语发生关系,那么这个句首介词短语也是悬垂结构。因此,在使用分词、句首动名词、句首不定式及句首形容词时,要注意这些结构的逻辑主语和主句主语的一致。在使用句首介词短语时,要确其同主句的主语或者谓语发生关系。

[1]黄源深,张春柏.全国翻译专业资格水平考试指定教材英语笔译实务3级[M].北京:外文出版社,2008.

[2]Joan Pinkham.中式英语之鉴[M].北京:外语教学与研究出版社,2000.

[3]张一冰.美国高校入学考试指导丛书SAT文法[M].上海:上海译文出版社,2009.

On Dangling Structures of Various Kinds in C-E Translation

CHEN Dai-qiu
(School of Foreign Studies,Southern Medical University,Guangzhou,Guangdong 510515)

Dangling structures in English,a kind of major linguistic errors,can give rise to great obstacles in Chinese-English translation.Not only beginners are inclined to make mistakes in termsof the dangling structure,but advanced professionals also should handle the structure with care.Paying adequate attention to the logical subject of participial phrases,English learners in our country fail to attach importance to dangling structures of other types.In view of this,the author intends to analyze the dangling participle,and the gerund,infinitive,prepositional and adjectival structure in the initial position of a sentence in order to increase English learns'awareness and help improve the quality of C-E translations.

C-E translation; logical subject; dangling structures

H059

A

1671-9743(2011)11-0082-02

2011-10-10

陈代球(1972-),男,苗族,湖南麻阳人,南方医科大学外国语学院讲师,硕士,从事对外宣传翻译和跨文化交际方面的研究。