The Evident Manifestations of Chinglish in Translation

Yao Shuting（姚舒婷）

（School of Translation and Interpretation，Shandong University at Weihai 264209）

The Evident Manifestations of Chinglish in Translation

Yao Shuting（姚舒婷）

（School of Translation and Interpretation，Shandong University at Weihai 264209）

Chinglish translation manifestation

Words collocation is very important in English learning,if we fail to do well in collocating words,we are beginning to speak native Chinglish.When speaking and writing English,not only should we pay attention to the words collocation but also grammar collocation.

Chinglish:We have beat a beautiful war.

English:We have waged a good war.

In this sentence,beat（打）is a verb,which is very common in Chinese language.But we cannot translate into“beat”.On the other hand,"beautiful"and"war" cannot be put together.

*君子动口不动手。

Chinglish:A gentleman uses his mouth instead of his hands.

English:A gentleman uses his tongue instead of his fists.

In this sentence,we cannot translate directly.“口”in the sentence means tongue,speaking.While“手”in the sentence means fists,power.

*你会说日语吗？

Chinglish:Could you speak Japanese?

English:Do you speak Japanese?

In this sentence,we are asking somebody whether he/she is able to speak Japanese,but"could"is asking somebody to speak Japanese or not.So we should say "do you"instead of"could you".

*Grammar collocation

*上次你没考及格，这次你可得加倍小心啊！

Chinglish:You failed in last exam.You must be double careful this time!

English:You failed the last exam.You must be doubly careful this time!

"Double"and"doubly"can both be used as adverb.But the former is used to be connected with verb while the latter is used to connect with adverb.So"careful"is an adverb,it can only be connected with"doubly".

*我们来到一家灯火辉煌的商店。

Chinglish:We came to a well-lit store.

English:We came to a well-lighted store.

There are two past participles of the word light:lit and lighted,but"lighted"can only be used as attribute. In this sentence,"well-lighted"serves as the attribute. So we should use"well--lighted".

*Mistakenly used of words

Before we can think in a way of English,we tend to think of many things in a way of Chinese.When we speak or write English,we would firstly decide the sentence pattern,and then translate.Many words in both Chinese and English have several different meanings, which could probably make the words mistakenly used by us.

*我绝不会食言的。

Chinglish:I will not eat my words.

English:I will not break my word/promise.

In this sentence,"eat one's words"is used when we have said something wrong and being regretful about it. While“食言”can be spoken as"break one's word".

*我送他上医院吧，我更方便！

Chinglish:I'm more convenient to send him to hospital.English:It's more convenient for me to take him to hospital.

"Convenient"cannot follow somebody,but can on-ly be used in the phrase"it is convenient for somebody to do something"instead of"somebody is convenient to do something".

*Unnecessary words

There are many words in Chinese have no specific meaning,which are needed to get rid of when translating.This phenomenon rooted in the vital differences between Chinese and English:such as cultural shock,habits,traditions and so on.Chinese students are not paying much attention to this,which makes Chinglish more native.

*中国正在加快经济改革的步伐。

Chinglish:China is accelerating the pace of economic reform.

English:China is accelerating the economic reform.

In this sentence,“步伐”is an abstract verb,which is unnecessary.

So we don't have to translate the word.“经济改革的步伐”is a kind of metaphor in Chinese,but there is no such metaphor in English.So pace is unnecessary.

*这本书是为初学者编写的。

Chinglish:This book is meant to be written for the beginners.

English:This book is meant for beginners.

"To be written"is not typical English,and it is very unnecessary in this sentence.

*Not enough words

Chinese sentences emphasize much on the whole meaning of a whole sentence,which English sentences emphasize more on the whole structure of a whole sentence--grammar structure.As a result,sometimes it is hard for people to make sense of the whole language.If we fail to add or get rid of words,Chinglish comes.

*她喜欢什么，不喜欢什么，与我无关。

Chinglish:What she likes and dislikes are not my concern.

English:What she likes and what she dislikes are not my concern.

In this sentence,the subjects of"likes"and"dislikes"are not the same,so we can not ignore either of them.

*“谁？”“我！”

Chinglish:"Who?""Me!"

English:"Who is it?"It's me!"

There must be a"be"in English language,so we must be very careful and add some necessary words when translating.

*Sentence structure

There are big differences between the Chinese structure and the English structure.The first difference is emphasis;the second is order.

*当前各国政府面临的一个主要问题是反恐。

Chinglish:The major problem confronting all governments today is anti-terrorism.

English:Anti-terrorism is the major challenge confronting all governments today.

Chinese always puts the most important thing at the last; while English always puts the most important thing at the very beginning.This phenomenon is due to the cultural differences between two languages:Chinese people are humble and reserved while English people are open and straight.

*中华人民共和国主席胡锦涛

Chinglish:President of the People's Republic of China Hu Jintao

English:Hu Jintao,President of the People's Republic of China

In English,the names of people are often put at the very beginning,while in Chinese,the names often come at last.

*Cultural differences

Chinglish can be avoided through attention in the above aspects,but sometimes

we still cannot avoid it thoroughly.This needs our special attention,because this is due to the cultural differences.

*我婆婆想抱孙子了。

Chinglish:My mother-in-law wants to take her grandchild in her arms.

English:My mother-in-law wishes to be a grandmother.

“抱孙子”has a total different meaning in English language,meaning having a grandchild.This is a language habit in Chinese to which we must pay attention.

*Rhetorical device

Rhetorical devices are very common in both Chinese and English,aiming at making languages more vivid,but there are big differences in rhetorical devices in both languages.Before we can totally understand all rhetorical devices,we would rather ignore them than using them in a wrong way.

*沧海一粟

Chinglish:A grain in the ocean.

English:A drop in the ocean.

There are different concepts in rhetorical devices in both languages.

*小心那家伙！他有一肚子的坏水！

Chinglish:Be careful of that guy!He has a stomach of bad water.

English:Be careful of that guy!He is full of ill will.

“一肚子”means many thoughts on mind instead of things stored in stomach.

*Traditions

China has a long history with many traditional habits and features.In terms of language,the tradition embodies in greetings,compliments,gratitudes,receiving gifts and so on.

*李老师

Chinglish:Teacher Li

English:Mr/Mrs/Miss Li

"Teacher"cannot be used as a name of position in English,instead,we should call Mr.or Miss when greeting each other.

*我这是班门弄斧，不好意思。

Chinglish:I'm quite ashamed to display my skill before you experts.

English:Thank you for coming.I hope you enjoy my performances.

Chinese people are humble and reserved.Some humble words don't have to be translated into English.

Having realised so many evident manifestations of Chinglish in translation,we should really improve our skills on English language as well as translation,since translation is a vital skill for our English major students. For me,I have learned much through my process of preparing and writing this essay!

H314

A

1008-4118（2012）01-0087-03

2012-02-22

10.3969/j.issn.1008-4118.2012.01.45

*Words collocation.

*我们打了个漂亮的仗。