MethodsofLyricTranslationfromChinesetoEnglish

沈丹丹 曾苹

【摘要】作为一种经典的艺术形式，歌曲是人们精神生活不可缺少的一部分，同时在不同国家、不同区域间的文化交流中占据着重要的地位。随着中国与世界其它国家之间的交流日益密切以及中国国际化的不断深入，中英文歌曲的互译变得越来越普及。本文主要分析了中文歌曲歌词英译常用的方法，以期推动中文歌曲英译的实践。

【关键词】歌曲翻译 歌词 方法

Introduction：As for the translators，the translation of songs sometimes seems not that hard. However，providing a version with far-reaching influence is never an easy job. An excellent translation of song is the outcome of the perfect coordination of rhymes and lyrics. Appropriate methods should be adopted accordingly to make the translation works more acceptable.

The methods that are most commonly used are literal translation and free translation （Yao，2009）. Free translation includes addition，ellipsis，conversion and so on. The author will give detailed elaborations respectively based on the analysis of the popular song 《青花瓷》 and its translated version by Li Du.

《青花瓷》 is a beautiful song with exquisite images. The lyrics are elegant with classic simplicity. The proficient use of figures of speech displays the beauty of Chinese language incisively. The author here adopts the version translated by Li Du as it achieves the equivalence of rhythm and recreates the beauty of the original song.

1.Literal Translation

It is generally acknowledged that the translators should be faithful to the original work. In song translation，the translators should also abide by the expressions of the original lyrics to the largest extent. In the translation of 《青花瓷》，“South of the river，I passed through the small town” and “Melting into the depth of a landscape painting，you faded out into the dark background” are all literal translations. They convey the original meanings faithfully and the rhymes are perfectly presented.

2.Free Translation

When literal translation may lead to misunderstanding or ambiguity，free translation will come to work. In free translation，various adaptions and changes are necessary. Free translation can be achieved through many ways，such as addition，conversion，ellipsis and the like.

Addition： The expressions in Chinese language are implicit，while English expressions are frank and honest. Under some circumstances，we have to replenish certain omitted words to fully express the meanings，convey the emotions of the original lyrics. It is impossible to simply use literal translation to make the audience understand the beauty of Chinese. Thus appropriate additions are necessary. The line “天青色等煙雨，而我在等你” appears twice in the lyrics and lays the tone of the whole song. In its translation： “The sky is blue enough to expect the rain，for you I am waiting，however in vain”，“however in vain” is an addition，the protagonists disappointment can be obviously sensed. The last word “vain” here rhymes with “rain” and this added phrase reveals the implied meaning of the song.

Conversion： As there exist great differences in part of speech，sentence order and voice between English and Chinese，we need to converse the part of speech，sentence structure and the passive voice in translation to keep in consistence with the institutionalized expressions of target language. In the lines： “帘外芭蕉惹骤雨门环惹铜绿 ，而我路过那江南小镇惹了你”，the character “惹” appears three times. Obviously，they all bear certain connotations. For the third one，Li Du uses the word “mindless” which means “not needing much mental effort”. It is a reflection of the protagonists romantic encounter with her lover and thereafter their lives interweave unexpectedly （Qin & An，2010）. In this sentence，the method of conversion is adopted properly and achieves brilliant effects.

Ellipsis： Sometimes，there is no need to express certain meaning of the original lyrics for they may impair the fluency in expressions and hinder the listeners understanding. Some unnecessary words can be omitted to make the expressions simpler and clearer. For example，“簾外芭蕉”is expressed as “the banana tree outside”. Here “帘外”is directly translated into “outside”and the noun “帘”is omitted. Otherwise，it would be a verbiage and destroy the fluency of the whole line.

Conclusion

In translation，we have to give full play to our subjective creativity. Appropriate use of free translation and literal translation will render lyrics higher readability and add aesthetic value to songs. Translation is an effort-taking and demanding work，however，through long-term accumulation and studies，great breakthrough will surely be made.

References：

[1]秦冰融，安静.中文歌曲英译策略之解析，2010年（7），College English（Academic Edition）.

[2]姚丽文.直译与意译策略在英文歌曲汉译中的作用，2009（5），内蒙古农业 大学学报（社会科学版）.

[3]百度文库.http：//wenku.baidu.com/view/13add6a3b07 17fd5360cdc53.html.