【作者】 万华；

【导师】 梅德明；

【作者基本信息】 上海外国语大学 ， 英语语言文学， 2014， 博士

【摘要】 本文以汉语熟语英译中各种对应与不对应的手段为研究对象，讨论熟语翻译的原则和方法。选择熟语作为研究对象的主要动因有四条：1）熟语可分为成语、谚语、格言与警句、歇后语、俗语与惯用语五类，（王德春1990:94）是语言体系中的重要组成部分，可以是语，亦可以是句，在各种语体和语境中被普遍和频繁使用，可出现于各类不同的文本，覆盖面大；2）熟语的内部语义关系非常复杂，既有逻辑组合，又有非逻辑组合，是理据性和任意性的高度结合体；3）不同语言之间有可以相通的熟语，同时也有更多民族文化特色十分显著的案例，在语码的转换中会涉及多种翻译要素，如何权衡不同要素的关系值得深入研究；4）熟语的词典处理方式和实际行文中的处理方式往往不同，不同的处理方式背后的动因是什么。这四个特点恰恰能满足我们对汉英互译中的对应与不对应译法主题的兴趣。研究语料主要来源于汉英谚语词典、汉英成语词典，以及中国古代、近代和现当代文学作品的中英文版。本研究的基本观点是，任何翻译活动都必须满足翻译的必要条件：即忠实性原则和通顺性或可理解性原则。前者是就译者与原语关系而言的，而后者是就译者与译入语及其读者关系而言的。这一组看似简单的关系却蕴含了许多在实践中难以把控的变量。许渊冲（1991:2–9）提出翻译艺术的6要素：世界、作者、作品、译者、译作、读者（即译作的读者）。杨自俭在此基础上又分别增加了原作的读者和翻译过程（2002:7）两项。虽然他们都是对翻译泛泛而论的，但对熟语翻译的解释也同样适用。它起码说明熟语的翻译是一个非常复杂的关系网络。由于与翻译相关的影响因素众多，不同的因素影响译文质量的方式不尽相同。因此，如何评价不同因素在熟语翻译手段中的权重是趋近理论模型的核心论题。本研究既承认语言之间的共性，也承认语言之间的差异。共性为熟语翻译的成功实现奠定了基础，而差异则给熟语翻译带来了挑战。由于英汉同属于SVO型语言，它们在句法上主要依赖语序实现表义功能，这为翻译带来了许多便利，也是实现直译趋近的基础。然而由于英汉分属于不同的语系，两种语言从起源、使用环境到发展过程都存在着差异，多数熟语不是其组成成分相加之和，且一种语言中的熟语在另一种语言中并不一定有完全对应的熟语。在熟语翻译过程中，译者既需要遵守语言单位的原子组合的原则，更需要遵守语言的整体调节的原则。这些差异进而又导致不同语言在熟语语义覆盖范围、概念合成方式和实际运用等方面的差异。此外翻译目的、读者对象、翻译项目赞助人、译者的意识形态以及原文质量都会不同程度地影响译者对翻译手段的选择。这是意译趋近和选译趋近的影响因子。实现熟语翻译的全方位对等只能是译者追求的理想目标。语言之间共性与个性的对立是翻译中各种对应与不对应的根本原因。切实的理论模式是实现原文与译文在信息内容上的趋近。趋近是一个协调翻译中对应与不对应关系的方案，也是一个带有弹性设计的有限张力系统。译文求信于原文会产生向心力，而译者受各种外部因素的影响又会产生离心力。趋近翻译是发生在对应与顺应博弈之间的结果。由此可见，合格的翻译是一个充满各种选择富有弹性的连续统，从直译趋近到意译趋近，再到选译趋近是译文从与原文对应相似走向离心张力的渐变过程。然而翻译毕竟是翻译，它万变不离其宗，尽管万变不能归宗。这正是本研究的根本立场。本研究从现代语言学有关意义理论的视角出发，充分考虑翻译单位和语言单位的内在关系，采用归纳和演绎相结合的研究方法。在前人研究成果的基础上，提炼出用于指导熟语翻译实践的理论框架（详见第二和第三章），然后分别从直译、意译和选译三个方面验证理论归纳的可操作性（详见第四、第五和第六章）。在分析熟语翻译的不同手段和处理方法时我们还考虑了语言和言语的因素。语言的静态性和言语的动态性会使原文对译者的约束力发生变化。静态的语言义只为熟语的理解和转换提供了基本信息。具体的言语环境为译文生成却能提供许多的选择余地。进入具体语境后，熟语翻译体现在句法选择手段上则是重视深层的命题义，而非表层的字面义或句子义。在指称义和系统义或者命题义和句子义彼此吻合的前提下可考虑两者兼顾，从而实现形式和功能的同时趋近，否则以指称义和命题义为准，只实现功能趋近。在句子以上层面需要重视语用意义，包括言外之意。词汇层面的指称义从属于句子层面的命题义，而命题义从属于语用意义。翻译单位越小就越容易实现形式对等与功能对等的对接。本文提出的语义筛选机制就是尝试着模拟在各个层面上的语义选择过程，从而实现译文与原文的语义趋近。因文本类型不同引起的熟语翻译手段变异亦在本研究考虑之内。由于原文质量不统一和读者期待各异，文本类型趋近中会涉及各类变通方式，使译本符合目的语同类文本的特点，从而提高文本在目标受众眼中的可接受度。具体而言，科学语体和政论语体类文本对直译趋近的要求高于宣传类文本。从熟语翻译中归纳出的趋近原则和策略具有一定的理论创新性，也可为不同文本的翻译实践提供参考。本文的创新点：1.趋近从对应论和顺应论的对立中求得平衡，提出了一元化的解释模式，扩大了合格翻译的解释范围；2.在前人对汉语熟语分类的基础上，寻找到了熟语类型与翻译手段的对应关系：组合型熟语——直译；综合性熟语——直译/意译；溶合性熟语——意译/选译；3.采用了语义学、句法学、语用学等语言学多个分支学科对翻译现象进行了解释和分析，实现了翻译理论模式的多元互补。更多还原

【Abstract】 This dissertation approaches the principles and strategies of idiom translation byexploiting the wealth of existing English translation of Chinese idioms. The study wasmotivated by the following four factors:1) As an integral component of the languagesystem, idioms in various forms are extensively used in almost all types of texts andcontexts;2) the intricate semantic relationships within an idiom highlight a mixednature of motivation and arbitrariness in meaning formation;3) while comparableidioms can be found across languages, idioms often pose challenges in translation andtherefore merit in-depth study;4) idiom translation in isolation as in the case ofdictionaries is often different from translation in a context, and it is intriguing to findout the reasons behind. The examples have been primarily sourced fromChinese-English dictionaries of proverbs, Chinese-English dictionaries of idioms aswell as Chinese and English versions of China’s ancient, modern and contemporaryliterary works.The point of departure of the study is that any translation must follow theultimate principles of loyalty and expressiveness or accessibility, with the firstprinciple addressing the translator’s orientation towards the source text, and thesecond principle addressing the translator’s orientation towards the target text and thereadership. However, such a seemingly simple structure involves many elusivevariables in translation practice. For instance, Xu Yuanchong (1991:2–9) putforward six key elements in the art of translation, namely, world, author, original text,translator, translated version and readership (of the translated version), to which YangZijian added two more elements: readership of the original text (1994:92) andtranslation process (2002:7). Equally applicable to the translation of idioms, theseelements indicate a complex network to be taken care of. As different elements havevarying impacts on translation quality, the assessment of their respective weights in idiom translation lies at the heart of the theoretical model developed in thisdissertation.While linguistic commonality makes translation possible, differences posechallenges. As English and Chinese both follow an SVO syntactic structure, directtranslation is somewhat facilitated. However, given the huge differences in otherlinguistic aspects, lack of comparable idioms and the need for cultural considerations,all-round equivalence in idiom translation is few and far between, thus necessitatingfree or partial translation, which is even more so when factors such as translationpurposes, target readership, patronage, ideology and original text quality come intoplay. Therefore, a more practical theoretical model should typically seek toapproximate the meaning of the original text through translation. By makingnecessary compromises, such an approximation-oriented model is a flexible systemwith limited tension. Driven by the principle of loyalty, the translator would followthe centripetal force generated by the original text. However, the translator is alsosubject to the centrifugal force created by other factors. In such a context,approximation marks the effort to reach an optimal point of balance between thecentripetal and centrifugal forces. It can be inferred that qualified translation is aflexible continuum full of options ranging from direct translation to free translationand further to partial translation, as the translator breaks away from the centripetalforce of the original text to accommodate other necessary factors. While it is unlikelyfor any option to achieve perfect equivalence, the translator is expected to maneuverwith various options only within an acceptable range in order not to deviateessentially from the original text.Based on previous research results and modern semantic theories, the author, byintegrating inductive and deductive approaches, proposes a theoretical framework forguiding idiom translation (see Chapters2-3), and then addresses approximationthrough direct translation, free translation and partial translation respectively (seeChapters4-6). It is noteworthy that the linguistic dichotomy of language and speech isalso leveraged to shed light on idiom translation, as static meaning (in the case oflanguage) only provides basic information for understanding and translating an idiom whilst dynamic meaning (in the case of speech) leads to many more choices intranslation. In a specific context, idiom translation focuses on the underlyingpropositional meaning, rather than the superficial lexical or sentential meaning.Where propositional (or referential) meaning coincides with sentential (or systematic)meaning, approximation in terms of both form and function can be achieved.Otherwise, the propositional (or referential) meaning shall prevail over sentential (orsystematic) meaning, leading to functional approximation alone. For translation abovethe sentential level, the pragmatics dimension shall be taken into account, includingthe illocutionary force. As a rule, referential meaning at the lexical level issubordinate to propositional meaning at the sentential level whereas propositionalmeaning is subordinate to pragmatic meaning. The smaller the translation unit is, themore likely it is to realize both formal and functional equivalence. The proposedmeaning selection mechanism attempts to capture meaning selection at various levels,by which semantic approximation with the original text is achieved throughtranslation.In addition, the dissertation also delves into the alternative idiom translation indifferent text genres. Due to salient features of a particular text genre in the targetlanguage, the translator has to rise above the restrictions of the original text and adaptthe translation to conform to the features in the target language and meet the targetreaders’ expectation. Generally speaking, scientific or political texts call for moredirect translation than publicity texts. In addition to pushing forward theoreticalfrontiers for idiom translation to a certain extent, approximation principles andstrategies discussed here can also serve as valuable reference for translation ingeneral.Three creative points are presented in the dissertation:1. The traditionalequivalence translation theories and modern adaptation translation theories arephilosophically balanced to render a proper range for qualified translation by a unifiedexplanation.2. A typical translation strategy is identified for each of the threecategories of idioms, i.e. direct translation of compositional idioms, direct or freetranslation of metaphorical idioms and free or selected translation of integrated idioms which are classified based on the degree of semantic transparency.3. Translation bothin isolation and in context is explained through a variety of linguistic theories such assementics, syntax, pragmatics etc., and a multivariant and complementary theoreticaltranslation model is established----approximation translation.更多还原