博士英语翻译可见-4.ppt

Affirmation and Negation Every language has its peculiarities in negation. And there is indeed an important, though often neglected, difference between E and C in negation. It is a difference in the way of thinking and in the mode of speaking. A: Are you not going tomorrow? B: No, I’m not going. Affirmation and Negation in E-C Translation Generally speaking, English negative words and expressions fall into the following categories: 1. “Full negatives”: no, not, none, never, nothing, nobody, nowhere, neither, nor; 2. “Semi negatives”: hardly, scarcely, seldom, barely, few, little, etc. 3. “Partial negatives”: not every, not all, not both, not much, not many, not always, etc. 4. “Words with negative implication”: fail, without, beyond, until, unless, lest, ignorant, refrain, refuse, neglect, absence, instead of, other than, except, rather than, etc. 1. Affirmative in E, but Negative in Chinese Such cases are found in a wide range of expressions: words of different parts of speech, various phrases, or sentence structures. 1) Verbs Water is a good lubricant, if you can devise a way to keep it from leaking out or evaporating. 如果能设法使水不泄漏或蒸发，那么水就是一种很好的润滑剂。 The first bombs missed the target. 第一批炸弹没有击中目标 . 2) Adverbs We may safely say so. 我们这样说万无一失（或：错不了）。 The relay acted vainly due to negligible current. 电流太小，继电器不能启动。 3) Adjectives These official documents shall form an integral part of this contract. 这些正式文件必须作为合同不可分割的组成部分。 We are watching the fluid situation with concern. 我们密切关注动荡不定的局势。 4) Preposition Theory of Relativity worked out by Eistein is now above many people’s comprehension. 爱因斯坦提出的“相对论”现在还有不少人理解不了。 It was beyond his power to sign such a contract. 他无权签订这种合同。 Without substances, there would be no world. 没有物质也就没有世界。 5) Conjunction Unless there is motion, there is no work. 没有运动就没有功。 we would rather use machine parts of plastics than use of metals. 我们宁可使用塑料机器零件，也不用金属的。 6) Phrase But for electricity our world would be still. 要是没有电，整个世界便会寂静无