Unit 7 Affirmative vs[1]. Negative

英汉互译教程

Unit 7 Affirmative vs. Negative

英汉互译教程

Affirmative vs. Negative As some linguists have pointed out, every

language has its peculiarities in negation. And there is indeed an important, though often neglected, difference between English and Chinese in negation. It is a difference in the way of thinking and in the mode of speaking. A close study of them may shed light on this discrepancy. A: Are you not going tomorrow? B: No, I'm not going.1

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Affirmative vs. Negative In Chinese, however, the above "no"

should be rendered as “是的 ,otherwise, it would cause confusion. Similarly, it is idiomatic to say “我认为他不对 , 我 想他不会来了 in Chinese. In English, however, these ideas would be expressed as "I don't think he is correct", "I don't think he will come", with the negative put immediately after the subject of the main clause" I". 2

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Affirmative vs. Negative

I. Negation in English-Chinese Translation II. Negation in Chinese-English translation

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I. Negation in English-Chinese TranslationGenerally 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除了, except, rather than与其…倒不 如…, etc.;4

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In most cases, these negative expressions can be translated literally, but in some circumstances, they should be readjusted according to different context.

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1.Affirmative in English, but negative in Chinese (正说反译)

Such cases are found in a wide range of scope: words of different parts of speech, various phrases, or sentence structures. He denied it to be the case. (v.) 他说事实不是这样。 Time is what we want most, but what, alas, many use worst. (adv.) 时间是我们最缺少的，但可叹之至，偏偏 许多人最不善于利用。6

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1.Affirmative in English, but negative in Chinese (正说反译) I have read your article. I expected to meet an

older man. (adj.) 拜读了你的大作，没想到你这样年轻。 It was beyond his power to sign such a contract. (prep.) 他无权签订这种合同。 The guerrillas would fight to death before they surrender. (conj.) 游击队员们宁愿战死也绝不投降。7

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1. Affirmative in English, but negative in Chinese (正说反译) They feel great anxiety about his sickness. (n.) 他们对他的病情感到焦虑不安。 The lecturer spoke above the heads of his audience. (prep.) 讲演者讲得太深奥，听众听不懂。 I'm at my wit's end to keep this child quiet. (phrase) 我实在是没法让这孩子安静下来。

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1. Affirmative in English, but negativ

e in Chinese (正说反译) The mother said she would let her son

off washing the dishes if he could finish his assignment before supper. (phrase) 母亲说，如果儿子晚饭前能做完作业，就 不让他洗碗了。 If it worked once, it can work twice. (sentence) 一次得手，再次不愁。9

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2. Negative in English, but affirmative in Chinese (反说正译) It would be unwise, however, to bet against China.

(prep.) 然而，由此而打赌断定中国不会持续发展是不明智的。 He manifested a strong dislike for his father's business. (n.) 他对他父亲的行业表示强烈的厌恶感。 Don't lose time in posing this letter. (phrase) 赶快把这封信寄出去。 Such flight couldn't long escape notice. (sentence) 这类飞行迟早会被人发觉的。10

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2. Negative in English, but affirmative in Chinese (反说正译)

This case is just opposite to the previous one. The doubt was still unresolved after his repeated explanation. (adj.) 经他一再解释，疑团仍然存在。 He carelessly glanced through the note and then left. (adv.) 他马马虎虎地看了看那张便条就走了。 All the articles in the museum are untouchable. (adj.) 博物馆内一切展品禁止触摸。11

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3. Same English Word, Either affirmative or Negative Equivalents in Chinese(正译或反译)

I'm new to the work. 这工作我是生手。或： 这工作我不熟悉。 He is free with his money. 他花钱大手大脚。或：他花钱从不吝啬。 He realised that he was in trouble. 他意识到遇到麻烦了。或：他感到自己的 处境不妙。

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3. Same English Word, Either affirmative or Negative Equivalents in Chinese(正译或反译) The station is no distance at all.

车站近在咫尺。或：车站一点儿也不远。 It's no less than a fraud. 这简直是一场骗局。或：这无异于一场骗局。 The works of art were left intact, the money gone. 艺术品还在，钱却不翼而飞。或：艺术品原封 未动，钱却不翼而飞。 The criminal is still at large. 罪犯还未捉拿归案。或：罪犯仍旧逍遥法外。

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4. Double Negative for EmphasisDouble negative in English, as in Chinese, is used for emphasis. In this case we may either drop both the negative words or keep to the original, depending on which version is idiomatic in Chinese. There is no r …… 此处隐藏：2931字，全部文档内容请下载后查看。喜欢就下载吧 ……