科技英语的文体特征及翻译规律

2.2.4 Shift of Sentence Structure

Such transformation pertains to the change among the whole sentence structure, such as the transformation between simple sentences and compound sentence, the inverting of the sentence sequences and so on. So for example:

The signal was shown about the computer’s being in order. 信号表明，计算机没有问题。

This is a case of the transformation of the object into an object clause.

2.2.5 Shift of Expression

e.g.: Sand may be carried many miles away by the wind 风可以把沙土带到许多英里以外的地方。

This is the instance that the passive voice is translated into the active voice.

2.3 Omission

Omission refers to omit some words according to the rules of Chinese rhetoric without affecting the sentence meaning. In most case, English pronouns, verbs and prepositions are often omitted in the Chinese transcript. Seemingly many words are left out; actually, the meaning of the original text still remains. This will not only help to put across the information in a succinct, easy-to-absorb way, but also present the whole essay in a literary style and easy to be accepted by the readers. Take this sentence for example:

If you know the frequency, you can find the wave length 如果知道频率，就能求出波长。

In this case the personal pronoun “you” is omitted in Chinese.

2.4 Amplification

Amplification is to supplement some new words or expressions, which are not lexicalized in English, in the translation, conforming to the idiomatic expression in

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Chinese, so as to express them properly and exactly according to Chinese usage. According to the purpose and use circumstance, it can be divided into three categories: to have a better understanding of the vocabulary of the original, to express the grammatical concept of the original or to serve the needs of the Chinese rhetoric. Here is how it is used:

a. In rapid oxidation a flame is produced. 在快速氧化过程中会产生火焰。

Here is a supplement—“process” to “oxidation” in Chinese transcript. b. Being large or small, all magnets behave the same. 所有磁铁，无论大小，其性质都一样。

To express an adverbial clause of concession, such conjunction—“no matter what” is added in the translation.

c. This is what we must resolve at first. 这就是我们必须首先解决的问题。

In this sentence, the translator adds “question” to serve as the object of “resolve”.

Ⅲ. The Standard of EST Translation 3.1 Faithfulness

Being faithful during the translation work means to express the essence of the original completely and correctly. As a standard of EST translation, faithfulness focuses on the relation between sentences and that between paragraphs so that the structure of a text may be discernable. The style of the translation must keep unanimous with the original text. On the selection of words and expressions in translating EST into Chinese, the translators must have a good understanding of the syntactic structure of technical documents first. In doing translation, one should not alter the meaning of the original to suit one’s own taste. To achieve fidelity or transmigration of translation, a translator should retain the intention and context of the source text as the measure of translation. Most scientific documents are used to

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propagate scientific knowledge or give a record to a scientific experiment, and these peculiarities and characteristics demand that the principle of EST translation goes to being faithful firstly. For example:

Velocity changes if either the speed or the direction changes. 假如力的大小或方向改变了, 速度跟着要变化。

In this case, the translator disobeys the principle of faithfulness. Firstly, “speed” is translated into “the magnitude of a force”, which goes to far from the original meaning of the text. Secondly, “either…or…”refers to a limited choice between two different options; however, such meaning is not fully covered in the Chinese transcript. Moreover, it is acknowledged that “speed” and “velocity” are two different concepts with the formal being a scalar and the latter a vector. Therefore, the above sentence should be translated into:

如果(物体运动的)速率和方向有一个发生变化, 则(物体的)运动速度也随之发生变化。

3.2 Fluency

As an expert states that to be creative, the translation should apply the purpose of translation to determine translation strategy in order to bring out the pragmatic meaning of the original text; the technological and scientific aspects of the translation require the translated text to be objective, genuine and logical; the artistic aspect of the translation requires the translated text to be fastidious about language arts, and so does translation of science and technology.

The translation must be easily understandable and acceptable with satisfying the requirements of the modern languages as well. Attention needs to be contributed to the language structure of the text and the difference between these two languages when translating from English to Chinese, phenomenon as Mechanical word for word translation or confused logic structure is not allowed in the translation works. In the course of concrete treatment of long sentences, translators should adjust the word order or rephrase the sentence alternatively. Only when we reach the goal of

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correspondence of each element in a sentence can the translation be fluent. Draw a comparison between the following sentences a and b:

Molten salts range from ideally ionic fluids to molecular melts and liquid. a.熔化盐的范围从理想离子流体到分子熔化物与液体。 b.熔化盐包括理想离子流体、分子熔化物与液体。 It is obvious that sentence b is much better than a.

Ⅳ. Suggestions for the Translators of EST

The translator is the real operator or dominator of the whole translation process, as everything in translation such as the adoption of translation criteria, the selection of translation methods and the final formation of the translated text are all determined by him. A qualified translator must be fulfilled the following requirements:

First, having a solid English and Chinese foundation, especially the reading skills, is the first and most important step. These are the basic conditions that assure the quality of translation works.

Second, one should have a good command of Chinese. In the final analysis, translating is to express the idea of the English original in Chinese. The translator’s Chinese proficiency is a key factor that influences the quality of translation works, while such abilities are obtained in dribs and drabs during continuous practice before scoring magnificent achievements.

Third, a rich fund of scientific knowledge is also a basic ability of an EST translator. Therefore, the translators should attach importance to assimilate the foundation and professional knowledge constantly.

Moreover, the translators must be familiar with the theory of translation and the basic skills and techniques. As such, it is a requisite to have a full understanding of the features of EST as well.

Last but not least, it is essential for the translators to foster their scrupulous spirit about every detail and keeping on improving in their academic pursuit.

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