英语首重心与汉语尾重心

3.8.7　英语首重心与汉语尾重心

英语句子重心在前，修饰重后;汉语句子重心在后，修饰重前。

许多汉语句子往往把信息中心置于句尾，来突出重点;而多数英语句子则经常是将信息中心置于句首，以突出主题，这就形成了“信息中心首位”，其他信息后置的句式结构。英语句子重心在前，先果后因，先结论后论据，先断言后条件，结构布局前轻后重;汉语句子重心在后，先因后果，先论据后结论，先条件后断言，结构铺列前重后轻。所以，在翻译时我们要根据这种差异对句子结构进行适当调整，这种情况尤其体现在汉语新闻英译时对导语的处理过程中。

1)It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of wife．(J．Austen，Pride and Prejudice)

a．有一条举世公认的真理，那就是，凡是有钱的单身汉，总想娶位太太。

b．凡是有钱的单身汉，总想娶位太太，这是一条举世公认的真理。

2)只有四婶，因为后来雇佣的女工，大抵非懒即馋，或者馋而且懒，左右不如意，所以也还提起祥林嫂。　　　　　　　　(鲁迅，《祝福》)

My aunt was the only one who still spoke of XiangLin's Wife．This was because most of the maids taken on afterwards turned out to be lazy or greedy，or both，none of them giving satisfaction．

3)为了恪守良心，保全人格，为了民族气节、国家尊严，居然炒了老板的“鱿鱼”，砸了自己的饭碗，得到社会各界普遍称颂。

All of them are common people who have been widely praised by people of all walks of life for their unusual deeds—they went so far as to say goodbye to their bosses，therefore lost their jobs for sake of conscience，personality and national integrity and dignity．

英语以“尾重”句为美，这种美依靠“重后饰”的表达习惯造就;汉语的修饰语无论是词、短语还是句子，其位置总位于被修饰语之前。在翻译中，我们可以把英语的后置修饰语译为汉语的前置修饰语。

4)我吃了一吓，赶忙抬起头来，却见一个凸颧骨、薄嘴唇，五十上下的女人站在我的面前……　　　　　　　　　　　(鲁迅，《故乡》)

I looked up with a start，and saw a woman of about fifty with prominent cheekbones and thin lips standing in front of me．．．

5)吴冠中是一位坚定地维护艺术尊严并勇敢地举起艺术革新大旗的汉子。(袁运甫:《我所认识的吴冠中及其绘画》，《现代中国》1992年第3期)

Wu Guanzhong is a man of iron，firmly defending the dignity of art and bravely carrying out artistic innovation．(Wu Guangzhong and His Paintings，China Today，No.3，1992)

6)他送丈人一根在锡兰买的象牙柄藤手杖，送爱打牌而信佛的丈母一只法国女人手提袋和两张锡兰的贝页，送他十五六岁的小舅子一支德国货自来水笔。　　　　　　　(钱钟书，《围城》)

He gave his father-in-law a rattan cane with an ivory handle purchased in Ceylon;his mother-in-law，an avid mahjong player and a Buddhist，a French handbag and two Ceylonese Buddhist religious books，and his fifteen-year-old brother-in-law，a German fountain pen．