意合与形合

第二节　意合与形合

前面多次讲到“语意正确”最重要；其实何止被动语态，其他各章的主题内容也都可以拿来印证本章的主题。与此同时，本章举证说明的道理，也适用于对其他章节中大多数汉译英例句的B类和A类译文的解释。

汉字是方块字，形式变化较少，英语是拼音文字，形式变化较多。汉译英的过程在词语层面上的意合与形合，便是实现这种转化的过程。最为简单，同时又是目标学生常见问题的是冠词、单复数和动词时态变化，即高中反复学习过的基础知识。例如“原文作者”译作the original author便是只有形合而没有意合，也就是“意思”不对。仅仅调整一下词序（第九章第一节），改为the author of the original (article, paper, essay, etc.)就对了。

又如“利用网络”、“网络流量激增”和“经营网络公司”这三个短语，正确（未必是最好）的译文分别是to use the Internet, boom in Internet traffic和manage an Internet startup。汉语原文中“网络”一词没有任何形式变化，而英语则变化较大：是否需要冠词，如果需要，是定冠词还是不定冠词。再如：

例7　我公司产品质量稳定可靠，深受用户欢迎。

D. Quality of our company’s product is steady and reliable and is welcomed by customers.

从表层结构上看，译文与原文几乎完全一致。那么这个译文对不对、好不好呢？我们认为它不对也不好，别看它似乎很简单。让我们分成两个问题来分析一下。第一个是句型（本章开头第一段），汉语的“产品质量稳定可靠”，主语是“产品质量”，犹如“我心脏不好”一句中的“我心脏”，“我车胎气不足了”中的“车胎”；而后半句“深受用户欢迎”的逻辑主语是“产品”，不是“产品质量”。汉语是说由于产品的质量稳定可靠，所以产品才深受用户的欢迎，其中前后两个分句之间的“意思”是相互“契合”的，但英语前后两个句子主谓形式不合，也就是译文不对；如果有人认为对，那他潜意识中是先译成汉语再来理解的。

译文错在没有意识到汉语“意合”得有点“随意”，而英语句型侧重“形合”，形式上比较严谨。汉语的并列句，两个分句之间的逻辑关系可松可紧，例如“我心脏不好，但能吃能睡”，“我车胎气不足了，不能开快了，但还能将就到家”。而英语比较注意形式上的相互照应，即讲究“形合”，一般来说句界明显，要求及时结束句子，因此汉语的分句译成英语时需要注意变换主语，如果原文是两个分句，第二个可能需要更换主语。

第二个问题是词语选择，似有四点需要考虑。英文的可数名词用不定冠词修饰时是泛指，用定冠词修饰为特指，按照英语语法的要求，quality在这里应该有定冠词，product应该有冠词或者复数的变化；既然深受欢迎，那应当已经行销一段时间了，这就需要有时态的变化；“受”字是被动句的变体形式，译成英语时应当在语态方面有所变化；英语词汇有内部的屈折变化，动词可以改为形容词表示相同的意思，尤其是人们喜好、感觉等词汇。

两个问题的实则都是应当“译意”，不应该“译词”，均为汉译英的过程本身，均需打破字面形式，利用英语对应的结构形式来表达相同或相近的含义。综合考虑之后，似可改译为以下这些不同的说法：

B. The products of our company have been steady in quality and customers like it.

A1. The quality of our products is steady and customers welcome it.

A2. The quality of our products has been steady, and they are quite popular.

A3. Our products have a stable quality and are widely accepted by customers.

A4. Our products are popular because of their high quality.

A5. The product of our company is reliable and popular with customers.

A6. With reliable quality, our products enjoy popularity among customers.

A7. The reliable quality of our products has earned the loyalty of our customers.

A8. The reliable quality of our products has earned a wide base of loyal customers.

A9. Dongfang products have proved popular for their reliability /quality /durability.

其中A4以降已然属于编译了，超越了本章的主题，但并未脱离汉译英的范畴（限于这套教材的定位以及对目标学生的评估，本书不讨论编译）。这个句子完全可以直接用作广告，在可能的条件下还是与厂家名称联系起来的好，这是附上A9的理由。

例8　参与促销活动的车型是新推出的国产XY。

D1. The promotion is for the newly launched XY, which produced | domosticly.

D2. The motorcycle type participating in this promotional activity is the new XY, which is made in China.

D3. XY, the new car style, which was made in China, has appeared in the activities of the sales promotions.

这个例句至少有三个地方需要表现出由“意合”向“形合”的转化。一是“参与促销活动的车型”表面看来是这种车型自个儿跑来参加的，但“意思”上仍然是人把它运来参展的。汉语像原文那么讲是正常的，但D1和D2类译文那样的英语不可以。二是“国产”二字，照词直译当然可以是D1的黑体部分那样，只是放在句子里不合英语的“形式”。三是“国产XY”是类别词，而“参与促销活动”的只能是一两辆。一个大类和一两个具体的产品，汉语可意合即可以采用同一个表达形式，而英语应当明确表现出来。也就是说，motorcycle type、the new car style和the new XY都是类别，而is made的只能是一辆。

C1. The type of car in promotion is the new XY made in China.

C2. the type of car exhibited in the promotion activity was the latest home-built XY.

C2的第二处黑体部分容易造成误会。联系第十一章来讲，采用被动语态和“枝形”结构有利于区分一个事物的两种动作或状态。这里连同句型提供了三个B类译文，目的在于示意译法。没有A类译文是因为无法判断“国产”的具体含义。至于是manufactured还是assembled，应当由译者根据具体情况选择。

B1. The car on sale is the latest domestic model XY.

B2. The car make being promoted is XY, a new model assembled in China.

B3. The make of the car being promoted is the new XY manufactured in China.

例9　我们要建设节水型城市，实现可持续发展。

D1. We should construct a water-saving city and realize | the sustainable development.

D2. We should pay efforts to construct a water-efficient city and realize sustainable development.

C1. We need to build a water-efficient city for sustainable development.

C2. We should build a water-saving city, making sustainable development come true.

译文D2没有就pay efforts和realize两处黑体部分查阅词典。以上译文共同的问题在于“语意”不对。汉语原文那么讲，没有人会理解为放弃现有城市，另行建设一座，但construct /build a water-efficient city云云，说的却都是那个意思——一个小小的a，在表达形式上强化了这种理解，而译文的目标读者看不到或看不懂中文原文，便有可能认为这句话是这个意思。以下三个译文改变了句型（特意选择了不同的句型），采用了“枝形”结构，在“合译”的同时如实转达了原文的意思。正如在句型模块中反复论证的那样，“枝形”结构和“合译”都是利用英语“形合”特征的常用技巧。

B. Let’s make this a city that conserves water. What we need is sustainable development.

A1. We should make our cities water efficient for sustainable development.

A2. We should try to sustain development by making our cities more efficient in water use.

例10　商品检验和form A产地证可以在同一个机关办理。

D. Commodities inspection and certificate of origin of Form A can be managed in an organ.

译文D有板有眼，但仅仅译了汉语原文的“形”，未能体现英语的“形合”即形式（本章开头第三段）。若把主谓部分连起来看即能发现：我们可以在同一个机关既“办理检验”又“办理产地证”，但英语无法manage commodities inspection，也无法manage certificate of origin。这与例7项下讨论句型的时候所讲的性质一样：汉语前后“意合”的两个分句，在英语里需要分译。

C. Both the inspection of commodity and issue of the FORM A of certificate of Origin can be done in the same government body.

B1. Commodity inspection and form A certificates of origin can be applied at the same agency.

B2. Procedures like commodity inspection and certificate of origin of Form A can be handled under the same office.

C的问题与D类似：We do not do inspection and issue，但因选用的动词do含义十分广泛而勉强成立——另一方面，也会因此而显得不够“专业”。译文A1是C2的修改版，A2是B1的修改版，A3是B2的修改版。

A1. Both the inspection of commodities and issue of the FORM A certificates of origin can be processed in the same government department.

A2. Commodity inspection and form A certificates of origin can be applied for from the same government agency.

A3. Procedures like application to commodity inspection and issuance of Form A certificates of origin can be handled in the same office.

A4. Paperwork such as commodity inspection and Form A certificates of origin can be applied to and issued by the same office.

A5. You can apply to the same government department for both the inspection of (your) commodities and issuance of FORM A certificates of origin.

例11　老百姓免费使用了几十年的塑料袋如今成为了历史。

D. The bags made by plastic and used freely many years by people had been history today.

成为“历史”的不是“塑料袋”，而是“免费使用塑料袋”这种做法。问题的实质仍然是：汉语原文就那么说了，可以说没人会指责其表述不合逻辑，但英语比较重视表达的形式逻辑。译文D看似严谨且在语法结构和核心词选择两个方面全都合乎原文，但是整体“语意”失误。B的问题较为直观：仅仅是两处黑体部分数量上前后不一致。

B. People had used the free plastic bags for decades but it became a history now.

A1. The free plastic bags, which shoppers had been supplied free for years, are now no longer available.

A2. Gone are the days when shoppers were provided with plastic bags free.

A类译文采用了“枝形”结构（第十章），语法正确，主次分明，关系清楚。

例12　最近开通了两条公交线路，以提高小区居民的出行质量。

D1. Two public transportation routes has been opened in order to improve the convenience of residents going out recently.

D2. To improve the transportation quality for the people living in the community, two lines of buses have been set up recently.

D3. In order to improve the transportation quality of the community, two public bus lines have been newly established recently.

汉语原文系摘自媒体的原文，最后四个字需要梳理。或者说，需要在表达阶段选择合乎英语习惯的搭配，即要译“意”。

B1. Two new bus lines are added recently to improve the local residents’ transporting condition.

B2. Recently, two lines have been opened to traffic in order to provide convenience for residences of nearby neighbourhoods.

A. Two transit routes were recently mapped out to facilitate residents in this area.