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1、Chinglish in Chinese-English Translation and Possible Solutions to It论汉英翻译中的中式英语及其改善措施摘 要随着我国改革开放和全球经济一体化，我国与其他国家之间的交流与沟通越来越频繁。英语已发展为一门世界性语言，并成为我国对外交流的主要工具；而翻译便成为必要的交流形式。然而，在翻译过程中普遍存在“中式英语”的现象。译者拘泥于原文字面，“对号入座”，使得译文生硬晦涩，不符合英语规则或习惯表达，并带有明显的汉语特征，因而不能被以英语为母语者所接受。它的存在严重影响了翻译的质量以及我国的对外交流，从而影响了我国的国际身份与地位。
2、针对这一问题，本课题对中式英语进行了较系统的研究，旨在给中国英语学习者一个借鉴，以期在翻译过程中尽量减少使用中式英语，提高汉英翻译质量。本课题共分为三大部分。第一部分对中式英语进行了一个概述，给出其定义，并利用对比分析指出其产生的根本原因，即中西思维模式的差异以及母语的干扰；第二部分从六种错误类型，通过大量例子，较详细地描述了汉英翻译中的中式英语的主要表现形式；第三部分针对中式英语的产生原因及表现形式，提出了三大改善措施，以期减少和避免汉英翻译中中式英语的现象。关键词：中式英语；思维模式差异；母语的干扰；汉英翻译CHINGLISH IN CHINESE-ENGLISH TRANSLATION
3、AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS TO ITABSTRACT With the reform and opening-up of China and economic globalization, Chinese people are communicating with other countries more frequently. English that has developed as a worldwide language has become our main tool to fulfill international communication, and tran
4、slation has become a necessary method. However, a phenomenon exists commonly in Chinese- English translation, that is, Chinglish. The translators just rigidly stick to original words, and their translations turn out to be obscure and not consistent with English habits or rules but with Chinese chara
5、cteristics, which cannot be accepted by English native speakers1. Consequently, Chinglish seriously affects the translation quality, our communication with the world and the international status of our country. This paper is an attempt to study Chinglish in Chinese-English translation. By the way of
6、 contrastive analysis, it analyzes main causes and forms of Chinglish, for the purpose of helping Chinese English learners have a clearer cognition of Chinglish and avoid it in translation as much as possible. It consists of three parts. Part one describes Chinglish with interlanguage and analyzes t
7、he basic causes of Chinglish that are thought pattern difference between Chinese and English and interference of mother tongue. From the aspects of six sorts of errors, part two demonstrates main manifestations of Chinglish in C-E translation with a large number of examples. Part three offers some p
8、ossible solutions with an aim to reduce or evade Chinglish in Chinese-English translation to the largest extent. Key words: Chinglish; thought pattern difference; mother tongue interference; Chinese-English translationContentsIntroduction11 Chinglish21.1 Definition of Chinglish21.2 Basic Causes of C
9、hinglish31.2.1 Thought Patterns Differences31.2.2 Mother Tongue Interference52 Manifestations of Chinglish in Chinese- English Translation72.1 Rigid Translation72.2 Unnecessary Words72.3 Misuse of Words92.4 Incorrect Word Order112.5 Incorrect Subject122.6 Incorrect Negation133 Possible Solutions to
10、Chinglish in Chinese-English Translation153.1 Knowing More about English Thought Patterns153.2 Accumulating Chinglish Examples163.3 Doing More Translation Practice16Conclusion18Bibliography19Acknowledgements20IntroductionSince English has developed as an international language, study on various Engl
11、ish versions on the linguistics, culture and cognition has become a significant subject in the international language study field. Scholars home and abroad have been devoting themselves to studying Chinglish for years. Li Wenzhong distinguished China English from Chinese English. He thought that Chi
12、na English was not a hypothesis but an objective phenomenon with expansive prospect and study value, while Chinese English was distorted English and would be gradually reduced or eradicated along with the wide use of English and Chinese English learners constant examination of the English used by th
13、emselves. On the basis of interlanguage, Lin Qiong put forward that both China English and Chinglish were interlanguage variations produced by Chinese and affected by Chinese language culture, and they were inevitable. Zhuang Yichuan stated that there were two reasons of Chinglish. One was misunders
14、tanding of the original, and the other was being not familiar with English characteristics and adopting Chinese collocations and structures. Joan Pinkham, an American professional translator, systematically classified Chinglish manifestations and corrected them with specific analysis2. The author of
15、 this paper agrees that Chinglish is objective and unavoidable for Chinese English learners but needs improvement. This paper studies Chinglish in Chinese-English translation, discussing its definition, causes and solutions with a large number of examples. 1 ChinglishChinglish has already existed be
16、fore liberation, even since Chinese began to study and use English. In the early 1980s, some foreign experts pointed out that some phrases or structures in some published Chinese magazines and newspapers did not conform to standard English actually. Because it manifests Chinese feature, they called
17、this kind of English “Chinglish” (Chinese English)2. A well-known translator, Peter Newmark, considered that, “He who writes or speaks in a foreign language will be caught out every time, not by grammar, which is probably suspiciously better than an educated native, not by his vocabulary, which may
18、well be wider, but by his unacceptable or improper collocations3.” For Chinese people what Peter talked about is Chinglish. 1.1 Definition of ChinglishChinglish is defined comprehensively by Joan Pinkham who is an American language expert in her book The Translators Guide to Chinglish: “Chinglish, o
19、f course, is that misshapen, hybrid language that is neither English nor Chinese but that might be described as English with Chinese characteristics”.4 It does not conform to standard English and cannot be understood or accepted by English native speakers, so it is not playing a good role in communi
20、cating with English people.In the strict sense, Chinglish is the interlanguage of Chinese learners between Chinese and English. Proposed by S. Pit Corder and Larry Selinker, the concept of interlanguage was established as learners independent system of the second language which is neither the native
21、 language nor the second language, but a continuum or approximation from his native language to the target language5. Two of the characteristics of interlanguage are cited:(1) It is dynamic, and full of errors, and is in the process of constant change towards a standard target language system. (2) T
22、he learners competence is transitional. It is subject to constant revision, passes through a number of stages, and forms the “interlanguage continuum”.Another feature is fossilization which is defined as a process occurring from time to time in which incorrect linguistic features become a permanent
23、part of the way a person speaks or writes a language5. Being Chinese, we generally cannot reach the same level of competence as English natives. Our “final state” grammar is not standard English grammar. Thus, certain rules and items “fossilize”. Typical errors are “he have” and “she go to school ye
24、sterday”, etc. According to the definitions of Chinglish and interlanguage and the characteristics of interlanguage, a conclusion can be drawn that Chinglish is an interlanguage of Chinese learners of English, and is neither Chinese nor English but stands between them.1.2 Basic Causes of Chinglish T
25、here are numerous reasons that will lead to Chinglish in C-E translation. Firstly, lots of new words appear in China and they cannot be found in Chinese-English dictionaries. Secondly, Chinese and English thought patterns and culture are different. Thirdly, Chinese have few chances to know idiomatic
26、 English. Fourthly, Chinese people are more proficient in Chinese than in English. Fifthly, not all the English teachers are English natives. Generally speaking, Chinese teachers use Chinglish more or less, so they will surely transfer Chinglish to their students. Sixthly, when translating, Chinese
27、people do not adopt the structure of English but Chinese. Last but not least, lack of vocabulary may also cause Chinglish. As a matter of fact, there are two basic causes of Chinglish. One is thought patterns differences. The other is mother tongue interference. 1.2.1 Thought Patterns DifferencesIt
28、is generally acknowledged that thought is closely related to language. On the one hand, the way of thinking determines the way of language expressing. On the other hand, language, a thinking vehicle, reflects thinking. The central part of way of thinking is thought pattern. Therefore, thought patter
29、n influences language essentially. China is far from English speaking countries. Owing to different cultures and historical backgrounds, people in these countries have different habits and thought patterns. Accordingly, it is the difference between Chinese and English thought patterns that basically
30、 contribute to the arising of Chinglish. The thought pattern differences mainly embody the following five aspects. (1) Difference of emphasis on individual or generalWestern people emphasize on individual, while Chinese pay more attention to the general. English follow the principle of “individual l
31、ies before general6”. Take names of human and places for example. The rules are “given name stands before family name” and “smaller unit stands before bigger unit”. In the English name “Tom Smith” “Tom” is the given name and “Smith” is the family name. However, in the Chinese name, the family name i
32、s before the given name. For instance, 张小华, 张is the family name and 小华 is the given name. As for the name of the place, the English expression of 中国北京朝阳路26号 is No. 26, Chaoyang Road, Beijing, China. If you do not use English in accordance with the patterns, you will certainly produce Chinglish. (2)
33、Difference of emphasis on subject or object. Object of a matter, namely the matter itself, is usually the study target of western thought, while subject of the matter, namely the human, is considered more by Chinese. For example:1) You wont see the movie, will you? A: No, I wont. 是的, 我不看。 B: Yes, I
34、will. 不, 我会看。In the Chinese of answer A, the first part agrees with the questioner that is the subject of the question, meaning that “Yes, you are right”, and second part negates the matter itself that is seeing the movie. Answer B is the same. On the contrary, English entirely affirms or negates th
35、e matter, aiming at the object only. 2) 我突然想到一个好主意。 A good idea suddenly came to me.In Chinese the person is the subject, but in English the matter is usually used as the subject. Another example is太平门. Its English expression is “emergency exit”. We can see that the Chinese shows the feelings that a
36、re hopeful and safe, while the English expresses the matter directly.(3) Difference of thinking anglesWhen thinking or expressing opinions, westerners generally stand at their own sides and Chinese are from others angles. Most of Chinese people may translate 您先请 into “You first please”, but the idio
37、matic expression should be “After you”. Another example 寒衣means thick clothes worn in winter to restrain coldness, so Chinese people consider from the angle of the weather, whereas westerners consider from the angle of the feelings of themselves because they say “warm clothes”. In addition, Chinese
38、often say “Do you need any help?”, but English natives say “May I help you?”(4) Difference of emphasis on process or result.English people emphasize on the result, so they put it before the process in a sentence. For instance, 牌子上写着“禁止吸烟”should not be translated into “The sign writes No Smoking but
39、“The sign reads No Smoking”. Another example: 经过四个小时的努力,我终于爬上了山顶. I reached the top of the mountain after four hours efforts.(5) Difference of orders of direction and time In the aspect of direction order, western people are accustomed to “north or south first”, but Chinese people follow “east or we
40、st first”. “西北”and “东南” are “northwest” and “southeast” in English. It is the same for time order. For example: 3) 前事不忘, 后事之师。Past experience, if not forgotten, is a guide for the future.4) 前不见古人, 后不见来者。Looking back, I do not see the ancients.Looking ahead, I cannot see the wise ones to come7. From
41、the above instances, we can see that westerners have regressive thought that is opposite to that of Chinese people. They focus on the future, while Chinese people on the past.To sum up, English thought pattern emphasizes on individual, specific or part, object, result and future, and Chinese one pay
42、s much attention to general, whole, subject, process and past. 1.2.2 Mother Tongue InterferenceMother tongue interference is another basic reason of Chinglish. In the view of Robert Lado and his followers, language learners attempt to transfer the features of their mother tongue to the second langua
43、ge. When the structures of the two languages are similar, we can get positive transfer or facilitation8. When the two languages are different in structure, negative transfer or interference occurs and results in errors. Thought determines language. Since the thought patterns of Chinese and English a
44、re quite different, the structures of the two languages are not the same. Accordingly, negative transfer occurs in C-E translation naturally. In other words, Chinese words, phrases or sentences may be translated into English in a wrong way, for the translators naturally use the structures of their m
45、other tongue (Chinese) that are fixed and deep in their mind. This is called Chinglish. For example: 5) 我明天不去上学。A:I tomorrow do not go to school.B: I will not go to school tomorrow.Obviously, A-version dose not conform to the structure of English but of Chinese. It is Chinglish and cannot be accepte
46、d by English natives.Besides, Chinese and English belong to different language families. The former is based on hieroglyphic and emphasizes on parataxis, while the latter is on the basis of abstract alphabets and emphasizes on hypotaxis 8. For instance:6) 她在一所重点大学读书, 每天早上上课, 她听课很认真, 课后复习, 做作业, 经常熬夜,
47、 她真是一个勤奋的学生, 一个好学生啊!A:She studies at a key university. She attends classes every morning and listens to the teacher attentively. She spends much time reviewing her lessons after class and doing her homework. She is hardworking and usually studies late into the night. She is a good student.B: Being a
48、 student at a key university, she attends classes every morning, during which she listens to the lecture attentively. Her homework and preparation for the lessons take much of her spare time and sometimes keep her up until late into the night. She is hardworking and in everybodys opinion a good student.A-version that is Chinglish is composed of simple sentences, and its form lacks variation. On the contrary, B-version that is standard English consists of a participle phrase, a non-finite attributive clause, a time adverbial and a sentence subjected by an abstrac
