㈢按中文来动宾搭配
例一:中国海洋石油有限公司在南海东部获重大天然气发现。
CNOOC Limited achieved an important discovery of natural gas in the eastern South China Sea.
中文本来可以用“发现”的动词形式,写成:中国海洋石油有限公司在南海东部发现重大天然气。可现在句子里的“发现”是名词,这大概就是余光中先生说的“当代的中文也已呈现这种病态,喜欢把简单明了的动词分解成「万能动词+抽象名词」的片词。”问题是英式中文再翻译成英文时,中文是“获”,英文就achieve,完全不考虑动宾搭配的问题。请看《柯林斯英汉双解大词典》给出的定义和例句:
lN-VAR If someone makes a discovery, they become aware of something that they did not know about before.发现
例:I felt I'd made an incredible discovery.(我感到自己有了一个惊人的发现。)
lN-VAR If someone makes a discovery, they are the first person to find or become aware of a place, substance, or scientific fact that no one knew about before.新发现
例:In that year, two momentous discoveries were made.(那年有2项重大的新发现。)
例二:Additionally, we have engaged 330 volunteer supervisors across the corporation,formulated five corporate energy saving standards, including Energy Saving Monitoring Standards for Offshore Oil fields, and invested approximately RMB 349 million in the implementation of 152 energy saving and emission reduction projects.
编写标准还是制定标准?都没错。不过,编写标准只是制定标准的一个步骤,还要讨论通过,还要批准,还要颁发。即使是编写标准,用formulate也是动宾搭配不当。不信的话,请到搜索引擎去搜索formulate standard,看有没有结果。制定标准的英语用哪个动词呢?请看国际标准化组织的例句:
How does ISO develop standards?[27]
例三:国务院国资委在京组织召开中央企业学习贯彻中央扶贫开发工作会议精神座谈会,中国海油在会上作交流发言,介绍了参与扶贫开发工作的主要做法。
The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council organized a forum of central State-owned enterprises on implementing the spirit of poverty alleviation and development working conference. CNOOC introduced the company’s practices on the conference.
一看到“介绍”,就自然联想到introduce。其实,同样一个汉字,会对应好几个英文单词。饭“熟”了,对应cocked,水果“熟”了,ripe,要是人“成熟”了,就是mature。第一次见面,自我介绍也好,别人介绍也罢,用introduce没错。《柯林斯英汉双解大词典》给出introduce作为动词的定义和例句如下:
lV-T To introduce something means to cause it to enter a place or exist in a system for the first time.引进
例:MGM introduced a new system for hiring writers.
米高梅公司引进了一项新的制度来雇人写作。
lV-T If you introduce one person to another, or you introduce two people, you tell them each other's names, so that they can get to know each other. If you introduce yourself to someone, you tell them your name.介绍
例:Tim, may I introduce you to my uncle's secretary, Mary Waller?
蒂姆,我可以把你介绍给我叔叔的秘书玛丽·沃勒吗?
We haven't been introduced. My name is Nero Wolfe.
我们还没有被介绍到。我叫尼罗·沃尔夫。
lV-T If you introduce someone to something, you cause them to learn about it or experience it for the first time.使初次接触
例:He introduced us to the delights of natural food.
他使我们第一次享受到了品尝天然食品的乐趣。
lV-T The person who introduces a television or radio programme speaks at the beginning of it, and often between the different items in it, in order to explain what the programme or the items are about.为(电视或广播节目)作开场白;主持
例:...chat shows introduced by women.
…由女性主持的访谈节目。
可见,中文的介绍经验或做法用introduce并不合适,正确的说法应该是pass on。例如:
"It's up to the players like Gaz (Gary Neville), Edwin (van der Sar) and myselftopass onourexperiencetothelads whocome in,"acknowledges Ryan.[28](“像加里内维尔、范德萨和我这样的球员的职责之一就是向年轻球员传授经验,”吉格斯坦言。)
So with a bit of clever planning and motivation, Freshers' Week can give you a great start to your university life and soonyou'll be passing on your wisdom to nextyear's new recruits.[29](因此,一些聪明的计划和动机可以使你在新生周有个良好的开端,不久,你将会为下届新生传授经验。)
㈣凭想象写出来的短语
例一:Intensive pioneering efforts
这是某网站介绍公司历史的一个标题,按英语的意思想不出对应的中文。按理说,即使是people mountain people sea,也能猜出是“人山人海”啊。将Intensive pioneering efforts输入搜索引擎,必应出来一个例句:
Eight years' intensive and pioneering effort brings GYU an abundant harvest.(八年艰苦创业不辍耕耘,几年的奋斗拼搏硕果累累。)
请注意,搜索结果是intensive and pioneering effort,多了个and,并且effort后面没有s。
百度出来好多个含有intensive and pioneering effort的网页,全是中国网站,看来这是还没被主流英语接受的中式英语。借助中英文对照,原来intensive and pioneering efforts的中文是艰苦创业的意思。对了,将Intensive pioneering efforts输入百度机器翻译的结果是“密集的努力开拓”,谷歌的机器翻译结果是“强化开拓力度”,必应机器翻译的结果是“强化开拓性的努力”,机器翻译那家强?
其实,一说早年的艰苦岁月,学过《新概念英语》的,应该还记得第二册有一课叫success story,课文中有一句:
Frank smiled when he remembered his hard early years and the long road to success.(当弗兰克回想起他早年的艰难经历和走过的漫长的成功之路,他笑了。)[30]这不就是简单而又地道的英文吗?
例二:该项目由各参与方合资经营,是澳大利亚最大的天然资源项目。
This project, the largest natural resources project in Australia,would be under a joint run by all participants.
这纯属没事找事,好端端的动词形式不用,生生造了一个介词短语under a joint run。run成了名词,没有了经营的含义,后面的by,本来是引出被动语态动作的施加者,也就不对了。Would be run jointly by all participants不是挺好吗?
例三:在中国海域,公司通过自营作业及以产品分成合同的形式与外国合作伙伴合作,在渤海、南海西部、南海东部和东海等区域进行油气勘探、开发和生产活动。
In offshore China,the company engages in oil and natural gas exploration, development and production in Bohai, Western South China Sea, Eastern South China Sea and East China Sea, either independently or in cooperation with foreign partners through production sharing contracts ("PSCs").
先看看《柯林斯英汉双解大词典》给出offshore的定义和例句:
● ADJ Offshore means situated or happening in the sea, near to the coast.海上的;近海的
例:...the offshore oil industry.(…近海石油业。)
● ADV Offshore isalsoan adverb.海上地;近海地
例:One day a larger ship anchored offshore.(一天,一艘更大的船在近海抛锚。)
● ADJ Offshore investments or companies are located in a place, usually an island, which has fewer tax regulations than most other countries. (公司)设在海外的(尤指设在岛上,有较少税制的)
例:The island offers a wide range of offshore banking facilities.(这座岛提供广泛的海外银行业务。)
offshore放在名词前面只能是形容词,因此in offshore China,照字面翻译成了海上的中国,所以说没有这种说法。非要说中国海域,in the China seas或者in the sea areas under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China中华人民共和国管辖海域,其实,后面已经提到了具体海域,前面这句在中国海域可以不翻。
例四:公司秉承“调整结构、进军深水、走向高端”的战略思路,以市场需求为导向,投资建设大型装备和关键设备,重点加大深水装备及技术能力建设,为“二次跨越”提供坚实保障。
The company adhered to the strategy of restructuring, exploring deep water, providing high end products and services, and under the direction of market demand, invested in the construction of large-scale equipment and key equipment, focusing on enhancing technical capacity and capability of manufacturing deep water equipment, in order to support our Second Leap Forward.
这短语under the direction of market demand,翻译过来应该是在市场需求的指导下。其实,以市场为导向就是market orientation。本来就是国外学者上世纪90年代提出的理论,翻成中文后再翻成英文,变得面目全非了。
㈤缩略词
所谓缩略词acronym,《柯林斯英汉双解大词典》给出的定义:An acronym is a word composed of the first letters of the words in a phrase, especially when this is used as a name. An example of an acronym is NATO which is made up of the first letters of the "North Atlantic Treaty Organization."
还有个缩略词的单词叫initialism,但是权威词典暂时未收录,必应词典给出的定义是:an abbreviation made up of initial letters that are all pronounced separately, e.g. UN for United Nations.
也就是说,首字母连起来能作为单词发音的叫acronym,如NATO、OPEC等,只能挨个读字母的叫initialism,如FBI、CIA等。
我们对许多英语缩略词都不陌生,如:DVD、VIP、USB等,但是很多缩略词如果不将完整的单词写出来,我们会看得一头雾水。如:
例一:As at the end of 2013, the company had net proved reserves of 4.43 billion BOE (including approximately 0.29 billion BOE in its equity method investees ). In 2013, the company had a total net oil and gas production of 1,127,967 BOE per day (including net oil and gas production of approximately 45,173 BOE per day in its equity method investees)
例二:CNOOC’s 12 million tpa refinery kicked off construction in Daya Bay of Guangdong province.
例三:QHD 32-6 oil field was brought on stream ahead of the schedule. Phase I was consisted of wellhead platform A and B, single point mooring system and FPSO, with an annual oil production capacity of 1.2 million cubic meters.
例四:CNOOC signed a MOU with PTT, the national oil company of Thailand and PTTEP to seek cooperation opportunities for oil and gas exploration and development, as well as the development of mature oilfields with expiring contract term.
如何使用缩略词,也是有一些基本要求的。在网上找到不少关于如何使用缩略词的文章,下面摘录的是John A.Duttone-Education Institute网站关于缩略词的使用要求:
·Always write out the first in-text reference to an acronym, followed by the acronym itself written in capital letters and enclosed by parentheses. Subsequentreferences to the acronym can bemade just by the capital letters alone. For example:
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a rapidly expanding field. GIS technology . . .
·Unless they appear at the end of a sentence, do not follow acronyms with a period.
·Generally, acronyms can be pluralized with the addition of a lowercase “s” (“three URLs”); acronyms can be made possessive with an a postrophe followed by a lowercase “s” (“the DOD’s mandate”).
·As subjects, acronyms should be treated as singulars, even when they stand for plurals; therefore, they require a singular verb (“NIOSH is committed to . . .”).
·Be sure to learn and correctly use acronyms associated with professional organizations or certifications within your field (e.g., ASME for American Society of Mechanical Engineers; PE for Professional Engineer).
·With few exceptions, present acronyms in full capital letters (FORTRAN; NIOSH). Some acronyms, such as “scuba” and“radar,” are so commonly used that they are not capitalized. Consult the table that follows in the next section to help determine which commonly used acronyms do not appear in all capital letters.
·When an acronym must be preceded by “a” or“an” in a sentence, discern which word to use based on sound rather than the acronym’s meaning. If a soft vowel sound opens the acronym,use “an,” even if the acronym stands for words that open with a hard sound (i.e., “a special boatunit,” but “an SBU”). If the acronym opens with a hard sound, use “a” (“a KC-135tanker”)[31].
[27] ISO (International Organization for Standardization)
http://www.iso.org/iso/home/standards_development.htm(accessed November 12, 2014)
[28]Manchester United Limited
http://www.manutd.com/en/News-And-Features/Football-News/2009/Feb/Giggs-enjoying-pivotal-role.aspx (accessedNovember 12, 2014)
[29] BBC.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/china/learningenglish/takeawayenglish/tae/2008/10/printable/081015_freshers_week.shtml (accessedNovember 12, 2014)
[30]《新概念英语》【英汉对照本】第二册,安徽科学技术出版社编辑出版,1991年,第174页。
[31] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/styleforstudents/c2_p9.html
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