词义的褒贬

6.3　词义的褒贬

英语和汉语一样，词义也有褒贬和中性之分。词义主要有词本身所具有的意义即词典意义和词的内涵意义即词的隐含或附加的意义。词的内涵意义由其所载的文化所决定，而词义的褒贬表达了说话人（原著的作者或是书中的人物等）的立场、观点、学识、态度等。因此英汉翻译应忠实于原文的思想内容，正确理解原作者的基本政治立场和观点，并结合上下文选择恰当的词义来加以表达。

词汇按照感情色彩可分为褒义、贬义和中性三类。褒义词：带有肯定、颂扬、美好的情感色彩的词汇，英语中的褒义词，如：

achievement　成就　　　　determined　意志坚定的

heroic　英雄的　　　　　 famous　著名的

modest　谦虚的　　　　　 noble　高尚的

valiant　英勇的　　　　　sacrifice　牺牲

贬义词：带有否定、贬斥、憎恶的情感色彩的词汇

英语中的贬义词，例如：

rigid　呆板的　　　　　　boast　吹嘘

arrogant　傲慢的　　　　 obdurate　执拗的

accomplice　帮凶　　　　 insidious　阴险的

smear　污蔑　　　　　　　slander　诽谤

notorious　臭名昭著的　　mean　卑鄙的

（1）原文中有些词本身就含有褒义或贬义，翻译时就要把褒贬意义相应地表达出来，如：

例34.Brave men’s deeds live after them.

译文　勇敢者的功德流芳百世。　　　　　　　　　（褒）

例35.She had lied me and made me the tool of her wicked deeds.

译文　她欺骗了我，使我成为了她罪恶勾当的工具。 （贬）

例36.He is jealous of his reputation.

译文　他珍惜自己的名誉。　　　　　　　　　　　 （褒）

例37.Mrs. White was jealous when she discovered that her husband loved someone else.

译文　怀特夫人发现丈夫爱上别人时妒火万丈。　　 （贬）

例38.Hong Xiuquan raised the famous rebellion against Qing government.

译文　洪秀全发动了著名的反抗清政府起义。　　　 （褒）

例39.The Red Army put down the enemy’s rebellion.

译文　红军镇压了敌人的反抗。　　　　　　　　　 （贬）

（2）为了正确表达原作者的政治立场或观点，对于英语中那些孤立看起来是中性的词义，即词语本身不表示褒义或贬义，但在上下文中可能包含有褒贬意义的词语，译成汉语时就要根据上下文用具有褒贬意义的相应词语来表达。

①　根据上下文用褒义词语来表达

例40.The two politicians talked for no more than five minutes， at a significant moment in their careers.

译文　两位政客仅仅交谈了五分钟，这次谈话是他们一生事业中的重大时刻。

例41.He has a great career as a pianist.

译文　他是位成就卓著的钢琴家。

②　根据上下文用贬义词表达

例42.He was a man of integrity. But unfortunately he had a certain reputation.

译文　他是个正直诚实的人，但不幸有某种坏名声。

例43.He has the reputation of being spiteful.

译文　他的坏心眼是出了名的。

但是，在多数情况下，词的褒贬义决定于作者的立场、观点和思想感情，译者应从原文中分析，以能在汉译文中用确切的褒贬词。例如下面两句的译文都译得很好，thanks to一译褒义，一译贬义。译者应充分理解一下作者的原意：

例44.Throughout that period we and other countries of western Europe have survived and prospered to a large extent thanks to the help and protection of the United States.

译文　在整个时期内基本上多亏美国的帮助和保护，我们和其他西欧国家才得免于遭难并获繁荣。

例45.Thus in the Far East， thanks to the Japanese fascist imperialists， there also arose the first seat of war.

译文　这样，由于日本法西斯帝国主义的作祟，就在远东形成了第一个战争策源地。

英语与汉语专用等值的褒贬词不多，因此，对于如何正确处理等值，以及用直译或意译使汉语译文通顺而又忠实于原文，是英语褒贬词汉译的一个重要问题。前苏联著名翻译理论家巴尔胡达罗夫曾经指出，译文绝对不可能是原文完美无缺的绝对等值物。翻泽时，若把等值观强调到不恰当的地位，势必使译文不符合汉语的表达习惯，达不到“信、达、稚”的统一。下面几段名著的译文，译者在处理英汉褒贬词等值问题时很有水平，可算为译文中的妙笔：

例46.The fire in the grate looked impish demoniacally funny， as if it did not care in the least about her strait.

译文　壁炉里的残火，张牙怒目，鬼头鬼脑，仿佛表示满不在乎。

——哈代：《德伯家的苔丝》

（张谷若译，人民出版社1957年第1版）

要把贬义短语词组impish demoniacally funny 确切地译为地道的汉语是不容易的。译者译为“张牙怒目，鬼头鬼脑”显示其译技之高超。

例47.“Kitty has no discretion in her coughs”， said her father.“She times them ill.”

译文　“吉蒂真不知趣，”她的父亲说。“咳嗽也不知道拣个时候。

——奥斯汀：《傲慢与偏见》

（王科一译，上海译文出版社，1980年6月第1版）

ill是个贬义词，在这里意为“坏”。译者领会到She times them ill实际上等于She does not cough at the right time. 因而进行意译，确切生动，又口语化。

不同的生态和自然环境，不同的地理位置、民俗、宗教及价值观念等，必然使人们在各自独特的文化传统作用下形成不同的人生观、价值观、思维方式、语言、知识、文化等。而文化上的差异，特别是由于东西方文化上的差异，导致人们对同一事物或理性概念产生不同甚至相反的理解或解释。英语中的一些词汇本身并不具有褒贬意义，而是人们在使用时根据个人所处的时代及文化氛围所赋予它们的。翻译时词义的选择与文化因素有着直接的关系而文化的内涵往往受到社会体制和社会习俗等因素的影响。翻译的主要任务就是运用一种语言将另一种语言所表达的内容确切而完全地传达出来。因此，要求翻译工作者在翻译时既要忠实于原作，又要用比较完善的译文形式即合乎规范的语言在深刻理解原文的基础上表达原作的内容。只有这样才能将翻译工作做好。

练习

一、试译下列各句，注意根据power在句中的词类来确定它的词义：

1.I’ll give you all the help within my power.

2.Congress has power to declare war.

3.Which political party is in power now?

4.This a newly-built power plant.

5.What is the power of the engine?

6.27 is the third power of 3.

二、试译下列各句，注意根据上下文及搭配关系来确定斜体词的词义：

1.pick up

1）　Don’t pick up strange boys.

2）　Could you pick me up sometime before six?

3）　She picked up a used camera at the flea market.

4）　His health picked up after a week in hospital.

5）　How did you manage to pick up the language in such a short period of time?

6）　There are men in the factory picking up eighty pounds a week?

2.figure

7）　The foreign trade has risen to unprecedented figures.

8）　Dr. Eliot was one of the most revered figures in the world of learning.

9）　On the desk there was a bronze figure of Plato.

10）　He saw dim figures moving toward him.

11）　June was good at figure skating.

三、试译下列各句，注意根据上下文及逻辑关系对斜体词作进一步的引申：

1.I haven’t an ear for classical music.

2.Since I got the news at second hand， I didn’t take it seriously.

3.There are three steps which must be taken before we graduate from the PC technology.

4.No one is satisfied with his favoritism in the work.

5.The government is trying its best to ease the tension in that area.

四、试译下列各句，根据上下文来确定斜体词的褒贬：

1.The bilateral treaty will be good for 50 years.

2.It’s beyond his power to sign such a contract.

3.The difference between the two machines consists in power.

4.The official concerned refused to confirm the story in the newspaper.

5.A young man came to the police station with a story.

6.It’s quite another story now.

7.The white-haired girl’s story is miserable.

8.She told me that her 20-year-old son was the baby.

9.The beauty of lasers is that they can do machining without physically touching the material.

10. It’s a crime you didn’t finish school.

11. She went a bit funny after her husband died.

12. The engine is making a very funny noise.

13. The plotters incited the soldiers to rise against their officers.

14. His tutor incited him to go into further research.

15. I was nearly on my knees but she still refused.