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十二種提高譯文質(zhì)量的方法Twelve Ways to Enhance Translation Quality

發(fā)布日期:2011-12-14 發(fā)布者:譯語翻譯公司 頁面功能: 【字體:
作者:Danilo Nogueira and Kelli Semolini

    There is no such a thing as perfect translation-and even if there were, we could not be sure it would satisfy the average client or critic. But we have been looking for ways to improve the quality of our translations and we would like to share a few of our findings with you. This is not a How to Become a Perfect Translator in 12 Easy Steps sort of thing, but some of the suggestions may make you think-or perhaps smile, who knows.
    根本不存在“完美的翻譯”這類事情——即使有,我們也無法肯定:它就一定會使客戶或譯評家普遍滿意。但是我們一直都在不斷地尋找改善我們譯文質(zhì)量的方法;我們很樂意與您共同分享我們的幾個發(fā)現(xiàn)。這并不是“如何通過12個簡易步驟成為一個完美譯者”那類事情,而是一些也許可以引你思考——或許發(fā)笑,誰知道呢?——的建議。
    1. Avoid Rework
    1. 避免返工

    Let's begin with trying to do things right the first time. Editing and revising are tricky, treacherous and time-consuming tasks. So, try to translate each phrase as if the translation were to be published on real time. The fewer points go into the "later" box, the smaller the chance they will pass unnoticed during editing and proofreading.
    從第一時間開始就要盡力把事情做好。修改、矯正,是既費力費時又難得做到忠實的苦差事。所以,要盡力譯好每一個詞語,就好像要正式出版一樣。進(jìn)入“最后”一關(guān)的點越少,修改、校對時,它們被忽略過去的幾率就越小。

    2. Keep a List of Dangerous Words
    2. 保存一張“易出錯詞語表”

    What are the easily confusable of your target language? Principle and principal? What words can be mistyped? We don't mean words that do not exist and thus will be rejected by the spell checker, we mean legitimate words, such as where and were, both of which are correct, but have different meanings. Keep a list of your "favorite mistakes" and use the search command to see if and when you used them.
    你的目標(biāo)語中易于混淆的東西是什么?到底是“Principle”還是“principal”?哪些詞語可能被打錯? 我們的意思并不是說那些不存在的因而被拼寫檢查程序拒絕的詞,而是說具有不同含義的詞,即合法的詞,諸如“where”和“were”,這兩個詞都是正確的。保留一張你“最愛出錯”的詞語列表,僅當(dāng)你使用這些詞語的時候,用一下搜索命令。

    3. Run the Spell and Grammar Checker
    3. 執(zhí)行拼寫和語法檢查程序

    Always run the spell and grammar checker before editing a text. Before checking spelling and grammar, however, select the entire document, set the language to your target language and make sure the checker is fully active. The information should be somewhere in a tools menu.
    但凡你要修改一篇文本,修改前務(wù)必運行一下拼寫和語法檢查程序。但在做拼寫和語法檢查之前,你要“全選”整個文檔,設(shè)定好你的目標(biāo)語言,確認(rèn)檢查程序處于完全激活的狀態(tài),該信息應(yīng)該在“工具”菜單里。

    Spell and grammar checkers are often ridiculed, because they fail to detect real problems and suggest ludicrous solutions to non-existing problems, but they do find a large number of points that deserve attention and many of the solutions offered are perfectly correct. They do not solve all problems, but save a lot of work.
    拼寫和語法檢查程序往往遭人嘲笑,因為它們有時不能發(fā)現(xiàn)真正的問題,往往給一些不是問題的“問題”建議一些荒唐的解決方案,但是,它們卻能發(fā)現(xiàn)大量應(yīng)該注意的點,而且提供的解決方案也是完全正確的。雖然它們不能解決所有的問題,但卻節(jié)省了大量的工作。

    4. Comply with Target-Language Typography and Punctuation Rules
    4. 遵守目標(biāo)語言的排版與標(biāo)點規(guī)則

    Different languages have different typographical and punctuation conventions and your translation should comply with target language usage. Far too many of us forget this and impose source-language rules on our target-language text. For instance, we often see Brazilian Portuguese translations where words are capitalized following English rules.
    不同的語言有不同的排印和標(biāo)點習(xí)慣,你的譯文應(yīng)該遵守目標(biāo)語言的用法。在我們目標(biāo)語言的文本中,我們往往過多的忽略了這一點,而過多地依從源語言的規(guī)則。例如:我們常常看到巴西葡萄牙語譯本中,單詞卻是依從英語的規(guī)則大寫。

    In addition, many of us are simply careless typists or never bothered to learn how to enter text using a computer. For instance, we often find translations...
    此外,我們中間許多人打字非常粗心,或者對學(xué)習(xí)如何使用計算機輸入文本從不上心。例如:我們常常發(fā)現(xiàn)……

    ...where words are separated by more than one space, there are spaces before commas ,but none after( and similar problems with brackets )tabs are used incorrectly and so forth.
    ……一些譯本中的單詞被一個以上的“空格”分隔了開來,逗號前面也放上“空格”,而在標(biāo)記號后面又什么也沒有(使用括號也有類似的問題)等等。

    This type of text makes life unnecessarily difficult for editors, typesetters, and proofreaders alike. In addition, it leaves an impression of carelessness that does not contribute much to our image.
    這種類型的文本,同樣也給編輯、排印工人以及校對人員造成不必要的困難。此外,也給人留下了粗心大意的印象,這有損我們的形象。

    Don't tell us this is none of your business: you should try to make your translations so good that editor and proofreader do not have to touch them. You cannot, but you should try all the same.
    別告訴我們說這無關(guān)緊要:你應(yīng)該盡力使你的譯文好上加好,使編輯和校對人員不必觸動你的譯文。你可能做不到這一點,盡管如此,但你應(yīng)該盡力。
   
    The above should not be construed to mean that you are to become a typesetter. In fact, to paraphrase a well-known dictum, we have an agreement with typesetters: they do not translate, we do not do typesetting. It means that our work should conform to a few basic rules of "typographical hygiene."
    以上所述,其含義不應(yīng)該被解析為:你將變成一個排字工人。事實上,可以演繹一條眾所周知的名言,想必排字工人也會同意:“他們不翻譯,我們不排印”。這就是說:我們的工作應(yīng)該遵守“排印衛(wèi)生”的幾條基本規(guī)則。
   
    5. Never use the "Replace All" Command
    5. 杜絕使用“全部替換”命令

    This is the most deadly and fatal of all commands. We know it can be undone. But we also know that, as a rule, you only notice you have done something horrible half an hour after applying it and introducing another 100 improvements in the text, and then it is too late for control-zeeing it.
    這是所有命令中最致命、最具毀滅性的。我們知道可以“撤銷”這個命令。但是,我們也知道:一般說來,在你應(yīng)用該命令后半個小時,你忽然發(fā)現(xiàn):你做了一件非??膳碌氖虑?,文本里還又多出了100處改動,而這時你再想改回去卻為時已晚。

    6. Don't Let the Tug of War Spoil your Translation
    6. 別讓“拔河比賽”糟蹋了你的譯文
   
    During translation, source and target language play a game of tug of war, creating an unceasing tension that may enrich our work-or not, depending on how well we can handle it.
    在從事翻譯的過程中,源語言和目標(biāo)語言常常像是在玩兒“拔河”游戲,生成一種持續(xù)的“拉力”,也許會充實我們的工作——也許相反,這取決于我們?nèi)绾文芎芎玫匕盐账?/p>

    And the Winner is: the Source Language!
    如果贏家是:源語言!
   
    When the source language wins, we have a piece of translationese, where we can easily see the "print through" of the original.
    當(dāng)源語言獲勝,我們就會得到一篇帶翻譯腔的譯文,你很容易看到原文的“復(fù)印效應(yīng)”。

    Sometimes the text is free from grammar errors, but you can see that it is not the real thing. It is correct, but it reads funny. That makes the task of the editor a lot more difficult, because it is impossible to quote grammar rules to prove that the text needs changing, a situation that results in endless mud-slinging matches between translator and editor. In many cases, there is a PM involved who, to make things worse, does not understand a word of the target language.
    有時,行文并沒有語法錯誤,但你會覺得并不是很地道。行文是正確的,但讀起來卻很滑稽。這給編者的工作造成了很多困難,因為不可能去援引語法規(guī)則來驗證這個文本是否需要改動,這種情形常常導(dǎo)致譯者和編輯之間無休止的相互攻訐。在多數(shù)情況下,有一個誰——他往往使事情變得更糟——不理解目標(biāo)語言的詞語的問題。

    A good way to determine whether a translation is natural is to read it aloud, but unfortunately we never have time for that. However, you should try to read a paragraph of each job aloud, just to make sure it flows well. You may be in for a surprise.
    判定某個譯文是否地道的好辦法就是大聲地朗讀,但不幸地是,我們從不肯為此花時間。不過,盡力大聲朗讀每篇譯作其中的一個段落倒是應(yīng)該的,只有這樣才能確定譯文是否流暢。你也許會收到意想不到的效果。

    Ah, don't tell us that you translate technical stuff and that does not need to read natural. With the possible exception of parts lists, every text should read natural in the target language.
    哇,莫以為你翻譯專業(yè)上的東西,就不需要讀起來自然流暢。包括那些可能有異議的部分,每一個文本用目標(biāo)語言讀起來都應(yīng)該是自然流暢的。

    And the Winner is: the Target Language!
    如果贏家是:目標(biāo)語言!

    Natural style, however, should not be conquered at the expense of fidelity. This often is the result of an editing job done without comparing the target against source. An overeager editor often improves a translation away from the original, so to say-a case where the target language wins.
    自然流暢的文風(fēng),不應(yīng)該以犧牲忠實為代價。這往往是做編輯時不將目標(biāo)語言與源語言兩相比對的結(jié)果。過于熱心的編輯往往脫離原文對譯文進(jìn)行修改,可以說,在這種情況下,目標(biāo)語就會占上風(fēng)。

    When the target language wins, we have what the French call a belle infidèle—a translation that reads beautifully, but is not true to the original.
    如果目標(biāo)語言獲勝,就會出現(xiàn)法語的所謂“紅杏出墻(belle infidèle)”現(xiàn)象——譯文讀起來很漂亮,但卻不忠實于原文。

    The only way to determine whether a translation is true to its original is to compare them, a task neglected by more than one harried editor, or by agencies that, in an attempt to cut costs, ask editors-proofreaders to refer to the original only when needed, as if there were times when double checking translations against the original was not needed.
    判定譯文是否忠實于原文的唯一辦法,就是兩相比對,不止一個編輯因不耐煩而忽略了這項工作;就是翻譯委托人,因企圖降低成本,也忽略了,只有在必要時才要求編輯校對人員提供原文,就好像花時間將譯文和原文進(jìn)行復(fù)核是不必要的似的。

    Most translators make a point of editing their own work, even if it is to be edited later by someone else, which is very good practice. Some of those translators prefer to edit in two steps: first, compare target and source texts, to check fidelity; then read the target text alone, to see if it flows. Others do it in the reverse order: first check for flow, then for fidelity.
    多數(shù)譯者都特別注重對自己譯作的編輯,即使日后由別人編輯也是如此,這是非常好的做法。其中有些譯者寧愿將編輯分做兩步走:首先,比對目標(biāo)語和源語文本,核對忠實性,然后,單獨朗讀目標(biāo)語文本,看看是否流暢。而另外一些譯者則順序相反:先是驗核是否流暢,然后才是其忠實性。
   
    Whatever order you chose, stick to it, or you will never finish that job.
    無論你選擇何種順序,都務(wù)必要堅持這一點,否則這活兒你就沒有干完。

    7. Know your Cognates, False and Otherwise
    7. 熟悉你的同源詞,偽同源詞及其他等等
   
    If your language pair has cognates, you probably have already been warned against false cognates, otherwise called false friends, those misleading pairs of equal or very similar words that have different meanings, such as eventual, which means one thing in English and quite another thing in Portuguese, to the dismay of more than one wannabe translator.
    如果你的“語言對”中有同源詞,你既已被告誡須當(dāng)心“偽同源詞”,以及其他一些所謂“假朋友”了,這些讓你誤以為是對等的或非常相近的詞,其含義是不同的,比如“eventual”,在英語中指稱一個事物,而在葡萄牙語中卻是指稱完全不同的另外一個事物,結(jié)果使不止一個想成為譯者的人感到沮喪。
   
    These admonitions have often led to the paranoid view that you cannot use cognates in a translation. Why not? Eventual has different meanings in English and Portuguese, but notável often is the optimal translation for notable. Of course, using a less-than-optimal translation when there is a better choice at hand results in unnecessary loss of precision.
    這些須戒惕的詞,往往導(dǎo)致一種偏執(zhí)的看法——在譯文中不能使用同源詞。雖然“Eventual”在英語和葡萄牙語中具有不同的含義,但葡萄牙文的“notável”一詞卻往往是英文“notable”一詞的最理想的譯文。當(dāng)然,在手頭有比較好的選擇而不至必然有損準(zhǔn)確度的時候,通常是在使用不夠特別理想的譯法。
    8. Be Precise
    8. 準(zhǔn)確性

    Precision is a great translatorial virtue, but we often look for precision in nouns and verbs, whereas as often as not, precision lies in adjectives and adverbs. Adjectives and adverbs are the "shading words" par excellence, the little words that fine-tune our thoughts. Years ago, a Brazilian publisher entrusted a local college professor with the translation of a science book for the general public. Either because the translator didn't like what he read or for some other reason, although nouns and verbs were always correctly rendered, adjectives and adverbs were almost always translated wrong. A groundbreaking study became merely interesting, an obvious mistake became possible and so forth. The "technical terms," all of them nouns and verbs, were perfect and the publisher was very happy with it, but the translation was very poor.
    準(zhǔn)確性,是一個譯者最好的美德。但是,我們往往追求名詞和動詞方面的準(zhǔn)確性,而準(zhǔn)確性卻往往是在于形容詞和副詞。形容詞和副詞絕對是“具有細(xì)微色彩差別的詞語”,是些可以調(diào)諧我們思維的小詞。數(shù)年前,一位巴西的出版商曾委托當(dāng)?shù)啬炒髮W(xué)教授翻譯一本適宜一般公眾閱讀的科學(xué)著作。這位譯者不是因為不喜歡他所讀到的東西,就是出于其他別的什么理由,盡管對名詞和動詞總能給予正確地表述,但形容詞和副詞卻幾乎總是譯錯。一項開創(chuàng)性研究變得不那么吸引人了,顯見的錯誤反倒可能變得更加明顯。那些“專業(yè)技術(shù)性術(shù)語”,它們所有的名詞和動詞,都很地道,那個出版商也非常滿意,但那篇譯文卻非常寒酸。

    9. Don't Fall into the Preposition Trap
    9.切忌落入介詞陷阱

    Funny how many translators still fall into the preposition trap. Most prepositions do not have a life of their own: they are required by a verb or a noun. A good example is of, which is supposed to translate as de in Portuguese. It so happens, however, that to dream of is sonhar com because the verb sonhar (dream) takes the preposition com in Portuguese.
    有趣的是,不知有多少譯者依然掉進(jìn)了介詞陷阱里。多數(shù)介詞,自己本身沒有生命:它們必須跟有一個動詞或一個名詞。“of”就是一個很好的例子,在葡萄牙語里,它應(yīng)該被翻譯為“de”。然而,如此湊巧的是,“dream of” 是“sonhar com”,因為在葡萄牙語中動詞“sonhar(英文的dream)”帶介詞“com”。

    In those cases, you translate the verb or noun and don't give a thought to the preposition in the source language: just use the preposition required in the target language. That is, see verb or noun and the respective preposition as a single unit.
    在這種情況下,你翻譯動詞或者名詞,不要考慮源語言中的介詞:只使用目標(biāo)語言中要求的介詞。也就是說,把動詞或者名詞以及各自所帶的介詞看做一個獨立的語言單位。
 
    10. Check Headers, Footers, Graphs and Text boxes
    10. 核對標(biāo)題、腳注、圖表和文本框

    We tend to go directly to the main text and forget about headers and footers, where more than one grave error lies in hiding. If the source text is an MS Word document, remember that some graphics will show only in print preview mode. And look for text boxes.
    我們往往直接專注于主體正文,而忽略了標(biāo)題和腳注,那里可能藏有不止一個嚴(yán)重的錯誤。如果源文本是一個 微軟的Word文檔,要記住有些圖表僅在打印預(yù)覽模式下才顯示出來。因此須檢查一下文本框。
     
    We recently got into very hot water with an agency because we did fail to do this and the document had two tiny text boxes, totaling fewer than ten words. But they were key words and the first thing the final client paid attention to.
    我們最近和一個代理商鬧得很不愉快,因為我們沒能做到這一點,那份文件有兩個很小的文本框,總共不到十個字。但卻是些十分關(guān)鍵的詞,而且那個最終客戶馬上就注意到了。

    11. Run the Spelling and Grammar Checker Once More
    11. 再運行一次拼寫-語法檢查程序

    Before delivering the job, run the spelling and grammar checker once more, just for safety's sake. We often introduce grammar and spelling errors while editing and this is the last chance to get rid of them.
    在交活兒以前,僅為保險起見,須再運行一次拼寫-語法檢查程序。我們編輯時常常會弄出一些語法和拼寫上的錯誤,這是我們避免這些錯誤的最后一次機會。
   
    12. Have a Second Pair of Eyes Check your Work   
    12. 借助第二雙眼睛核對的你譯作

    If you are working for an agency, there is a very good chance your work will be checked by an editor. If you are working for a final client, you should arrange for someone else to read your job. Even if you are very good, a second pair of eyes will find the odd mistake and make the odd improvement that can make a great difference. But be prepared: no translator is a hero to his editor [Danilo's personal note: I should know!]
    如果你現(xiàn)在正在為代理商工作,那你的作品就會很幸運由一位編輯來核對。如果你正在為一個最終客戶工作,那你就應(yīng)該安排別人來閱讀一下你的譯作。即使你做得很好,第二雙眼睛將會發(fā)現(xiàn)那些剩余的錯誤,甚至可以使譯文大有改觀。但須有思想準(zhǔn)備:沒有一個譯者是能在他的編輯面前稱英雄的[丹尼羅(Danilo)的個人觀點是:我應(yīng)該知道!]

 

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