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1、Advantages and Limitation of the Literal Translation Introduction 0.1 Definition of literal translation Since we are going to study the interference elements in literal translation, the first thing we should do is to define some professional terms relating to the study as follows: “Literal follows t
2、he words of the original very closely and exactly.” (OXFORD ADVANCED LEARNERS English-Chinese Dictionary 6th Edition) Therefore, literal translation can be defined as a method that translates very closely and exactly as the original text. When we do some English-Chinese translation exercise, our tea
3、chers often tell us according to the original text. In other words, literal translation is the first method we first consider. 0.2 Significance of literal translation Literal translation preserves the original intent of the text; it keeps the original use of language, syntax and diction. However, it
4、 can confuse the reader sometimes because there are differences between languages, and it would seem silly if everything is translated literally. Literal translation can also denote a translation that represents the precise meaning of the original text but does not attempt to convey its style, beaut
5、y, or poetry. Charles Singletons translation of The Divine Comedy (1975) is regarded as a literal translation. That is to say, it is necessary for translators to study and master interference elements of affecting literal translation in English- Chinese translation. Translators are guided to transla
6、te academic works and make a contribution in literal translation field. For beginners, having known these interference elements, you will make the fewer mistakes, enrich your knowledge and prepared for your further study. Chapter 1 Advantages and Limitation of the Literal Translation 1.1 Advantages
7、of the literal translation Literal translation is an important translation method. It has many advantages, for example it can transmit meaning of the original text, embody its style and make readers understand the text meaning and so on. It is calculated that about 70% sentences should be transmitte
8、d with this method. So it is widely adopted by translators. Therefore literal translation method is important as we mentioned before 1.2 Existing problems in dealing with the literal translation Literal translation has the certain limitation. There are many interference elements during English-Chine
9、se translation, intonation, English idiom, custom and stress and so on. For example, when we translate one essay which sometimes makes readers confuse, sometimes cant correctly transmit the meaning, even get the opposite of what writer wants. We certainly make many mistakes if we dont depend on the
10、occasion and differences of China and foreign countrys language, just trend to literal translation. There are some causes, one hand, because form and content of language are different. There are unbalanced between literal and deep level in sentences; on the other hand, China and foreign country have
11、 different history cultural background, so people in two countries form different thought style and language expression way. Because of these misunderstandings, many people have criticized it, they mentioned the limitation, but which mistakes literal translation has, where it embodies. English-Chine
12、se literal translation has many interference elements. Here I focus on three elements, including intonation, English idiom and stress. Beginners cant translate well until they grasp this method. Only this way can they avoid some mistakes, even they can use free translation when literal translation i
13、s out of place. Chapter 2 Intonation, idioms and stress Elements affect English- Chinese Literal Translation 2.1 Intonation affects literal translation 2.1.1 Definition of intonation Intonation is a voice tone of “the rise and fall of the voice in speaking, especially as this affects the meaning of
14、what is being said” (OXFORD ADVANCED LEARNERS English-Chinese dictionary 6th Edition). 2.1 .2Characteristics of intonation English is regarded as intonation language. Usually one sentence has intonation meaning except lexical meaning. Intonation meaning refers to speakers attitude or tone when they
15、talk about something. The same sentence, but different intonation, its meaning is different, sometimes it counters to the original text meaning. When we talk about something, intonation is very important. If we use it the same tone in one sentence from begins to ends, the hearer will feel boring as
16、the song. 2.1.3 by taking example to show effect of literal translation Lets look at the following example. In the film- , a section of an actor and an actress dialogue is interesting. Actress: “I think twenty-year-old Dave . He is all right.” Actor:“Like,1.all right 2.all right, or 3.all right!4.al
17、l right? How to translate the second sentence? Some readers will confuse because there are fourall rights. The first sentence all right, this noun phrase is normal meaning“还行”, but we should consider the sentence intonation when we translate the second sentence. Here sentence intonation indicates sp
18、eakers feeling， the second noun and the fourth noun are normal meaning, we focus on the first and the third noun. The first noun indicates a general feeling, meaning“一般”，the third noun indicates a strong feeling, like” good” .Hearing actors intonation, we can understand each phrases meaning. So this
19、 sentence can translate as “是一般的还行，还是很不错 的还行。Here all right not only shows speakers feeling but also embodies humor and light conservation air. So beginners should keep it in their mind that sentence intonation is very important. When they speak in English, they must do some intonation exercise. The
20、y will speak vivid with good ability and intonation. “Intonation is the soul of language”. 2.2 English idioms affect literal translation 2.2.1 What are English idioms? The English language abounds in idioms like any another highly developed tongues. Idioms consist of set phrases and short sentences,
21、 which are peculiar to the language in question and loaded with the native cultures and ideas. Strictly speaking,“idioms are expressions that are not readily understandable from their literal meanings of individual elements. In a road sense, idioms may include colloquialisms, catchphrases, slang exp
22、ressions, proverb, etc. They form an important part of the English vocabulary.”(English lexicology, 1999) 2.2.2 Characteristics of idioms Generally speaking, characteristics of idioms include semantic unity and structural stability. (English lexicology 1999) Semantic unity means the part of speech o
23、f each element is on longer important. Quite often the idiom functions as one word. Unlike free phrase, the structure of an idiom is to a large extent unchangeable. First, the constituents of idioms cannot be replaced, as deep in thought, the structure is fixed. Secondly, the word order cannot be in
24、verted or changed, by twos and threes and tit for tat are not to be turned into by threes and twos and tat for tit. Thirdly, the constitution of an idiom cannot be deleted or added to, not even an article, as out of the question means impossible. If the article the is deleted, the idiomaticity will
25、be lost and it will signify no question instead. Finally, many idioms are grammatically unanalysable, as sure as eggs is eggs (quite certainly) may serve as another example. It is grammatically wrong, but idiomatic and widely accepted. 2.2.3 Some examples affect literal translation According to char
26、acteristics of idioms, there are some interference elements in English-Chinese literal translation. Because of particularity of idioms, when we meet with idioms in sentences, we dont know idioms original meaning; we dont understand the whole sentence. For example, lets analyze this sentence: This lu
27、ggage is white elephant that we dont need. How to translate this sentence? We can see that in this sentence, we just know what the white elephant means. According to our learning, this phrase cant be translated white elephant. If we know the original meaning of this idiom, the question will be solve
28、d quickly. This time we look up the dictionary, it means something useless and unwanted but big and costly. Therefore this sentence means 这行李是多余的，我们不需要. There are many idioms such as flesh and blood(亲戚或家人)， tooth and nail(下决心拼命)，the cold war(冷战),keep your nose out of here(别管闲事)，etc. For beginners, w
29、hen you meet with these idioms in the exam, you just guess its meaning, or according to the following context. If you want do this question well, you should learn more idioms in daily time, do many notes, and summarize idioms you meet with. All in all, the more idioms you remember, the better you ma
30、ster it. 2.3 English stress affects literal translation In western language, English is a language which its stress elements are the most obvious. In classical languages, such as Latin ， phonetic outline is depended on the length of phone. In modern languages such as French， Spanish and Italian，thes
31、e languages have stress but it is not obvious between primary stress and second stress. As mother tongue-English for people, they distinguish words they hear through comparability of stress status. Once speakers make mistakes in stress issues, there will lead to communication barrier. In other words
32、, when we learn English words, we dont master stress. We cant distinguish some words as we listen English. Without help of any dictionary, it is an important way to foster our English accomplishment, even we meet with unknown words, and we always have ability of pronouncing correctly. However Englis
33、h stress changes irregularly so it is hard that we use stress regularity. Stress is an extra force used when pronouncing a particular word or syllable.(OXFORD ADVANCED LEARNERS English-Chinese Dictionary 6th Edition) Generally speaking, it includes primary stress and secondary stress. For example, “
34、In strategic the stress falls on the second syllable.” “Stress refers to the degree of the force used in producing a syllable.”(Linguistics. A Course Book second edition) In transcription, a raised vertical line is used just before the syllable it relates to. A basic distinction is made between stre
35、ssed and unstressed syllables, the former being more prominent than the later usually due to an increase in loudness, length or pitch. This means that stress is a relative notion. At the word level, it only applies to words with at least two syllable. At the sentence level, a monosyllable word may b
36、e said to be stressed relative to other words in the sentence. In principle, the stress may fall on any syllable. They also change over history and exhibit regional or dialectal differences. Notice that alternations of stress often occur between compounds and phrases. As we learn before, A BLACK boa
37、rd is used in the classroom for teachers to write on whereas a black BOARD is any piece of board that is black in color. Similarly, a BLACK bird is a special kind of bird but a blackbird is any bird that is black in color. Now we study that how stress affects literal translation briefly through the
38、example. Greenhouse and green house The first word, stress falls on first syllable; the second phrase, stress falls on second syllable. Different stress status indicates the two words have different meaning. The different meaning shows that stress can affect English-Chinese literal translation. The
39、first means 温室, the second means 一栋绿色的房子. Sentence stress is much more interesting. In general situations, notional words are normally stressed while structural words are unstressed. Nevertheless, sentence stress is often used to express emphasis, surprise etc. so that in principle stress may fall o
40、n any word or any syllable. For beginners, stress is an important aspect as well. Though it is hard, we should learn it carefully. 2.4 How culture affects literal translation Translation is relative to culture, language is a carrier of culture. If there is no culture, language is useless; if no cult
41、ural content, language will lose its color and activity. Translation is not a method which uses one language symbol replaced another language symbol, instead of show acutely cultural information and contents of the original text. Translation is not only a matter of language transformation, but also
42、a matter of cultural exchange. The cultures carried in the two languages involved in the process of translation play a vital role. The ignorance of culture implied in the original language will lead to the misunderstanding of the original language, which will surely result in poor translation. Poor
43、understanding of culture in target language will greatly affect the reconstruction of the target language thus; the quality of translation will be greatly reduced. Now lets look at an example to show how cultures affect literal translation. “Dont ask me about that. Its all Greek to me”. This sentenc
44、e looks like a simple sentence, but it is hard to translate well. It cant be别问我这个，对我来说都是希腊文。 If translating like this, China readers dont know what it means. Its all Greek to me, starts from Shakespeares play，means 我对此一窍不通。If we know the culture, we will resolve the question quickly. All in all, bec
45、ause language and culture are relative to each other, Culture can produce great effect to literal translation. In order to avoid this effect, translators must clearly aware of the following spots: translators not only master double-language, but also master double-culture. They should be good for fi
46、nd cultural content, which discover in the translation works. They should foster their cultural awareness; improve ability to deal with cultural differences. Chapter 3 advice for beginner and learners There are many interference elements in literal translation. So writer thinks that they should be a
47、ttention to following spots: First, beginners should keep it in their mind that sentence intonation is very important. When they speak in English, they must do some intonation exercise. They will speak vivid with good ability and intonation. Second, beginners, when you meet with these idioms in the
48、exam, you just guess its meaning, or according to the following context. If you want do this question well, you should learn more idioms in daily time, do many notes, and summarize idioms you meet with. All in all, the more idioms you remember, the better you master it. Third, because language and c
49、ulture are relative to each other, Culture can produce great effect to literal translation. In order to avoid this effect, translators must clearly aware of the following spots: translators not only master double-language, but also master double-culture. They should be good for find cultural content, which discover in the translation works. They should foster their cultural awareness; improve ability to deal with cultural differences. Conclusion Literal translation is an important translation method. It has many a