汉语法律条文中“话题—述题”结构的英译方法

English Translation of Theme-Rheme Structure in Chinese Legal Texts

“话题—述题”结构的频繁使用构成汉语法律条文的一个明显的文体特征。由于汉语和英语在话题结构方面存在显著的差异,有些包含“话题—述题”结构的汉语法律条文常成为英译的难点。汉语法律条文中常见的“话题—述题”结构有三种类型:1、主谓结构或短句;2、动宾结构;3、偏正结构。将汉语中带有“话题—述题”结构的法律条文翻译成英文时,常需要根据其语用特征,摆脱原文结构和语序的束缚,转换成条件状语、其它状语结构、或名词性短语。

The frequent use of theme-rheme structure forms one prominent stylistic feature of Chinese legal texts. As uses of therne-rheme structures are fundamentally different in Chinese and English, clauses containing such structures in Chinese legal texts present difficulty for translation. Theme-rheme structures appearing frequently in Chinese legal documents fall into three main categories： 1. subject-predicate structure or complete sentence; 2. verb-object structure; 3. nominal expression with modi- fier （s）. When translating Chinese legal clauses containing such structures into English, it is recommended to transform them based upon their pragmatic features into adverbials of condition, other types of adverbials, or nominal expressions.