主语显著和话题显著——评《简·爱》的两个中译本

Subject-prominent and topic-prominent:On the two Chinese translations of Jane Eyre

赵元任、李纳和汤生等认为 ,英语是主语显著型语言 ,它突出主语 ;而汉语是话题显著型语言 ,它突出的是话题而非主语。这一划分对英译汉具有重要的指导意义 ,即要把英语的主语显著调整为汉语的话题显著 ,而不能照搬照译原文中的主谓结构 ,以求译文符合汉语的习惯。从这一角度来比较《简·爱》的两个中译本 ,通过具体数据和例句 。

According to ZHAO Yuan-ren, LI, and Thompson, English is a subject-prominent language, while Chinese is a topic-prominent language. This distinction plays an important role in the process of translation from English into Chinese. The translator is expected to adapt the original English subject-prominent text to the Chinese topic-prominent discourse in the line with the idiomatic Chinese rather than reproducing the English structure. Based on the research, it is to argue that the Chinese translation of Jane Eyre by Yilin Press is much better than that by Shanghai Translation Press.