基于语料库的莎剧Measure for Measure中情态谓词can的汉译研究

A corpus-based study of Chinese translation of modal verb can in Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure

情态谓词是一类表达意愿、能力、可能性、必要性等情态意义的谓词.在莎士比亚戏剧中,情态谓词不仅出现频次高,而且用法灵活.在莎士比亚戏剧的汉译本中,情态谓词的翻译问题主要是误译和漏译.本文以Measurefor Measure中的can为研究对象,首先考察该词的意义和用法,然后对比分析朱生豪、梁实秋、方平、英若诚、彭镜禧在该词翻译上的异同.研究发现,can 在Measure for Measure中共出现51 次,包含5 个义项,即"知道""能力""使能够""许可""推测".梁实秋和彭镜禧在can 的翻译上倾向于"形式对等",而英若诚、方平和朱生豪在can 的翻译上倾向于"动态对等".

Modal verbs are a type of verbs which express meanings such as volition, ability, possibility, necessity, etc. In Shakespeare's plays, modal verbs are characterized by their high frequency and flexible usage. The problems of modal verbs' translation in current translated versions of Shakespeare's plays are mistranslation and willful omission. This paper, taking can in Measure for Measure as its research object, first examines its meanings and usage, and then compares and analyzes the differences among the Chinese translations of can in Measure for Measure, by Zhu Shenghao, Liang Shiqiu, Fang Ping, Ying Ruocheng, and Peng Jingxi. The results show that can appears 51 times in Measure for Measure with five different meanings, which are “to know how to”“be able to”“be enabled by”“be allowed to”“be inferred that”. Liang Shiqiu and Peng Jingxi tended to adopt “ formal equivalence” in their translations, and Ying Ruocheng, Fang Ping and Zhu Shenghao tended to adopt “functional equivalence” in their translations.