汉语商务文本英译的语言-思维关系与转换

Translating Chinese Business Texts: Transfer from Language Structure to Logical Thinking

近年关于翻译方向的研究发现,"译出"的文本相对"译入"的文本,问题更为独特、更为复杂,我国商务汉语英译文本常能感到其中有"汉语味"即为这种表现。文章尝试借助语言-思维关系理论,对此现象加以解释,并在此基础上提出语言结构-逻辑思维关系一致性概念,作为逻辑思维转换的分析工具,然后以汉译英实例来阐述两种思维模式的相应转换过程。文章认为,商务汉语"译出"的语言结构转换仅是表层问题,深层问题则是两种思维模式的转换意识。原文语言结构是切入的对象,语言结构与逻辑思维的一致性关系是衡量译文的标准。商务文本英译时不应局限于文本内容,还应关注语言结构-逻辑思维是否具有一致性。

Recent studies on the direction of translation have found that the problems of "inverse-translation" texts are more unique and complex than those of "direct-translation" texts. Chinglish to a certain extent is indicative of these problems in translated texts from Chinese to English. This article therefore attempts to explain this phenomenon with the help of the theory of language-thinking, and on this basis, constructs a concept of the relationship between language structure and logical thinking for analysis of transfer of them. Then, it illustrates the transferring process of logical thinking and language structure with examples of translations from Chinese to English. The transfer of language structure in business Chinese texts is a surface problem, while the deep one is the translator’s consciousness of the difference between two modes of thinking. The language structure of the original text is the object of entry, and the corresponding relationship between logical thinking and language structure is the criterion to gauge the translations. When translating business texts into English, we should consider not only the dimension of text content, but also the dimension of language structure-logical thinking correspondence.