从功能对等理论看政治辞令的英译(4)
The language of the Report is free from informal language. It does not support the aesthetic values of the language and is, to some extent, formalized in choice of words and phrases. This can be found in the following examples.
(1) 他们中的优秀分子都要表彰。努力形成全体人民各尽其能、各得其所而又和谐相处的局面。
Commend the outstanding ones in an effort to create a situation in which all people are well positioned, do their best and live in harmony.
The translator employs “in an effort to” instead of “to”. The noun phrase “in an effort to” is more formal than “to” and is more suited.
(2) 全国人民的根本利益是一致的。
The fundamental interests of the people of the whole country are identical.
In the above sentence, “identical” means “same”, but it is more formal than “same”.
As the Report discuss issues occurring in China, there are many Chinese—flavored (or culture-loaded) words or expressions in it. What is more, as the Chinese society has been undergoing rapid development, social and cultural changes are reflected in its use of language, particularly from the perspective of vocabulary change. For example,“化”, a morpheme with strong Chinese flavor , is always added at the end of some words or phrases. Now we have “工业产业化”,“农业产业化”,“科研成果产业化”, but these three “化” do not necessarily share the same meaning and thus can not be translated into “industrialization” as this will only confuse the foreign readers. The latter two phrases respectively take on the meaning of “industrial management of agriculture” and “apply scientific research results to industrial production”.
3.1 Lexical level:
As all authoritative official statement made at the people’s congress, the Report, is extremely formal. It is weighed over deliberately and must be revised for many times. Each word, expression and sentence has the exact meaning, most of which are politically sensitive. The translation must reflect the original meaning accurately and completely.
Equivalence in political concepts refers to the kind of translation in which words or phrases are carefully and cautiously chosen to represent the exact political meaning of
the original and no other choice is allowed.
(5) 坚持以理论为指导。
Uphold Deng Xiaoping Theory as our guide.
“坚持” here is translated into “uphold”, which means “support (a decision, etc.) against attack” and the word “uphold” collocates well with “theory”.
(6) 坚持改革开放。
Persevere reform and opening up.
“坚持” is translated into “persevere”. Which means “remain constant to a purpose or an idea in the face of obstacles or discouragement”.
(7) 坚持四项基本原则，发展社会主义民主法治。
Adhere to the four cardinal principals and develop socialist democracy.
The object of “坚持” is the principles and a peculiar social system. So, it is translated into “adhere to” which means “act in accordance with something”.
3.2 Syntactic Level
3.2.1 Flexible Choices of Subject
It is noteworthy that in the report, there are a considerable number of imperative sentences without subject, for instance:
取消了农业税，终结了农民种田交税的历史。
The agricultural tax was rescinded, ending the centuries—old practice of farmers paying taxes.
加强和改进企业质量，成本和营销管理。
Enterprises need to tighten and improve their management of quality, costs and marketing.
世界上只有一个中国，大陆和台湾同属一个中国，中国的主权和领土完整不可分割。