In international news reports, English news translation accounts for a considerable proportion. In English news, “the title is regarded as an abbreviation of the full text of the report.” In order to attract readers as much as possible, editors often use various rhetorical means to make news headlines more attractive. This creates challenges for English news translation. Translators need to mobilize various translation methods and strive to reproduce the meaning and style of the original title in Chinese form. To this end, three aspects should be taken into consideration when translating: accurately understanding the meaning of the title, especially its deeper meaning through literal interpretation; using the characteristics of the Chinese language without misinterpreting the original meaning to enhance the readability of the translation; In this case, pay attention to the acceptability of the translation.

1. Literal translation or basic literal translation of news headlines

Which is right or wrong between literal translation and free translation has been debated endlessly in the translation circles in my country, and so far there is no conclusion. The author believes that both translation methods have their own strengths and weaknesses, and the translation needs to be based on the actual situation and make the most of the strengths and avoid the weaknesses. But regardless of literal translation or free translation, fidelity to the original content should be given top priority. As far as the translation of English news headlines is concerned, the author believes that if the meaning of the English headline is clear and Chinese readers will not have difficulty in understanding it after being translated into Chinese, literal translation or basic literal translation can be considered. For example:

Putin faces harsh press criticism over terror

Putin was severely criticized by the media for terrorist incidents

Olympics Begin in Style; Swimmer Takes 1st Gold

Olympic opening swimmer wins first gold medal

UK soldest person dies at 115

UK’s oldest person dies at 115 p>

The above three news headlines are literal translations or basic literal translations. They have no foreign accent and appear natural and smooth. Another example: UglyDuckling N-ShipatLastGetsHapp yHom eThe ugly duckling nuclear-powered ship finally found its comfortable home

This news is about a nuclear-powered ship in a certain country. Many countries refused to let it dock because they were worried about nuclear pollution, so He had no choice but to wander around on the sea. After many twists and turns, he was finally allowed to berth in a port. The original title used a mocking tone to compare the nuclear-powered ship to "an ugly duckling" in Hans Christian Andersen's novel. This is also an allusion that Chinese readers are already familiar with, so the translation adopts the literal translation method of "borrowing". Readers will understand what is going on at a glance

2. Add explanatory words in translation

The news titles of English newspapers often cater to the reading needs of domestic readers, and due to their thinking habits and Chinese People are different, and the way of expressing English news headlines is also different from that in Chinese. Therefore, during the translation process, we must fully take into account the principle of "difference between inside and outside" and the reading psychology of Chinese readers, and make necessary adjustments to relevant information, cultural background knowledge that Chinese people may not be familiar with, and expressions that are not in line with the reading habits of domestic readers. , delete when necessary, and add when necessary. As Mr. Liu Miqing said in "Style and Translation": "Even if it is a clear and easy-to-understand news title, we often need to add a logical subject when translating it into Chinese, or the nationality of the person involved in the message, the occurrence of the event location, etc. In short, introductory and annotative words must be added to facilitate the understanding of Chinese readers and avoid misunderstandings by readers. "For example:

For Beslans children, alegacy of nightmares

(Russia:) Reunion after the robbery, children in other cities still seem to be in nightmare

This is the title of a feature article, which is a follow-up to the death of student hostages in Beslan, Russia, in early September 2004. Report. The report recorded the children returning to school after the tragedy. It turned out that many of their good friends were missing, and there were only five children sitting in a classroom of 30 people. Looking back on the past, the children's feelings of sadness and fear arise spontaneously. The word "Russia" was added to the translation of this title, mainly because Beslan is not as famous as Moscow, and readers may not understand where Beslan is. In addition, the original text consists of two phrases, not a sentence with a subject-predicate structure. If translated literally, it would not be in line with the habits of Chinese readers. After such additions and deletions, the title brings readers closer to news events and news figures.

3. Try to reproduce the rhetorical characteristics of the original text

Many news headlines not only attract attention with their simplicity and refinement, but also effectively convey some subtle implicit meanings through the use of various rhetorical techniques. It contains information and allows readers to enjoy beauty in terms of meaning, sound, shape, etc. Therefore, when translating, the rhetorical features of the original text, such as puns, metaphors, rhymes, etc., should be reflected as much as possible, so that the translation and the original text are basically consistent rhetorically, so that the readers of the translated text have almost the same feeling as the readers of the original text. For example:

No Fans? “No fret!”

Is there no popularity in the arena? "We're not angry!"

The above headline points out this news fact: In the first few days of the Athens Olympics, there were only a few spectators at the stadium. During a tennis match, only 500 people were seated in a stadium with more than 8,000 people. However, the athletes appeared to be quite graceful, and when interviewed by reporters, they said they did not mind this. At the end of the two-line title of the original article, the words fans (fans) and fret (troubles) starting with two f's are used, forming a commonly used alliteration rhetorical device in English, which makes it very rhythmic to read. Chinese does not have this rhetorical method, but the translation reflects the flavor of the original text to a considerable extent by using the words "popularity" and "angry" through rhyming and overlapping words. Another example:

After the Booms Everything Is Gloom

Prosperity will no longer be depressed

The words “Boom” and “Gloom” form the rhym e), and the Chinese translation also achieves the rhyme effect through "zai" and "lai", making it catchy to read. Of course, this title can also be translated in other ways, for example: Farewell to prosperity and sadness is also two sentences and eight words. Not only do the first and last rhymes, but the factual statements of the original text are turned into figurative descriptions, giving people a compact writing style. , the feeling of finishing in one go. Another example:

Soccer kicks off with Violence

Soccer kicks off with Violence

The "kickoff" in the original text refers to the "start" or "start" in a football match. "Midfield kick-off", but used together with the word "violence" (violence), immediately reflects a scene of punching and kicking in the reader's mind. The translation of "Football kicks, punches and kicks" is a pun and rhymes, expressing the humorous effect of the original text.

Of course, due to language and cultural differences, the excitement in some English news headlines is difficult to reproduce in Chinese. For example, a title of the British "Listener" magazine cited in "English-Chinese Rhetoric Comparison and Translation" is very typical:

Britannia Rues the Waves

This title is the transformation of the British naval military song The refrain in "Rule, Britannia" - Britannia rules the waves (British rules the ocean), changing "rules" (rule) to "rues" (mourning), is intended to satirize the declining British shipping industry. From an English perspective, this is a very successful parody rhetorical device, because Rules and Rues have almost the same pronunciation, but their meanings are thousands of miles apart. Therefore, it is not difficult to imagine what British people with a sense of humor will do when they read the title. a feeling. However, this kind of humor with both cultural characteristics and grammatical and rhetorical characteristics is really difficult to reproduce in Chinese. In this case, the rhetorical characteristics of the title can only be abandoned and the basic meaning of the title can be translated. Otherwise, the meaning may be damaged due to the words. The meaning of the translated title is ambiguous.

4. Use translation trade-offs

Sometimes, when some English titles are difficult to express their subtle meaning in Chinese due to rhetorical techniques or cultural and language differences, you may wish to use The literal meaning of the English title is translated into an appropriate Chinese title based on the news content. When dealing with this, different grammatical and rhetorical methods can be used according to the characteristics of Chinese and Chinese news headlines to achieve the best results.

1. Add words to make the meaning complete

In terms of revealing news content, English titles tend to "focus" a certain content (a c c entuat ion) and do not pay attention to it. Covering everything. In addition, since English words usually consist of several letters, titles are generally short in words.

These two points determine that English news headlines are generally more concise and brief. Chinese news headlines focus on "totalism", and in Chinese, one word has the same meaning, so Chinese headlines use relatively more words. In view of this, when translating titles, we can combine the characteristics of Chinese news titles and add some words appropriately to make the form of the title more Chinese and the meaning more complete. For example:

Older, wiser, calmer

The older a person gets, the wiser he becomes and his mind calmer

This news focuses on today’s aging society, especially It is the wisdom and calmness that the old people show when dealing with various problems after retirement. If it is translated literally as "older, wiser, calmer" according to the original text, it would be an acceptable translation. However, if according to the reading habits of Chinese readers, the three words "人", "wisdom" and "心" are added, the meaning will be clearer and the sentence structure will be more neat. Another example:

Japanese dash to US to say “I do”

Japanese couples flocked to the United States and vowed “I do” in front of the pastor

This report is He said that many travel agencies in the United States specialize in offering American-style wedding services for couples from Asian countries, including formal weddings in churches. This move was immediately favored by many Japanese couples, who rushed to the United States to experience the atmosphere of a church wedding. The original English title uses the rhetorical technique of metaphor. Replace "get mar ried" with "say 'Ido'". Readers who are familiar with Western cultural customs all know that when Westerners hold weddings in churches, the priest who presides over the wedding will ask both parties, "Do you take...to bey our lawful wedded wife/husband to live together in the state of matrimony?" Are you willing to marry someone as your legal wife/husband and live a married life together? ) After both parties answer "I do" (I do), the priest will declare the two parties to be officially married. Therefore, "Ido" has become synonymous with weddings held in churches in English-speaking countries. Due to years of reform and opening up, most Chinese people are no strangers to Western church weddings. However, if the original title is directly translated as "Japanese flock to the United States to say 'I do'", it would be too abrupt. According to the news content, the words "couple" and "couple" are added. Words such as "pastor" make the translation more complete and more readable.

2. Apply familiar verses from Chinese and foreign poetry

The long-standing Chinese culture has always been the pride of the Chinese people, and many popular verses and verses are still widely circulated. In addition, many famous quotes by foreign writers and poets have become very popular after being translated. When translating English news headlines, it is easier to arouse readers' intimacy by borrowing or applying idioms and poems that are familiar to readers as appropriate. For example, the following two titles:

Bush ughters reach legal age to drink

Bush ughters reach legal age to drink

Singaporean star Gives Part of Liver to Save Dying Lover

If it is for love, the liver can also be thrown away - a touching life-and-death love affair was staged in the Lion City

The first title said that Bush's twin daughters often After being exposed by the media for underage drinking, they have finally reached the legal drinking age and can drink to their heart's content. Another talked about a Singaporean celebrity who donated part of his liver to save a couple. The translations of both titles use famous sentences that are familiar to Chinese readers, which is easier to arouse readers' interest in reading.

(Author: Tang Jianduan/Wenhuipao This article was published in "News Reporter" in September 2005)

References:

①Liu Miqing: "Style and Translation", China International Translation and Publishing Company, 1986 edition

②Li Xiushi and Wang Zongyan: "Selected Readings from British and American Newspapers and Periodicals", Hunan Education Press, 1992 edition

③Yu Lisan: "Comparison and Translation of English-Chinese Rhetoric", The Commercial Press, 1985 edition

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④Hou Weirui: "English Style", Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 1988 edition

⑤Zhang Jian: "Analysis of News English Style and Model Essays", Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 1994 edition*This article The first draft was reviewed by Professor Zhang Jian, Vice Dean of the School of Journalism and Communication at Shanghai International Studies University, for which I would like to express my gratitude.