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1、Chapter ThreeGrammatical Analysisn nTranslation consists of a procedure comprising three stages: (1) analysis, in which the surface structure i.e., the message as given in language A is analyzed in terms of (a) the grammatical relationships and (b) the meanings of the words and combinations of words
2、, (2) transfer, in which the analyzed material is transferred in the mindn nof the translator from language A to language B, and (3) restructuring, in which the transferred material is restructured in order to make the final message fully acceptable in the receptor language. This approach may be dia
3、grammed as in the following Figure .n n A (Source) B(Receptor)n n n n(Analysis) (Restructuring)n n n n X-(Transfer)-Yn nAs indicated above, there are three major steps in analysis: (i) determining the meaningful relationships between the words and combinations of words, (2) the referential meaning o
4、f the words and special combinations of words (the idioms), and (3) the connotative meaning, i.e., how the users of then nlanguage react, whether positively or negatively, to the words and combinations of them. In this chapter we shall be dealing only with the analysis of the meaningful relationship
5、 between words on a grammatical level.GRAMMAR HAS MEANINGn nGrammar has meaning, for the grammatical markers, such as twas, did, were, -s, all provide the necessary clues.n nEven a comparison of John hit Bill and Bill hit John should convince us that grammar has some meaning, for it is the first wor
6、d which performs the action of the second word, andGRAMMAR HAS MEANINGn nthe third word identifies the goal of the action specified by the second word. This meaningfulness of grammar can also be illustrated by such a contrasting pair as Naturally he did it and He did it naturally, in which naturally
7、 has two quite different meanings because it is used in two quite different grammaticalGRAMMAR HAS MEANINGn nconstructions. Even the combinations Did you go and You did go can be uttered with the same intonational pattern, but the grammatical differences of order provide quite different meanings.THE
8、 SAME GRAMMATICAL CONSTRUCTION MAY HAVE MANY DIFFERENT MEANINGSn nThe fact that what is generally regarded as the same grammatical construction may represent a number of different relationships, and thus be said to have many different meanings, is no better illustrated than by the grammatical constr
9、uction consisting of two nouns or pronouns connected by of.(the structure “A of B”)THE SAME GRAMMATICAL CONSTRUCTION MAY HAVE MANY DIFFERENT MEANINGSn nThe will of Godn n - God wills n nThe foundation of the worldn n -creating the world (B is the goal of A)n nThe God of Peacen n - God who causes or
10、produces peace (A causes B)THE SAME GRAMMATICAL CONSTRUCTION MAY HAVE MANY DIFFERENT MEANINGSn nThe Holy Spirit of promisen n - God promises the Holy Spiritn n A (Holy Spirit)is the goal of B(promise)n nWe are forced to the conclusion that the construction Noun + of+ Noun can mean many different thi
11、ngs, depending on what nouns areTHE SAME GRAMMATICAL CONSTRUCTION MAY HAVE MANY DIFFERENT MEANINGSn ninvolved and what meanings we assign to them. In other words, this construction means not one relation, but many: it is ambiguous. Our efforts must therefore be aimed at discovering and then stating
12、unambiguously exactly what the relation is in each case.Word Categoryn nWe have, at one time or another, already made use of the terms object, event, abstract, and relation. It becomes crucial at this point to explain just what we mean by these terms. In the first place, they refer to basic semantic
13、 categories, in contrast with the more familiar terms noun, verb, adjective, preposition, Word Categoryn netc., which refer to grammatical classes. Second, these four categories include exhaustively all the semantic subcategories of all languages, even though various languages have quite different s
14、ets of grammatical classes; in other words, they are universal. This means that the entire universe ofWord Categoryn nexperience is divided among these four categories: (1) Object refers to those semantic classes which designate things or entities which normally participate in events, e.g., Word Cat
15、egoryn nhouse, dog, man, sun, stick, water, spirit, etc. (2) Event is the semantic class which designates actions, processes, happenings, e.g., run Jump, kill, speak, shine, appear, grow, die. (3) Abstract refers to the semantic class of expressions which have as their only referents the qualities,
16、quantities, and degrees of objects, events, and other abstracts. Word Categoryn nFor example, red is nothing in and of itself; it is only a quality inherent in certain objects, e.g., red hat, red binding, red pace. From these objects, the quality red is abstracted and named as if it had separate exi
17、stence. Similarly, quickly is a quality of certain events, such as run quickly, but it can be conceptuallyWord Categoryn nabstracted and named. Abstracts of quantity include two and twice, many, often, several, etc. The abstracts which serve to mark the degree of other abstracts, e.g., too and very,
18、 belong in this general subclass. (4) Relations are the expressions of the meaningful connections between the other kinds of terms. Word Categoryn nOften they are expressed by particles (in English many are prepositions and conjunctions); some languages make extensive use of affixes, such as case en
19、dings, for similar purposes; and many languages, including English, use the order of parts extensively to signify meaningful relations, e.g., theWord Categoryn nsubject and the predicate in John ate the peanut. Finally, some languages use special verbs such as be and have (in some of their uses only
20、) to express relations, e.g., Joint is in the house, John is a boy, John has a brother (but not in He that cometh to God must believe that he is, where be is a verb of existence).Word Categoryn nIt is important to realize that there is a kind of fit between these semantic categories and certain gram
21、matical classes. For instance, objects are most typically expressed by nouns or pronouns, events by verbs, and abstracts by adjectives and adverbs.Word Categoryn nHow a word is to be understood, that is, what category it will be assigned to, depends entirely upon each particular context. For example
22、, in the sentence he picked up a stone, stone represents an object; in they will stone him, it functions as an event; and in he was stone deaf, it serves as an abstract.Definition of Kerneln nDefinition of Kernel: Now if we examine carefully what we have Now if we examine carefully what we have done
23、 in order to state the relationships between done in order to state the relationships between words in ways that are the clearest and least words in ways that are the clearest and least ambiguous, we soon discover that we have ambiguous, we soon discover that we have simply recast the expressions so
24、 that events are simply recast the expressions so that events are expressed as verbs, objects as nouns, abstracts expressed as verbs, objects as nouns, abstracts (quantities and qualities) as adjectives or (quantities and qualities) as adjectives or adverbs. The only other terms are relational, i.e.
25、, adverbs. The only other terms are relational, i.e., the prepositions and conjunctions.the prepositions and conjunctions. Definition of Kernel These restructured expressions are basically These restructured expressions are basically what many linguists call kernels; that is to say, what many lingui
26、sts call kernels; that is to say, they are the basic structural elements out of they are the basic structural elements out of which the language builds its elaborate surface which the language builds its elaborate surface structures. structures. Definition of Kerneln nFrom the standpoint of the tran
27、slator, From the standpoint of the translator, however, what is even more important however, what is even more important than the existence of kernels in all than the existence of kernels in all languages is the fact that languages is the fact that languages languages agree far more on the level of
28、the agree far more on the level of the kernels than on the level of the more kernels than on the level of the more elaborate structures.elaborate structures. This means that if This means that if one can reduce grammatical structures to one can reduce grammatical structures to the kernel level, they
29、 can be transferred the kernel level, they can be transferred more readily and with a minimum of more readily and with a minimum of distortion.distortion.Kernel Sentencesn nThe actual kernel expressions in English from which the more elaborate grammatical structures can be constructed consist of the
30、 following illustrative types:n n1. John ran quickly.n n2. John hit Bill.n n3. John gave Bill a ball.Kernel Sentencesn n4. John is in the house.n n5. John is sick.n n6. John is a boy.n n7. John is my father.WORDS WITH COMPLEX STRUCTURESn nAs has been noted in the previous analysis of the of phrases
31、in English, some words have complex semantic structures. For example Servant and Lord.WORDS WITH COMPLEX STRUCTURESn nSome phrases may seem quite similar in structure, but because of terms having complex structures, the relationships between the parts turn out to be quite different. The phrases our
32、beloved ruler, his old servant, and three good bakers would all seem to be quite similar in structure, but they actually go back to quite different kernels.THE RELATIONSHIP OF SURFACE STRUCTURE TO KERNELSn nOne of the most effective ways to determine the underlying relationships between elements in
33、a phrase is to go beneath the surface structure, by the process of back-transformation, and to determine what is the kernel from which the surface structure is derived. This provides the clearest and mostTHE RELATIONSHIP OF SURFACE STRUCTURE TO KERNELSn nunambiguous expression of the relationship. B
34、ut to do this successfully, it is important to bear in mind constantly the types of kernels to which such structures may be related. For example:THE RELATIONSHIP OF SURFACE STRUCTURE TO KERNELS Phrases with Phrases with ofof1.1.the will of God“the will of God“ God wills God wills 2. the foundation o
35、f the 2. the foundation of the world“world“ (God) creates the (God) creates the worldworld3. the Holy Spirit of 3. the Holy Spirit of promise“promise“ (God) promised the (God) promised the Holy Spirit Holy Spirit Kernels in English Kernels in Englishn n1. John ran (quickly)1. John ran (quickly)n n2.
36、 John hit Bill2. John hit Billn n3. John gave Bill a ball3. John gave Bill a ballTHE RELATIONSHIP OF SURFACE STRUCTURE TO KERNELS Phrases with Phrases with ofof4. the word of truth“4. the word of truth“ the word is true the word is true5. the riches of his 5. the riches of his grace“grace“ he shows
37、grace richly he shows grace richly6. Jesus of Nazareth“6. Jesus of Nazareth“ Jesus comes from Jesus comes from NazarethNazareth7. the lake of Galilee“7. the lake of Galilee“the lake is in Galileethe lake is in Galilee Kernels in English Kernels in English4. John is in the house4. John is in the hous
38、e5. John is sick5. John is sick6. John is a boy6. John is a boy7. John is my father7. John is my fathern nDetermining the function of the elements in a phrase, and hence their relationship to the other elements, can only be done by a careful examination of the context. This involves not merely the i
39、mmediate context but also the wider context of the entire communication.BACK-TRANSFORMATION AS A TYPE OF PARAPHRASEn nBack-transformation of a surface structure to the underlying kernels may be regarded as a form of paraphrase. The word paraphrase has sometimes been used to mean a quite loose and in
40、accurate translation, in which the translator has injected uncontrolled subjective judgments and thus biased the result. BACK-TRANSFORMATION AS A TYPE OF PARAPHRASEn nParaphrase, as we are using it at this point in referring to back-transformation, is a technical term from linguistics and related di
41、sciplines, and is characterized by three specific features: (1) it is intralingual rather than interlingual, i.e., it is another way of saying the same thing in the same language; (2) it is rigorous, in that there are noBACK-TRANSFORMATION AS A TYPE OF PARAPHRASEn nchanges in the semantic components
42、: no additions, no deletions, no skewing of relationships, only a different marking of the same relations between the same elements; (3) specifically as it relates to back-transformation, it is aimed at restatement at a particular level, that of the kernels.BACK-TRANSFORMATION AS A TYPE OF PARAPHRAS
43、En nIt must be emphasized, however, that the kernel expressions themselves are not to be translated literally. Such back-transformations are not to be used as a model for translation, nor are they to be carried over wholesale into any translation into a receptor language. They are only the basis for
44、 transfer into the receptor language, sinceBACK-TRANSFORMATION AS A TYPE OF PARAPHRASEn nthey provide not only the clearest and least ambiguous statements of the relationships but also constitute forms which correspond most closely with those expressions likely to occur in receptor languages.BACK-TR
45、ANSFORMATION AS A TYPE OF PARAPHRASEIn this process of back-transformation it would be very easy for the translator to lose sight of the subtle stylistic features of the source-language text were it not that in the analysis of the connotative meanings of words and combinations of words, he returns t
46、o study those formal features of the source-language text which are so essential to the BACK-TRANSFORMATION AS A TYPE OF PARAPHRASEn ncommunication of its message. It is at this point that one picks up any important elements in the style which may have been overlooked in the processes of back-transf
47、ormation.DIFFERENT CONSTRUCTIONS MAY EXPRESS THE SAME MEANINGFUL RELATIONSHIPn nWhereas in the previous sections we have dealt with the fact that the same constructions, when viewed as surface structure, have involved quite different relationships between the constituent parts, in this section it is
48、 necessary to recognize the converse of this situation and to deal with different surface structuresn nwhich go back to essentially the same kernels.n n1. She sings beautifully.n n2. the beauty of her singingn n3. Her singing is beautiful.n n4. her beautiful singingn nThis recognition of the fact th
49、at in English as well as in all languages the same kernel can give rise to a number of different surface structure expressions with different features of focus is essential if we are to handle source materials properly in a receptor language. n nSuch a series of transforms, all of which go back to t
50、he same kernel, only illustrate what has already been said, that one can say the same thing in many ways. The fact that this is possible provides the structural basis for diversities in style, and it is the sensitivity with which one deals with such issues thatn ndetermines in large measure the effectiveness with which one is able, in the last step of translation, to restructure materials in a receptor language in such a way as to provide the closest natural equivalent in style.
