英语专业翻译方向 毕业论文
To sum up, the different subject and predicate structures lead to different word
orders. In the translation process, the first step is to figure out the corresponding
relationship between Chinese themes and English subjects, and change word order by
taking advantage of inverted sentences or the formal subject if necessary.
3.2 Modifiers
3.2.1 Attributes
In Chinese, except in some cases emphasizing attributes e.g.“荷塘周边，长着
许多树，郁郁葱葱的”, no matter how long words or word groups are, as long as they
are used as attributes, they have to be placed in front of the central words that they
modify. However, in English, the positions of attributes are not always fixed (Li
237-243). If the attribute is a word, it is placed in front of the central word; if the
attribute is a word group or an attribute clause, it is placed behind of the central word.
Besides, in Chinese, an attribute describing the nature of the central word comes first
and is followed by other attributes, that is, placed in the position farthest to the central
word, while in English, such attributes are placed behind of other attributes, that is,
placed in the position nearest to the central word. Thus, different attribute position is
also a factor leading to different English and Chinese word order. Sometimes we need
to shift the position of attributes in translation. The following part will introduce some
cases requiring word order changing in translation.
In English, words showing time, places and directions and some short word
groups are usually placed behind of central words. When translated into Chinese,
these attributes should be put in front of central words. For instance,
Do you know the lady downstairs ?
Translated version: 你认识楼下的那个女人吗？
The people there are going to Beijing.
Translated version: 那里的人们打算去北京。
The class tomorrow is very important.