中式英语之鉴Part Two(2)

人生不过三万天

Content: 1. Pronouns and Antecedents: Three pronouns are generally used to replace nouns: i. Personal pronouns ii. Relative pronouns iii. Demonstrative pronouns
2.Correct use of pronouns: Every pronoun must have a clear, logical antecedent.
3.Rules governing the use of antecedents (the antecedent of a pronoun must be explicitly stated, unambiguous, close to pronoun, in grammatical agreement with the pronoun) : i. When antecedents are not explicitly stated: a. Unattached pronouns: reader is left in doubt b. Wrongly attached pronouns: reader mistakes the sense c. The missing subject ii. When antecedents are ambiguous: better a repetition iii.When antecedents are too remote iv. When pronouns do not agree with their antecedents

Evaluation: Pinkham's analysis of pronoun usage in The Translator's Guide to Chinglish provides a systematic approach to resolving one of the most persistent challenges in Chinese-to-English translation. By categorizing pronouns into three types (personal, relative, and demonstrative) and establishing clear rules for antecedent clarity, the chapter offers translators concrete guidelines to improve coherence. The four key principles—explicit antecedents, unambiguous reference, proximity, and grammatical agreement—are particularly valuable for diagnosing common pronoun errors in Chinglish. The discussion of problematic cases (unattached pronouns, ambiguous references, distant antecedents, and agreement errors) effectively highlights how Chinese sentence structures often lead to unclear pronoun usage in English.

Reflection: Working with Chinese source texts, I frequently encounter sentences where the subject is implied or changes abruptly, forcing me to decide whether to add pronouns for clarity or restructure the sentence entirely. I've noticed that strict adherence to antecedent proximity can sometimes make English translations sound repetitive. In such cases, I occasionally opt for slight rewording rather than rigid pronoun insertion. For example, instead of repeating "the report" as an antecedent, I might use "it" if the context is sufficiently clear, even if the antecedent isn't immediately adjacent. Moving forward, I aim to balance Pinkham's principles with the natural flow of English, ensuring pronouns enhance—rather than disrupt—readability. This chapter reinforces that pronoun usage isn't just about grammatical correctness but also about guiding the reader seamlessly through the text.