中式英语之鉴 p26-p62阅读笔记

玉米。

Reader: 赵一铭
Reading time: 一天
Reading task: p26-p62
The practice of translating Chinese texts into English demands a nuanced understanding of how language functions across cultures, particularly in managing redundancy. Redundant modifiers—phrases that add little to no value to the meaning—are a common challenge in cross-linguistic work, often stemming from differences in rhetorical conventions. Chinese frequently employs explicit qualifiers, paired adjectives, and repetitive intensifiers for emphasis, whereas English relies on implicit meaning and conciseness. This essay explores how eliminating unnecessary modifiers enhances clarity, precision, and readability in translation, while also addressing the cultural and contextual complexities that sometimes necessitate their retention.
Types of Unnecessary Modifiers and Their Impact：
Redundant modifiers can be categorized into five types, each presenting distinct challenges.
Redundant modifiers occur when words like "economically" in "economically developed countries" are superfluous, as "developed" inherently implies economic status. Self-evident modifiers, such as "national" in "national economic strength," over-specify information already implied by the context. Intensifiers like "great historic" or "firmly banned" weaken statements by doubling down on inherently strong terms. Qualifiers such as "quite" or "somewhat" introduce ambiguity, while clichés like "painstaking efforts" or "resolutely enforce" lack originality and may confuse non-native readers. These modifiers disrupt the flow of English texts, diluting their impact. For example, translating the Chinese phrase "mutual cooperation" literally into English creates redundancy, as "cooperation" already implies mutual action. Similarly, phrases like "thoroughly completely"—common in Chinese for rhetorical effect—feel awkward and redundant in English. A translator must therefore balance faithfulness to the original text with adherence to the target language’s stylistic norms.
The decision to retain or remove modifiers often hinges on cultural and contextual factors. Political or official documents, for instance, may preserve clichés like "unswervingly uphold the Party’s leadership" to maintain alignment with established rhetorical traditions. In contrast, academic or journalistic writing benefits from streamlined language to enhance credibility and avoid sounding formulaic. Additionally, certain modifiers carry nuanced connotations in Chinese that resist direct translation. For example, the qualifier "fairly significant" might reflect a tone of modesty, as seen in Deng Xiaoping’s understated recounting of historical achievements—a stylistic choice that requires careful preservation to honor authorial intent.
Improving translation requires practical strategies to identify and eliminate redundancy. Reading aloud helps detect awkward phrasing, while ruthless editing targets qualifiers like "very" or "quite" unless they serve a specific purpose. Using a thesaurus sparingly ensures precision over artificial variety, avoiding forced synonyms that disrupt natural expression. However, translators must also recognize when redundancy in Chinese serves rhetorical or cultural functions, such as emphasizing solidarity through paired adjectives. In such cases, adaptation rather than literal translation becomes key to preserving both meaning and tone.
The task of eliminating redundancy is not without limitations. Context dependency complicates decisions: a phrase like "mutual cooperation" might be redundant in English but culturally significant in Chinese. Moreover, retaining certain modifiers can reflect intentional understatement or humility, as seen in political discourse. Translators must therefore balance linguistic efficiency with respect for cultural subtleties, avoiding overcorrection that risks distorting the original message.
Mastering the elimination of unnecessary modifiers in translation is both an art and a science, requiring deep linguistic and cultural sensitivity. While English prioritizes conciseness, Chinese often embraces redundancy for rhetorical effect. A skilled translator navigates this divide by adapting to target-language conventions while preserving the essence of the source text. By cultivating awareness of genre, audience, and authorial intent, translators can transform verbose Chinese prose into impactful, reader-friendly English, bridging cultural gaps with clarity and nuance.