中式英语之鉴Chapter8读书笔记

我母静恒

Reading Time: An hour
Reading Task: Chapter 8
Summary of the Content:
1. Language Feature:  
English requires explicit pronouns with clear antecedents, while Chinese often omits pronouns or relies on context.  
Key pronoun categories: personal (he/they), relative (which/that), demonstrative (this/those).  
2. Common Errors in Pronoun Usage:  
Vague Antecedents: Pronouns lack clear referents (e.g., "It should..." → "Crops should...").  
Ambiguous Antecedents: A pronoun could refer to multiple nouns (e.g., "The price of oil... while it is..." → "if it is sold on the market...").  
Distant Antecedents: Pronouns too far from their referents (e.g., "they signed..." → "the two governments signed...").  
Misplaced Relative Pronouns: Clauses attach to unintended nouns (e.g., "struggle against bureaucracy, which..." → "a struggle which...").  
3. Principle for Correction:  
Ensure antecedents are explicit, unambiguous, proximate, and grammatically consistent (person, number, gender).   

Evaluation:  
1. This chapter systematically identifies crosslinguistic challenges in pronoun usage, contrasting Chinese "contextual depending" with English "grammatical explicitness." Highlights the role of syntactic logic in English, emphasizing the necessity of clear antecedents.  
2. It provides practical solutions (e.g., replacing ambiguous pronouns with specific nouns, restructuring sentences). Examples from real world contexts (e.g., policy documents, historical texts) enhance applicability.  
3. Limitations: Limited discussion of complex texts (e.g., literature, academic papers), where pronoun flexibility is context dependent. Some solutions (e.g., adding summary phrases like "a struggle which...") rely on subjective interpretation.  

Reflection;  
As a Chinese speaker, I often omitted pronouns in drafts, assuming context sufficed. This chapter taught me that English demands explicit antecedents even when redundant in Chinese. For example, translating "加强改革" as "We must strengthen reforms" (adding "we") bridges the gap between languages.  
Previously, I misused which or they without checking ambiguity. After reading this chapter, I begin to treat pronouns as logical connectors, ensuring each ties directly to a visible noun. For instance, revising "The report criticized policies, which caused confusion" to "The report criticized policies, a critique that caused confusion" eliminates ambiguity.
In our translation and writing practices, it is a necessity to balance fidelity and clarity, acknowledging English readers’ reliance on syntactic cues.