[MUSIC] In this part of our course we're going to discuss the translation of different genres of writing including scientific writings, legal documents, public speeches, and literary works. This first lesson is about the translation of scientific writings. In scientific writings we expect to find many technical terms and rigorous logical reasoning, and we often find plain language and long and complicated sentences. Let's look at a few examples to see how such writings are translated. The first example, balance, controlled in part by the vestibular system, depends on the inner ears, which have three semicircular canals to detect the rotation of the head. In addition, receptors containing calcium-carbonate crystals help the body detect gravity and changes in motion such as stopping and starting. Sometimes the crystals can become dislodged and can enter one of the semicircular canals, playing havoc with one's sense of balance and causing benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV). The disorder is usually the result of aging, trauma to the head, or an infection of some kind. As we have discussed earlier, before we start to translate we'd better read through this paragraph. This paragraph is about the cause of BPPV, a type of vertigo. Next, let's find out if there are any technical terms that we don't know. Vestibular system, semicircular canal, receptor, calcium-carbonate crystal, and benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, all these will need to be looked up. Now we can do the translation. Here we have a version of Chinese translation, let's study it and see if the technical terms are correctly translated, if the sentence structure is correctly understood, if the logical relationship is correctly expressed, and if the language is clear, concise, and coherent. [FOREIGN] (BPPV) [FOREIGN]. The main clause of the first sentence is balance depends on the inner ears. The subject balance and object inner ears are respectively modified by a past participle clause and an attributive clause, and the attributive clause includes an infinitive. Participle clauses can usually be translated into attribitives, however if we translate balance controlled in part by the vestibular system into [FOREIGN], the translation does not read very Chinese. We can consider translating this part into a short sentence without changing the word order. [FOREIGN]. The attributive clause is too long to be put in front of the phrase it modifies so we can translate this part into a separate sentence, this means we have to divide the first sentence into two sentences. Infinitives can be translated into attributes, so that have three semicircular canals to detect the rotation of the head becomes [FOREIGN]. The term semicircular canal, however, may not be familiar to the readers so we need to add an explanation, after the addition the attribute becomes too long. As we have done with the first part of the English sentence, we translate this part into a short sentence without changing the word order. Finally, in this context the word balance refers to [FOREIGN] of the human body. Having made this analysis and used the translation techniques of addition and division, we'll translate the first sentence into what we see now, a long complex sentence is translated into two short sentences which makes the point clearly. Now let's look at the third sentence and focus on the logical relationship in it. Playing havoc with one's sense of balance and causing BPPV are consequences of the crystal entering the semicircular canals, and BPPV is the consequence of playing havoc with one's sense of balance. In the Chinese translation the pronoun [FOREIGN] is added as a translation to connect the two parts of the sentence, and the conjunction [FOREIGN] is added to make explicit the relationship between playing havoc with and BPPV. Here's another example, let's read it through first to see what this is about. [FOREIGN]. Here is the English translation, situated between the subtropical zone and the north temperate zone, Dafeng has four distinct seasons and transitional, oceanic, and monsoonal climates. The transitional climate brings abundant sunlight, heat, and precipitation, which is good for temperate crops. The oceanic climate features a slow rise in temperature in spring and a slow drop in temperature in fall. The first frost comes late and the frost-free period is long. Influenced by the monsoonal climate, the city is exposed to continental monsoons and cold air in winter, when there is little rain. Northwest wind, low temperature and frost often hit this area. In summer the ocean winds from the southeast bring plenty of rainfall and high temperature at the same time. In the transitional seasons of spring and fall the climate changes between being dry, wet, warm, and cold. [MUSIC] In this paragraph there are quite some technical terms, such as [FOREIGN], all these need to be correctly translated. Besides these technical terms other words and phrases need our attention too. For example there are three [FOREIGN] in this paragraph, [FOREIGN] and [FOREIGN]. The word [FOREIGN] here does not mean represent, manifest, or express, but is characterized by. Considering the context, and to give some variety to the language, would translate this phrase into brings features and influenced by, respectively. Another example, how do we translate [FOREIGN] and [FOREIGN] in the fourth sentence? Influenced by is the correct translation of [FOREIGN], but in the translation the phrase exposed to is used instead of influenced by. Exposed to means [FOREIGN], which is followed by something unpleasant, in this case the cold weather. Similarly, [FOREIGN] is translated into northwest wind, low temperature, and frost often hit this area, the word hit is used to emphasize the severity of the weather. We also need to make an analysis of the sentence structures. This paragraph includes quite a few parallel parts separated by commas, if we translate these without making any adjustments the English sentences would have loose structures. Take this sentence as an example, [FOREIGN]. Five characteristics of the winter climate are listed in this sentence, each comes in a different structure, this gives a quick tempo and some diversity in structure to the sentence and is typical in Chinese writing. Directly translated, it would be influenced by continental monsoons and cold air in winter, often has northwest wind, is characterized by little rainfall, and often has low temperature and frost, this English sentence is loosely structured. When we analyze the relationship between these parts we see that [FOREIGN] is the main characteristic of the winter climate, while [FOREIGN] and [FOREIGN] are the four specific manifestations of this characteristic. Of these, [FOREIGN] and [FOREIGN] are all related to the cold weather, but [FOREIGN] is not. With this understanding we can divide the sentence into two sentences, each describing one characteristic or one group of characteristics so that all the characteristics are well arranged and the relationships between them are made very clear. Let's look at one more sentence. [FOREIGN]. The word [FOREIGN] indicates a cause and effect relationship between the southeast wind, and the rain and heat. Now let's look at the cause and effect respectively. In the part about the cause, what is the relationship between the ocean winds and the southeast winds? Actually, they are the same. In the part about the effect two points are made, there is plenty of rain, [FOREIGN], and there is rainfall and high temperature at the same time, [FOREIGN]. The rainfall, [FOREIGN], is the same rainfall, [FOREIGN], there is no need to translate the same thing twice. The English translation in summer the ocean winds from the southeast bring plenty of rainfall and high temperature at the same time, includes all the information in a Chinese sentence, makes the relationship between different parts very clear, and is concise, tightly structured, and fluent. From the above two examples we can see that in the translation of scientific writings the correct understanding and expression of technical terms, sentence structures, and logical relationships are very important. The translation should also be clear, concise, and coherent. [MUSIC]
