Omission in Translation

1
Omission in Translation

• (???)

By ??
2
I.Definition

• By omission we mean we properly omit some words
  or expressions in order to make the translated
  version brief, concise, clear. Proper omission in
  English-Chinese translation often involves the
  omitting of some words (such as prepositions,
  articles, certain pronouns, conjunctions, etc.)
  that are indispensable in the SL text but not in
  the TL text.

3
II. Motivation

• Omission is based on the differences between
  English and Chinese. For example, Chinese has no
  articles or infinitive markers. And pronouns,
  conjunctions, and prepositions are not used as
  frequently as those of English. So when we
  translate English sentences with articles and
  infinitive markers into Chinese, we often omit
  these articles or infinitive markers.

4
III.Principles

• Omission should be aimed at smoothness and
  conciseness or succinctness.
• Omission does not go against faithfulness.
  Omission does not mean subtracting meanings from
  the original work.
• What is omitted may not be necessarily confined
  to certain parts of speech. Any parts of speech
  may be liable to be omitted depending upon the
  context and the translators translation
  techniques.

5
IV.Classification

• Omission due to syntactic consideration
• Omission due to a consideration of logic
• Omission due to a consideration of rhetoric

6
Omission due to syntactic consideration

• Omission of articles (articles are generally not
  translated unless it is necessary)
• Omission of prepositions
• Omission of personal and possessive pronouns
• Omission of it
• Omission of conjunctions
• Omission of verbs

7
1.1 Omission of articles

• A horse is a useful animal.
• ????????
• The earth moves around the sun.
• ????????
• Any home appliance must be handled with care
  whether it is a TV set, a VCR or a microwave
  oven.
• ?????????,??????,?????????

8

• The pen is mightier than the sword.
• ???????
• A teacher should love his students.
• ????????
• Down came the ceiling.
• ????????
• The love of money is the root of all evil.
• ???????????

9
Some articles can not be omitted.

• He left without a word.
• ???????????
• He said that he was getting a dollar a mile.
• ??????????????
• The children are of an age.
• ??????????

10
1.2 Omission of prepositions

• The rocket engine carries with it the oxygen of
  its own.
• ??????????
• We have made much progress in pronunciation.
• ???????????
• Trees grow along both banks of the canal.
• ?????????
• Now complaints are heard in all parts of that
  country.
• ???????????

11
1.3 Omission of personal and possessive
pronouns

• If you want to kill a snake you must hit it first
  on the head and if you want to catch a band of
  robbers you must first catch their leader.
• ?????,??????
• He is a good friend that speaks well of us behind
  our backs.
• ????????????????
• He who plays with fire will get burnt in time.
• ???????

12

• If your computer does not work
  properly, youd better not have it fixed. Just
  buy a new one.
• ?????,?????,??????
• The significance of a man is not in what he
  attains but rather in what he longs to attain.
• ????????????,??????????????

13

• He is keeping his bed.
• ???????
• All the fellows gathered around, stretching their
  necks like geese.
• ????????,?????????
• Why do we feel cooler when we fan ourselves?
• ??????????????

14

• While he was staying in England, he made a study
  of old castles.
• ?????,?????????
• If you want the job, go ask for it.
• ???????????????

15

• Dont put your hands in your pockets.
• ?????????
• He entered the room, his coat covered with snow
  and his nose red with cold.
• ????,??????,???????

16

• After getting up,I wash my face,brush my
  teeth,and comb my hair.
• ???,???,??,?????
• He put his hands into his pockets and then
  shrugged his shoulders.
• ????????,???????

17

• Did he hurt himself when he fell?
• ??????
• He hid himself behind a tree.
• ????????.

18
1.4 Omission of it

• He took it upon himself to pay off the debt.
• ??????????
• It requires patience to do the job.
• ???????????
• It is true that he went there.
• ????????

19

• It is easy to learn English, but it is difficult
  to attain perfection in it.
• ???????
• It is quite still in the laboratory.
• ????????
• It was just growing dark, as she shut the garden
  gate.
• ??????,????????

20
1.5 Omission of conjunctions

• If winter comes, can spring be far behind?
• ????,???????
• I can finish the work so long as
  you give me time.
• ????,??????????
• There must be some people in the room, for I
  heard a voice.
• ?????,???????
• Let us go and try it again.
• ???????

21

• Because the departure was not easy, we made it
  brief.
• ?????????,?????????
• He considered the National Security Council too
  large and thus too leaky, too many people who
  talked too much.
• ???????????????,????,?????
• When deeply absorbed in work, as he often was, he
  would forget all about eating and sleeping.
• ??????????,???????

22
1.6 Omission of verbs

• Linking verbs
• These developing countries cover vast
  territories, encompass a large population and
  abound in natural resources.
• ???????????,????,?????
• When the pressure gets low, the boiling point
  becomes low.
• ???,?????
• The elephant stood ten feet tall and weighed more
  than four tons
• ?????????????

23
2. Omission due to a consideration of logic

• He ordered a Gibson (??????) and shouldered his
  way in between two other men at the bar.
• ????????,???????????????
• What is the shortest possible way to China Hotel?
  
• ????????????

24
3. Omission due to a consideration of rhetoric

• Omission of the repeated expressions of the
  original
• Omission of the unnecessary expressions of the
  original

25
3.1 Omission of the repeated expressions of the
original

• University applicants who had worked at a job
  would receive preference over those who had not.
• ??????,???????????
• Instead of one old woman knocking me about and
  starving me, everybody of all ages knocked me
  about and starved me.
• ????,?????????????,?????????????

26
3.2 Omission of the unnecessary expressions of
the original

• Patients with influenza must be separated from
  the well lest the disease should spread from
  person to person.
• ?????????????,???????
• The crowd was pushing harder. Those in the middle
  were squeezed against each other so tightly they
  could not move in any direction.
• ???????,??????????????

27

• China is also a country of people with a
  passionate love of peace.
• ????????
• The foundation would be in a position to meet
  more of the vast unsatisfied needs of children
  and young people if more resources were made
  available to it.
• ?????????,????????????????????????
• There was no snow. But the leaves were gone from
  the trees and the grass was dead.
• ????,???????

28
Summary

• ?????,????????????????????????,??????????????????,
  ?????????????????(readability),???????????????????
  ?,?????????????????

29
Practice

• You will be staying in this hotel during your
  visit in Beijing.
• ?????????????????
• I hope you will enjoy your stay here.
• ???????????
• You buy stamps at a post office.
• ???????

30

• Our son, Carl, who is six, goes to a good private
  schoo1, and our daughter, who is four, won't go
  to school until next year. ( J. Cheever The
  Season of Divorce)
• ??????,????????????????,??????
• I handed him some money to pay for it. He
  wouldn't take the money.( M. K. Rawlings A Mother
  in Mannivil1e )
• ??????????,????

31

• The panda's mountain home is rich in plant life
  and gave us many of the trees, shrubs and herbs
  most prized in European gardens.
• ?????????????????,?????????????
• Mrs. Willy sat in a chair and folded her
  hands.(R. Suchow Golden Wedding)
• ??????????????

32

• Remember you are not any old Tom, Dick or Harry
  giving his opinion. You're a man who was sent as
  a representative of the British Government.
• ????,????? ????????,?????????????????????
• If you confer a benefit, never remember it if
  you receive one, remember it always.
• ????,?????

33

• Man must learn to walk before he can run.
• ???,????
• Even if you go there, there won't be any result.
• ??????
• In the 1880s the United States was a land sharply
  divided between the immensely wealthy and the
  poor.
• 19??80??,?????????

34

• Winter vacation is the time when I am least busy.
  
• ??????
• While there are almost as many definitions of
  history as there are historians, modern practice
  most closely conforms to one that sees history as
  the attempt to recreate and explain the
  significant events of the past.
• ??????????????????,???????????????????????????????

35

• One of the features of London is the number of
  big stores, most of which are to be found in or
  near the West End.
• ????????????,??????????????
• Another feature of London's shopping life is the
  chain store, in which prices are low and a wide
  variety of goods are offered.
• ???????????????,??????,???????

36

• E-commerce is a challenging and dynamic area
  where change, growth and innovation are the norm.
• ??????????????????,???????????????
• Like the press in most other countries, American
  newspapers range from the sensational, which
  feature crime, sex and gossip, to the serious,
  which focus factual news and the analysis of
  world events.
• ???????????,?????????,????????????,??????,??????,?
  ??????

37
My walk home was lengthened by a
diversion in the direction of the
kirk(church). When beneath its
walls, I perceived decay had made progress, even
in seven months many a window showed black gaps
deprived of glass and slates jutted off, here
and there, beyond the right line of the roof, to
be gradually worked off in coming autumn storms.
I sought, and soon discovered, the three
headstones on the slope next the moor-the middle
one gray, and half buried in heath-Edgar Linton's
only harmonized by the turf and moss creeping up
its foot-Heathcliff's still bare. I lingered
round them, under that benign sky watched the
moths fluttering among the heath and harebells
listened to the soft wind breathing through the
grass and wondered how anyone could ever imagine
unquiet slumbers, for the sleepers in that quiet
earth.
38
?????????,?????????????????,???,?????????,??
?????????????????????,???????????????????????,???
????????,????????? ???????????????,?????????????
??,?????????-????????????????????????????
??????????,?????????!???????????????,?????????,??
?????????????????????????????????
39

• Thats the end of the lecture.
• Thank you!