3.8.7　英語首重心與漢語尾重心

英語句子重心在前，修飾重后;漢語句子重心在后，修飾重前。

許多漢語句子往往把信息中心置于句尾，來突出重點;而多數(shù)英語句子則經(jīng)常是將信息中心置于句首，以突出主題，這就形成了“信息中心首位”，其他信息后置的句式結(jié)構(gòu)。英語句子重心在前，先果后因，先結(jié)論后論據(jù)，先斷言后條件，結(jié)構(gòu)布局前輕后重;漢語句子重心在后，先因后果，先論據(jù)后結(jié)論，先條件后斷言，結(jié)構(gòu)鋪列前重后輕。所以，在翻譯時我們要根據(jù)這種差異對句子結(jié)構(gòu)進(jìn)行適當(dāng)調(diào)整，這種情況尤其體現(xiàn)在漢語新聞英譯時對導(dǎo)語的處理過程中。

1)It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of wife．(J．Austen，Pride and Prejudice)

a．有一條舉世公認(rèn)的真理，那就是，凡是有錢的單身漢，總想娶位太太。

b．凡是有錢的單身漢，總想娶位太太，這是一條舉世公認(rèn)的真理。

2)只有四嬸，因為后來雇傭的女工，大抵非懶即饞，或者饞而且懶，左右不如意，所以也還提起祥林嫂?！　　　　　　　?魯迅，《祝?！?

My aunt was the only one who still spoke of XiangLin's Wife．This was because most of the maids taken on afterwards turned out to be lazy or greedy，or both，none of them giving satisfaction．

3)為了恪守良心，保全人格，為了民族氣節(jié)、國家尊嚴(yán)，居然炒了老板的“魷魚”，砸了自己的飯碗，得到社會各界普遍稱頌。

All of them are common people who have been widely praised by people of all walks of life for their unusual deeds—they went so far as to say goodbye to their bosses，therefore lost their jobs for sake of conscience，personality and national integrity and dignity．

英語以“尾重”句為美，這種美依靠“重后飾”的表達(dá)習(xí)慣造就;漢語的修飾語無論是詞、短語還是句子，其位置總位于被修飾語之前。在翻譯中，我們可以把英語的后置修飾語譯為漢語的前置修飾語。

4)我吃了一嚇，趕忙抬起頭來，卻見一個凸顴骨、薄嘴唇，五十上下的女人站在我的面前……　　　　　　　　　　　(魯迅，《故鄉(xiāng)》)

I looked up with a start，and saw a woman of about fifty with prominent cheekbones and thin lips standing in front of me．．．

5)吳冠中是一位堅定地維護(hù)藝術(shù)尊嚴(yán)并勇敢地舉起藝術(shù)革新大旗的漢子。(袁運甫:《我所認(rèn)識的吳冠中及其繪畫》，《現(xiàn)代中國》1992年第3期)

Wu Guanzhong is a man of iron，firmly defending the dignity of art and bravely carrying out artistic innovation．(Wu Guangzhong and His Paintings，China Today，No.3，1992)

6)他送丈人一根在錫蘭買的象牙柄藤手杖，送愛打牌而信佛的丈母一只法國女人手提袋和兩張錫蘭的貝頁，送他十五六歲的小舅子一支德國貨自來水筆。　　　　　　　(錢鐘書，《圍城》)

He gave his father-in-law a rattan cane with an ivory handle purchased in Ceylon;his mother-in-law，an avid mahjong player and a Buddhist，a French handbag and two Ceylonese Buddhist religious books，and his fifteen-year-old brother-in-law，a German fountain pen．