我国的英语学习者在学到一定的阶段后,觉得每前进一步都很困难,要达到能用英语思维的境界谈何容易。造成这种情况的原因很多,其中之一是英汉语言存在的一个差异,即英语中的名词化倾向。王文华在《动静之间》一文(《中国翻译》2001/2)中说"英语多用名词,有静、虚和抽象的特点,汉语多用动词,有动、实和具体的特点"。这种名词占优势的现象在科技、法律等正式文化中尤为突出,给习惯了偏重形象思维的中国学生带来了一定的学习困难。因此,让学生了解英汉语言存在的这一差异,对他们提高英语水平会有一定帮助。

　　一、和汉语相比,英语多使用名词或名词性词组,在英汉互译时,只有注意到这一点才能采取相应的对策。例如:

　　1. The capture of Saddam Hussein does not mean the end of conflict in Iraq.

　　译:捕获萨达姆·侯赛因并不意味着在伊拉克的冲突会就此结束。

　　这是美国总统乔治·W·布什在抓获了萨达姆·侯赛因后发出的警告。英语原文里将capture和end作为名词使用,句子结构严谨。如果将原句改为We've captured Saddam Hussein, which does not mean that conflict in Iraq ends,则显行文散乱,不紧凑。

　　2. It was tempting to say that Sept. 11 changed all that, just as it is tempting to say that every hero needs a villain, and goodness needs evil as its grinding stone.

　　译:我们也许会脱口而出地说,是"9·11"事件改变了这一切,正如我们会脱口而出地说,英雄需要有恶棍来陪衬,善良需要有邪恶来砥砺。(叶子南《中国翻译》2002/4)

　　在将goodness needs evil as its grinding stone译成汉语时,译者不是将其译成"善也要恶来作为磨刀石",而是将其译成"善良需要有邪恶来砥砺",把英语名词转换成汉语动词,使译文顺畅自然,符合汉语表达习惯,一看就懂。

　　3. The impotence of medical services to change life expectancy and insignificance of much contemporary clinical care in the curing of disease are all obvious, well-documented.

　　译:医疗服务不能改变预期寿命,许多当代的临床护理在治病中所起的作用也并不重要,这些都是毫无疑问的,有大量文件证明了的。

　　让学生将该句译成汉语,有的感到束手无策,有的依照原序逐字翻译,结果译文罗嗦累赘,翻译腔很重,把原文改写成It is all obvious and well-documented that medical services are unable to change life expectancy and much contemporary clinical care is of no significance in the curing of disease后,学生们觉得容易理解多了。可见,要适应英语名词占优势的现象是多么困难。

　　二、名词化的另一现象是由其他词类充当名词使用。名词化的词类主要有如下六类:

　　1.名词化的形容词。如:

　　1)There is now an ill for every pill.如今是凡是疾病,皆有药物可治。

　　2)Snakes reproduce either by laying eggs, which the female usually abandons in some secluded spot, or by bringing forth living young, which are also abandoned.蛇或为卵生,通常雌蛇在某个隐蔽地点产卵后弃之而去,或为胎生,幼蛇同样被抛弃。

　　3)Eventually, of course, the inevitable happens.当然,不可避免的事最后终于发生了。

　　2.名词化的过去分词。如:

　　1)The enemy abandoned their wounded.敌人丢下了他们的伤员。

　　2)Many unknowns hung over the economy.有许多未知因素威胁着经济。

　　3.名词化的动名词。如:

　　1)But not all forgiving is immediately beneficial.可是,并非所有的宽恕心态都能马上获益。

　　2)The spitting is used only in defense and never to get food.吐射毒液只用于自卫,从不用于捕食。

　　3)Habitual tea drinking over several years preserves bone density in both men and women.多年的饮茶习惯能够保持男性和女性的骨密度。

　　和用作主语、宾语、表语、定语、补语的动名词不同,名词化了的动名词前面可用冠词、形容词、代词和其他名词等来修饰。

　　4.名词化的数词。如:

　　1)The old woman was down on all fours; the rickshawman halted.老女人伏在地上;车夫便也立住脚。

　　2)According to Guinness, Furman has set 70 similarly quirky firsts.根据《吉尼斯世界记录大全》记载,弗曼创造了70项同样离奇的第一。

　　5.名词化的动词。如:

　　1)South African Mark Shuttleworth, 28, and two other crew members are due to touch down on the Kazakh steppe after an eight-day stay aboard the International Space Station. 28岁的南非人马克·沙特尔沃思和两名宇航员一道预定在国际空间站停留八天,然后在哈萨克斯坦大草原上着陆。

　　2)Methodical searches with bloodhounds, helicopters, and phalanxes of police have failed to turn up any clues.警犬、直升机、大批警察四处寻找,没有得到任何线索。

　　3)I called my mother, told her the broadcast time, and asked her to give me her take on the show.我给母亲打去电话,告诉她播放的时间,要求她过后跟我谈谈她的观后感。

　　6.名词化的固定词组。如:

　　1)And a 14-year-old South African girl and would-be astronaut even asked Shuttleworth to marry her in a live link-up arranged by Mandela.在经过曼德拉安排的一次电视直播对话中,一位想成为太空旅行者的14岁南非女孩甚至要沙特尔沃思娶她。(link-up联系)

　　2)When I retire I'm just a has-been.我一退休就是个过时人物了。(has-been过时的人或物)

　　3)He made a great to-do over nothing.他无端大惊小怪。(to-do忙乱;喧闹)

　　4)If I pursued only happiness and lived just for the moment, I'd be a poor husband and father, a no-account with a perpetual three-day growth on my chin.如果我只图快活,过一天算一天的话,那我就是一个不称职的丈夫和父亲,永远是一个三天不刮胡子的无用之人。(no-account无价值的人)

　　(文/姜建华；英语辅导报大学教师版2003-2004学年第31、32期；版权归英语辅导报社所有，独家网络合作伙伴新浪教育，未经许可，不得以任何形式进行转载。)