摘要
本文針對Mona Baker（1998）所提翻譯文本三大普遍特徵（universal features）中的簡化現象（simplification）進行研究。首先，透過對多位譯者的觀察，探討簡化成因是出於「選擇性調整」（optional shifts）、還是「義務性調整」（obligatory shifts）。其次，針對四篇由準譯者（譯研所修習第四學期課程之研究生）譯出的語料，進行簡化手法的分類及分析。同時，再加上一篇成熟譯者所譯的文本做為檢證之用。藉此觀察簡化的屬性特徵及其內部結構，以探索其成因並進一步將簡化的操作梳理成可從源語端順次排列到譯語端的線型描述。語料分析結果顯示，三種簡化類型的使用頻率依次為刪除、弱化、簡縮。刪除的意義在「去蕪存菁」；弱化則出於「突顯訊息焦點」之需；簡縮的主要意義在於「修辭功能」，如「同義避複」及成語的運用。其中最重要的簡化手法就是訊息刪除，所佔比例超過全體之六成。從各種簡化手法的分布來看，譯者所做的訊息取捨，明顯偏向於譯語端。由源語端向譯語端依序排列，內容包括：「知識背景共有」、「語意重疊」、「訊息強弱調整」、「觀點改變」、「源語特質」、「順應譯語」、「譯語修辭」等。
並列摘要
The study sets out to investigate the phenomenon of simplification in translation, one of the three universal features in translated texts, brought forth by Mona Baker (1998). First, through observation of several translations, the study discusses whether the cause of simplification is ＂optional shifts＂ or ＂obligatory shifts.＂ Second, four texts translated by quasi-translators (students of the fourth semester students at the Graduate Institute of Translation and Interpretation Studies) are categorized and analyzed according to features of simplification. At the same time, one text translated by a senior translator will be used as a benchmark. By examining the features and structure of simplification, the study attempts to discover the cause and to explain the process of simplification in a linear way from the source language to the target language. Analysis of the texts shows that the three types of simplification appear in the order of deleting, weakening, and shortening. To delete means to ＂get rid of the redundant＂; to weaken means to emphasize only the focal point of a message; to shorten means to ＂modify＂, such as the avoidance of synonyms and the use of set phrases. Among the three types of simplification, the deletion of messages has the highest proportion, accounting for 60%. Judging from the distribution of simplifying techniques, when translators choose whether or not to simplify messages, they take the reader's acceptance into consideration. From the source language to the target language, the causes of simplification may include ＂shared background knowledge＂, ＂overlapped meaning＂, ＂adjustment of the force of a message＂, ＂change of perspective＂, ＂characteristics of source language＂, ＂accommodating target language＂, and ＂rhetoric of target language.＂