「起承轉合」觀念用於翻譯的探討

「起承轉合」傳統上用於指導詩文的結構章法，近數十年來已逐漸有人把這觀念用於翻譯，使譯文更貼近中文結構，但似未受到譯界注意。筆者試將觀察所得的技巧融入中文《讀者文摘》的譯稿中，受到編輯的客觀認可。「起承轉合」觀念一般用於英文長句的翻譯，有兩種方式：一是沿用傳統的「起承轉合」觀念調整原文的語序；二是延伸「起承轉合」的觀念，補充原文所無，使譯文更接近中文的語感。此外，本文並介紹筆者為應用「起承轉合」觀念翻譯自行開發的分析技巧，較傳統的文法分析法快捷簡便。「起承轉合」觀念除翻譯外，可望用於翻譯比賽、分析譯作、本土翻譯理論題系及應用於機器翻譯方面。

關鍵字

起承轉合；譯文架構調整；新翻譯分析法

並列摘要

The four-part writing model, or qi-cheng zhuan-he, has long served as a guideline for the composition of literary or scholarly works. In recent decades, some translators, as observed, have adopted this traditional concept to make their renditions closer to Chinese writing structure; yet it seems that their efforts have not yet received due attention. As a former freelance translator for the Chinese edition of Reader's Digest, I have personal experiences in applying the concept of qi-cheng zhuan-he to practice, with happy results which won the approval of its editors. The concept of four-part writing model is generally used in the translation of English long sentences into Chinese. One of the two applications is to rearrange the word order of the original text to meet that of the four-part writing model; the other is to add sentences or words wherever required so as to make the translation more readable. This article also introduces an analysis method developed by the author based on the four-part writing model. The new method will be faster and easier as compared with the traditional grammar-approach analysis method. In addition to professional translation practice, the concept of four-part writing model can also be used in translation contests, analysis of translations, development of local translation theories, and machine translation applications.