1. Parody(仿拟)如果译者功底不凡,能知作者之所“仿”,那么,理解与翻译也就“水到渠成”。如:Clearly,when it comes to marriage,practicing beforehand doesn’t make perfect. 可以译成:显然,在婚姻问题上,婚前同居并不能令婚姻生活趋于完美。对待“仿拟”修辞格的方法之一是还原。所谓还原,即故意撇开成语的引申义,而“硬”用其字面义。如:若流感影响到了肠胃,那就只能饮用点茶水,要吃下其他东西就非常困难了。再如:Little John was born with a silver spoon in a mouth,which was rather curly and large. 英语成语to be born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth的含义是“出生在富贵之家”。这里,作者不用此引申义,而用字面意思。试译:小约翰嘴形弯曲,且大得出奇,好像生下来的时候嘴中含了一把银勺子似的。
2. Syllepsis(异叙)此修辞格的特点是用一个词(动词、形容词或介词)同时与两个词或者更多相搭配,巧用一词多义的特点。如:He first put a club in my hand when I was about ten. I threw a lot of tantrums in the upland hills of North Carolina,and clubs too. I was in such a rush to be good that he would urge me to “relax and enjoy the round. The game ends far too soon.” I didn’t have a clue what he meant. 试译:他第一次把高尔夫球棒放在我手里的时候,我大概十岁。在北卡罗来纳州的山中,我一次次发脾气,一次次把球棒扔掉。我急于求成,老爸总是劝我“放松点,慢慢打,比赛结束得太快了。”我一点儿也不明白他的意思
3. metonymy(借代)借代一般可以保留原文的修辞方式,不会引起误会,同时让译文多了一份词趣。如:So,during any five-week shape-up,focus more on the tape measure than on the bathroom scale. 译文A:因此,在此五周的减肥期内,要更多地注重自己的腰围,而不是自己的体重。译文B:因此,在此五周的减肥期内,把注意力放在量腰围的卷尺上,而不是放在浴室的磅秤上。
4. pun(双关)有许多看似无法在译文中挽留的原文形式的神韵和风采在译文中却得以挽留。如:First gentleman: Thou art always figuring disease in me,but thou art full of error,I am sound. Lucio: Nay,not as one would say,healthy; but so sound as things that are hollow; impiety has made a feast of thee. (整个对话之谐趣尽系双关词汇sound。)试译:绅士甲:你总以为我有那种病,其实你大错特错,我的身体响当当的。路奇奥:响当当的,可并不结实,就像空心的东西那样响当当的,你的骨头都空了,好色的毛病把你掏空了。
5. alliteration(头韵)英语辞格押头韵的手法历来被认为是不可译的,但是,面对alliteration,并不意味译者就无所作为。如下的两段译文就做了成功的尝试。如:Change is part of life and the making of character,hon. When the things happen that you do not like,you have two choices: You get bitter or better. 试译:变化是生活的一部分,而且也塑造了人的意志品德,亲爱的。当你不喜欢的事情发生了,你有两种选择:要么痛苦不堪;要么痛快达观。
6. metaphor(比喻)这个metaphor并非狭隘意义上的把A比作B的不使用比喻词(如as,like,as if等)的暗喻,而是广义上的英语词汇的比喻义。换言之,也就是英语词汇denotation(本义)之外的connotation(转义)。Peter Newmark在A Textbook of Translation中把英语中的比喻分成四类,令人耳目一新 have suggested elsewhere that there are four types of metaphor: fossilized,stock,recently created and original. 第一类:有学生在作文中写出如下句子:In the middle of the picnic,it started to rain cats and dogs,and everybody got soaked. 该句子被改为:While we were busy eating a picnic,a storm cloud suddenly appeared and everybody got soaked. 在A Dictionary of American Idioms中,写道:rain cats and dogs: To rain very hard; come down in torrents------A cliché.美国朋友说: If you use this metaphor,I will doubt if you are my grandfather’s uncle! 第二类:stock(常用的)这是指已被收入词典,但并不属于cliché范畴的比喻。 第三类的标准应该是:至少目前尚未被收入词典,同时又让人接受,并感到新意扑面. 第四类:original这种比喻并非随处可见,唾手可得。它是灵感思维的产物。这种比喻在词典上无踪影可觅,而且连参照物可能也没有。
7.明喻(Simile) 明喻是一种最简单、最常见的修辞方法,是以两种具有共同特征的事物或现象进行对比,表明本体和喻体的关系,两者都在对比中出现,其基本格式是“A像B”,常用的比喻词有as,like,as if,as though等。例如:He jumped back as if he had been stung,and the blood rushedsintoshis wrinkled face.(他往后一跳,好像被什么东西叮了一下似的,他那张布满皱纹的脸顿时涨得通红。)在《品尝家》一文中老人对“我”的慷慨施舍的反应如同被蜜蜂叮过一样,生动地刻画出一个处境凄凉内心却极度敏感的可怜老人的形象。
8.转喻(Metonymy) 转喻(即借代)是通过相近的联想,借喻体代替本体。例如:My 15 students read Emerson,Thoreau,and Huxley.(我的十五位学生读了爱默生、梭罗和赫胥黎的作品。)这是典型的转喻,以人名借代作品。又如 :Against the Oval Earth man,the first card I can play is the analogy of the sun and moon. (面对“地球卵形说”者,我能打的第一张牌是,太阳和月亮的相似性。)文中作者用具体第一张牌来借代抽象的“第一个论据”,更加生动形象,浅显易懂,也使语言新鲜活泼,富有表现力。
9.拟人(Personification) 拟人是把人类的特点、特性加于外界事物上,使之人格化的修辞格。例如:… four evergreen shrubs stood at each corner,swheresthey struggled to survive the dust and fumes from a busy main road.(……四丛常绿灌木分别位于每个角落,它们忍受着从繁忙的大街上吹来的尘烟,挣扎着活下去。)“挣扎”是有生命的物体的动作,作者给自然的花草赋予了生命,使它人格化。
10. 夸张(Hyperbole)夸张是一种故意言过其实,或夸大或缩小事物的形象,借以突出事物的某种特征或品格,鲜明地表达思想情感的修辞方式。例如:Vingo sat stunned,looking at the oak tree. It was covered with yellow handkerchiefs—20 of them,30 of them,maybe hundreds.(文戈坐在那儿望着橡树惊呆了。树上挂满了黄手绢——二十条,三十条,或许几百条。)此句中20 of them,30 of them,maybe hundreds就是运用了夸张的手法,主观地渲染了气氛。
11.反语(Irony) 英语修辞格irony就是说反话,用反面的话来表达正面的意思。这种修辞格可用来进行讽刺,但多数是用来表达一种善意的幽默或俏皮,故意说出与本意相反的话,例如:Slowly the old lady stooped to pick it (the cheque ) up. Her present,her lovely present. With trembling fingers she tore itsintoslittle bits. (老太太慢慢地弯下腰,把支票从地上捡起来,她的礼物,她的可爱的礼物!用颤抖的手指把它撕得粉碎。)老太太八十岁寿辰那天,急切地盼望女儿回家看望她,稍稍安慰她那颗孤寂的心,然而盼来的却是女儿的一张冷冰冰的支票,这当然不是老人心爱的礼物。故此处her lovely present是典型的irony,是句反话。
12.类比(Analogy)
It is also a form of comparison, but unlike simile or metaphor which usually uses comparison on one point of resemblance, analogy draws a parallel between two unlike things that have several common qualities or points of resemblance.
13.Metaphor(暗喻)
It is like a simile, also makes a comparison between two unlike elements, but unlike a simile, this comparison is implied rather than stated. 隐喻(metaphor)这种比喻不通过比喻词进行,而是直接将用事物当作乙事物来描写,甲乙两事物之间的联系和相似之处是暗含的。 For example, the world is a stage./ The diamond department was the heart and center of the store。
14.chiasmus(交叉)
交叉(chiasmus)是英语中一种常用的修辞方式。例如:Knowing something of everything and everything of something.著名学者周海中教授曾在《论英语交叉结构》一文中对这一常用的修辞方式作了全面而深入的研究。他认为,这一修辞格具有很高的美学价值和积极的修辞作用。