试论翻译单位的灵活性

翻译单位的研究和确定 ,对于翻译批评和翻译实践都有重要意义。但是以什么为翻译单位 ,人们的认识并不完全相同。实际上翻译单位具有一定的灵活性 ,可以经常替换 ,翻译者的任务就是要按照具体情况寻找合适的翻译单位。当然 ,灵活性并不是随意性。大量的翻译实践表明 ,我们通常以句子作为翻译单位比较可行 ;如句子不能解决问题 ,再从高于句子的层面上 ,即句群、段落、语篇的层面上去解决。

On the flexibility of the translation unit

This paper deals with the translation unit,a subject of interest in translation circles both at home and abroad. As there exist different opinions in this aspect, the authors discuss the flexibility of the translation unit, pointing out that the translators shall manage to find out a proper unit in their translation practice. There is a general tendency that a sentence is more likely regarded as a translation unit. Otherwise the translation unit should be found at the levels of sentence group, paragraph and text respectively.