Analysis on Complex of Sentences Based on Different Expressions between Chinese and English—example of “Bank Non—performing Assets Management”

阮佳佳

I. Introduction

“Bank Non-performing Assets Management” is selected from a book named Theory and Practice of non Literary Translation written by Li Changshuan（2004：205）. Li said “The translation is the basis of interpretation， and the highest level of interpretation is exporting.”In “Comparative Studies of English and Chinese” written by Lian Shuneng（2004：45）， foreign language experts and scholars have been being spoken highly of， “the book has both theoretical value and practical significance”This paper analyzes the complex and simplex of sentences in the translation of “Bank Non-performing Assets Management” based on Comparative Studies of English and Chinese.

II. Literature Review

According to Lian Shuneng（2010：89）， there are many factors of complex sentences in English written language.The way to connect words and sentences in English is more flexible and abundant than that in Chinese. On the other hand， what can be the elements of English sentences are short phrases， which are with no limit of length， and clauses in which can dovetail several dependent clauses into each other. By adding many kinds of coordinate component， supplementary elements （such as appositives， parenthesis and independent component）， and especially variety of modifier with flexible connection， the sentence can be like a towering tree full of leaves.

In English， S-V concord controls the structure of the whole sentence. With restriction of morphological changes， connection of words and clauses and reference of pronouns， complex sentences can remain together. R.Eastman （1984：184） pointed， “The English sentence is extremely plastic. It can be enlarged， combined， adjusted with almost any degree of fitness to accommodate a writers thought”. Therefore， English sentences， especially sentences in English written language， are intricate. That is， making a sentence is usually in “architecture style”. Generally， every sentence has a complete structure in which many other elements make conjunctive nexus and then adhere to the structure directly or indirectly so as that the whole sentence is very abundant like a many-stories building.

III. Special Translation Analysis

1. Subordination

Subordination is much preferred in English language. The passage goes on with more specific details， focusing on the thesis orderly and structurally. It usually takes salient order， that is， the sentence begins with a key word or short topic sentence which states the main or the most important judgment， conclusion， opinion， result and action， etc and then recounts some more relevant information about background， condition， situation， reasons and analysis etc. For example：endprint

在二十世紀末剥离不良贷款，到二十世纪成为“好银行”，以新的面貌迎接“入世”的挑战，是1999年中国金融界最热门的话题之一...In 1999， a favorite topic of the banking sector is to how leave behind the problem assets and enter the new century as a good bank， a bank able to compete in the WTO environment.

In English translation， “topic” is the key word which is put in the front of whole sentence in order to make readers more easily to focus on it. After the key word， other information parts are then translated. Another example is：就辽宁省建行来说，经总行信贷管理委员会审批并经信达资产管理公司审核确认我行第一批、第二批剥离不良资产累计近百亿元。Our bank， CBC Liaoning Branch， has altogether removed nearly RMB10 billion of NPLs on two occasions， both approved by the credit management committee of headquarters and verified by Cinda AMC.

It is “我行第一批、第二批剥离不良资产累计近百亿元” that is the topic sentence. However the syntax order is quite opposite in Chinese version and English translation. Different from Chinese language， the topic sentence is still put on the left of the whole sentence so that it is obvious for readers to find the key point.Instead of copying the syntax order in Chinese version， English translation version takes general-to-specific sequence. The government will pay back the old “debts”is the main point. The “debts” is owed to the bank and in order to pay back the old “debts”， the government has removed the NPLs caused by its decisions.

2. Cohesive ties

In making English sentences， many ways for connection are utilized such as conjunctive words， phrases and clauses， focusing on the sentence form and structure as English is a grammatical language.

1） relative and conjunction

Relatives which include who， whom， whose， that， which， what， when， where， why， and how etc are used to connect the subject and clauses. While conjunctions which include and， or， but， yet， so， however， as well as， （n）either...（n）or and when， while， since， until， so.. that...etc are used to connect words， phrases and clauses. It is hardly to make an English sentence without them. For example， “We learned in the debt restructuring process ‘that the only way out for the state-owned commercial banks is to...， a system ‘that gives priority to risk management”. and “In 1999， a favorite topic of the banking sector is to ‘how leave behind the problem assets...”.

2） preposition

Prepositions include simple prepositions such as with， to， of， about， between etc， compound prepositions such as inside， throughout， upon etc and according to， because of， apart from etc. R.Bander （1978：51-52） pointed out “A preposition may be defined as a connection word showing the relation of a noun or substitute for a a noun to some other word in the sentence...Prepositions appear constantly in English speech and writing...Over ninety percent of preposition usages involves these nine prepositions：with， to， from， at， in， of， by， for and on”. For example：a favorite topic “of”...， leave “behind” the problem assets， assets management companies “for”...， pay back the old debts...“by” removing... and so on.endprint

3） other ways for connection

By adding many kinds of supplementary elements independent component， and especially variety of modifier with flexible connection， the sentence can be like a towering tree full of leaves. For example：國家把国有商业银行长期以来因政策的、历史的、客观的、主观的原因而形成的不良贷款包袱予以解脱，还了多年积欠银行的“旧债”。The government will pay back the old “debts” it owes the banks by removing the NPLs caused by its decisions.

IV. Conclusion

According to Contrastive Studies of English and Chinese， English people has developed a spirit of pursuing difference. Instead of agreeing with others easily， they prefer to avoid outworn cliche and faded metaphor which dry up and lose their freshness. According to Bank Non-performing Assets Management， it is easy to see that in English language， they have a strong sense to use subordination and cohesive ties such as relative and conjunction words and preposition， to make sentence more lively and changeable. It is a practice to cultivate the sentence structure with modifiers. However， when translating Chinese into English， we should not only focus on how to make beautiful sentences， but also keep punctuation and making Chinese structure clear in mind before translation.

References：

[1]Robert G.Bander.（1978）.American English Rhetoric.London：G.&C.Merriam Company.

[2]O.Jespersen.（1954）.Language，its Nature，Development and Origin.on：George Allen& Unwin Ltd.endprint