Comparison of Subject Prominence and Topic Prominence and Chinese-English Translation Skills

摘要：英语强调形式与语法，其结构往往是由主谓宾组合。而汉语强调意思的领会，一个话题可充当主语，再加之评述，他人便可以揣摩出其意。本文旨在基于对主题显著与主语显著进行对比研究从而找到汉译英的翻译技巧。

关键词：主语显著;主题显著;英汉对比;翻译技巧

Abstract： English composed of subject and predicate pays much attention on the formality and grammar，while Chinese has more emphases on the understanding of meaning. One person can guess the meaning when the subject is the topic. The purpose of this paper is to study the C-E translation skills based on the comparison of subject-prominence and topic-prominence.

Key words： subject-prominence， topic-prominence， comparison， translation skills

1.The comparison of the subject between English and Chinese Sentences

English is a subject-prominence language in which sentences structures are built on subject-predicate pivot.（Xiong Bing，2012：115）Through analyzing the word order over many languages，Zhang Zhenbang proposed five basic sentence patterns SVC，SV，SVoO，SVOC.（Zhang Zhenbang，2017：15-16）.In Chinese，the subject is literally the subject matter to talk about， and the predict is what the speaker comments on.（Chao，1968： 69-70）Through the comparison of two different languages， the differences are as follows. Mostly， Chinese often has double subjects and English often has only one subject. There is formal subject in English like “it”. The role of the passive voice is not very important in Chinese but is very popular in English.

2.C-E translation skills

2.1 Identify the real subject

There are a lot of topics in Chinese sentences， and every subject in different clause may be different. Shen Xiaolong proposes that Chinese sentences present a linear flow and turn， which seeks rhythm and cadence without being constrained by the form. （申小龙， 1988：59）We need to analyse the sentence and find the real subject when the subject is not fixed. For example，in the sentence “we broke up and my heart was broken”，“we” is the real subject.

2.2 Use the impersonal pronoun “it”

In English， the impersonal pronoun is also called “dummy subject” （Xiong Bing， 2012：128）. It is often used to replace the concept of time， distance or natural phenomena. For example， in the sentence “it must be pointed out that nothing has been done”.

2.3 Use the passive voice

In English， the role of passive voice is of great significance.The extensive application of the passive voice is related to the different way of thinking in west country.On the other hand， the passive voice is usually subjective and can illustrate the question directly.For example，“his hair was cut last weekend”.

References：

[1]Xiong，Bing. Comparison of English and Chinese and Translation： An Introduction

[M].Wuhan： China Central Normal University Publishing House， 2012.

[2]Zhang， Zhenbang. A New English Grammar Coursebook [M]. Shanghai： Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press， 2017.

[3]Chao， Yue Ren. A Grammar of Spoken Chinese[M]. Berkeley & Los Angeles： University of California Press， Ltd.，1968.

[4]申小龍.中国句型文化[M]. 长春：东北师范大学出版社， 1988.

作者简介：

王星瑶，女，湖北，襄阳，汉，湖北文理学院外国语学院英语系，职称：无，学历：本科在读生.研究方向：英语教育 .