EDITOR ECHO XIONG
Friday, May 16, 2014
DESIGNER YANG LU
LANGUAGE
Editorreader
interaction
15
One step
at a time
Chinese drama to be on HBO
1. Wuhan dialect
jiǎ
mā
假 嘛
Meaning: pretend to do sth. or
fake doing sth.
Two years ago, the Chinese
costume drama Empresses in the
Palace ( 《甄嬛传》) became an
instant hit throughout China. Its
fame and popularity even spread
to Korea, Singapore, and Malaysia.
Not long ago, Producer Cao Ping
confirmed the rumor that the show
will be broadcasted to American
audiences on HBO. The 76episode TV show will be turned
into a six-part television movie.
Chinese:
lún dào tā de shí hòu tā jiǎ mā
轮 到
他 的 时
候， 他 假 嘛
yǒu bié de shì
有
别
的 事。
English: When it's his turn, he
pretends that something came
up, that he has something else
to do.
2. Chinese characters
Some wonder how
translators will convert some of
the ancient Chinese lines into
English and keep the original
spirit intended by the
screenwriters. Some linguistic
concepts only exist in Chinese,
and some suggest that this may
create something of a problem.
Below are some of the
quotes that Chinese viewers
particularly enjoyed and the
English translations that fans
came up with. They may be
easy for Chinese readers to
understand, but they might not
make any sense to foreigners.
" 这真真是极好的 ," translated
as "This really really good
enough" by Chinese fans,
simply means "This is great." In
the show, those who use this
line are powerful women. The
screenwriter used three
modifiers to emphasize how
great something is and show
the arrogance of the speaker.
" 皇上万福金安 ," translated as
"Hope you 10,000 lucky and
safe with gold" by the fans, is
a means of greeting the
emperor which means "Good
morning, your Majesty." In
Western movies, this kind of
language can also be seen. The
greeting customs may be
different, but the intention and
purpose are the same.
" 赏你一丈红 ," translated as
"Give you a 3.33333 meter
red" by fans, is a way of
saying "Accept your
punishment." But when the
person used this line, she
intended to make it sound
cruel. So there are people who
suggest that the translation
should be, "Enjoy your slow
torture to death."
These are just some
examples . When it comes to
translating , one should
achieve faithfulness to the
original context first . Polishing
the target language or
maintaining its original flavor
comes second .
niǎo
鸟
Development:
Meaning: bird
Chinese:
chūn tiān de huā xiāng niǎo yǔ
春
天
让
人
香
鸟
语，
不 禁 陶
醉。
3. Buzzword
mì
闺 蜜
Btranslation
eautiful
Meaning: BFF (best friend
forever) /BFFL (best friend for
The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls
life)
Chinese:
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The tide rises, the tide falls,
The twilight darkens, the curlew calls;
Along the sea-sands damp and brown
The traveler hastens toward the town,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.
花
English: The scented flowers and
the songs of the birds in spring
are mesmerizing.
guī
( 亨利·华兹华斯·朗费罗 )
的
ràng rén bú jìn táo zuì
潮涨兮，潮落兮
廖康 译
潮涨兮，潮落兮。
天黄昏，暮鸦啼。
褐色海滩潮又湿，
行人上城赶路急。
潮涨兮，潮落兮。
Darkness settles on roofs and walls,
But the sea, the sea in the darkness calls;
The little waves, with their soft, white hands,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.
夜幕降，千家寂。
海扬波，不停息。
浪花小手白且柔，
抹去沙滩人足迹。
潮涨兮，潮落兮。
The morning breaks, the steeds in their stalls
Stamp and neigh, as the hostler calls;
The day returns, but nevermore
Returns the traveler to the shore,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.
天破晓，马夫起。
圈中驹，嘶又踢。
夜去昼来仍如故，
行人一去无消息。
潮涨兮，潮落兮。
Striving to learn
Chinese or English?
Learning a new language
takes more than just passion.
The Changjiang Weekly strives
to be an educational platform
for second language learners.
We will do the best that we
can to improve the English
levels of our Chinese readers
and the Chinese levels of
foreign readers. If you have any
language learning questions,
please do not hesitate to send
your questions to us at
[email protected].
hǎo guī mì shì yí bèi
zi de
好
子 的。
闺
蜜
是 一 辈
English:
A BFF is for life.
4. Sentence of the week
English:
A person who never made
a mistake never tried anything
— Albert Einstein
new.
Chinese:
Yí gè cóng bù fàn cuò de rén
一 个
从
不 犯
错
的 人，
yí dìng cóng lái méi yǒu cháng shì
一
定
从
来
没
有
尝
试
guò rèn hé xīn xiān shì wù
过
任 何 新
鲜 事 物。
—阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦