掌握中文之「主旨鏈」結構以避免使用英文化之中譯句子

The Application of Chinese Topic Chain in the Chinese Texts Translated from English

以主旨鏈為基本句法結構之中文句子，使用相當普遍，是中文特有的基本句法結構之一。本文之主要內容在於依據功能語法之文段與語鏈分析原則，舉例分析說明如何掌握中文之主旨鏈結構，以避免使用英文化之中譯句子，且使文章更通順自然。既然中文主旨鏈之使用必須要以具上下文之篇章或言談作基礎，我們在英譯中的文句中，若要避免使用英文化之結構，就必須遵循下列幾個基本原則：（一）、某一語句（或字串）之實際意義，須以其在整個篇章（或文段）中，依據上下文及其相關之語用情境所產生之意思，為該語句最恰當之語意；而非以該語句作為單一個體時，所翻譯出來的意義為其語意。也因此，某一語句是否使用主旨鏈結構，須以其在整個文段中之所在位置來決定。（二）、儘量避免使用較不易理解之左（前）置「多層次並列修飾詞」之結構，而改用較易理解之右（後）置之主旨鏈結構。將右分支之主旨鏈結構，與左分支之修飾詞結構，恰當的交錯使用，能改善「多層次並列修飾詞」之結構，而使文句變得更順暢自然而容易理解。（三）、依據主旨鏈應有之結構法，具有已知訊息、或具有全稱或特定指涉意涵之名詞詞組較可能被置於主旨語之位置。（四）、一般帶有從屬子句的語句，或有修飾主要子句（或其動詞）之副詞片語，除了表示原因或理由者外，須置於主要子句之前。總之，主旨鏈結構，具有承上啟下以使文句自然順暢之功能，是避免文句英文化之重要結構。The purpose of this article is to analyze and explain how topic chain, a frequently used syntactic construction of Chinese, and its related constructions can be tactfully used in translating English into Chinese to avoid using English-like Chinese structures. Based on the discourse orientation of Chinese topic chain use, the left-branching nature of Chinese noun phrase (NP) structure and the clausal sequence constraint of Chinese complex sentences, it is indicated that the following principles should be followed to avoid using English-like Chinese structures and to make a discourse more coherent: (i) The precise meaning of a topic chain is determined based on the whole discourse of the text where the chain belongs, rather than on the meaning of the chain on its own. (ii) Since a Chinese NP is left-branching while a topic chain is right-branching, the use of topic chain construction can enhance discourse coherence and ease the processing difficulty of a noun phrase with multiply embedded modifiers. (iii) Any major phrase, including the clause, in a chain can be topicalized, while a generic or definite NP is most likely to be topicalized. A topicalized NP is often the shared or old information in a clause. (iv) It is a preferred sequence that an adverbial clause of a Chinese sentence occurs before the main clause, with an exception of a causal adverbial clause, which can alternatively occur after the main clause.