Darkgaia: English and Chinese Translation Rules (Advanced)
Contents
English and Chinese Translation Rules
Sentence Structure
English (Verb oriented sentence structure)
- SV (intransitive)
- SVO (transitive + object)/(Prep + verb + object)
- SVOO (direct + indirect object)
- SVC (linluing V / transitive V / verb to "be" + Complement)
- SVOC
- SVOA (Adverbial [壮语]） 壮中结构
- SVA
Chinese (Subject + Predicate single sentences) （主谓单句）
- 动词谓语句 (SV, similar to English）
- 名词谓语句 (No verb, N + N)
- 形容词谓语句 (主）（谓） (Theme and Rheme)
- 主谓谓语句 [（主）（ 谓 ） ]
Missing Subject Sentences （零主语句）
Chinese sentences need not necessarily have a subject (the subject can be omitted, or defined implicitly according the context). However, English sentences usually do. The translator must remember to replace the appropriate subject (also known as a "dummy subject") into the English sentence after translation.
Connecting Sentences （流水句）
These are Chinese sentences used to connect ideas in a Chinese paragraph. When translating into English, one must remember to observe the appropriate English sentence structure: The first clause followed by additional supplementary information.
"Is" Sentences (“是”字句）
The Chinese equivalent of "Is" is the word “是”. A translator must take note of the words before and after 是 in order to produce the correct equivalent logical translation in English.
Notes
English -> Chinese
SVO[C] -> [(话题），（说明）]
(eng) Subjects are usually noun-based.
- Noun Phrases
- Infinitive Verbs
- "What"
- "That"
They can also be descriptions about time or locations (Proper Nouns)
(eng) English contains the use of Marked Themes/Sentence structures to convey emphasis 英语也有“话题--说明”句子.
(zho) The subjects of Chinese Sentences need not necessarily be a noun/noun phrase
Tree Structures vs Branch Structures
(树式结构 vs 竹式结构）
(eng) Simple sentence structure: Subject + Predicate (基本的主干 → 主语+谓语）
- Any further sentences or supplements branch from this basic sentence structure. （“树枝” 从主干发展出来的）
(zho) Do not conform to to one specific sentence structure (不存在一个主干结构，没有主干与树枝之分）
- Relies on meaning and conjunctions to continually add clauses. （靠意思和虚词等关联词）
Importance of Subjects
| English | 英 | Chinese | 中 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subject prominent | 注重主语 | Marked sentence structure | 话题-说明 |
| Subject-Verb based | 主谓结构 | Two form based | 双分结构 |
| Must have a subject, and the main verb is the focus of the sentence, the object will be acted upon by the verb | 主语不可少，谓语中的动词是句子中心，谓语中的宾语是目标/承受着 | What would be in the subject is the marked theme, which will be understood by the reader through context | 处在主语位置的词 → 话题，读者通过语境理解内容 |
| 3 main syntax SVO | “三分结构” 主谓（动）宾 (必须有主谓一致） | Ever-changing sentence contruction | 灵活的句子结构 |
