Diction(选词法)

Diction（选词法）

Choice of Affective Meanings（选择情感意义）

Affective meaning refers to what is communicated of the feelings and attitudes of the writer towards the reader. You may address somebody as an “idiot” to convey your despise, or describe something as “marvelous” to express your positive evaluation. There are basically three types of affective meanings: positive (褒义), neutral (中性), and derogatory (贬义).

Positive portly (发福的) Neutral overweight (超重的) Derogatory obese (臃肿的) slender, slim (苗条的) underweight (体重不够的) skinny (瘦削的) senior, elder (长者) old man/woman (老人) fossil (老朽)

Some words when used in different contexts may have different affective meanings. In translating, it is significant to determine the implications of these words according to the context.

Words death result ambition scheme collaborate Positive 仙逝，长眠 成果 雄心，抱负 Neutral 死，死亡 结果 志向，强烈欲望 Derogatory 一命呜呼，见鬼 后果 野心 计划，规划，方案 阴谋，诡计，计谋 合作，协作 与敌勾结，通敌 歧视 discrimination 辨别力，识别力，鉴赏力 不一视同仁

1. individualism: ① feeling or behaviour of a person who likes to do things his/her own way, regardless of what other people do; ② theory that favours free action and complete liberty of belief for each individual person (contrasted with the theory that favours the supremacy of the state); (OALD 2002:758) ③ the idea that the rights and freedom of the individual are the most important rights in a society (LDCE 1998:776).

个人主义: 一切从个人出发，把个人利益放在集体利益之上，只顾自己，不顾别人的错误思想。个人主义是生产资料私有制的产物，是资产阶级世界观的核心。它的表现形式是多方面的，如个人英雄主义、自由主义、本位主义等（《现代汉语词典》2002：656）。

Therefore, individualism（中性词）≠ 个人主义（贬义词）≈ 个体主义

2. liberalism: liberal opinions or principles, esp. with regard to social and political matters; liberal: ①willing to understand and respect the ideas and feelings of others; ②supporting or allowing some change, e.g. in political or religious affairs; ③encouraging or leading to a wide general knowledge, wide possibilities for self-expression, and respect for other

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people’s opinions; ④giving freely and generously; ⑤given freely; large; ⑥neither close nor very exact (LDCE 1998:873).

自由主义：①19世纪和20世纪初期的一种资产阶级政治思想。自由主义者代表资产阶级的利益，反对政治的、社会的和宗教的束缚，在历史上曾经起过进步的作用。但在资产阶级取得政权后，自由主义就成了掩饰资产阶级统治的幌子。②革命队伍中的一种错误的思想作风，主要表现是缺乏原则性，无组织，无纪律，强调个人利益等（《现代汉语词典》2002：2550）。

Therefore, liberalism（中性词）≠ 自由主义（贬义词）

3. pragmatism: pragmatic ways of considering and dealing with things; pragmatic: dealing with matters in the way that seems best under the actual conditions, rather than following a general principle; concerned with practical results (LDCE 1998:1173).

实用主义：现代资产阶级哲学的一个派别，创始于美国。它的主要内容是否认世界的物质性和真理的客观性，把客观存在和主观经验等同起来，认为有用的就是真理，思维只是应付环境解决疑难的工具（《现代汉语词典》2002：1744）。 Therefore, pragmatism（褒义词）≠ 实用主义（贬义词） Examples:

1. Aggressive nations threaten world peace. 侵略成性的国家威胁世界和平。

A salesman must be aggressive if he wants to succeed. 推销员如要成功，必须有闯劲。 2. He incited the soldiers to fight bravely. 他激励士兵勇敢作战。

He was charged with inciting people to violence. 他被控煽动人们暴动。 3. Every dog has his day. 人人皆有得意之时。

4. “You chicken!” he cried, looking at Tom with contempt. “你这胆小鬼！”他轻蔑地看着汤姆嚷道。

(3) Compare and translate the following, paying attention to the words in italics: 1. ① The story of the hero is extremely moving. ② He storied about his age.

③ That face must have a story belonging to it. ④ The real story was made public.

⑤ What a story! I don’t believe a word of it.

2. ① He’s a stubborn child who won’t obey his mother. ② The defenders put up stubborn resistance. 3. ① Thy found a mountain refuge for climbers. ② The political dissidents sought refuge abroad. 4. He is a bookworm.

5. All the constitutional powers were vested in a single being.

Choice of Grammatical Meanings（选择语法意义）

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Examples:

1. The lapped wafers are then polished to a mirror finish with graded diamond polish. 把研磨好的薄片用各级金刚砂抛光剂抛光到镜面光洁度。

2. Take the cart back to the back yard and back it into the shed at the back of the stable. 把牛车拉回到后院，再把它倒到牛棚后面的小屋去。 3. He had no stomach to follow us. 他不想跟我们走。

I can’t stomach this job any longer. 这工作我再也受不了啦。 Drills

4. ①It is neither round nor square. ②The wheels go round rapidly.

③The night watchman makes his rounds every hour. ④The earth moves round the sun.

⑤The ship rounded the Cape of Good Hope. ⑥The talk rounded into a plan. 5. I iron my clothes with an iron.

6. Brush your hair with the hairbrush. 7. Paper the walls with white paper.

8. You must ship the cargo in a large ship.

Choice of Contextual Meanings（选择语境意义）

Examples: Book

1. Show me the complaint book, please. 请把意见簿拿给我看看。

2. Milton’s Paradise Lost consists of twelve books. 弥尔顿的长诗《失乐园》共有12卷。 3. That’s all I remember, sir, on the Book.

凭《圣经》起誓，长官，我记得的就是这些。

4. He claims to have been graduated from this college, but his name is not on the books. 他自称是从本学院毕业的，但注册簿上没有他的名字。 5. He is always painstakingly at his books. 他总是埋头苦读。

6. The music was fine, but the book was very poor. 音乐是出色的，但是歌词很糟。

7. How many names are there on your books? 你们的登记名册上共有多少人？

8. He went out to the village to pay tradesmen’s books. 他到村里的买卖人那儿付账去了。

9. In the business college students are taught to keep books. 商学院教授学生作簿记。 10. Are you in the book?

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电话簿里有你的电话号码吗？ Drills Power

1. I will do everything within my power to assist you. 2. The new kinescope has a resolving power of 800 lines. 3. Basically, all power is with the people.

4. Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.

5. China has a few nuclear weapons, but it will never join the so-called club of nuclear powers.

英语词义：较概括，较灵活，范围很宽 汉语词义：较具体，较凝滞，范围较窄

Choice of Collocative Meanings（选择搭配意义）

Examples: 1. Build (v.)

build a house 盖房子 build a fire 生火 build a ship 造船 build a car 制造汽车 build a bridge 架桥 build a stamp collection 集邮 build a dam 筑坝 build an answer 思索作答 build one’s confidence 树立信心

build the drama of a story 构思故事的戏剧性情节 build scholars of tomorrow 培养未来的学者 Reading builds the mind. 阅读能发展智能。

2. Subjection of nature’s forces to man, machinery, application of chemistry to industry and agriculture, steam-navigation, railways, electric telegraphs, clearing of whole continents for cultivation, canalization of rivers, whole populations conjured out of the ground — what earlier century had even a presentiment that such productive forces slumbered in the lap of social labour? (K. Marx and F. Engels: Manifesto of the Communist Party) 自然力的征服，机器的采用，化学在工业和农业中的应用，轮船的行驶，铁路的通行，电报的使用，整个整个大陆的开垦，河川的通航，仿佛用法术从地下呼唤出来的大量人口 — 过去哪一个世纪能够料想到有这样的生产力潜伏在社会劳动里呢? Drills

Translate the following, paying attention to the collocations: 3. Heavy (adj.) a heavy rain a heavy sea a heavy load a heavy buyer a heavy crop a heavy demand heavy news heavy sorrow a heavy vote a heavy thinker a heavy schedule a heavy politician heavy advertising a heavy play heavy casualties This book is heavy reading.

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4. Good (adj.)

good manners good soil a good king good humor a good Catholic good living good eggs a good question a good debt good sense a good hour a good eater and a good sleeper

5. In order to get a large amount of waterpower we need a large pressure and a large current. 6. Briefly, a long thin wire has a high resistance; a short thick wire has a low resistance.

7. This country was recovering its true self, drawing lessons both from its own mistakes and from its enemies.

8. On display was merchandise attractive in price and quality. 9. They captured fifty enemy soldiers and many weapons.

3.5 Choice of Stylistic Meanings（选择文体意义）

Examples of Chinese stylistic synonyms

书面语词 母亲 诞辰 清晨 逝世 散步 恐吓 口语词 妈妈 生日 早上 死

溜达 吓唬

古语词/旧词 殆 乘 致 木匠 厨子 大夫 现代词/新词 危险 坐 给 木工 厨师 医生

普通用语 给 现在 办法 安排 私下 这 措施 部署 擅自 此 公文用语 给予 兹

普通用语 飞 心 静 光亮 半夜 寂寞 文艺作品用语 飞翔 心灵 寂静 晶莹 子夜 寂寥

Examples of English stylistic synonyms with their translations

Informal broke, flat broke, hard up 穷, 衣袋空空, 穷光蛋, 一个子儿也没有 Neutral poor 贫穷 Formal (Literary) poverty-stricken, penniless, in want, underprivileged, impecunious, indigent 身无分文，一文不名，穷困，贫困 pooped, dog-tired, worn- tired out, played-out, all in 没劲, 累死了 疲劳 exhausted, weary, fatigued, spent 疲乏，疲备，筋疲力尽，疲惫不堪 boy, young young/little punk (贬), kid, person, young guy, lad teenager 小流氓, 年轻人, 男孩子，小鬼, 小伙子 男孩, 年轻人，青少年 youth, stripling 年轻人, 年轻男人 60

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