On the Differences between Chinese and English News Leads and Its Translation

【Abstract】This paper starts with the differences between chinese and english news leads in details form three aspects： the length of the lead， grammar and the position of the news sources. Then the author emphasizes on Chinese and English news leads translation strategies and puts forward three translation methods： splitting and integration， restructuring of information and adjusting of the position of the news sources.

【Key words】differences； news leads； translation strategy

1. Introduction

Modern people have many choices of getting news information， such as TV， newspaper and internet. However， people can not read all the news report at a time. They often read the news lead.

2. The Differences between Chinese and English News Leads

The first difference is the length. English news lead is often a sentence while there are 2-3 sentences in Chinese news lead. So we can see that the information in English news lead is very succinct while that in Chinese news lead is relatively specific.

The second difference is the grammar. The English news lead often begins with noun phrases and verbs and emphases on “who” or “what”. While the Chinese news lead often begins with prepositional phrase， such as time or place and emphases on “who” or “what”. The latter also put “who” in the beginning when the person is very important.

The third difference is news source. Generally speaking， news source of the lead often appears in the end in English news except for some important news source. However， the news source is put in the beginning of the sentence in Chinese news lead.

3. The Translation Strategy Between Chinese and English News Leads

We have got general information of the differences between Chinese and English news leads. Chinese and English news leads are difference in the length of the lead， grammar and the position of the news sources. Based on the differences between Chinese and English news leads from these three aspects， the author puts forwards three translation strategies： splitting and integration， restructuring of information and adjusting of the position of the news sources. The following part will simply summarize three translation strategies by taking the direct news leads.

The first strategy： splitting and integration. Compared with the simplified English news leads， the Chinese news leads contain more information in detail. In the translation of news leads， if we want to translate the English news leads into Chinese ones， we need to split one sentence into several ones. Sometimes， we even have to pick up some information from the following parts of the news and write them in the beginning part. On the other hand， if we want to translate the Chinese news leads into English ones， we should try to put all the main information into one sentence and even simply or omit some information when it is necessary.

The second strategy： restructuring of information. The Chinese news lead often begins with “when”， “where” and then is the event. While the English news lead begins with “what”. We should put “where” and “when” in the beginning part when translate English news leads into Chinese ones. Otherwise， we need to put “who” and “what” in the beginning when translate Chinese news leads into English ones.

The third strategy： adjusting of the position of sources. The position of the news sources in Chinese news leads is often put forward. While the position of the news sources in English news leads is often rear-mounted except for some very important events. In the practical translation， when we want to translate English news leads into Chinese ones， it is better for us to put the news sources in the beginning.

4. Conclusion

The translation of news leads is a special process of information exchange. After the analysis of the general knowledge of news lead， we can see that there are differences between Chinese and English news leads. When translating the news lead， the translator must consider these differences and take great care of adopting the proper method. So we can convey more information effectively and briefly. The author hopes that more people can realize the study value of this topic and research into proper translation theories.

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