Repetition（重复法）

Repetition（重复法）

For English repetition, Fowler (1951:218) has this to say in The King’s English:

Even when the repetition is a part of the writer’s original plan, consideration is necessary before it can be allowed to pass: it is implied in the terms “rhetorical” or significant repetition that the words repeated would ordinarily be either varied or left out; the repetition, that is to say, is more or less abnormal, and whatever is abnormal may be objectionable in a single instance, and is likely to become so if it occurs frequently.

Compare Chinese with English:

1. 一个地方有一个地方的全局，一个国家有一个国家的全局，一个地球有一个地球的

全局。

A locality has its own over-all interest; a nation has another and the earth yet another. (nominal substitution)

2. 我们的民族再也不是一个被人侮辱的民族了。

Ours is no longer a nation subject to insult and humiliation. (nominal substitution)

3. 夺取这个胜利，已经是不要很久的时间和不要花费很大的气力了；巩固这个胜利，则是需要很久的时间和要花费很大的气力的。（《毛泽东选集》）

To win this victory will not require much more time and effort, but to consolidate it will. (nominal substitution and verbal omission)

4. 我们必须决定什么东西是应当称赞或歌颂的，什么东西是不应当称赞或歌颂的，什么东西是应当反对的。 We should decide what to commend and praise, what not to and what to oppose. (verbal omission)

5. 自周秦以来，中国是一个封建社会，其政治是封建的政治，其经济是封建的经济。 From the Zhou and Qin Dynasties onwards, Chinese society was feudal, as were its politics and its economy. (clausal substitution ) 6. 另外一种方法是化学方法。

Another method is the chemical process. / Another approach is the chemical method. (variation)

7. 电子管通常用来放大，而真空管则是电子管的另一名称。

An electron tube is generally used for amplification, and vacuum tube is another name for this device. (variation)

8. 他就是凭这个骗人的资格，他就是有这个骗人的资格。

His credentials are deception, that’s exactly what he has. (variation)

9. 一个人的工作，究竟是三分成绩七分错误，还是七分成绩三分错误，必须有个根本的估价。 We must have a fundamental evaluation of a person’s work and establish whether his achievements amount to 30 per cent and his mistakes to 70 per cent, or vice versa. (clausal substitution)

10. 中国人从来就是一个伟大的勇敢的勤劳的民族，只是在近代落伍了。这种落伍，完

全是被外国帝国主义和本国反动政府所压迫和剥削的结果。

The Chinese have always been a great, courageous and industrious nation; it is only in modern times that they have fallen behind. And that was due entirety to oppression and exploitation by foreign imperialism and domestic reactionary governments. (clausal

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substitution)

11. 你没有搞好，我是不满意的，得罪了你就得罪了你。

You have done a poor job and I am not satisfied, and if you feel offended, so be it. (clausal substitution)

12. 两篇文章，上篇与下篇，只有上篇做好，下篇才能做好。

In the writing of an article, the second half can be written only after the first half is finished. (variation)

Grammatical Repetition（语法性重复）

Repetition of the Modified（重复被修饰语）

Examples:

1. Let us revise our safety and sanitary regulations. 我们来修改安全规则和卫生规则吧。

2. The use of atomic weapons is a clear violation of international law, in particular of the Geneva Convention.

使用原子武器显然违反国际法，特别是违反日内瓦公约。 3. Aerostatics is the study of how an object is supported in the air by buoyancy, that is, its ability to float in the air as a boat floats on water.

空气静力学是研究物体怎样靠浮力而飘悬于空中的学科，也就是研究物体如同船浮于水上那样飘浮于空中的能力。 4. I very much admire your determination to strengthen China’s economy and to ensure that the fruits thereof are enjoyed by the masses who uphold China’s socialist construction. 我非常钦佩你们决心增强中国经济，并且决心保证使从事社会主义建设的人民群众能够享受经济发展的成果。 Drills 7.1.1

5. We are the witnesses of the scrupulous respect of the Government of China for the principles of non-intervention in the affairs of other states and of its unwavering supporting of the rights of peoples to independence and self-determination.

6. Last year, the output of coal in this region amounted to about 20 percent of the whole country; of steel 25 percent; of grain 30 percent; of cotton 35 percent. 7. They carried with them different tools, machines and iron and steel plates.

8. Like China, too, whose epic struggle over the centuries was to forge an enduring unity, we are jealous of this unity we are remolding of the diversity of peoples, languages and cultures, which are to be found within our shores.

Repetition of the Modifier（重复修饰语）

Examples & Drills 7.1.2 Guided Translation

1. I identify myself as one of critical lovers and loving critics of the United Nations. 我自认为我既是一个批评联合国的爱护者，又是一个爱护联合国的批评者。 2. The composition and thickness of a thin film determine its electrical and mechanical characteristics.

薄膜成分与薄膜厚度决定薄膜的电气特性和机械特性。

3. We need materials which can bear high temperature and pressure.

4. Under suitable conditions we can produce energy in the electrical form by the conversion

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of heat, mechanical and other forms of energy.

Repetition of the Verb which is Common to Several Objects, or the Object which is Common to Several Verbs（重复几个宾语所共有的动词或几个动词所共有的

宾语）

Examples & Drills 7.1.3 Guided Translation 1. We have to analyze and solve problems. 我们要分析问题，解决问题。

2. The decision to deploy a ballistic missile defense system depends primarily on cost, reliability and capability of the phased-array radar rather than on other technological factors.

部署弹道导弹防御系统的决策，主要取决于相控阵雷达的造价、可靠性和性能，而不是取决于其他技术因素。

3. We have come here to express our gratitude and the friendship, complete solidarity and comradeship-in-arms that unite our two peoples. 4. The two men are back, talking about Vietnam, about the son-of-bitch brigade commander who didn’t give a damn about lives, only his own reputation, and some of the stupidities and screwups of the war.

Repetition of the Preposition which is Common to Several Objects（重复几个宾语

所共有的介词）

Examples & Drills 7.1.4 Guided Translation

1. Despite his versatility of talent and shiftiness of purpose, this man has in his whole lifetime been wedded to the most fossilized routine. 尽管他有随机应变的本领，尽管他的主张反复无常，但是他终生都是极端墨守成规的。 2. The solid friendship between our two countries took shape during our protracted struggles against colonialism, hegemonism, and outmoded relationships.

Repetition of the Verb in Chinese for the Omitted or Substituted Verb in English（重复被省略或被替代的动词）

In English, the repeated finite verb or verbal phrase in the second clause is habitually understood when the auxiliary verb is repeated, or the pro-verb “do” is used, or after the infinitive sign “to”. In compound sentences, the repeated verbs in the second and the following clauses are often omitted. These omitted or substituted verbs, however, are usually repeated in translation.

Examples:

1. You can do it very well, if you care to. 如果你愿意做这件事，可以做得很好。

2. In any case work does not include time, but power does. 在任何情况下，功不包括时间，但功率却包括时间。

3. One cannot learn to produce a sound from an explanation only, or get a correct idea of a flavour from a description: a sound must be heard, a colour seen, a flavour tasted, an odour inhaled.

人不能只从讲解中学会发音，也不能光靠描述而真正体会出某种滋味来：声音必须耳闻，颜色必须目见，滋味必须口尝，气味必须吸入。

Drills 7.1.5

4. Work with, and not against, nature.

5. Reading exercises one’s eyes; speaking, one’s tongue; while writing, one’s mind.

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6. Thales thought water was the beginning of everything; Anaximenes, air; Heraclitus, fire. 7. The distribution of journals of science and technology according to language shows a wide variety. Roughly speaking, some of 44 percent of scientific journals are published in English, 14 percent in German, 13 percent in French, 8 percent in Russian, 5 percent in Spanish, 4 percent in Italian, and the remainder in other languages of the world. 8. Factories known to produce components for missiles and submarines are being camouflaged, as are missile launching and test sites throughout the USSR. (Reader’s Digest, Dec. 1977)

Repetition of the Noun in Chinese for the Pronoun in English（重复代词所代替的名

词）

English pronouns, including personal, reflexive, conjunctive, and relative pronouns, are widely used to avoid the repetition of nouns. Chinese, however, prefers to repeat nouns instead of using pronouns in many cases.

Examples:

1. Water evaporates more rapidly when the temperature is high than when it is low. 温度高，水蒸发得快；温度低，水蒸发得慢。 2. Translation from English into Chinese is not as easy as that from English into French. 英译汉不如英译法容易。 3. A chemical change is one in which the structure of particles is changed and a new substance is formed.

化学变化是改变粒子的结构、形成新物质的一种变化。

Drills 7.1.6

4. Electrical charges of a similar kind repel each other while those that are dissimilar attract. 5. The freezing point on the Centigrade scale is 0° and that on the Fahrenheit is 32°. 6. He speaks English, and that very well.

7. There is a feeling of responsibility by parents for their children’s welfare, that is, they feel that they should help them to make a new start of life in order that they (the children) may care for them (the parents) in the future.

Repetition of the Noun or Verb in Chinese for the Relative or Connective in English（重复名词或动词，以代替英语的关系词或连接词）

Examples:

1. Radar is a newly developed technique by which people can see the things beyond the visibility of them.

雷达是一种新开发的技术，利用雷达人们能看到视线以外的东西。

2. If she did not speak with Rebecca on the tender subject, she compensated herself with long and intimate conversation with Mrs. Blenkinsop, the house keeper, who dropped some hints to the lady’s-maid, who may have cursorily mentioned the matter to the cook, who carries the news, I have no doubt, to all the tradesmen. (Vanity Fair) 她不好和丽贝卡说起这个难出口的问题，只好和管家娘子白兰金素太太亲密地长谈了好几回。管家娘子露了些口风给上房女佣人。上房女佣人也许约略地对厨娘说了几句，厨娘一定又去告诉了所有做买卖的。

Drills 7.1.7

3. We have advocated the principle of peaceful co-existence, which is now growing more and more popular among the nations of Asia and Africa.

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