阅读的艺术(7)——用词准确

恪守之前的四步骤便可掌握分析阅读的第一步: what a book is about and to outline its structure 这本书讲的是什么并且梳理出书中的结构。

进入分析阅读第二步,便是需要读者明白作者说的是什么,读者要和读的这本书的作者心心相印。

For a term is the basic element of communicable knowledge.

因为术语是交流知识的基础元素。

首先,我们要明白术语和单词的区别。

If the author uses a word in one meaning, and the reader reads it in another, words have passed between them, but they have not come to terms.

如果作者用一个单词表达一种意思,但是读者领悟成别的意思了。尽管他们之间通过文字连接着,但是读者不会明白作者真正想表达地意思。

It is necessary for the two parties to use the same words with the same things, in short, to come to terms. When that happens, communication happens, the miracle of two minds with but a single thought.

作者和读者使用相同的单词表达同一个意思是非常有必要的,这便叫做术语。当这一步发生了,就产生了交流,作者和读者之间便会产生奇妙的共识。

A term can be defined as an unambiguous word. That is not quite accurate, for strictly there are no unambiguous words. What we should have said is that a term is a word used unambiguously.

术语可以被定义作不模糊的文字。但是这么说并不准确,因为严格来讲,世上本没有含义完全清楚的表达。所以我们更习惯称术语为清楚准确地使用某种文字。

Terms occur only in the process of communication. They occur when a writer tries to avoid ambiguity and a reader helps him by trying to follow his use of words.

人们在交流的过程中会产生特定的术语。作者在创作时候避免使用表意含糊不清的文字,读者借助这些文字顺藤摸瓜理解作者的表达。

We can think of terms as a skilled use of words for the sake of communicating knowledge.

我们把为了交流知识而应用术语当做是一种经验丰富的用词技能。

下面来介绍一下如何分析阅读an expository work/a work of science(科学著作):

Rule 5 Find the important words and through them come to terms with the author.

学会找关键词并理解作者要说明的事情

需要两小步(two steps)

A step dealing with the language as such, and a step beyond the language to the thought that lies behind it.

第一步找到关键词,第二步要透过语言理解作者表达的内容。

The only thing to do therefore, in expository works, is to make the best of language as it is, and the only way to do that is to use language as skillfully as possible when you want to convey, or to receive, knowledge.

科学文献的撰写需要运用最精炼清楚的语言。当读者需要去探索知识时候,也要尽可能娴熟地使用语言这门工具。

Because language is imperfect as a medium for conveying knowledge, it also functions as an obstacle to communication. The rules of interpretive reading are directed to overcoming than obstacle. We can expect a good writer to do his best to reach us through the barrier language inevitably sets up, but we cannot expect him to do the job all by himself. We must meet him halfway. We, as readers, must try to tunnel through from our side of the barrier. The likelihood of a meeting of minds through language depends on the willingness of both reader and writer to work together.

其实语言并不是探索知识的一个完美媒介,它也有交流功能方面的缺陷。解译阅读的规则将指引我们跨越这一屏障。我们可以期盼一个优秀的作者尽全力带领我们跨越障碍,却不能指望事事都依赖他。我们必须在半路与他相遇。作为读者的我们也得努力从我们这边的障碍越过去。作者和读者都得怀着坚定的信念,共同从各自的起点努力,才有可能一起产生愉悦的思想共鸣。

除此之外,读者还需要解决语法和逻辑上的问题

The grammatical aspect is the one that deals with words. The logical step deals with their meanings.

语法梳言语,逻辑解意蕴。

The main point is that one word can be the vehicle for many terms, and one term can be expressed by many words.

其精髓便是,一字可多义,一种含义也有数不清的表达。

那么,问题来了,如何寻找关键词呢?关键词是啥?作者又说了:

He is using it in a definitely special sense when he discusses the theory of causation.

当他需要阐述某种具体原理的原因时候,他需要运用有一种被定义的特殊表达,就是关键词。

当我们阅读现代书籍时候,我们需要知道现代人常用语。所以阅读现代书是最简单的,因为这些用语都是我们每天在用的,但是想要读懂一本外国著作,还是没那么容易,你需要搞明白歪果仁咋说话、咋用词。所以,若想看懂一本古籍是很难的,因为我们大多数人都不清楚那时候的人习惯表达用语。

The most important words are those that give you trouble.

最重要的词是我们不懂的。

那么,什么是我们不懂的词呢?

可能是作者在书中重点引用的词(quotation marks)或者是斜体字(italics),作者已经给你做好了标记,可能这部分理解起来会有难度。

The trouble with most readers is that they simply do not pay enough attention to words to locate their difficulties. They fail to distinguish the words that they do not understand sufficiently from those they do.

困扰大多数读者的是他们并不关注那些有难度的词汇。他们无法分辨什么是他们理解不到位的词汇。

那么问题又来了,怎么知道你不懂的单词的含义呢?

You have to discover the meaning of a word you do not understand by using the meanings of all the other words in the context that you do understand.

你可以联系上下文内容来推测你不认识的单词。

A word in place is a term.

词被运用在合适的位置来表达恰当的意思,就是术语。

To use a word ambiguously is to use it in several senses without distinguishing or relating their meanings.

模糊用词便是指一个词能代表很多意思,作者在运用时也不加以区分。

You should not forget that one word can represent several terms. One way to remember this is to distinguish between the author’s vocabulary and his terminology. If you make a list in one colum of the important words, and in another of their important meanings, you will see the relation between the vocabulary and the terminology.

不要忘记一词可多义。有一种可以牢记它的好方法是区分作者的用词和专业术语。一列列出你觉得重要的单词,另一列写出这些单词对应的意思,你就会发现二者之间的区别。

This is important, of course. If you supposed that every time an author changed his words, he was shifting his terms, you would make as great an error as to suppose that every time he used the same words, the terms remained the same.

如果每次作者一换表达读者就觉得作者在改变说法,那么读者就犯了一个严重的错误,因为如果作者不换用词的话,那么读者又会觉得他想表达的意思也不变。

当然,一个单词肯定不如一组短语表达得清楚,作者为了让读者理解得更透彻,一般更喜欢运用短语表达,因为一个单词表达的含义往往是无限的,但是由几个单词构成的短语在表达上具有提供限制的优势。举例,reading for enlightenment.(启发式阅读)作者为了让读者理解得更明白,就这样说the process of passing from understanding less to understanding more by the operation of your mind upon a book.(通过阅读来增长智慧)

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