Beware of nominalizations (AKA zombie nouns) - Helen Sword

當心名詞化字辭（又叫殭屍名詞） - Helen Sword

Transcriber: tom carter Reviewer: Bedirhan Cinar

譯者: Jephian Lin 審譯者: Coco Shen

Take an adjective such as "implacable,"

隨便找一個形容詞 像是 implacable（難以平息的）、

or a verb like "proliferate,"

或是一個動詞 像是 proliferate（增殖）、

or even another noun, "crony,"

或是另一個名詞 像是 crony（親信），

and add a suffix, such as "-ity," or "-tion," or "-ism."

然後加上一個字尾， 比如說是 -ity、-tion、或是 -ism。

You've created a new noun.

你就創造了一個新名詞。

"Implacability," "proliferation," "cronyism."

像是 implacability（無法和解的）、 proliferation（增殖現象）、cronyism（親信主義）。

Sounds impressive, right?

聽起來不錯，對吧？

Wrong! You've just unleashed a flesh-eating zombie.

一點都不對！ 你只是放出了一隻食肉殭屍而已。

Nouns made from other parts of speech are called nominalizations.

將其他詞性變成名詞詞組的過程 叫作「名詞化」（nominalization）。

Academics love them.

學界喜歡這個做法。

So do lawyers, bureaucrats, business writers.

律師、官員、商業作家也都愛它。

I call them zombie nouns, because they consume the living.

我把它們叫作殭屍名詞， 因為它們會消磨生命。

They cannibalize active verbs, they suck the lifeblood from adjectives,

它們生吃活靈活現的動詞， 並吸食形容詞的生命，

and they substitute abstract entities for human beings.

它會用抽象的東西 來替代字辭的生命。

Here's an example.

這裡有一個例子。

"The proliferation of nominalizations in a discursive formation may be an indication

「散亂形式的名詞化的增殖現象 可能是

of a tendency towards pomposity and abstraction." Huh?

榮華性與抽象性的傾向程度的一種指標性。」 啊？

This sentence contains no fewer than seven nominalizations,

這個句子至少包含了七個 名詞化的字，

yet it fails to tell us who is doing what.

它讓人無法理解 什麼人做了什麼。

When we eliminate, or reanimate, most of the zombie nouns,

當我們消除、一再消除 大部份的殭屍名詞的時候，

so "tendency" becomes "tend," "abstraction" becomes "abstract,"

所以「傾向程度」改成「傾向」、 「抽象概念」改成「抽象」，

then we add a human subject and some active verbs,

接著加一些有血肉的主詞 和生動的動詞，

the sentence springs back to life.

那這句子就恢復了生命。

"Writers who overload their sentences with nominalizations tend to sound pompous and abstract."

「過度使用名詞化的作者 傾向於讓人覺得浮華且抽象。」

Only one zombie noun -- the key word "nominalizations" --

唯一的殭屍名詞， 也就是關鍵字「名詞化」，

has been allowed to remain standing.

它被允許留在那。

At their best, nominalizations help us express complex ideas,

好的方面來說， 名詞化幫助我們表達複雜的觀念，

perception, intelligence, epistemology.

像是「洞察力」、「智力」、還有「知識論」。

At their worst, they impede clear communication.

壞的方面來說， 它們毀了原本明確的溝通。

To get a feeling for how zombie nouns work, release a few of them into a lively sentence

如果要感覺一下殭屍名詞的功力， 你可以把有生命的句子裡放一些這樣的字

and watch them sap all its energy.

然後看看它們是怎麼把句子的靈魂吃掉的。

George Orwell played this game in his essay "Politics in the English Language."

George Orwell 在他的作品《政治與英文》裡 就玩過這把戲。

He started with a well-known verse from the book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible.

他用《聖經．傳道書》裡 一段為人熟知的經文作為開頭。

It says "I returned and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong,

內容是：「我又轉念，見日光之下， 快跑的未必能贏；力戰的未必得勝；

neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill;

智慧的未必得糧食； 明哲的未必得資財；靈巧的未必得喜悅。

but time and chance happeneth to them all."

所臨到眾人的是 在乎當時的機會。」

Now here's Orwell's modern English version.

現在輪到 Orwell 的現代英文版本：

"Objective considerations of contemporary phenomena compel the conclusion that success or failure in competitive activities

「對當前現象的客觀考慮強制得出的結論是， 競爭活動的成敗

exhibits no tendency to be commensurate with innate capacity, but that a considerable element of the unpredictable

並不與先天能力相稱，而總是必須考慮

must invariably be taken into account."

相當份量的不可預料事件。」 （譯註：此兩段譯文節自中文維基百科。）

The Bible passage speaks to our senses and emotions with concrete nouns,

這節聖經直接 來和我們的感受及情感對話，

descriptions of people, and punchy, abstract nouns such as "race,"

它包含了具體的名詞、對人的描述、 明確的抽象名詞，

"battle," "riches," "time," "chance."

像是「戰」、「跑」、「時」、「機會」。

Not a zombie among them.

裡頭沒有半隻殭屍。

Orwell's satirical translation, on the other hand, is teeming with nominalizations and other vague abstractions.

而另一方面 Orwell 那諷刺的翻譯， 則滿滿都是名詞化的字、還有模糊不清的抽象概念。

The zombies have taken over, and the humans have fled the village.

殭屍佔領了地盤， 人們都逃命去了。

Zombie nouns do their worst damage when they gather in jargon-generating packs

殭屍名詞在和專業名詞結合後 就可以發揮最大的破壞力，

and swallow every noun, verb and adjective in sight.

然後吞掉所有眼前的 名詞、動詞、和形容詞。

So "globe" becomes "global," becomes "globalize," becomes "globalization."

所以「球」變成「全球的」、 變成「全球化」、再變成「全球化現象」。

The grandfather of all nominalizations, antidisestablishmentarianism,

而名詞化的大老爺莫過於 「反廢除國教建立主義」，

contains at least two verbs, three adjectives, and six other nouns

它擴張的過程裡就包含了

inside its distended belly.

至少兩個動詞、三個形容詞、還有其他六個名詞。

A paragraph heavily populated by nominalizations will send your readers straight to sleep.

一篇太多名詞化字詞的文章 會讓你的讀者直接進入睡眠狀態。

Rescue them from the zombie apocalypse with vigorous verb-driven sentences

動詞導向又有活力的句子 會有具體又明確的結構，

that are concrete and clearly structured.

利用這些句子把讀著們 從殭屍末日中救回來吧！

You want your sentences to live,

你會期望句子是活的

not to join the living dead.

而不是加入活屍。