日常会话和写作中应用英语时避免性别歧视1
近四十年来,尽管非性别歧视语还没有达到非不可的程度,但它毕竟已进人日常会话和写作的主流之中。随便翻开一张英美的报纸,或瞧一下五花八门的宣传广告,就会发现supervisor(工头,领班)替代了原来的foreman, workman's compensation(工人赔偿金)变成了worker's compensation; sales rep, sales associate或seller(推销员)取代了常用词salesman等。为此,笔者将有关资料整理如下,供英语学习者参考。请注意,所选用的例句,除个别注明外,均选自Rosalie Maggio编写的The Nonselist Word Finder: A Dictionary of Gender-Free Usage (Maggio, 1989)。
1.尽量不用通性代词he,除了明确地指代一个男性人物时,都要设法避免使用之。可以根据语境需要,选用下列替换方式:
1)采用复数形式
Sexist: When bathing a baby, never leave him unattended.
Revised: When bathing babies, never leave them unattended.
给婴儿洗澡时,一定不能让他们无人照料。
2)用we/us/our改写原句
Sexist: From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.
Revised: From each of us according to our abilities, to each of us according to our needs.
各尽所能,按需分配。
3)改用第二人称
Sexist: No man knows his true character until he has run out of gas, purchased something on the installment plan and raised an adolescent.
Revised: You don't know what your true character is until you have run out of gas, purchased something on the ! installment plan and raised an adolescent.
只有当汽车大的油用光了,按分规付款方式购物和抚养大一个孩子时,人的本来品性才会显露出来。
4)改用被动语态
Sexist: One who, when he has the choice of two evils, chooses both.
Revised: One who, when given the choice of two evils, chooses both.
一个在两种恶行之中要作出选择就两者都选的人。
5)完全省略代词
Sexist: What a person thinks of after he becomes a departee?
Revised: What a person thinks of after becoming a departee?
一个人离去后,会作何感想呢?
6)用冠词替代
Sexist: Can a critic give his opinion of an omelet without being asked to make one?
Revised: Can a critic give an opinion of...?
评论家议论煎蛋时难道到非要他去自己煎鸡蛋吗?