一、英文財經報道的特點——遣詞造句
英文財經報道屬于一種專業(yè)性的新聞報道,因此,其語言運用的最大特征就是專業(yè)名詞和專業(yè)術語多,而且許多常用詞被賦予特殊的含義,例如: long、 short、 rally等等。如果不了解這些詞在專業(yè)上的含義,就可能無法真正徹底讀懂有關的報道和消息。
另一方面英文財經報道為了體現(xiàn)新穎、通俗,也經常用一些外來語、俗俚語、口語表達形式以及比較生動、靈活的小詞,例如:
President Clinton said he is 'confident' Congress will approve …even as the plan continue to draw heavy fire from Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill.(這里的 to draw heavy fire是俗語,意為招致猛烈抨擊。)
At the same time, Ortiz threw cold water on the idea advanced by several U.S. lawmakers…(throw cold water意為潑冷水,也是通俗的表達方式。) The weak dollar … has hammered the earnings of the big exporters at the heart of Japan's economy.( hammer原本指用錘子釘…,是一個很形象的小詞,這里轉意為嚴重影響。)
Clinton has vowed to veto the bill on grounds that it is unfair to America's have-nots. (have-nots是poor 貧困的一種婉轉表達方式,常用于口語。)
The impasse has forced a partial government shutdown and the furlough of hundreds of thousands of federal workers.(impasse(僵局)和 furlough(休假)都為法語詞匯。)
財經報道用詞的另一個突出特點是形容經濟數(shù)據(jù)及市場變動的詞通俗、形象,例如,讀者經常可以看到這樣的市場收市情況描述:…end high高價收盤 /low低價收盤/down收市價格下跌/steady收市價格持穩(wěn)/firm收市價位穩(wěn)定/soft收市價位偏弱/quite交易不活躍/mixed價格走勢不明朗。此外,形容價格走勢的動詞十分豐富,下面是一些報道中常見的表示上升和下降的動詞:
表示上升的動詞 表示下降的動詞
rise上升 fall下降
jump跳升 drop下落
skyrocket爆漲 dump狂瀉
surge急漲 plunge猛跌
soar劇增 retreat回落
climb攀升 dive下跌
spurt突升 tumble急落
advance上漲 decline下降
inch up緩升 slip下滑
notch up升高 shed跌落
fly飛升 dip下降
rebound反彈 roll back回落
gain增長 lose降低
綜上所述,英文財經報道一方面體現(xiàn)了新聞報道的時效性、客觀性,另一方面又具有很強的專業(yè)性,其語言運用有一定的特點和規(guī)律,熟悉了解這些語言特征有助于讀者更及時、更有效地獲取有關的財經信息。
二、英文財經報道的特點——句法結構
為了突出新聞報道的及時性和全面性,記者需要在盡快短的時間內發(fā)出盡量多的消息。因此,由于沒有太多的時間進行語言上的推敲,所以英文財經報道中的句子偏長,結構比較松散,插入成分也通常比較多。例如:…World Bank Managing Director Richard Frank said in a statement that the $52 billion international rescue package assembled by the Clinton administration——which includes $17 billion from the International Monetary Fund——would meet Mexico's short-term financial crisis, which blew up after the government devalued the peso in December.(…世界銀行行長理查德·弗蘭克在一項聲明中說,由美國克林頓政府組織籌集的520億美元的國際援助貸款,其中包括國際貨幣基金組織提供的170億美元貸款,將用于解決墨西哥目前面臨的短期金融危機;這次危機是由于墨西哥政府在12月將墨西哥比索貶值后而引發(fā)的。),這一句子中有同位語、插入語及定語從句,這些成分都是為了補充說明相關的情況和消息。
其次,由于發(fā)稿時間緊迫,臨時插入的從句省略了連接詞,顯得與主句的關系不夠緊湊。有口語化的特點。例如:The time for release of the statistics, normally in the afternoon, was moved up to 8:50 a.m……, ministry officials said, to allow Japanese markets to react first to the numbers, as is the practice in most industrialized countries.、導語和正文。
標題以一種類似電報體的語言形式,十分簡潔地告訴讀者所發(fā)生的主要事件及有關消息。首先,在句子中起語法限定作用的連接詞、冠詞、介詞、代詞等在標題中通常被省略。如:E.U. Summit: Leaders Downplay, But Can't Banish, EMU Strife ,這一標題的完整表達形式應該是: At the E.U. Summit the Leaders Downplay But They Cannot Banish the EMU Strife ,其中劃線部分的單詞是一些起限定作用的虛詞。
正文則進一步闡述、說明事件發(fā)生的來朧去脈,并提供一些必要的背景材料或知識。為達到客觀真實的效果,英文財經報道的正文中往往采用大量的引述。因此,一篇報道中源引政府官員、市場人士、分析評論專家的話層出不窮。引述可以是一段完整的話,或者一句話中的一部分,甚至是原話中一、兩個詞。例如下面這則報道中劃線的部分均為直接引述:
Clinton-Budget Debate Will Now Begin in earnest
Washington, Nov. 19 —— President Bill Clinton said on Sunday that a deal between Congress and the White House to get federal workers back on the job was a good thingand will let the debate over how to balance the federal budget begin in earnest.
Tomorrow the government will go back to work and now the debate will begin in earnest on how to balance the budget in a way that is consistent with the interests and the values of the American people, Clinton told reporters at the White House shortly after the deal was announced on Capitol Hill.
Clinton reminded reporters he had expressed strong doubts that the seven-year timetable for balancing the budget could be realized. But he said he and congressional Republicans, who are demanding that timetable, had agreed to work to see if we can reach common ground.
Tonight represents the first sign of their willingness to move forward without forcing unacceptable cuts in health care, education and the environment on the American people, he said.
Asked about winners and losers in the power struggle that partially shut down the federal government for six days, Clinton said the real winners were the American people and the 800,000 federal workers who were to return to their jobs on Monday.
除了以上這種直接引述外,英文財經報道的正文中還有更多的間接引述。這類引述通常以一些常用的表達法引導,如:say, express, tell, according to…等等。所有這些引述都旨在體現(xiàn)報道的客觀性和真實性。