Over the course of my studies and practice in Chinese, there's one particular type of sentence that I always get wrong: the one with the verb to deserve.
In English — and several other neo-latin languages — the typical usage of the verb is to convey that something ought to happen, and in particular it often carries a moral judgement.
For example:
John deserves to get that job
The nuance here is that John's job is for him some sort of reward: John has earned it, and this clearly implies a moral characterization. For example, John worked hard and now he should be rewarded with the job.
In Chinese, following dictionary entries, I've usually rendered this with 值得 or 应当 — plus some periphrasis — however both seem inadequate translations.
值得
值得 is "worth it". It doesn't have the same moral implication. Sentences also become awkward. It's best used when the focus in on inanimate objects, but that's not the same meaning as "someone deserves something":
That restaurant deserves a go
那家饭店很值得去吃饭
应当
应当 is "ought to". It's closer to the meaning I'm talking about, as in English "ought" does imply some quality judgement, however the nuance is of a universal moral judgement — for example, laws and customs. And therefore translating back from Chinese is best rendered with "ought", not "deserve":
大家都应当遵守规定
everybody ought to follow the rules (and not "deserve")
One more proof is in the usage 有耳可听就应当听 = those who have ears ought to listen
应该
应该 is "should", it doesn't pass a moral judgement either, just a level of certainty somewhere between "should" and "must":
Team A deserves to win this match
球队A应该赢这场比赛 (not the same meaning)
In the example above the moral implication is lost.
Periphrases
Other periphrases I use to preserve the moral implication are sentences with 希望 (I hope that...) or 期望 (I expect that...)
John deserves to get into Harvard
小张一直很努力 (complementary context), 我希望他能够进哈弗大学
Or 本事, to stress the existence of some skill or ability that justifies the outcome:
John deserves to get into Harvard
小张有本事进哈弗大学
However you can see how in the above examples, the translation has a level of indirection.
I suspect that the very idea of "deserving" something, "being worth of" something, with attached moral implication, is strongly tied to the western culture. Interpretations might follow the lines of:
- heavenly rewards follow from pious behavior (I'm good therefore I deserve)
- cosmic justice (I worked hard therefore I deserve)
Given that these features aren't prominent in Eastern culture, it could be that a proper direct translation for "deserving" doesn't exist.
Thoughts?
