5.4.1 两类语言事实
一般说来，“或”“有”转换似乎并不是很常见，但是事实上不仅存在这种转换，而且值得深入探讨。语料检索结果显示有“有的”“有时候”“一会儿”英译为“or”和“或是”英译为“one”“the other”两类情形。
下面先看“有的”“有时候”“一会儿”英译为“or”的各类语例。
“有的”译为“or”：
151）拉车的人们，明知不活动便没有饭吃，也懒得去张罗买卖：有的把车放在有些阴凉的地方，支起车棚，坐在车上打盹；有的钻进小茶馆去喝茶；有的根本没拉出车来，而来到街上看看，看看有没有出车的可能。
Even knowing they wouldn’t eat if they weren’t out running，men who pulled rickshaws could not muster the energy to take on fares.Some parked their rickshaws in the shade，raised the rain hoods，and dozed，while others escaped the heat in teahouses or came out without their rickshaws to see if there was any reason to work that day.
152）一句话不对路，有的便要打孩子，有的便要打老婆；即使打不起来，也骂个痛快。
One careless word could easily lead to a beating—children or wives，it made little difference—or at the very least an angry outburst.
例151）中，汉语原文三个“有的”平列连用的“有的……有的……有的……”被英译成“Some…others…or…”，英译文将后面两个“有的”引导的情况用“or”连接起来。例152）中“有的……有的……”虽然是分述情况，但是并不是很重要，因为不论是打孩子，还是打老婆，都是打。
“有时候”译为“or”：
153）他们会给办红白事的去打执事，会去跟着土车拾些碎铜烂纸，有时候能买上几个烧饼，有时候只能买一斤麦茬白薯，连皮带须子都吞了下去，有时候俩人才有一个大铜子，只好买了落花生或铁蚕豆，虽然不能挡饥，可是能多嚼一会儿。So they began running errands at weddings and funerals and digging in garbage carts for scrap iron and paper they could sell for a few flatbreads or some sweet potatoes，which they’d gobble down，skins，roots，and all.If all they managed to earn was a small coin，they’d spend it on peanuts or broad beans，not enough to stave of f hunger but something to chew on at least.
154）天已很暖，柳枝上已挂满嫩叶，他有时候向阳放着车，低着头自言自语的嘴微动着，有时候仰面承受着阳光，打个小盹；除了必须开口，他简直的不大和人家过话。
The weather was already quite warm and the willows were bright with tender green leaves.Sometimes he pulled his rickshaw into the sun and sat with lowered head，his lips moving slightly，or turned his face up to the sunlight and dozed for a while.Unless obliged to，he hardly spoke to a soul.（施晓菁译）
例153）汉语原文中，三个“有时候”平列连用分述各种情形，英译文把前两个“有时候”表述的情况用“or”连接。例154）的英译将第二个“有时候”替换为“or”，此时汉语原文中的“有时候……有时候……”被转换为“Sometimes…or…”。
“一会儿”译为“or”：
155）他一会儿啪啪的用新蓝布褂子抽抽车，一会儿跺跺自己的新白底双脸鞋，一会儿眼看着鼻尖，立在车旁微笑，等着别人来夸奖他的车，然后就引起话头，说上没完。
One minute he’d dust off his rickshaw with a new blue whisk，the next he’d stomp his white-soled shoes on the ground or stare at the tip of his nose and stand there with a smile，waiting for someone to come up and admire his rickshaw.An endless conversation would begin immediately.
例155）的英译用“or”将原文后两个“一会儿”表述的情形连接起来，原文三个“一会儿”平列连用的“一会儿……一会儿……一会儿……”被处理成“One minute…the next…or…”。
上述语料实例全部来自汉译英，但是经过检索并没有在英译汉语料中找到类似的情形，即把“or”汉译处理成“有的”“有时候”或“一会儿”。扩展检索其他译本，仅找到“or”译为“一会儿”的下面一个例子：
156）and in a very short time the Queen was in a furious passion，and went stamping about，and shouting‘Of f with his head！’or ‘Off with her head！’about once in a minute.
没多久，王后暴跳如雷，跺着脚，一会儿喊“砍掉他的脑袋”，一会儿又喊“砍掉她的脑袋”。（王永年译）
在例156）中，英语原文的“or”翻译成汉语时，用“一会儿……一会儿……”来表达，王后不可能同时喊出“砍掉他的脑袋”和“砍掉她的脑袋”，只能交替进行。“or”译为“有的”“有时候”这种情形在逻辑上是可能的，只是在语料中没有出现。这可能跟汉译时受英语原文影响有关。
以上实例语料表明，汉语中的“有的”“有时候”“一会儿”确实在某些情况下可以英译为典型的析取关系标记“or”。
此外，含有“或是”的汉语原文在英译文中有时也可以借助“one”“the other”等词语来分述。例如：
157）这一派哥儿们的希望大概有两个：或是拉包车；或是自己买上辆车，有了自己的车，再去拉包月或散座就没大关系了，反正车是自己的。
This group of running brothers has two ambitions：one is to land a job as a private hire；the other is to buy one’s own rickshaw，to own one outright.Then it makes no difference if they get paid by the month or pick up odd fares，since the rickshaws are theirs.
在例157）中，由于总述情况时用了“两个”这个词，英译时将分述的两个内容分别由“one”和“the other”来引导，显得较为自然。而汉语原文则用两个“或是……”将分述的两个内容贯串起来，并且“或是”所体现出来的不确定性与总述时的“大概”这个词相呼应。