On Characters of Chinese and English in View of Public Signs.docx

On Characters of Chinese and English in View of Public Signs.docx

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OnCharactersofChineseandEnglishinViewofPublicSigns

江西财经大学现代经济管理学院

普

通

本

科

毕

业

论

文

题目：

论公示语中的英汉特点和功能翻译

StudyonCharactersofChineseandEnglishandFunctionalTranslationofChineseandEnglishPublicSigns

学生姓名彭婷学号2101626

专业商务英语届别2010级

指导教师邓安安职称****

2013年06月

摘要

日常生活中，公示语尤为的普遍，几乎覆盖了生活的每个方面。

本篇文章主要讨论关于英汉公示语的语言特点以及它的一些文化因素，并提出一些公示语汉英翻译的一些原则，介绍翻译原则中的功能翻译的目的论翻译原则，并提出一些公示语翻译的技巧、方法。

关键词：

公示语；英汉语的特点；功能翻译,；公示语翻译

Abstract

Publicsignsareverycommoninpeople'sdailylife.Theycoveralmosteveryaspectofpeople'slife.AndthisarticleconcentratesonissuesrelatingtothelanguagecharactersofpublicsignsbothinChineseandEnglishandthelinguisticandculturalelementsbehinditandcomesupwiththeprincipleforthepropertranslationforpublicsignsfromChinesetoEnglish,andintroducesthefunctionaltranslation-Skopostheorieandsometranslationmethodsandskills.

Keywords:

publicwords,charactersofChineseandEnglish,functionaltranslation,translationofpublicsigns

Contents

摘要i

Abstractii

Introduction1

1.1ResearchBackground1

1.2DefinitionofPublicSign1

1.3IntroductionofFunctionalTranslationTheoryofPublicSigns2

2CharactersofPublicSigns4

2.1CharactersofChineseinPublicSigns5

2.1.1ParatacticLanguageStructureofChinese5

2.1.2PreferenceforVerbinChinesePublicSigns5

2.2CharactersofEnglishinPublicSigns5

2.2.1TheHypotacticStructureofEnglishinPublicSigns6

2.2.2PreferenceforNounandAdjectiveinEnglishPublicSigns6

2.2.3OtherCharactersofEnglishPublicSigns6

3TranslationsofPublicSigns8

3.1PresentTranslationofPublicSigns8

3.2ErrorsinTranslationofPublicSigns9

3.2.1SpellingErrors9

3.2.2TheErrorsofMixedUseofChineseandEnglish9

3.2.3GrammaticalErrors9

3.2.4WrongArticle10

3.2.5WrongPlural10

3.2.6WrongPreposition10

3.2.7DistortingtheOriginalMeaning10

3.2.8LengthyandCumbersomeExpression11

3.3TechniquesofTranslatingPublicSignsInTermsofFunctionalTranslation11

3.3.1UsingCommonWords12

3.3.2CultureOriented12

3.3.3FocusontheCharacteristicsofPublicSigns12

3.3.4FocusontheContext13

4Conclusion15

Notes17

StudyonCharactersofChineseandEnglishandFunctionalTranslationofChineseandEnglishPublicSigns

Introduction

1.1ResearchBackground

Withthefastgrowingdevelopmentofourcountry’seconomy,moreforeignerscometoChinaforspendingaholiday,business,andsonon.Asanimportantcommunicationtool,publicsignsarecrucialtoourdailylifeandattractmoreattention.ButalotofproblemsexistinChinese-Englishtranslationofpublicsigns.Someoftranslationversioncanbemisleading.IntheprocessoftranslatingChinesepublicsignsintoEnglish,thetargetreadersareforeigners,soweshouldmakethemunderstandandprovidethemwithconvenience.

1.2DefinitionofPublicSign

Whenwediscussthedefinitionof"publicsigns",itisnecessarytoclarifythedefinitionof"sign"intheEnglishlanguagefirst.Ofcourse,thereexistvariousdefinitionsaboutit.Andalsoitisquitenecessaryforustoacquiresomeknowledgeaboutthetranslationofpublicsigns.AccordingtoOxfordEnglishDictionary,"sign"referstoacharacteristicdeviceattachedto,orplacedinfrontof,aninnorastore,asameansofdistinguishingitfromothersordirectattentiontoit.InWebster'sThirdInternationalDictionary,"sign"isdefinedasaletteredboardorotherpublicdisplayplacedbeforeoronabuilding,room,storeorofficetoadvertisebusinessthattransactedorthenameofpersonorfirmconductingit.Inlateruse,itcommonlyrefersto"aboard,notice,etc.thatdirectssomebodytowardssomething,givesawarning,advertisesabusiness,etc."Sign"isfurthergeneralizedbytheFreeOnlineDictionaryas"apublicdisplaytovisuallycommunicateinformation".Fromtheabovedefinitionswecanseethatthemeaningof"sign"hasdevelopedfrombeingnarrowtobeingwide.Nowadays,withtheappearanceofnewkindsofsigns,suchasdigitalsigns,themeaningofsignscoversanevenwiderrange.Thephrasepublicsigns"isanEnglishequivalenttotheChinese”公示语”whichisalsocalled'，标示语”，”标识语”and”标志语”.AccordingtowhatProfessorDaiZongxiansayson"The1stSymposiumonC&ESignsinaGlobalContest","publicsignsaresignsthatareshownpublicly,offeringakindofwarning,direction,notificationandothercloselyrelatedliteralorgraphicalinformation.”Headdsthatpublicsignsareactuallyaveryimportantcomponenttothelanguageenvironmentofacity,especiallyaninternationaltouristcity.

1.3IntroductionofFunctionalTranslationTheoryofPublicSigns

GermanscholarK.ReissestablishedtheFunctionalTheoryin1970s.Accordingtoherstudy,thespecialpurposeoftranslatingbehaviorshouldberegardedasthenewmodeloftranslationcriticism.Thatmeansevaluatingtranslationintermsoftherelationbetweenoriginaltextandtranslationtext.In1978,oneofherstudents,namedHansJ.Vermeer,theprofessorattheFacultyofAppliedLinguisticsinMainz/Germersheim,publishedinanarticlenamedEinRahmenfireineallgemeineTranslationstheorie（Ageneralframeworktheoryoftranslation）.Itisasymbolofthebeginningofanewsteptotranslationstudies,whichlaterbecomeknownasfunctionalism.HeputforwardatheorynamedSkopostheoriewhichadvocatesthattranslationskillsandmethodsshouldbebasedonintendedpurposeorfunctionoftranslationtext.

SkoposisaGreekwordanditsmeaningispurposeinEnglish.TherearethreeimportantrulesinSkopostheorie,whichincludesskoposrule,coherencerule,andfidelityrule.Skoposrulemeansthattranslationshouldbeabletoworkinthesituationandcultureofthetargetlanguageinawayacceptedbytargetreaders;coherencerulemeansthattranslationneedfollowtheexpressionhabitoftargetlanguageinordertomakeitunderstoodbytargetreadersandmeaningfulItargetcultureorcommunicationenvironment;fidelityrule,seenas“true”rule,meansthatthereisacertainlinkingrelationbetweenoriginaltextandtranslationversion.

OneofthekeywordstounderstandSkopostheorieisInformationsangebot（informationoffered）,whichmeansthatthesourcetextshouldnolongerbeconsideredasthesacredoriginalandthepurpose（Skopos）ofthetranslationcannolongerbededucedfromthesourcetextbutdependsontheexpectationsandneedsofthetargetreaders.Inordertotranslatesuccessfully,thetranslatorhastogetacquaintedwiththespecificsituationoftherecipientsofhis/hertranslation.

2CharactersofPublicSigns

BeforewestudythecharactersofChineseandEnglishinpublicsigns,wehavetopayattentiontothecharactersofpublicsignitself.Weknowsurelythatthevocabularyisverysimpleandaccurateusedinpublicsigns.Therefore,wecansafelysaythatfordifferentpurposesindifferentcontexts,thecharactersofpublicsignsalsovary.Theycanbedirective,informational,restrictive,andmandatory.A.Directivepublicsignsgivepeoplecertaininformationaboutsomething.Therefore,itisunnecessarytodemandthepublictotakeanaction.Itsfunctionistooffersomeinformationordirection.Forexample:

问询处/咨询处InformationDesk;地下一层/二层/三层B1/B2/B3;自动取款机ATM；磁卡电话MagneticCardPhone;急救中心FirstAidCenter;网吧Cybercafé;综合医院GeneralHospital;前台ReceptionDesk;饮水处DrinkingWater;吸烟室SmokingRoom;植物园BotanicalGarden.B.Informationalpublicsignshavenospecialmeaningtothereader,justforindication.Throughtheinformationofpublicsigns,peoplecanknowwhattodo.Like:

预留席位Reserved;已消毒Sterilized;客满FullBooking;已售完SoldOut;易燃物品Explosive;限高MaximumHeight;小心滑倒WetFloor;暂停服务TemporarilyOutofService;正在施工RoadworkAhead;当日使用，逾期作废UseonDayOfIssueOnly;小心轻放HandlewithCare;随手关门KeepDoorClosed.C.Restrictivepublicsignsareforrestrictingthebehaviorandactionofpeopleinasoftandjustifiedway.Forinstance:

右侧行驶KeepRight;让路Giveway;凭票入场TicketOnly;残疾人通道HandicappedOnly；自行车停放处BicycleParking；员工通道StaffOnly.D.Mandatorypublicsignsaretocallonpeopletotakeactionandcomplywiththeregulationandnottoviolatethelaw.Suchwords“No’’,“Forbidden’’,“Prohibited’’arefrequentlyused.Bythis,peoplehavenochoicebuttofollow.Forexample:

严禁吸烟NoSmoking;桥上严禁超车NoOvertakingOnBridge;禁止驶入NoEntry;此处严禁钓鱼NoFishingHere;警戒线勿超越PoliceLineDoNotPass;严禁摆卖VendorsProhibited;请勿随地吐痰NoSpitting;请勿拍照NoPhotography.

2.1CharactersofChineseinPublicSigns

InfluencedbyChinesetraditionandculture,Chinesehasformeditsowncharacters,hence,thespecialformoflanguageofChinesepublicsign,ithasitsuniquecharacterstoo.

2.1.1ParatacticLanguageStructureofChinese

InChinese,humanisalwaysdominant,whichisreflectedbythesentencestructure.Chinesesentencesfocuson“paratactic”（意合）,andbecauseChinesecentersonmeaning,itisdifficulttodistinguishtherelationsbetweenChinesesentenceandsentenceorbetweenChinesephraseandphrase.Hence,Chinesemainlydependsonthelogicrelationofsentenceorphrasemeaningtorealizethelinkingofsentencesorphrases.Thereforeantithesis,parallelsandsoonappearinChinesepublicsigns.Forexample,inChinese,“宁停三分，不抢一秒”、“买一送一”、“闲人免进、非公莫入”，therefinedwordsandperfectantithesismakeiteasytounderstandforChinesepeople.

2.1.2PreferenceforVerbinChinesePublicSigns

WecaneasilyfindthatverbsarefrequentlyusedinChinesepublicsigns.Forexample,inEnglishpublicsign,“wetpaint”isequivalentof“油漆未干”，inthesameway,“宾客止步”canbetranslatedas“staffonly”inEnglishpublicsign,and“禁止喧哗”is“quiet,please.’’Ofcourse,therearesomanyotherproofs,like“严禁吸烟’’