商务英语的语言特点及其翻译.docx

商务英语的语言特点及其翻译.docx

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商务英语的语言特点及其翻译

商务英语的语言特点及其翻译

LanguageFeaturesandTranslationofBusinessEnglish

摘要

近年来，随着经济全球化的发展，商务翻译在国际贸易中的重要性日益突显。

它不同于文学翻译等其他形式，具有自身的特点。

本文通过对商务英语语言特点进行分析，提出一些翻译的原则和策略，对解决商务翻译的一些问题有一定的指导意义。

文章先从三个语言学角度分析商务英语的语言特点：

词汇角度、句法角度、语篇功能角度，其次针对其特点提出几点翻译原则与策略，并在此基础上对大量的商务英语实例进行了翻译，对常见错误进行修正。

事实证明，掌握好一定的技巧及方法后翻译出好的商务译本是完全可能的。

本文旨在提高商务英语的翻译质量，促进贸易双方的沟通及交流。

正文将分为五个章节来阐述论题。

第一章为引文。

第二章系统地介绍商务英语的语言特点,其中从三个语言学层次上进行分析研究。

第三章由其特点引出对商务英语进行翻译时应掌握的一些原则和策略,其中包括真实性原则、对等性原则、精确性原则、连贯性原则。

第四章主要分析一些翻译中的常见错误并提出对译者的一些要求。

最后一部分为结论。

关键词：

商务英语;语言特点;翻译

Abstract

Inrecentyears,withthedevelopmentofeconomicglobalization,businesstranslationhasbecomemoreandmoreimportant.Businesstranslationisdifferentfromtheliterarytranslationandotherformssinceithasitsowncharacteristics.ThisthesisanalysesthelanguagefeaturesofbusinessEnglishfromthreelinguisticlevels:

thelexicallevel,thesyntacticlevelandthetextuallevel,accordingtowhichseveraltranslationprinciplesandstrategiesareproposed.Onbasisoftheprinciplesandstrategies,someexamplesareanalyzedandsomecommonmistakesarecorrected.ThethesisaimsatimprovingthequalityofbusinessEnglishtranslationandpromotingtheunderstandingandexchangebetweentwotradingparties.

Thethesiswillbedividedintofiveparts.PartOneintroducesthetopic.PartTwoanalysesthelinguisticfeaturesofbusinessEnglishfromthreelinguisticlevels.PartThreepresentssometranslationprinciplesandstrategiesbasedontheabovelanguagefeaturesincludingfaithfulness,equivalence,exactnessandconsistency.PartFourdealswithananalysisofsomecommonmistakesandthenmakessomerequirementsfortranslators.Lastpartcomestotheconclusion.

Keywords:

businessEnglish;languagefeatures;translation

Contents

Ⅰ.Introduction………………………………………………………………………1

Ⅱ.TheLanguageFeaturesofBusinessEnglish……………………...…………….3

A.Languagefeaturesfromtheperspectiveoffunction.....……..……….…...…..3

B.Languagefeaturesfromtheperspectiveofstyle………………….…………..4

1.ElementaryviewofthefeaturesofbusinessEnglish...……………..…....4

2.DetailedfeatureanalysisofbusinessEnglish……...…..………….……..6

a.Lexicallevel….……………...…………..........................…....……6

b.Syntacticlevel………….……………………………………….…..8

c.Textuallevel………….……………………………………....…....10

Ⅲ.SpecificPrinciplesofandStrategiesfortheTranslationofBusinessEnglish…..………..…………………………...……………………………....13

A.FaithfulnessprincipleinthetranslationofbusinessEnglish……………..…13

1.FaithfulnessisthefundamentalrequirementforbusinessEnglishtranslation…………………………………………………………….…13

2.Equivalenceoftheconceptcanassurethefidelitytotheoriginaltext………………………………………………………………………14

B.ExactnessprincipleinthetranslationofbusinessEnglish…………..………15

C.ConsistencyprincipleinthetranslationofbusinessEnglish………..….…...15

Ⅳ.SomeProblemsExistinginBusinessEnglishTranslationandtheRequirementsforTranslators……………………………………………..17

Ⅴ.Conclusion………………………………...……………………………….….....20

Ⅵ.Notes………..………………………………………………………….…….......21

Ⅶ.Bibliography………………………………………..……………...…………....22

Ⅷ.Acknowledgements.……………………………………..……...…………….…24

Ⅰ.Introduction

SincetheeconomicreformandopeninguptotheoutsideworldinChina,ourbusinesscommunicationwithothercountrieshasbecomemoreandmorefrequent.ThescopeofeconomicexchangehasalsoextendedandmorepeopleareengagedintheworkofbusinessEnglishtranslation.Fromancienttimestothepresent,abundantfruitshaveemergedintranslationresearchinChina,forinstance,YanFu’s“faithfulness,expressivenessandelegance”,whichgainedpopularinfluenceinChina,LuXun’s“ratherbefaithfulthansmooth”,orXuYuanchong’s“notionofrivalry”,“thenotionoftranscendence”.However,whatalmostallthefruitsfocusonisliterarytranslationandalltheeffortsaremadetorenderperfectliterarytranslationandachievetheharmonybetweentheformandthecontentofliterarytranslation.EugeneA.NidaoncemadecommentsonthecurrentsituationoftranslationinChina:

ButunfortunatelytoomanyChinesetheoristsandpractitionershavefocusedprimarilyoneleganceandquitenaturallytheyconcentratedtheireffortsonliterarytexts.1

ThoughtranslationgetsitsappropriatetreatmentasanacademicpursuitinChinaforalonghistory,itisnottrueofbusinesstranslation.ThetraditionalChinesetranslationtheorieslaytoomuchemphasisonliterarytranslation,whichresultsingreatlimitation.Particularlyforbusinesstranslation,whosefeaturesaregreatlydifferentfromthoseofliterarytranslation,traditionaltranslationtheoryisnotsosuitable.However,businesstranslationhasforalongtimeremainedonlyabusinesstranslationinafunctionalviewandbeenignoredbyChineseacademicfield.Itisonlyrecentlythatithasbecomethefocusofattention.Theinputfromacademicendeavorwillcertainlygiveanimpetustothetheoreticaldevelopmentofbusinesstranslationpracticebyselectingfromamongmanyframeworksoftranslationtheoriesthemostsuitableoneforbusinesstranslation.

Uptonow,therearenotasmanybooksorthesesstudyingbusinesstranslationasthosethatconcernotherkindsoftranslationsinChina,thoughthereisrapiddevelopmentinthisarea.Buttherearestillmanyfamousscholarswhohavemadetremendouscontributionstobusinesstranslationinrecentyears.ProfessorJiaWenbopublishedabooknamedPragmaticTranslationwithaFunctionalFewandoneofitschaptersiscontributedtobusinesstranslation;thereisalsoonechapterinProfessorFangMengzhi’sACoursebookonPragmaticTranslationdiscussingbusinesstranslation;ProfessorLiaoYingalsopublishedseveralbookscenteredonmanyaspectsofbusinesstranslation.Andthereareanumberofpapersanddiscussionsinmanyperiodicalsconcerningbusinesstranslationsinrecentyears.However,therearefewbooksthatoffersystematicresearchesandconcentrateonbusinesstranslationandfewtheoriesareappliedinbusinesstranslation;consequently,thesystematicresearchonbusinesstranslationanditssuitabletheoriesisurgentinChina.

Therefore,inthefollowingpartsofthisthesis,theauthorwilldiscussthetranslationofbusinessEnglishonthebasisofitsownlanguagefeatures.

Ⅱ.TheLanguageFeaturesofBusinessEnglish

A.Languagefeaturesfromtheperspectiveoffunction

Functionsoflanguagearecloselyrelatedtotranslation,andsoarethelanguagefeaturesofbusinessEnglish.Translationistheartoflanguage.Peopleusedifferentwordsfordifferentpurposesandeffects,whichareexactlythefunctionsoflanguage.Atranslatorthereforeshouldfirstofallbeabletorecognizethefunctionsoflanguageindifferenttextsorcontextsandthentrieshisutmosttochooseanequivalentsentenceordiscourseinthetranslation,whichhasthesamelanguagefunctionasthesentenceordiscourseoftheoriginal.Thusfunctionalequivalenceisachieved.

AsNidasaidinhisbookLanguage,CultureandTranslating,languagehastwotypesoffunctions,oneispsychologicalfunction,theotherissociologicalfunction.Thepsychologicalfunctionsmaybedescribedasthemeansbywhichpeoplenegotiatewithreality,andthesociologicalfunctionscanbesaidtobethosewaysbywhichpeoplenegotiatewithotherpersons.Andthesociologicalfunctionsmayberegardedasexternalandinterpersonal.BusinessEnglishisakindofpragmaticEnglish,whosemainfeaturesareexternalandinterpersonal.ThereforetheanalysisofthelanguagefeaturesofbusinessEnglishcanbestartedfromtheangleofsociologicalfunctions.

Theprimarysociologicalfunctionsoflanguage,accordingtoNida,containthefollowingtypes:

interpersonal,informative,imperative,performative,andemotive.However,inviewofthepurposeofbusinessEnglish,thelanguageinthisspecialregistermayhavethefollowingtwomainfunctions,thatis,interpersonalandinformativefunctions.Thereasonwhytherestofthefunctions（theimperative,theperformative,andtheemotive）arenotlistedhereinbusinessEnglishisnotthattheyareunimportant,butthattheycanbeinvolvedinthetwofunctionsemphasized:

theinterpersonalfunctionandtheinformativefunction.

Theinterpersonalfunctionoflanguageprimarilyinvolvesthewaysinwhichpeoplenegotiateand/ormaintainsocialstatus,inotherwords,howtheymakeuseoflanguagetohelpestablishthemselvesinthesocial“peckingorder”andhowtheymaintaintheserelationswithotherpersons.Inmostlanguagestherearequitedistinctlevelsorregisters,includingritual,formal,informal,casual,andintimatespeech.2InbusinessEnglish,theinterpersonalrelationshipisessentialtothesuccessofabusinesstransaction.Ifyounegotiatewithyourcounterpart,youshouldknowhowandwhentousepolitelanguage,vaguelanguageorlogicallanguage,whichareusedaccordingtodifferentregisters.Theuseofthesevariousregistersdependsprimarilyuponthepurposesofpowerandsolidarity.3JustasMarkEllissaidinhisbookTeachingBusinessEnglish,themostimportantcharacteristicofexchangesinthecontextofbusinessmeetings,telephonecalls,anddiscussionsisasenseofpurpose.Evenusedinphaticmanner,businessEnglishcanobtaininterpersonalfunction.ButunlikeinEGPregisters,inbusinessEnglishthespeakerisoftenpressedtimeatbusinessmeetings,soitisimpossibletokeeponchatteringcleverlyaboutinconsequentialmatters.

Themostobviousfunctionoflanguageisinformative,theuseofspeechorwritingtoinfluencethecognitivecontentorstateofotherpeople.InbusinessEnglish,thisfunctionisespeciallyobvious.Informationhastobeconveyedwithminimumriskofmisunderstanding,andt