英语论文The Exactitude and Vagueness in Business Contract Translation.docx

英语论文The Exactitude and Vagueness in Business Contract Translation.docx

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英语论文TheExactitudeandVaguenessinBusinessContractTranslation

TheExactitudeandVaguenessinBusinessContractTranslation

1.Introduction

So,itisimportanttoensurethatthetranslatedcontractdocumentsarenotonlylinguisticallyaccurate,butalsoinconformitywiththepurposeofthesourcetext,whichmeritsgreatattention.Bothexactitudeandvaguenessaretobediscussedinbusinesscontracttranslation,astheycanmaketranslatedtextsaccordwiththeoriginalinthemeaning.Eventhoughitseemsonerunscountertotheother.

2.Characteristicsofbusinesscontract

Contract,asameansofprotectionforcontractualparties’rightsaswellasaguaranteeoftheperformanceofthem,isthesubjectinthethesis,sothispartservesasbackgroundforthefuturediscussion.

2.1Conceptofcontract

InBlack’sLawDictionary（fifthedition）,itstatesthatacontractisanagreementbetweentwoandmoreentitieswhichcreatesanobligationtodoornottodo.Acontractshallbeanagreementwherebythepartiesestablish,changeorterminatetheircivilrelationship.Contractsreferredtointhislawandagreementsbetweenequalnaturalpersons,legalpersonsandotherorganizationsforthepurposeofestablishing,alteringandterminatingmutualcivilrightsandobligations.（ChineseContractLaw,1999）

Whileabusinesscontractisdefinedasalegalbindingwrittenagreementofabusinessoradministrative,signedbybothparties.Suchagreementsareeitherrequiredbylaw,asinthecaseofrealpropertytranslations,orbecausethetermsandconditionsexceedtherequirementsofastandardpurchaseorder.Insimplestterms,internationalbusinesscontractismerelyanagreementmadebytwoormorepartiesfromdifferentcountriesforthepurposeoftransactingbusinessoritisoneofvarietyofformatsusedtodocumentandcarryoutrelationships.

2.2Contentsandprovisionsofcontract

Thereisnodoubtcontractisverysignificantinforeigntradeandbusiness.

L.BCurzoninhisADictionaryofLaw（1976:

24）says:

contractsgenerallyinvolve:

1.offerandabsoluteandunqualifiedacceptance

2.meetingofminds

3.intentiontocreatelegalrelations

4.genuinenessofconsent

5.contractualcapacityoftheparties

6.legalityofsubject

7.possibilityofperformance

8.certaintyofterms

9.valuableconsideration

1999ChineseContractLawdefinedthefollowingprovisions:

1.titleornameanddomicileoftheparties

2.contractobject

3.quantity

4.quality

5.priceorremuneration

6.timelimit,placeandmethodofperformance

7.liabilityforbreathofcontract

8.methodstosettledisputes

2.3Languagefeatures

Mosttextsofinternationalbusinesscontractareon-the-spotrecordsofacertainfact.Themodalauxiliariesof“shall”and“may”arefrequentlyusedtoindicateobligationsandrights.Theformeristraditionallyadoptedtoexpresstheforceofrequirementsandthelaterusuallyindicatesacertainpowerbenefit,rightsorprivilege.Besides,mostinformationcontainedinbusinesscontractcanbeunderstoodonlyonewaythroughfrequentuseofabbreviations,acronyms,archaismsandsomeothersystematicandprofessionalterms.

3.Thecriteriaofbusinesscontracttranslation

Oncetranslationcriteriaarementioned,Yanfu,afamoustranslatorintheendoftheQingDynastyofChina,isthefirstpersonforwhomweshouldadmire.Hesummarizedthestandardsfortranslation:

faithfulness,expressivenessandelegancethathavemadeagreatinfluenceontranslationafterhimandeventodaythatcanguideuswellintranslation.Businesscontractisakindoflawdocument,whosetranslationtakesonspecificcriteriathataredifferentfromcommonwritings.

3.1Faithfulnessandaccuracy

Duetotheprofessionalfeaturesandinterdisciplinaryofbusinesscontract,itscontentsisgettingspecificandcompletegradually.Thus,“faithfulnessandaccuracy”isthefirstimportantstandardinbusinesscontracttranslation.Businesscontractislegalinstrument,soanyambiguousprovisionsofrightsandobligationsmustbeavoidedandspecialexpression,legaltermsandimportantwordsshouldbepaidattention.

Forexample,offercanbetranslatedas“提供、提议”,butinbusinesscontract,itshouldbetranslatedinto“要约”.offererandoffereeshouldberespectivelytranslatedas“要约人”and“受要约人”;acceptcanusuallybetranslatedas“接受、认可”,butincontract,itistranslatedas“承诺”,andacceptorandaccepteeshouldberespectivelytranslatedas“承诺人”and“接受承诺人”.

Greataccuracyisrequiredintranslationofcontract.Thesametranslationmustberemainedfortechnicaltermsandimportantwordsbearingcertainpreciselegalconnotationtoavoidmisunderstanding,forexample,exclusivecontractisalwaystranslatedas“专销合同”,meaninganagreementbetweenmanufacturerandretailerthatprohibitstheretailerfromcarryingtheproductlinesoffirmstofirmsthataretherivalofthemanufacturer;netincomeshouldbetranslatedas“净收入”;yet,netprofitshouldbetranslatedas“纯利润”,ratherthan“净利润”.

3.2Expressivenessandsmoothness

Expressivenessandsmoothnessmeansatranslatorshouldidiomaticallyexpressthesenseoftheoriginalcontractinthetargetlanguage,whichisthesecondstandardforbusinesscontracttranslation.Businesscontract,alegaldocument,shouldbeaveryformandseriouswritingstyle.

Example1:

ByIrrevocableLetterofCreditavailablebySellersdocumentarybillatsighttobevalidfornegotiationinChinauntil15daysafterdateofshipment,theLetterofCreditmustreachtheSellers30daysbeforethecontractedmonthofshipment.

原译文：

以不可取消的信用证，凭卖方即期付有单据的票据协商，有效期应为装运期15天后在中国到期，该信用证必须于合同规定的装运月份前30天到达卖方。

InExample1,IrrevocableLetterofCreditisAletterofCreditwhichcannotbealteredorcancelledonceithasbeenopenedtothesellerthroughhisbank.Althoughitcanbeunderstoodby“不可取消的信用证”，thetermismorepopulartotranslateto“不可撤销的信用证”;documentarybillatsightistranslatedas“即期付有单据的票据”thatisnotclearinconcept.Infact,documentarybillisabilltowhichdocumentsareattached,shouldbe“跟单汇票”;negotiationisthegivingofvalueforbills（drafts）ordocumentsbythebankauthorizedtonegotiatedthatshouldbe“议付”;until15daysafterdateofshipmentshouldbetranslatedas“装运期后的15天”.

改译为：

以不可撤销的信用证，凭卖方即期汇票跟单信用证议付，有效期应为装运期后15天在中国到期。

该跟单信用证必须于合同规定的装运月份前30天到达卖方。

Inthetwospecificcriteria,theprincipleoffaithfulnessandaccuracyisthemoreimportantone.Expressivenessandsmoothnessshalltakepriorityoverfaithfulnessandaccuracyincasethattheycannotbemetatthesametime.

4.Exactitudeandvaguenessinbusinesscontracttranslation

Peopleholdabriefaboutlanguagethatis“good”usageinvolves（amongotherthings）clarityandprecision.Hence,itisbelievedthatvagueness,ambiguity,impressionandgeneralwoollinessaretobeavoided.（Channel,1994:

1）.

ContractEnglishisapartoflegalEnglish,whereclearnessandexactitudeareusuallyemphasized;howevervagueexpressioninlegalworldstillcanbeexcluded.Althoughwestrivetomakelanguageofcontractprecise,exactandcleartoavoidambiguity,phenomenonofvaguenessisverycommoninbusinesscontract.Underspecificconditionsvagueexpressionisusedandtheeffectofactualveracityandwideapplicabilitycanbeachievedincontract.

4.1Exactitude

Exactitudemeansthatallthesemanticinformationinoriginaltextnecessaryforsmoothandexactbusinessintentionmustbetransferredasexactlyaspossible.Evenasingleonetoonerelationshipbetweenareferenceandnameisestablishedandunitsandnumbersarewrittencorrectly.Itrequires“extraordinaryprecision”,and“unambiguous”,whichisthedriveforuniquecharacteristicsofcontractEnglishandiscriticaltoreducethelikehoodofmisinterpretation.

Example2:

从4月1日起到10月20日止这一期间内交货，但以买方信用证在3月20日前到达卖方为限。

Translation:

ShipmentduringtheperiodbeginningonApril1andendingonOct.20bothdatesinclusive,subjecttoBuyer’sLetterofCreditreachingSelleronandbeforeMar.20.

InExample2,theshipmentperiodincludestwodatesofApril1andOct.20,sobothdatesinclusiveshouldbeaddedup.AsthedateofBuyer’sLetterofCreditarrivingwouldincludeMar.20,onshouldbeputinthefrontofbeforeMar.20.Besides,itispropertotranslatesubjecttoto“以……为准，以……为有效”.

4.2Vagueness

Generallyspeaking,itisnecessarytouseexactwordsbutnotvaguewordsincontractexceptinsomesituations.Butprecisionisnotnecessaryextremeclarity–itmayalsoinvolveselectingtheappropriatelevelofvaguenessorflexibility.（Gibbons,2003:

38）

Thereisnogenerallyagreedupondefinitionofvaguenessandvaguelanguage,owingtodifferentunderstandings.Thebasicrulestheworkingdefinitionobeyare:

1.Nodefinitemeaningcanbederivedfromvagueness.

2.Vaguenessisusedtoachievecertainpragmaticfunctionsincommunication.

JoannaChannell（2000:

20）gavethedefinitionofvaguelanguagefollowing:

Anexpressionorwordisvagueif:

1.Itcanbecontrastedwithanotherwordorexpressionwhichappearstorenderthesamepropositions;

2.Itis“purposelyandunabashedlyvague”;

3.Itsmeaningarisesfromthe“intrinsicuncertainty”referredtobyPeirce.

4.3Contrastiveanalysisbetweenexactitudeandvagueness

Inbusinesscontract,underexactitudethereisvaguenessandonvaguenessexactitudedepends.Co-existenceofexactitudeandvaguenessconstruescompletenessandconcisenessofabusinesscontract.Inthiscase,exactitudeandvaguenessneedtobecontrastivelyanalyzedatlexicalandsyntacticlevelandaclearcomparisonandimagereach.

Here,therelevancetheoryisusedtobetheguideofanalyzingexactitudeandvagueness.Therelevancetheoryfirstappearedinthe1980’s.