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

1、英语论文The Exactitude and Vagueness in Business Contract TranslationThe Exactitude and Vagueness in Business Contract Translation1. Introduction So, it is important to ensure that the translated contract documents are not only linguistically accurate, but also in conformity with the purpose of the sour

2、ce text, which merits great attention. Both exactitude and vagueness are to be discussed in business contract translation, as they can make translated texts accord with the original in the meaning. Even though it seems one runs counter to the other. 2. Characteristics of business contract Contract,

3、as a means of protection for contractual parties rights as well as a guarantee of the performance of them, is the subject in the thesis, so this part serves as background for the future discussion.2.1 Concept of contractIn Blacks Law Dictionary (fifth edition), it states that a contract is an agreem

4、ent between two and more entities which creates an obligation to do or not to do. A contract shall be an agreement whereby the parties establish, change or terminate their civil relationship. Contracts referred to in this law and agreements between equal natural persons, legal persons and other orga

5、nizations for the purpose of establishing, altering and terminating mutual civil rights and obligations. (Chinese Contract Law, 1999) While a business contract is defined as a legal binding written agreement of a business or administrative, signed by both parties. Such agreements are either required

6、 by law, as in the case of real property translations, or because the terms and conditions exceed the requirements of a standard purchase order. In simplest terms, international business contract is merely an agreement made by two or more parties from different countries for the purpose of transacti

7、ng business or it is one of variety of formats used to document and carry out relationships. 2.2 Contents and provisions of contractThere is no doubt contract is very significant in foreign trade and business. L.B Curzon in his A Dictionary of Law (1976:24) says: contracts generally involve: 1. offe

8、r and absolute and unqualified acceptance2. meeting of minds3. intention to create legal relations4. genuineness of consent5. contractual capacity of the parties6. legality of subject7. possibility of performance8. certainty of terms 9. valuable consideration1999 Chinese Contract Law defined the fol

9、lowing provisions:1. title or name and domicile of the parties2. contract object3. quantity4. quality5. price or remuneration6. time limit, place and method of performance7. liability for breath of contract 8. methods to settle disputes2.3 Language features Most texts of international business contr

10、act are on-the-spot records of a certain fact. The modal auxiliaries of “shall” and “may” are frequently used to indicate obligations and rights. The former is traditionally adopted to express the force of requirements and the later usually indicates a certain power benefit, rights or privilege. Bes

11、ides, most information contained in business contract can be understood only one way through frequent use of abbreviations, acronyms, archaisms and some other systematic and professional terms.3. The criteria of business contract translationOnce translation criteria are mentioned, Yanfu, a famous tr

12、anslator in the end of the Qing Dynasty of China, is the first person for whom we should admire. He summarized the standards for translation: faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance that have made a great influence on translation after him and even today that can guide us well in translation. Busi

13、ness contract is a kind of law document, whose translation takes on specific criteria that are different from common writings.3.1 Faithfulness and accuracyDue to the professional features and interdisciplinary of business contract, its contents is getting specific and complete gradually. Thus, “fait

14、hfulness and accuracy” is the first important standard in business contract translation. Business contract is legal instrument, so any ambiguous provisions of rights and obligations must be avoided and special expression, legal terms and important words should be paid attention.For example, offer ca

15、n be translated as “提供、提议”, but in business contract, it should be translated into “要约”. offerer and offeree should be respectively translated as “要约人” and “受要约人”; accept can usually be translated as “接受、认可”, but in contract, it is translated as “承诺”, and acceptor and acceptee should be respectively

16、 translated as “承诺人” and “接受承诺人”.Great accuracy is required in translation of contract. The same translation must be remained for technical terms and important words bearing certain precise legal connotation to avoid misunderstanding, for example, exclusive contract is always translated as “专销合同”, m

17、eaning an agreement between manufacturer and retailer that prohibits the retailer from carrying the product lines of firms to firms that are the rival of the manufacturer; net income should be translated as “净收入”; yet, net profit should be translated as “纯利润”, rather than “净利润”. 3.2 Expressiveness a

18、nd smoothnessExpressiveness and smoothness means a translator should idiomatically express the sense of the original contract in the target language, which is the second standard for business contract translation. Business contract, a legal document, should be a very form and serious writing style.E

19、xample 1: By Irrevocable Letter of Credit available by Sellers documentary bill at sight to be valid for negotiation in China until 15 days after date of shipment, the Letter of Credit must reach the Sellers 30 days before the contracted month of shipment.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

20、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。In Example 1, Irrevocable Letter of Credit is A letter of Credit which cannot be altered or cancelled once it has been opened to the seller through his bank. Although it can be understood by “不可取消的信用证”，the term is more popular to translate to “不可撤销的信用证”; documentary bill

21、at sight is translated as “即期付有单据的票据” that is not clear in concept. In fact, documentary bill is a bill to which documents are attached, should be “跟单汇票”; negotiation is the giving of value for bills (drafts) or documents by the bank authorized to negotiated that should be “议付”; until 15 days after

22、date of shipment should be translated as “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。In the two specific criteria, the principle of faithfulness and accuracy is the more important one. Expressiveness and smoothness shall take priority over faithfulness and ac

23、curacy in case that they can not be met at the same time.4. Exactitude and vagueness in business contract translationPeople hold a brief about language that is “good” usage involves (among other things) clarity and precision. Hence, it is believed that vagueness, ambiguity, impression and general wo

24、olliness are to be avoided. (Channel, 1994:1).Contract English is a part of legal English, where clearness and exactitude are usually emphasized; however vague expression in legal world still can be excluded. Although we strive to make language of contract precise, exact and clear to avoid ambiguity

25、, phenomenon of vagueness is very common in business contract. Under specific conditions vague expression is used and the effect of actual veracity and wide applicability can be achieved in contract.4.1 ExactitudeExactitude means that all the semantic information in original text necessary for smoot

26、h and exact business intention must be transferred as exactly as possible. Even a single one to one relationship between a reference and name is established and units and numbers are written correctly. It requires “extraordinary precision”, and “unambiguous”, which is the drive for unique characteri

27、stics of contract English and is critical to reduce the likehood of misinterpretation.Example 2: 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: Shipment during the period beginning on April 1 and ending on Oct.20 both dates inclusive, subject to Buyers Letter of Credit reaching Seller on an

28、d before Mar. 20.In Example 2, the shipment period includes two dates of April 1 and Oct.20, so both dates inclusive should be added up. As the date of Buyers Letter of Credit arriving would include Mar.20, on should be put in the front of before Mar.20. Besides, it is proper to translate subject to

29、 to “以为准，以为有效”.4.2 VaguenessGenerally speaking, it is necessary to use exact words but not vague words in contract except in some situations. But precision is not necessary extreme clarity it may also involve selecting the appropriate level of vagueness or flexibility. (Gibbons, 2003:38)There is no

30、generally agreed upon definition of vagueness and vague language, owing to different understandings. The basic rules the working definition obey are:1. No definite meaning can be derived from vagueness.2. Vagueness is used to achieve certain pragmatic functions in communication.Joanna Channell (2000

31、:20) gave the definition of vague language following:An expression or word is vague if:1. It can be contrasted with another word or expression which appears to render the same propositions;2. It is “purposely and unabashedly vague”;3. Its meaning arises from the “intrinsic uncertainty” referred to b

32、y Peirce.4.3 Contrastive analysis between exactitude and vagueness In business contract, under exactitude there is vagueness and on vagueness exactitude depends. Co-existence of exactitude and vagueness construes completeness and conciseness of a business contract. In this case, exactitude and vagueness need to be contrastively analyzed at lexical and syntactic level and a clear comparison and image reach.Here, the relevance theory is used to be the guide of analyzing exactitude and vagueness. The relevance theory first appeared in the 1980s.