Chinese-English Translation Strategies on News Headlines 英语专业毕业论文.doc

chinese-english translation strategies on news headlinessubmitted by student id number supervised by a paper submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of bachelor of artsthe institute of online educationbeijing foreign studies university 论文摘要新闻对政治、经济、文化和人们的生活有着越来越大的影响,而新闻翻译不仅可以帮助政府、企业、个人获取更多的信息，更是加强国际传播，提高一国软性竞争力的有力途径。鉴于在新闻翻译领域，已有许多关于英翻中的研究成果，而当今形势是急需让世界真正了解中国，本文将主要研究新闻标题的中翻英策略和技巧。 本文从国内外知名的平面媒体和网站选取了三大类数据：中文新闻标题、英文新闻标题、中文新闻标题及其英文翻译，从中总结出了中英文标题的相同之处和各自特色。相似之处在于：对于整则新闻的重要性；简洁是其最突出的特征；使用谚语或新词以使表达丰富；使用修辞手法；常采用缩写、简写；带有独特的文化背景。而中英文标题在句子结构、时态、语态、语法规则等方面则有各自的特点。通过总结分析，作者了解到如何将中译英的基本原则运用于新闻标题的翻译当中，如改变句子结构、改变句子语态、对特殊文化背景的词语进行意译等，并从中总结出一些新闻翻译的特点：由于新闻的时效性对译者的速度和质量有了更高的要求；由于新闻价值、媒体立场、政治社会影响等因素，新闻翻译经常需要编译。笔者希望通过此研究总结出一些基本翻译原则的运用技巧和新闻标题中翻英的特点，可更好地理解新闻标题和翻译新闻标题，并籍此对推动中国的国际传播和提高国际影响尽微薄之力。由于第三部分数据大部分源自网站，样本的有限性可能导致研究的不够全面。希望笔者的尝试可以抛砖引玉。关键词：新闻标题 中译英 翻译技巧abstractduring the past century, news has played increasingly powerful role in politics, economy, culture and every aspect of peoples life. news translation not only could help government, corporations, or individuals to know more information they need but also contribute much to international communication, which is regarded as significant remark of one countrys soft power. based on the fact that many studies have been done about e-c news translation and the urgent need to introduce china and let outsiders get to know china more，this research will mainly focus on c-e news translation, more specifically, on news headlines c-e translation. headlines are very important in both chinese & english news, through which readers easily know what the news try to say and decide whether to go further. at personal level, the writer find how to deal with headlines is quite challenging and interesting during previous translating experience in news. this research aims to get a basic idea of the characteristics of chinese and english news headlines, to summarize the similarities and differences between chinese and english headlines, to see how basic translation rules applied to c-e news headlines translation and to explore the unique features, skills, or anything should be noticed during c-e news headlines translation based on examples studied. the data to be analyzed include three categories: chinese news headlines, english news headlines, and chinese news headlines with their english translations. through the research result, we could infer how some basic translation strategies applied, peoples common practices and some unique features in c-e news headlines translation. through this project, the author will better understand news headlines and improve translation skills especially on this text type. also the author hope the study will contribute a little to the whole course of international communication in china.keywords: news headlines, translation strategy, c-etable of contentspages1. introduction 1.1 research background 1.1.1 why news 1.1.2 why news headlines 1.1.3 why c-e 1.2 research objective 1.3 project design 11111121.12. rationale 22.1 news 2.1.1 definition of news 2.1.2 similarities between chinese and english news headlines 2.1.3 difference between chinese and english news headlines 22342.2 translation strategy 2.2.1 definition of news translation 2.2.2 what is translation strategy? 2.2.3 basic rules applied to news translation 2.2.4 unique features of news translation 444553. data description 3.1 data resource and category3.2 data analysis 3.2.1 chinese news headlines 3.2.2 english news headlines 3.2.3 chinese news headlines and their translation 5556894. research results 4.1 general techniques in c-e news headlines translation 4.1.1 the requirement of preciseness 4.1.2 cultural background and free translation 4.1.3 change the parallel structure to a single logical sentence 4.1.4 choose proper tense or form based on the original meaning 4.1.5 change the active voice in the original chinese to the passive voice 4.1.6 break grammar rules for brevity 4.2 special features of news translation 4.2.1 time pressure 4.4.2 compiling 5. conclusion bibliography appendix 111112121212121212121212131415chiese-english translation strategies on news headlines1. introduction1.1 project background 1.1.1 why news?during the past century, news has played increasingly powerful role in politics, economy, culture and every aspect of peoples life. with the globalization of world economy and chinas access to wto, more and more importance should be attached to practices and studies of news communication. news translation would definitely help government, corporations, or individuals to know more information they need. at personal level, i used to major in journalism and would like to probe into a subject relevant to both news and english. 1.1.2 why chinese-english?due to the situation that 1) translation contributes much to international communication, which is regarded as significant remark of one countrys soft power 2) there are already many experiences and study done about e-c news translation; 3) the urgent need to introduce china and let outsiders get to know china more，i think it is important to study c-e news translation. 1.1.3 why headlines? as the saying goes, a good beginning is half battle. headlines are very important in both chinese & english news, through which readers easily know what the news try to say and decide whether to go further. also it is not feasible and necessary to study all aspects about c-e news translation for a bachelor degree thesis. last but not least, during my previous translating experience in news, i find how to deal with headlines is most challenging and interesting.1.2 project objectivethis research firstly aims to get a basic idea of the characteristics of chinese and english news headlines through the analysis of examples from reliable media and to summarize the similarities and differences between chinese and english headlines. then it will try to examine see how basic translation rules applied to c-e news headlines translation through the data analysis. meanwhile, this research explores the unique features, skills, or anything should be noticed during c-e news headlines translation based on examples studied. the research result would definitely attribute to future practices in c-e news translation and hopefully would do some good to chinas international communication. 1.3 project designthe research is divided into four parts. in part one, the author will define news, news translation and describe the main theories relate with the study. in part two, the author will examine three categories of carefully chosen news headlines. in part three, the author aims to summarize some basic rules adapted in c-e news headlines translation strategies according to the data analysis, and also, to explore the unique feature of news translation. finally, in part four, the author will summarize the whole research and present the implications for the future practice and research while point out the limitation of this research. 2. rationale 2.1 news2.1.1 definition of newssince this project aims to explore the c-e translation strategies of news headlines, we should first look into what news is. the oxford dictionary 6th edition explains it as “new information about something that has happened recently”, which emphasizes “new”.(advanced learners english-chinese dictionary, 2000:1162)dictionary of canadian english defines it as “something told as having just happened; information about something that has just happened or will soon happen.” and “a report of a current happening or happenings in a newspaper, on television, radio, etc.”, which indicates not only the time limit of news but also where news appear. john bogart (1918) once said, “when a dog bites a man that is not news, because it happens so often. but if a man bites a dog, that is news. ” he indicates news is about something unusual. the chinese equivalent “新闻” is said to be firstly used as “恨天下无书以广新闻”in tang dynasty by sun chuxuan, which means anecdotes. lu dingyi emphasizes news should be true facts: “新闻是新近发生的事实的报道.” pan gongzhan points out the functions of news: “最近发生的事实，能引起多数读者兴味，能给予读者以实益，方是新闻。”( /gb/22114/49489/51750/3616450.html) to compare and summarize the above definitions, we could say that news is reports on mass media about facts just happened, currently happening, will happen soon, which is useful for society and people.2.1.2 similarities between chinese and english news headlines1) the role and significance in news: both chinese and english headlines point out the most valued information, attract readers attention, help readers to choose and comprehend the whole event and make the space, either print or internet, more vivid and attractive. according to liu qizhong, “它们都是新闻的重要组成部分，都是新闻内容的概括和浓缩，其作用都是为了帮助作者选择新闻，阅读新闻和理解新闻。”(liu 2004: 124)2) the truthfulness and brevity are most outstanding and necessary characteristics of all news headlines. while xu mingwu thinks that “简洁和真实是二者最突出的共性。”（xu2003: 240）3) for lexis, both chinese and english headlines use idioms, new words, and numbers in certain cases to convey the key message in a lively and powerful way. 4) rhetoric such as metaphor, personification, repetition, etc. is used in both chinese and english news headlines. 5) abbreviations or initials are both used in chinese and english news headlines regarding well known place, organization, country names, etc. 6) punctuation such as the exclamatory mark, quotation mark and colone is used to express certain feelings, attract readers attention or to refer something particularly.7) both chinese and english news headlines sometimes carry special culture background.2.1.2 difference between chinese and english news headlines1)for structure, chinese headlines are more often two parallel sentences or even couplet while english news headlines tend to be a single but logical sentence, which also reflects that chinese is a language of parataxis while english hypotaxis. 2) difference in tense: there are clear marks of tense in english news headlines and the simple present tense is often used to indicate something already happened, which looks very updated and fresh for readers. chinese headlines indicate the time through the meaning of the sentence and dont have clear mark of tense. 3) difference in voice: english news headlines much more often use the passive voice to give an impression of preciseness and impartiality. 4) grammar rules: english news headlines much more often break grammar rules for brevity. 5) difference in rhetoric: “从修辞来看，汉语标题更重文采，讲究对仗和押韵；英文标题则显得质朴平淡，重在铺陈事实。某些修辞格如头韵、回环、顶真、衬托分别为英汉语所独有”。（liu 2003:240）6) within same space, chinese headlines can convey more information than english news headlines. according to liu qizhong, “英文字长，占空间大；汉字占空间小，一般来说字词含义更加丰富”。“为了节省空间，英文新闻标题往往在语法方面大做文章，能省则省；而中文报纸编辑则因并不过分担心空间而在标题多、字词挑选和文字队长工整方面施展才能，以其创意和文采吸引读者。”（liu, 2004:126）2.2 translation strategy2.2. 1 definition of news translationencyclopedia america defines translation as “the act of rendering a work of one language into another”. fan zhongying says “ 翻译是把一种语言的信息用另一种语言表达出来,使译文读者能得到原作者所表达的思想,得到与原文读者大致相同的感受”. (fan 1996:13). so we could infer that news translation is the act of rendering news in language a into language b and offering language b readers the access to information that language a readers can get.2.2.2 basic rules applied to news translation(1) preciseness of information convey during translation process. in alexander fraser tyler (1747-1814)s essay on the principles of translation (1790), he pointed out that there are three basic translation principles, namely the translation should be a complete transcript of the ideas of the original work; the style and manner of the writing should be of the same character with that of the original and the translation should have all the ease of the original composition. the first systematic translation standards in china are put forward by yan fu as “信、达、雅”, in which “信” goes first. the preciseness of information in news translation is as important as, if not more than, other text translation. news is reports about facts, so the translated versions undoubtedly should be true and correct. (2) different cultural background such as historic and political factors should be considered. (3) the flexibility of literal translation and free translation.2.2.3 unique features of news translation (1) compared to literature translation or other text types, news translation must be highly efficient and timely. (liu 2004: 3) (2) the translators need to be not only proficient in language but also in editing skills. news value and characteristics of news should be taken into account during translation process.(3) the unique grammar and headlinese should be applied.3. data description 3.1 data resource and category since this paper aims to explore the c-e translation strategies on news headlines, the data to be analyzed include: 1) chinese and english news headlines to illustrate their corresponding characteristics, based on which to explore their similarities and differences. 2) chinese news headlines and their english translations to see how basic translation rules applied to c-e news headlines translation; 3) chinese news headlines and their english translated versions to illustrate unique features should be noticed.about 70 carefully chosen chinese and english headlines will be presented in this paper. chinese headlines are from beijing youth, 21st century economic report, xinhua net and the beijing news and english headlines are from china daily, cnn, voa and american government websites. chinese news headlines and their translations are available at xinhua.net, www. mof. gov. cn, www. m,etc. 3.2 data analysis 3.2.1 chinese news headlines 1) structure: parallel structures or couplet are often used in chinese news headlines.for example: 文博会昨圆满落幕 350m2大屏将上街 老布什昨日发表演讲 坚信中国会和平崛起 伊战负担重 美军想扩编满城昨映“黄金甲” 网上尽播搞笑片 2) tense: there are no clear sign of time or tense variations in chinese headlines. for example: 伊战负担重 美军想扩编 外来娘家抛绣球敞开行政复议大门 环保总局败诉后制新规自律望闻问切“中国式小片” 为何总是叫好不叫座3) voice: for part of speech, verbs are often used in chinese headlines. active voice is usually used while passive voice is seldom used. this rule nearly applies to all examples chosen (see appendix i) 4) lexis: first, idioms are often used in chinese headlines.for example: 1比3 不敌韩国队 获得首枚亚运银牌中国男曲虽败犹荣here “虽败犹荣” is a chinese idiom to convey the meaning vividly and concisely. secondly, numbers sometimes are used simply to attract readers and emphasize the important information, which is illustrated by the following three examples: 1比3 不敌韩国队 获得首枚亚运银牌25%! 两税合并草案初解上海港货物吞吐量突破5亿吨 稳居世界第一货港5) rhetoric: personification and metaphor are often used. c5, c6,c9,c14for example: “猫和老鼠”失去爸爸. here by saying the animation film lost its father, both personification and metaphor is used. the father refers to the author. such a headline enables the readers feel close. in another example李荣融的“手术刀”：七行业重组图谱 , the scalpel implies the great reform in a vivid way.望闻问切“中国式小片” 为何总是叫好不叫座? the original meaning and usage of “望闻问切” is in traditional chinese medicine, here it refers to a through analysis the local film market. 6) form of headlines: a subtitle may be used to emphasize important information and to attract readers. for example: 老布什昨日发表演讲 坚信中国会和平崛起布什一家受邀来京看奥运1比3 不敌韩国队 获得首枚亚运银牌中国男曲虽败犹荣7) abbreviation: abbreviation of well-known place, country name, organization name, etc. is often used in chinese news headlines to save space. for example: 文博会昨圆满落幕 350m2大屏将上街. 伊战负担重 美军想扩编民航加快对外开放 最大合资支线航空明年起飞8) punctuation: exclamatory mark, quotation mark and question mark is used in chinese headlines to express certain feelings, attract readers or to refer something particularly.for example: 李荣融的“手术刀”：七行业重组图谱25%! 两税合并草案初解从住房到储蓄 实名制能推诚信走多远？9) some headlines carry unique culture background and cannot be translated literally.for example: 外来娘家抛绣球望闻问切“中国式小片” 为何总是叫好不叫座3.2.2 english news headlines 1) structure: english news headlines normally are single sentence, which is the case in nearly all chosen data. ( see appendix ii)2) tense: simple present tense is used to indicate something already happened to emphasize the news is most updated.for example: scandal-hit jefferson wins louisiana runoff hungarians mourn passing of puskas state unemployment rate drops to new reco