On Translation of Scenic Attractions 试谈旅游景点翻译.doc

on translation of scenic attractions how to produce attractive effectabstracttourism is a booming industry which has given rise to the need attractive translation of scenic spots. the prosperous development of tourist industry not only means foreigners travel to china, but also chinese visit abroad. when traveling around, visitors will come across many problems such as language misunderstanding or culture gaps. translation plays a main role in people enjoying scenic attractions.translation of public signs in scenic spots, advertisement of tourism, and food in places of interest is necessary in most cases. the main functions of public signs in scenic spots are: providing adequate information or arousing travelers interest. however, many existing translations are not satisfactory. various problems exist. and some advertising may lose interest when translated into another language. this paper analyzes the features of english translation for scenic spots. as we know, the rapid development of tourism industry attracts more foreigners to china, which entails higher requirements for english interpretation in scenic spots. the aim lies in conveying cultural information, attracting foreign tourists and promoting their interest in traveling to china. furthermore, this paper provides some possible solutions to the translation problems, which are based on nida functional equivalence theory. there are five chapters in this paper. chapter one introduces the assessment of translation of tourist introduction. chapter two illustrates the problems of tourism translation. chapter three introduces the types of scenic spot translation. and the fourth chapter is by applying nida functional equivalence theory to provide some solutions. and the last chapter is the conclusion.key words: translation; translation of scenic spots information; advertisement translation; food translation试谈旅游景点翻译摘 要随着经济的发展，旅游业的快速发展吸引了越来越多的外国游客来到中国观光旅游,这就对我国的旅游景区英文解说提出了更高的要求。旅游业正在日益蓬勃发展。因为国际间的旅游越来越多，为了保证能更好地享受美景，也不失原意，精确地翻译是必不可少的。景区英文解说的目的在于充分传达文化信息,吸引外国旅游者,激发他们的旅游兴趣。根据景区英文解说的特点以及解说中应考虑的因素,认为在景区英文解说中应以语篇翻译为基础,使景区英文解说达到更好的效果。越来越多的外国游客来中国观光旅游,或者中国游客到国外旅游。旅游资料成为宣传旅游景点,促进旅游业发展的重要手段。无论在中文翻译成英文，还是英文翻译成中文，然而不容忽视的是,国内旅游资料翻译质量良莠不齐,无论是在正式出版物还是非正式出版物中,各种语言和非语言错误或问题仍然随处可见。旅游资料主要包括旅游景点介绍、旅游宣传广告、旅游告示标牌、菜单等,其中尤以旅游景点介绍翻译最具旅游文体特色,也是旅游资料翻译中的重点和难点。故本文重点分析中文旅游景点介绍中译英出现的问题,以奈达的功能对等理论为理论框架,提出尝试性的解决办法。 本文共包括五章: 第一章,介绍了翻译的理论和旅游翻译的现状。 第二章是翻译景区的问题。 第三章,旅游景点翻译的种类。第四章，以奈达的功能对等理论为理论框架,提出尝试性的解决办法。第五章是论文的总结部分。关键词：翻译，景点翻译，广告翻译，食物翻译iicontentsabstract in englishabstract in chinese1. introduction11.1 the assessment of translation11.2 definition of tourism21.3 scenic spots introduction22. problems of tourism translation42.1 linguistic errors42.2 diction4 2.2.1 proper name4 2.2.2 pseudo-equivalence5 2.2.3 redundancy6 2.2.4 monotony62.3 chinglish7 2.3.1 mechanical transfers7 2.3.2 run-on sentences82.4 language and culture10 2.4.1 thinking patterns10 2.4.2 linguistic taboo113. types of tourism translation123.1 public signs in scenic spots123.2 advertisement translation143.3 food translation15 3.3.1 delivering messages15 3.3.2 cultural exchange15 3.3.3 aesthetic value164. possible solutions174.1 literal translation174.2 amplification with notes184.3 free translation195. conclusion21bibliography22acknowledgement23221. introductiontranslation is the comprehension of the meaning of a subject and the subsequent production of an equivalent topic, likewise called a translation, that communicates the same message in another language. the development of transportation means and telecommunication facilities allows more and more people to travel outside their countries for the purpose of relaxation. the translation of signs in scenic spots, advertisements and food plays a crucial role in tourism translation. the scenic-spot translation is specifically aimed at foreign tourists. the large cultural gap between china and the western countries makes the translation of chinese scenic-spot introductions, which contains a lot of cultural elements, a job that requires painstaking efforts. the translator not only has to have a good grasp of both chinese and english, but also be highly proficient in intercultural transfer.1.1 the assessment of translation the criterion of translation functions as the guiding principles for the translation process and as the standards for determining the quality of the translated works. the original text consists of two constituent ingredients: content and form. some well-known translators or translation theorists at home and abroad have put forward criteria to judge the quality of translation.yan fu put forward triple principle of translation: faithfulness, expressiveness, and elegance. (信、达、雅)lu xun put forward faithfulness and smoothness as the principle of translation. (信、顺)alexander fraser tyler, a famous british translation theorist, put forward the classical criteria in his essay on the principle of translation.(1) the translation should give a complete transcript of the ideas of the original work(2) the style and manner of writing in the translation should be of the same character with that of the original(3) the translation should have all the ease of the original composition.every translator has his framework of some basic translation theory. different text styles and types require in translation not only different transfer methods, but also different translation criteria. 1.2 definition of tourismcommunication among nations has long been the main theme of human tourism is an activity done by an individual or a group of individuals, which leads to a motion from a place to another. the world tourism organization defines tourists as people who travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited. the purpose of traveling leads to an awareness of other civilizations and cultures also increases the knowledge of countries, cultures, and history. with the ever-growing need for the development of global economy, tourism, as one of the important means that help to realize the full prosperity of society and promote the understanding among people, is being placed in a more and more crucial position. nowadays, people living within the “global village” are provided with convenient resources to travel and to enlarge their eyesight. thus tourism has become a new economic growth point which has exceeded some other industries and has earned its name as “sunrise industry” (zhu, 2002). along with the booming of global tourism, chinas tourism has also witnessed a rapid development in both inbound and outbound sectors the words “inbound” and “outbound” are quoted from travel and tourism dictionary, where “inbound tourists” referring to foreign tourists traveling in china, and “ outbound tourists” referring to chinese tourists traveling abroad. according to a prediction made by the world tourism organization (wto), china will become one of the key tourist destinations in the coming decade. up to the year 2020, china will exceed other countries in becoming the biggest tourist destination. being a country with splendid and unique scenery together with profound and outstanding culture, china has great potential in its inbound tourist market. many foreign tourists are eager to know more about this mysterious land. the 2008 olympic games held in beijing also brings to china good opportunities for the development of tourism, especially for the inbound tourist market. the booming of inbound tourism market calls for sufficient and well-translated tourist materials, especially those from chinese to english(c-e).1.3 scenic spots introductionscenic-spot introduction is a special kind of communication aimed at a special group of audience who know little about chinese culture and language, so translation plays a significant role in publicizing china. despite the increasing attention paid to this field, as evidenced by large amount of articles published in recent years. there is room for improvement of the quality of translation. translation of public signs in scenic spots, advertisement of tourism, and food in places of interest is necessary in most cases. the main functions of public signs translation in scenic spots are: providing adequate information or arousing travelers interest. however, many existing translations are not satisfactory. and some advertising may lose interest when translated into another language.2. problems of tourism translationa translator not only has to have a good grasp of both chinese and english, but also be highly proficient in intercultural transfer. scenic-spot introduction is a special kind of communication aimed at a special group of audience who know little about chinese culture and language, so translation plays a significant role in successfully publicizing china. despite the increasing attention paid to this field, as evidenced by large numbers of articles published in recent years, the quality of translation is still disappointedly substandard. therefore, it is necessary to have a brief survey of the english translation of chinese scenic-spot introductions so as to show some cases of inappropriate and even fallacious translation, which bring negative effects to the conveyance of tourist information, the publicity of scenic spots and culture exchanges.2.1 linguistic errorslanguage to translation is like what brick to building. without language, translation would be impossible. chinese belongs to the sino-tibetan family, whereas english belongs to the indo-european family. the former is mainly composed of monosyllabic characters with a wide range of diverse meanings, while the latter is constituted by latin letters. when switching from chinese to english, some linguistic errors are unavoidable. the linguistic errors will be analyzed from the following two aspects, diction and chinglish.2.2 dictionby “diction” we mean the proper choice of words and phrases in the target language on the basis of accurate comprehension of the source language text. diction means the choice and use of words. word is the smallest semantic unit and the proper choice of words is the basic requirement for the precision of translation. the errors concerning diction in the english translation of chinese scenic-spot introductions will be expounded from the following four aspects: proper name; pseudo-equivalence; redundancy; monotony.2.2.1 proper nameproper name refers to the name of an individual person, place, etc. to these words, there is usually one-to-one relationship between the source language and the target language and the corresponding words can be easily looked up in a bilingual dictionary. however, there are still some wrong translations. the present author has collected a first-hand example to illustrate this point.for example:minibus = 微型汽车（面包车） the united nations = 联合国 the pacific ocean = 太平洋helicopter = 直升飞机(sl): 南山，面朝南海，是中国最南端的山。(tl): nanshan mountain (south mountain), facing chinese south sea, is the southernmost mountain in china.in the target language (tl), “南海” is translated into “chinese south sea”, however, the correct english translation of “南海” is “south china sea”.the correct version: nanshan mountain (south mountain), facing south china sea, is the southernmost mountain in china.2.2.2 pseudo-equivalencein the translation practice, how to find an equivalent word in the target language becomes one of the most perplexing problems. pseudo-equivalence is superficial equivalence without fully comprehending the meaning of the word in different contexts. people tend to learn the meanings of foreign words by associating each word with a single expression in their mother tongue, thus causing many misunderstandings. in fact, the lexical item in one language and its counterpart in another are not remained in one-to-one relationship, but rather a one-to-many, many-to-one, or sometimes many-to-many correspondence. therefore, the translators must make great efforts to distinguish these superficially equivalent words and strive to choose the right word for the specific setting so as to convey the information clearly and correctly. however, in the english translation of chinese scenic-spot introductions, there are many cases of pseudo-equivalence. for example:(sl): 白云阁 (tl): white cloud atticthe word “attic” in the tl is a pseudo-equivalent word to “阁”, although in chinese, “阁” also shares the meaning with the word “attic” to refer to space or room immediately below the roof of a house, which is used to store things. however, in most circumstances, “阁”means a light building used as a shelter rather than to store things. and the scenic-spot name “白云阁” is actually a pavilion used as a shelter for tourists. therefore, in this context, the english word corresponding to chinese “阁” is “pavilion”. in the tl, the translator translated the scenic-spot name into “white cloud attic” without considering the practical situation.the refined version: white cloud pavilion2.2.3 redundancyin some circumstances, the meaning, which has already been implied in the context, does not need further elaboration. however, in the english translation of scenic-spot introductions, there are still some words, which add nothing to the meaning but make the phrases or sentences tedious. in order to achieve conciseness, these words should be deleted.the present author took a picture of the information board in wuzhizhou island, sanya city, which gives a brief introduction of the island. there is a chinese sentence“海水清澈透明，最高能见度达27 米。”which is translated into “the water of the sea of wuzhizhou island is limpid and transparent with the visibility down to 27 meters deep.” wuzhizhou island is famous for its clear water which has already been emphasized in previous sentences of the introduction, so there is no need to state “the water of the sea of wuzhizhou island”. “the water” or “the seawater” is enough to convey the information. besides, “down” here means to the deeper or lower part, thus the word “deep” is redundant which should be deleted.the refined version: the water is limpid and transparent with the visibility down to 27 meters.2.2.4 monotonyin chinese, in some circumstances, the repetition of the same word indicates emphasis and strengthens the expressive power. while in english, in order to achieve the vocative function, people tend to use different words to express similar ideas. in the translation practice of scenic-spot introductions, monotonous wording is often spotted. the frequent repetition of the same english word will definitely lead to monotonous translation. here is an example extracted from the introduction of jingdezhen:(sl): 感悟人生，感悟泥性，感悟瓷韵悠悠。(tl): feel the life, feel the porcelain, and feel the history.in the tl, the repetition of the word “feel” is obvious. to be more attractive and impressive, we can revise it by using different words sharing similar concept. despite the monotonous translation of the chinese word “感悟”, the word “porcelain” is not properly used here. porcelain is hard white translucent material made from china clay, but it is not clay any longer.therefore, it can not express the meaning “泥性”.the refined version: touch the clay, know the history, and feel the life. another example: the meaning of wife can be: 爱人、老婆、夫人、老伴、媳妇、堂客、内人、贱内2.3 chinglishas translation of scenic-spot introductions is from chinese to english, chinese will inevitably exert its influence in the translation. chinglish is speech or writing in english that shows the interference or influence of chinese. “it may result from poor english competence, bad habit of chinese writing, or from uncritical way of thinking and writing in a chinese context”. (joan pinkham, 2000) chinglish may be grammatically correct, but the choice of words or phrases and the manner of expression do not conform to standard english usage. some sentences may be little more than word-for-word translation of chinese expressions. mechanical application of chinese expressions or incorrect use of other english expressions can only result in an ineffective conveyance of information, or even cause misunderstandings.“each language has its own genius, rather than forces the formal structure of one language upon another. the effective translator is quite prepared to make any and all formal changes necessary to reproduce the message in the distinctive structural forms of the receptor language. to preserve the content of the message the form must be changed”. to make a satisfactory translation, translators should not only focus on conveying the meaning of the source language, but also respect the conventions of the target language. however, in the translation practice of scenic-spot introductions, mechanical transfers and run-on sentences can be spotted now and then.for example: 什刹海茶艺酒吧特色商业街.shichahai special commercial street of the art of tea and the bars“commercial street” is the english equivalent of “商业街”. although “special” means “特