英语专业毕业论文Techniques of Translating Business English Correspondence into Chinese.pdf

毕业论文(设计) 1 techniques of translating business english correspondence into chinese 1. introduction “business english is a special term given to english by non-english speaking nations for international trade. in britain, it is called commercial english or commercial correspondence or commercial letter”(胡鑑明, 2001: 3). in english speaking countries, all correspondences needed both in domestic and foreign trades are written in english. however, in non-english speaking countries, correspondence for international trade is also needed to be written in english because english is the most widely used language in this field. with the execution of the reform and opening policy and the success of chinas entering into wto, international business translation is becoming more and more important. today, many coastal cities in our country where activities of international trade have been increasing have become more and more industrialized and commercialized. therefore, business english translation plays a very important role in international trade, and the qualified translators are urgently needed in our country. business english correspondences are not literary works, so they dont need the flowery language. one is required to express his own views accurately and properly with a plain language. the purpose is to make the readers understand and to catch the readers attention. therefore, a business english correspondence and the translation of 毕业论文(设计) 2 it must be accurate and appropriate, or it will bring great inconvenience or loss in international businesses. in order to obtain good quality translation of business english correspondence, translators must understand the language features between business english correspondence and business chinese correspondence. 2. the language features of business english correspondence the function of the business english correspondence is to convey business information. it has its own language style which forms the language features of business english correspondence. there are seven language features of business english correspondence: completeness, concreteness, clearness, conciseness, courtesy, consideration and correctness. 2.1completeness if one wants to write a successful and highly effective business english correspondence, his letter must have two aspects: completeness of facts and completeness of explanation. for example: suppose a businessman is writing a letter to his supplier telling him that his goods were not delivered on time, his letter should include the following: (a) reminding him of his promise of timely delivery. 毕业论文(设计) 3 (b) he broke his promise. (c) what losses has this caused you? (d) asking for compensation if there is any agreement on that. (e) expecting no such thing will happen again.( 胡鑑明, 2001: 11) 2.2 concreteness a business english correspondence should be specific, definite and persuasive but not to be vague, general and abstract. for example: (1) a. we wished to confirm our telex dispatched yesterday. b. we confirm our telex of july 2nd, 2000 (concrete).(廖瑛, 2003: 4) (2) a. our apples are excellent. b. our apples are juicy, crispy and tender (concrete).(胡鑑明, 2001: 9) in sentences b in the two examples, “july 2nd”, “juicy”, “crispy”, and “tender” are definite and specific, containing concrete message, while in sentences a, “yesterday” and “excellent” are vague and abstract. 2.3 clearness clearness is an important language feature in business english correspondence. the final purpose of “clearness” is to make sure what one wrote is so clear that it cant be misunderstood. clearness means: 1) one sentence for one meaning only. 2) there must be a logical relationship between relevant sentences. no reversion or 毕业论文(设计) 4 repetition allowed to appear. (胡鑑明, 2001: 4) the italic words in the two examples below are not clear enough. (3) “fluctuation in the exchange rate after the date of contract signing will be for the buyers account.” improved: “any increase or decrease in the exchange rate after the date of contract signing will be for the buyers account.” (胡鑑明, 2001: 4) (4) “they have also a decided advantage in regard to freight.” improved: “they have also a decided advantage in regard to freight charges.” (胡鑑明, 2001: 4) the author should pay attention to the word “freight” which has different meanings: “freight charges”, “cargo”, or “transportation”. 2.4 conciseness conciseness can save the time of both the writer and the addressee. conciseness means the author should clearly express what he wants to do with a few words in the condition of considering completeness, concreteness and courtesy. for example: (5) wordy: i wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to you for your kind cooperation. concise: thank you for your cooperation. (6) wordy: we have begun to export our machines to the foreign countries. concise: we have begun to export our machines. (廖瑛，2003:14-15) 毕业论文(设计) 5 2.5 courtesy courtesyisaveryimportantlanguagefeatureofbusinessenglish correspondence. a courteous expression in a letter can help to set up an honest and enthusiastic impression to the readers. courtesy not only means politeness, but also means caring about the interests of the customers and offering the customers convenience in their work. in order to be courteous, one should use the expression with the meaning of joy, thanks, regret or with requesting tone, such as please , thank you for , we are afraid , we would suggest , and so on. for example: we are pleased to inform you that the commodities you are interested in fall within the scope of our business activities. (王乃彦，2005: 20) 2.6 consideration consideration means one should put himself in the position of the opposite party. for example, a letter promoting ones own product should tell the prospective buyer what benefit he will get if he buys the goods. thus, it will be easier to arouse his interest and desire to buy. for instance: acceptance of our offer from many customers has proven that our prices are reasonable. your order in quantities will surely accord with the market demand at your end and be of great benefit to your company. (胡 鑑明, 2001: 10) 毕业论文(设计) 6 2.7 correctness correctness means the expression in business english letters must be correct. the facts, words and figures must be accurate and cant be overstated or understated. for example: (7) this product is absolutely the best one on the market. (8) this product is the best one we can supply. (廖瑛，2003:26) in example (7), it is very difficult to guarantee that this product is absolutely the best one on the market, so it is overstated. and example (8) clearly states the fact, so its better. 3.thelanguagefeaturesofbusiness chinese correspondence 3.1 exactness exactness means accuracy and appropriateness. in order to make a business correspondence exact, the author had better use standard chinese words and pay attention to the differences of synonyms, such as the words “优良，优秀”. both the two words have the meaning of “goodness”, but also have different grades. the word “优秀” is used to modify both human and things and the word “优良” is always used to modify things. and then suitable prepositional structures should be used. the use of prepositional structure can make sentences much more accurate and precise. for 毕业论文(设计) 7 example, people usually use “为”， “为了”， “由于” to show the purpose or cause and use “根据，依据，遵照” to express the basis or way. 3.2 conciseness business chinese correspondence is clear in meaning and short in sentence structure. in order to be concise, one should avoid using long and wordy sentences. one should use more imperative sentence because it is more direct and clear and can avoid some unnecessary mistakes. besides, subjectless sentence which can make the sentence more concise should be used correctly. for example: if a businessman wants to express his appreciation to the other part of this business for his cooperation, he will say “感谢贵方真诚合作”, but do not say “我方感谢贵方真诚合作”. the reason is the second saying is wordy. 3.3 plainness as is known to all, official documents are different from literary works. the aim of literary work is to amuse readers, but the aim of official documents is to state the real matters and try to solve them. so, when writing business chinese correspondence, the author just needs to express the real problems and requirements concisely. avoid the ambiguous expression. for instance: the words “大约， 大概，几乎” should not be used in business chinese correspondence. in order to make a business chinese correspondence plain and clear, the concrete words or figure words should be use more frequently. 毕业论文(设计) 8 3.4 seriousness seriousness is also an important language feature of business chinese correspondence. in order to maintain the seriousness in business correspondence, the writer should pay attention to several things. firstly, he should use formal words, for example, using “积累资金” instead of “攒钱”. secondly, he should use proper customary words, for example, using “贵” instead of “你” and using “本” instead of “我”. finally, he should use some classical chinese properly. for example, using “业 经” instead of “已经过” and using “妥否” instead of “妥当不妥当”. 4. the translation principles of business english correspondence in recent years, many scholars and translators have devoted their minds to the translation of business english. although there isnt an authoritative criteria for translation of business english correspondence, the three principles below are commonly accepted. they are faithfulness, smoothness and expressiveness. an author named hu sanning said, “by faithfulness, we mean to be faithful not only to the original contents, to the original meaning and views, but also to the original form and style. by smoothness and expressiveness, we mean not only easy and readable rendering, but also idiomatic expression in the target language, free from stiff formula and mechanical copying from dictionaries” (2005: 10-11). the translator should also 毕业论文(设计) 9 pay attention to the business background knowledge, besides the translation principles. because both business english correspondence and business chinese correspondence contain a lot of business background knowledge, so being familiar with some business background knowledge should become one of the translation principles. 5. the translation techniques of business english correspondence translation relates to two different languages. in order to have a good translation, the translator has to understand the similarities and differences between the two languages and know how to solve the differences between them. the methods of solving the differences are the so-called translation techniques. the author just discusses the translation techniques of translating business english correspondence into chinese, from the aspects of words and sentences. 5.1 the translation techniques of words 5.1.1 omission in order to make the translation accord with chinese readers idiomatic expressions, some parts of the original which are unnecessary can be omitted. the translator should know that something regarded as an indispensable element in one language may be superfluous in the other. 毕业论文(设计) 10 5.1.1.1 omission of english articles articles are frequently used in english language, but there are no articles in chinese. when translating english into chinese, the translator can omit the english articles sometimes. for example: (9) we trust you will give this enquiry your immediate attention and let us have your reply at a early date. 我们相信你方会对此询盘加以重视。盼即复。(廖瑛，2003:89) (10) we are very pleased to receive your enquiry of 15thjanuary and are enclosing our illustrated catalogue and price list giving the details you asked for. 欣悉你 1 月 15 日询盘的来信。现随函附寄我公司的插图目录和价目表，上面列 有你方所需的各项细节。(廖瑛，2003:89) in the first example, indefinite article “a” does not have the meaning of “one”. it is used just for grammatical reason, so it is unnecessary to translate it into chinese. its the same situation for the second example. the definite article “the” does not have the meaning of “this or that”. thus, if an article has no practical meaning, the translator can omit it in translation. 5.1.1.2 omission of english pronouns because of the difference in english and chinese cultures and values, the frequency of using pronouns is different. sometimes, possessive pronouns are necessarily remained in english, but it is unnecessary to have them in chinese. so, possessive pronouns are generally omitted in chinese translation. the other reason is 毕业论文(设计) 11 that the first person english pronoun can be omitted in chinese translation, when it is used as the subject in english. for example: (11) we enclose a copy of our pricelist. 现随函附上价目表一份。(王乃彦，2005: 28) (12) we trust you will give this enquiry your immediate attention and let us have your reply at a early date. 我们相信你方会对此询盘加以重视。盼即复。(廖瑛，2003:89) 5.1.1.3 omission of english conjunctions in chinese, people express the logical relationship by its word order, so they dont use conjunctions usually. but in english, there are many conjunctions used in order to connect the contexts. thus, many conjunctions are omitted in translation. for example: (13) we are large dealers in textiles and believe there is a promising market in our area for moderately priced goods of the kind mentioned. 我行是经营纺织品的主要经销商，如上述这类商品价格公道，相信在这里会获得 畅销。 (14) we trust you will give this enquiry your immediate attention and let us have your reply at a early date. 我们相信你方会对此询盘加以重视。盼即复。(廖瑛，2003:89) 毕业论文(设计) 12 5.1.2 amplification because english and chinese are two different languages, they have their own historical and cultural background. in order to translate the original into chinese faithfully, the translator must amplify some words on the premise that he accurately understands the original. 5.1.2.1 amplification of chinese categorized words there are some words with vague and general connotations in business english correspondence. in order to make those words more specific, the translator should add some categorized words in translation. for example: (15) their imports are both diversified and substantial. 他们的进口商品进口商品品种多且数量大。(王乃彦，2005: 28) (16) before settling your prices, you must understand your products market, distribution costs and competition. 定价之前，你必须了解自己的产品市场，分销成本和竞争情况竞争情况。(叶玉龙，王文 翰，段云礼，2003:64-65) in the examples above, the words “import” and “competition” are abstract words. take the word “competition” for example. “competition” means “竞争，竞赛” in chinese, if the translator doesnt know which meaning he should choose, he can add a categorized word in this sentence according to the context, he can translate it into “竞 争情况” by adding the word “情况” to make the sentence more clear and to keep with the expression of chinese habits. 毕业论文(设计) 13 5.1.2.2 amplification of the elliptical part of the original repetition is not allowed in english. its different from chinese. in chinese, in order to make the sense more clear, repetition is very necessary. therefore, the translator should amplify some words repeated in english when translating them into chinese. for example: (17) and even if large investment with a 10-year payback period looks difficult, for large companies there are plenty of smaller opportunities which will pay back much more quickly. 即使回报期为 10 年的大规模投资投资看起来有困难，对大公司来说，仍有许多小规 模投资投资的机会，其回报期将会短得多。(叶玉龙，王文翰，段云礼，2003:67) (18) recessions in europe and japan will produce little or no 1993 growth in those critical export markets. 欧洲和日本的经济衰退将会使那些主要出口市场的出口额在 1993 年增长增长甚微或 毫无增长增长。(叶玉龙，王文翰，段云礼，2003:68) inthe first example above, the word “investment” between “smaller” and “opportunities” is omitted in order to avoid repetition. the same is true for the word “growth” in the second example. maybe, it is clear for omitting the words in english, but in chinese, it is unclear. so, it is necessary for the translator to add the repeated words sometimes in translation. 5.1.3 conversion of word classes conversion means the change of word classes in translation. because of the 毕业论文(设计) 14 differences of language features between english and chinese, its impossible for the translator to keep the word classes in translation. therefore, its necessary to change the word classes in translation sometimes. 5.1.3.1 converting english nouns into chinese adjectives in order to be consistent with chinese grammatical features and language features, some english nouns must be changed into adjectives in translation into chinese. firstly, some english nouns show the meaning of sorts or amounts, such as “kind of”, “variety of” or “majority of” can be translated into chinese adjective structure “的”. secondly, some english nouns with indefinite articles as subject complements can be changed into chinese adjectives. for example: (19) from the enclosed price list you will see that we have a good variety of ladies gloves. 从附上的价目单上贵公司可以看到我们有各式各样的各式各样的女装手套。(叶玉龙，王文 翰，段云礼，2003:60) (20) marketing research is an absolute necessity in business. 市场调研对经商来说是绝对必要的必要的。(叶玉龙，王文翰，段云礼，2003:61) 5.1.3.2 converting english prepositions into chinese verbs chinese people like using verbs, but english people prefer prepositions or preposition phrases. therefore, its necessary for the translator to change english prepositions into chinese verbs in translation. for example: 毕业论文(设计) 15 (21) the price you counter-offered is out of line with the market, so it is beyond what is acceptable to us. 你方还价与市场不一致与市场不一致，故我方无法接受。(廖瑛，2003:28) (22) as the goods you ordered are now in stock, we will ship them without fail as early as possible. 因为贵方订货尚有存货存货，本公司将一定尽快发运。(廖瑛，2003:50) 5.1.3.3 converting english nouns into chinese verbs its common for english people to use nouns to express all kinds of actions sometimes, but chinese people usually use verbs to show their actions. therefore, the translator should change the english nouns into chinese verbs in translation when its necessary. for example: (23) we spec