英文原始资料.doc

1.3 Principles for C-E Translation of Public Signs Many experts proposed principles for C-E translation of public signs according to their research, among them Ni Chuanbin, Liu Zhi(倪传斌，刘治，1998) and Liu Fagong, Xu Beijias(刘法公，徐蓓佳，2008) principles are representative. Ni Chuanbin, Liu Zhi point out five principles for Chinese-English translation: conciseness, directness, suitable mood, standardization and moderate humorous. On the basis of Newmarks text typology, Liu Fagong and Xu Beijia propose the Three-C principles for public signs translation, namely,conciseness, consistency and comprehensibility. Wang Fang, Sun Zhixiang(王芳，孙志祥，2009) also support these three translation principles. In this thesis the author adopts theThree-C principles for public signs translation, at the same time, the suitable mood and moderate humorous are highly appreciated.1.3.1 Conciseness The conciseness principle in the C-E translation of public signs means that the translated version should be pithy and brief, without any ambiguous words or long sentences. Newmark (2001) points out that semantic and communicative translations fulfill the two main aims of translation, which are first, accuracy, and second, economy. Confined by the limited time and space, public signs are born with brevity. For example: 贵宾候车室 Distinguished Guests Wait for a Bus at the Place Its clear that the translation above violates the principle of conciseness. Actually,Reserved Waiting-room is enough. xxx市公安报警中心 xxx City Center of Reporting to the Police This public sign promoting people where to ask for help in emergency. The translation above put the keyword police at the end of the sentence, which greatly reduces the eye-catching effect. xxx City Police Report Center is better.1.3.2 Consistency The consistency principle in the C-E translation of public signs covers three aspects: (1)If there is an English expression addressing the same meaning and is commonly used worldwide, we simply adopt borrowism, take it and use it. Thus before we try to translate a Chinese public sign into English, we should make sure that whether there is such an expression already in use in English. If there is an English expression addressing the same meaning and is commonly used worldwide, we must conform to the international standard.For example: 旅客止步Staff Only 失物招领Lost and Found 店里的商品打8折20070 off (2) If there is a fixed translated name or term, we should follow the established translation. The reason is that the translated name has already been sanctioned by popular usage, the translator should follow the fixed versions. For example: 国泰影院Cathay Theater 华东医院Hua Dong Hospital中国石油大学(华东)China University of Petroleum (East China) (3) If there is no idiomatic expression or fixed translation to follow, the translator should refer to the dictionary and the English version of official websites or newspapers. For example: 收费停车场Pay Parking危难时刻迅速报警Emergency, Call 110浙江工商大学Zhejiang Gongshang University Its common for translators to translate“浙江工商大学”into Zhejiang Industrial and Commercial University. Actually, many institutes and universities bear such names, such as the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China(中国工商银行)，German Industrial andCommercial Management Association(德国工商人才管理协会)，Industrial and Commercial University of Chongqing(重庆工商大学). But Zhejiang Gongshang University(浙江工商大学)is the established name, the translators must conform to it.1.3.3 Comprehensibility The principle of comprehensibility means that the translated version must be easy to read and understand. The aim of this principle is the translation of public signs which is of distinctive Chinese features. For example:旅游热点Tourist Hot Spot高高兴兴上班去，平平安安回家来Go to work happily, and come back safely! Native speakers must be confused about the real meanings of these two translations. In the first example, the translator translates“旅游热点”into Tourist Hot Spot character by character. But in English, hot spot means a place of political unrest and potential violence, a point of relatively intense heat or radiation, which is quite different with the original meaning of“旅游热点”. Its better for us to use a popular tourist attraction to translate this public sign. The second public sign intends to wish the drivers to drive carefully. If we want to express the wishes, Good luck! is enough. If this is a warning before driving, we can translate it into Safety first in driving(何自然，1997) (Cited in卞正东，2005). We also should adopt suitable mood in our translation of public signs. Furthermore, a tinge of humor is necessary to intensify the