A Stylistic Approach to Chinese-English Translation of International Business Contracts.doc

A Stylistic Approach to Chinese-English Translation of International Business ContractsAcknowledgementsI would like to avail myself of this opportunity to extend my heart-felt gratitude to all those who have offered me great help in one way or another in my composition of this paper.First and foremost, I am most indebted to my supervisorProfessor Gao Jiazheng, for his enthusiastic support, expert guidance and constant encouragement during the past two and a half academic years, especially in the course of my preparation for this paper.My acknowledgement also goes to all the other devoted teachers of Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade, who have spared no effort to enrich my knowledge. Without them this paper would not have turned out as it is.I am also grateful to my classmates and friends for their sisterly care and cordial help.My ineffable gratitude also goes to my beloved parents and husband, whose great affection and support always urge me on. Last but not the least, I want to thank all the authors whose books or articles have been found for my reference in writing this paper.ContentsAbstract- 1 -摘 要- 3 -Introduction- 4 -Chapter One Brief Introduction to International Business Contracts- 7 -1.1 Concept of International Business Contracts- 7 -1.2 Categories of International Business Contracts- 8 -1.3 Structure of International Business Contracts- 9 -1.3.1 Preamble- 10 -1.3.2 Body- 10 -1.3.3 Final Clauses- 12 -Chapter Two Stylistic Features of Contract English- 13 -2.1 Definition and Aims of Stylistics- 13 -2.2 Need for Stylistic Study- 14 -2.2.1 Stylistic Study Helps Cultivate a Sense of Appropriateness- 14 -2.2.2 Stylistic Study Sharpens Understanding and Appreciation of a Text- 15 -2.2.3 Stylistic Study Helps Achieve Adaptation in Translation- 15 -2.3 Stylistic Features of Contract English- 16 -2.3.1 Conventionalization and Itemization in Discourse Pattern- 16 -2.3.2 Accuracy and Precision- 16 -2.3.2.1 Strings of Synonymous Words- 17 -2.3.2.2 Preference for Lexical Repetition to Pronoun Reference- 19 -2.3.2.3 Long Sentences- 20 -2.3.3 Formality and Dignity- 23 -2.3.3.1 Frequent Employment of Archaic Words- 23 -2.3.3.2 Loan Words- 26 -2.3.3.3 Technical Terms- 26 -2.3.4 Conservatism and Stability- 28 -Chapter Three Chinese-English Translation of International Business Contracts- 30 -3.1 Traditional Chinese Translation Principles- 30 -3.2 Special Criteria for International Business Contract Translation- 31 -3.2.1 Faithfulness and Accuracy- 32 -3.2.2 Expressiveness and Smoothness- 33 -3.3 Tips for Chinese-English Translation of International Business Contracts- 36 -3.3.1 Thorough and Unerring Comprehension of Contracts as the Basis for Translation- 36 -3.3.2 Translation Techniques at Lexical Level- 38 -3.3.2.1 Formal Big Lengthy Words- 38 -3.3.2.2 Prevalent Use of the Auxiliary Verb shall- 40 -3.3.2.3 Professional Expressions and Idioms- 41 -3.3.3 Translation Techniques at Grammatical Level- 42 -3.3.3.1 Nominalization- 42 -3.3.3.2 Heavy Use of Conditional Adverbials- 44 -3.3.3.3 Position of Adverbials- 48 -3.3.4 Translation Technique at Semantic Level- 50 -3.3.4.1 Consistency in Translation of Technical Terms and Key Words- 50 -Chapter Four Requirements for Translators of International Business Contracts- 52 -4.1 Strong Sense of Responsibility- 52 -4.2 Theory and Practice on Translation- 54 -4.3 Bilingual Proficiency- 54 -4.4 Essential Professional Knowledge- 55 -Conclusion- 57 -Bibliography- 60 -AbstractWith the deepening of reform and opening-up and its accession to the World Trade Organization, China is playing an increasingly active role in the world economic activities and enhancing its economic and commercial exchanges and cooperation with an increasing number of countries. In Sino-foreign economic and commercial cooperation, after agreement is reached through negotiation or exchange of correspondence by the parties concerned, most transactions are concluded through the execution of a formal written documentcontractas a legal basis for the establishment of business relationship. Due to the foreign-orientation of such contracts, translation almost becomes a necessity.In the past three years part-time experience in translation of business contracts, the author has found that Chinese-English translation of business contracts is really a tough nut to crack on the grounds that contract English, unlike common English, is highly professional and displays some remarkable stylistic peculiarities. In consideration of this, the author, based on a study of relevant works and theses, devotes this paper to the probe into the criteria and techniques for Chinese-English translation of international business contracts as well as requirements for translators in this field on the basis of the concept of international business contracts and the stylistic features of contract English, in the hope of providing more or less enlightening ideas and triggering off further in-depth discussion in this sphere. This paper is composed of four chapters.Chapter One makes a general introduction to international business contracts, including the concept, categories and structure of international business contracts, with an aim to put a background foundation for further discussion in the following chapters.Chapter Two, based on the definition and aims of stylistics and the need for stylistic study, analyses four stylistic features of contract English with plentiful supporting enumerations at the levels of lexis, grammar and semantics, laying a cornerstone for the exploration of Chinese-English translation of international business contracts. Chapter Three, the core of this paper, furnishes typical and concrete exemplary sentences in an effort to expound the criteria and techniques for the Chinese-English translation of international business contracts.Chapter Four puts forward four essential requirements for translators in this field.Key words: international business contracts contract English Chinese-English translation of contracts 摘 要随着改革开放的不断深化和申请入世的成功，我国在国际经济活动中活力倍增，生气平添，与世界许多国家的经贸往来日益频繁，出现了许多灵活多样的国际经贸合作方式，呈现出一派蓬勃发展、方兴未艾的景象。在涉外经贸合作中，双方通过谈判或函电协商达成协议后，大都需要另行签订正式的书面文件合同，以作为某项法律行为成立的依据。这类合同因其涉外交易性质，需要英汉两种版本，因此大多需要翻译。在近三年的兼职翻译实践中，笔者曾多次从事过合同翻译工作。在翻译过程中，笔者发现合同英译是一个难点，因为合同英语不同于日常英语，专业性极强，句子冗长而复杂，还有大量的专业术语、拉丁语、古英语等特色语言，表现出独特的文体特征。有鉴于此，笔者在研读有关著述和论文的基础上，从国际商务合同的界定及合同英语的文体特征入手，着重探讨了国际商务合同英译的标准、技巧以及对合同译者的要求等诸方面，意在抛砖引玉，受教于大方之家，亦希望能对这一领域的翻译工作者有所裨益。本文共分为四章。第一章是国际商务合同概述，简要介绍了国际商务合同的定义、种类和结构，旨在为下文论述打下一个背景基础。第二章是合同英语文体特征，在了解文体学的界定以及文体研究的必要性后，概括出四个文体特征，并从词汇、语法和语义方面分别举例论证。第三章是国际商务合同的英译，分析了国际商务合同的英译标准，归纳出八种英译技巧，并配有较为典型而切实有用的例证。这是本文的重点。第四章简约地提出合同翻译工作者应具备的几个基本素质。关键词：国际商务合同 合同英语 合同英译IntroductionNowadays contracts are to be seen nearly everywhere in our modern society. If you take a partner, your relations with him will be governed by a partnership agreement; if you establish a limited company, there will be contracts between the company and each shareholder and between the company and each director. If there are agents, their relations with the principals will be governed by contracts. It is evident that contracts are closely related with our life. In a sense, a regime of contract is fundamental to a society governed by law.The predominant status of contracts originates from the function of contracts. As is known, a contract, a legally binding bilateral or multilateral agreement, specifies the respective rights and obligations of the parties concerned and also remedies for the injured party when the other party fails to perform his obligations. Apparently, contracts bind the parties participating in a particular transaction, thus rendering legal basis and legal protection to the contracting parties. It is the function of the contract that determines the indispensable role that it plays in transaction between parties from different countries because legal protection offered by the contract is of especial importance in commercial exchanges with foreign parties. As Song Lei (宋雷, 1998) says, a contract serves as a significant legal document basis for the contracting parties at home and abroad to conduct transactions and defend their respective rights and interests. In fact, the execution of contracts is the key and core sector in international economic and commercial activities.With the increase of Chinas economic and commercial exchanges with other countries, international business contracts, or foreign contracts, rise in large numbers accordingly. The foreign-orientation of these contracts, in turn, ushers in a boom in translation of contracts either from Chinese to English or from English to Chinese.Aware of the importance of contracts and the necessity of contract translation in international commercial activities, more and more far-sighted Chinese scholars have been immersed in the researches in this field. As a result, books and articles on this topic have been come out thick and fast. However, as things stand, there seems a lack of systematical approach to the study of this subject. After an intensive read of such books and articles, the author finds that a great number of articles only center on the linguistic features of contractual language while a majority of books focus on English-Chinese translation of sample international business contracts with no detailed generalization and summarization of translation techniques. In view of this, the author attempts to approach Chinese-English translation of international business contracts from the perspective of stylistics, that is, techniques for the Chinese-English translation of international business contracts will be elaborated with typical exemplary sentences on the basis of an analysis of the stylistic features of contract English.In translation theory and practice, style is drawing increasing interest and attention. This tendency can be justified by the fact that an analysis of the stylistic features of a given text is not only helpful to systematic recognition and identification of the features of the text at each level, such as grammar, lexis, and semantics but also conducive to reproduction of the style in the target language. When it comes to contracts, this is especially true. Readers always associate contract English with such linguistic characteristics as long and involved sentences, archaic words and special terms difficult to understand, which actually are some striking stylistic features that contract English manifests. Therefore, it is worthwhile for the author to take into full consideration the stylistic features of contract English for the sake of accurate and idiomatic Chinese-English translation of international business contracts both in meaning and in style.Chapter One Brief Introduction to International Business Contracts This chapter commits itself to a general introduction to international business contracts and serves to lay a background basis for further discussion in the following chapters.1.1 Concept of International Business ContractsTo understand the concept of an international business contract makes it necessary to acquaint oneself with the definition of a contract first. Trietel defines contract as an agreement giving rise to obligations which are enforced or recognized by the law (quoted by 李郁, 2003). Pursuant to Article 85 of General Principles o f Civil Law of the Peoples Republic of China (1986), a contract shall be an agreement whereby the parties establish, change or terminate their civil relationship while in accordance with Article 2 of The Contract Law of the Peoples Republic of China (1999), contracts referred to in this Law are agreements between equal natural persons, legal persons and other organizations for the purpose of establishing, altering and terminating mutual civil rights and obligations. Thus it is no hard to reach the conclusion that a contract is an agreement between two or more parties that is enforceable by law, a legally valid and legally binding agreement.When involving any foreign factor in subject, object or act, a contract turns to be an international business contract (胡庚申，2001). Generally speaking, in any of the following three situations a contract should be deemed as an international business contract: One or more contracting parties do not have Chinese nationality, or The contractual object shall be shipped across the border of China, or Some legal facts occur out of the territory of China, such as the signature of a contract by and between a Chinese enterprise and a foreign company in a foreign country. So far as a certain country is concerned, an international business contract is also called a foreign contract (胡庚申, 2001). Therefore, an international business contract and a foreign contract, though different in expression, mean the same to a country. What this paper focuses on is formal foreign contracts, that is, written agreements that are signed and entered into in accordance with relevant laws to specify the respective rights and obligations of the parties hereto by and between enterprises or other economic organizations of China and foreign enterprises, economic organizations or natural persons for certain economic purposes, such as exchange of commodities, financing and economic and technical cooperation and exchange (张新红, 2003). 1.2 Categories of International Business Contracts International business contracts vary in terms of fields, categories and content and can be divided differently according to different criteria. On the basis of the rights and obligations of the contracting parties, international business contracts can be classified into the following categories: Contracts for International Sale of Goods Contracts for International Technology Transfer Contracts for Sino-foreign Joint Ventures Contracts for Sino-foreign Contractual Joint Ventures Contracts for International Engineering Projects Contracts for Compensation Trade Contracts for Sino-foreign Cooperative Development of Natural Resources Contracts for Foreign Labour Services Contracts for International Leasing Affairs Contracts for Sino-foreign Credits and Loans Contracts for International Build-Operate-Transfer In addition to the above-mentioned categories, international business contracts include Insurance Contracts, Storage Contracts, Agency Contracts, Contracts for Employment of Foreign Staff Members, and Contracts for International Transportation, etc.1.3 Structure of International Business ContractsDespite various categories and different objects, basically all international business contracts, because of their conformity with international conventions and practice, are very formal and share a great number of similarities in structure and form. In terms of structure, an international business contract is generally composed of three parts: preamble (head), body and final clauses (tail) and must be arranged in such an order. These three parts, in turn, include some relatively regular and essential elements, without which a contract shall not be deemed as a contract to be protected by law.1.3.1 Preamble The preamble of an international business contract, or the head, usually consists of two parts: the corporate or personal names of the parties to the contract and their nationalities, principal places of business or residential addresses and the date and place of signature as one part and the “whereas clauses” as the other part, which specify the intention or background of signing the contract. Although the content and the details of the preamble vary from contract to contract, the preamble has a relatively fixed form as follows in general:THIS CONTRACT/AGREEMENT is made and entered into in_ (place of signature) this/the/on the _ day of _(month), _(year) by and between_ (name of one party), a corporation duly organized and existing under the laws of _ (name of country) with its principal office/domicile in/at _ (address) (hereinafter called/referred to as Party A) and _ (name of the other party), a company incorporated and existing under the laws of _ (name of country) with its principal office/domicile in/at _ (address) (hereinafter called/referred to as Party B).WITNESSTH:WHEREAS, _.NOW, THEREFORE, (_), the parties hereto agree as follows:1.3.2 BodyThe core of an international business contract is the body, in which explicit and elaborate stipulations are made on the respective rights and obligations of the parties concerned in respect to the contractual object in the form of items and articles. As the object of a contract varies from contract to contract, the body differs accordingly. The author, after studying the diverse opinions now existing among scholars with regard to the classification of the clauses of the body, arrives at the possibly immature conclusion that, according to the degree of necessity, the clauses of the body can be divided into three parts: essential clauses, clauses determined by the contractual character and clauses agreed upon by the contracting parties. Essential clauses are clauses that a contract has to include in accordance with law. Pursuant to international practice and conventions, object, quantity and price are fundamental clauses that any contract should cover and any contract, so long as it is equipped with such clauses, shall be deemed as a legal contract. In accordance with Article 12 of The Contract Law of the Peoples Republic of China (1999), in general, a contract