公示语汉英翻译的问题及解决方案

PAGE公示语汉英翻译的问题及解决方案Contents摘要ii1.Introduction11.1ResearchSignificance11.2ResearchBackground12.LiteratureReview23.TheClassificationofPublicSigns43.1DirectivePublicSigns43.2InformationalPublicSigns43.3RestrictivePublicSigns53.4MandatoryPublicSigns54.TheTranslationProblemsofPublicSigns64.1LinguisticTranslationErrors64.1.1Misspelling64.1.2GrammaticalErrors74.1.3LexicalErrors74.2CulturalTranslationErrors84.2.1UnidiomaticExpressions84.2.2PoorReadability94.2.3ImproperTone10TheTranslationSolutionsofPublicSigns105.1BackTranslation105.2Borrowing115.3FollowingInternationalStandard125.4Standardization135.5QualifyingtheTranslators136.Conclusion14ReferencesiiiAcknowledgementsv摘要公示语的英译是我国对外宣传及了解世界的窗口，公示语的翻译能否达到它本来的功能，不但影响到外国友人在中国的吃穿住用行，还关系到城市的精神面貌和整体形象，进而影响到我国的国际形象。公示语的重要性是毋庸置疑的，然而，公示语翻译是翻译学研究的新领域，目前还存在不少问题。本文主要通过收集笔者所在的城市兰州和武威两地公示语翻译的例子，从语言和文化的角度分析了公示语翻译的问题，同时就这些问题提出了相应的策略.通过研究笔者得出了一些结论，首先,兰州和武威公示语误译主要源于译者的粗心及对目的语文化认识的欠缺。其次,这两地出现的公示语误译现象较为严重，这说明提高译者素质和加强公示语的标准化是我们面临的很紧迫的任务。总之，公示语翻译并非易事，我们应不断揣摩，细心探究，促进公示语翻译质量的进一步提高。关键词：公示语；汉英翻译；问题；方法IntroductionResearchSignificanceWiththerapiddevelopmentofoureconomyandintensificationofreformandopening-uppolicy,moreandmoreforeignerscometoChinaforsightseeing,business,investmentactivities,etc.Publicsigns,whichplayanimportantroleinourdailylife,havebeenpaidmuchattention.PublicsignsinEnglishareessentialtotheforeignersandconcernourinternationalprofile.Therefore,whetherpublicsignstranslationissuitableornothasgreatsignificancebothtousandtothetargetreaders.Publicsignsexisteverywhereinourlife.Thetranslationofpublicsignsisbecomingmoreandmoreimportant.ItisagoodwaytolettheworldknowmoreaboutChineseculture.Publicsignshelptorefinepeople’ssocialbehavior,humanrelationship,enhancemanufacturingefficiency,deterthecriminals,raisepeople’sspirit,improvelivingconditionsandhelptobuildaharmonioussociety(赵湘2006:52).Itisveryimportantforustopaymoreattentiontopublicsigns,especiallythetranslationofthemintoEnglishinsuchacrucialperiodofdevelopmentofourcountry.Itrepresentsourculturalbackgroundandleadsourcountrytoenterintotheworldstagesincetheworldknowsbetterourcountrythroughthem.Inthisthesis,thepresentauthoranalyzestheproblemsandpossiblesolutionsonC-Etranslationofpublicsigns.TheexamplesusedinthispaperaremainlyfromLanzhouandthepresentauthor’shometown—Wuwei.Thethesisdiscussesthesignificance,thebackground,andtheclassificationoftranslationonpublicsignsandtakessomeexamplestoanalyzetheproblems,includinglinguistictranslationerrorsandculturaltranslationerrors.Then,thethesisputsforwardsomepossiblesolutionsfortheproblemsofsignstranslation.ResearchBackgroundInrecentyears,manyessaysonpublicsignstranslationappearontranslationmagazines,suchasChineseTranslatorsJournalandShanghaiJournalofTranslationforScienceandTechnology.Therearealsowebsitesforthetranslationofpublicsigns,forinstance,andXXXXWEBSITE,Besides,aChinese-EnglishDictionaryonpublicSignsiseditedbyBeijingInternationalStudiesUniversityandpublishedbytheCommercialPressHousein2004.Andfromtheyearof2006,therearemeetingsheldinBeijingonregulationofpublicsigns;thegovernmentinBeijingevenestablishedEnglishTranslationofPublicSignsGuiding(ibid.:53).AlltheseprovethatEnglishtranslationofpublicsignshasbecomemoreandmoreimportant.However,therearealotofproblemsinChinese-Englishtranslationofpublicsigns.Someofthebilingualpublicsignscanbemisledtotheforeigners,whichgreatlyaffectthecity’sprofile.AsfortranslatingChinesepublicsignsintoEnglish,theobjectsaretheforeigners.Thepurposeofusingthebilingualpublicsignsistoallowtheforeignerstounderstandthetranslatedtextsandbringconveniencetothem.Translationofpublicsignsisanewareaintranslation.Since1990’s,manyscholarshavemaderesearchesinthisareafrommanyaspectsandmuchachievementhasbeenmade.Butonthewhole,theworkoftranslationofpublicsignsstillhasmanyimprovementstobemade.2.LiteratureReviewTheresearchofsignstranslationisanewareainthefieldoftranslation.InChina,theChinese-Englishtranslationofpublicsignsstartedrelativelylaterthanabroad(ibid.:52).AccordingtoZhaoXiang,signtranslationstudiesinChinastartedin1990swithaseriesofacademicarticlespublishedonChineseTranslatorsJournal(ibid.).Theearlyresearchclaimedtheimportanceofsigntranslationandpointedoutthemistranslationsinsigns.Asearchon,thelargestdigitallibraryinChinashows,therearefewerpapersonsigntranslationbefore2005,onlyonepapereachyearfrom2002to2004.However,anincreasingnumberofpapershavebeenpublishedindifferentperiodicalsandjournalssince2005,whichdemonstratestosomeextentthatthestudyofsigntranslationhasbeenpaidmoreattention.Inasense,thegreatbreakthroughwasmadein2005whenChineseTranslatorsJournalstartedacolumnespeciallyforsigntranslation,arousinggreaterconcernsaboutthetopic.Anotherdrivewasthesuccessfulbidforthe2008OlympicGames,whichappealedmoreresearcherstodotheirparttosupporttheGames.Sincethen,anumberofscholarshavebeencontinuouslydoingresearchonsigntranslation,providingaseriesofstudiesonsignstranslationandpublishingarticlesmainlyonjournals.In2005,“the1stSymposiumonC&ESignsinaGlobalContext”（全国首届公示语翻译研讨会）washeldatBeijingInternationalStudiesUniversity,whichmarkedthebeginningofsigntranslationstudiesonanationalbasis.In2004and2005,aChinese-EnglishSignResearchTeamwassentto17citiesandareasin11Europeancountries,takingmorethan3000picturesofsigns(吕和发2005:33).Thus,preciousanddetailedresearchdataonsigntranslationfromabroadhasbeencollected.Theresearchsituationathomecanbereflectedbythepaperspublishedintheacademy.Thescholarsanalyzethesignstranslationfromdifferentlevelsandperspectives.HeXuegendiscussedthestyleofpublicsigns,andputforwardsomemethodspertainingtothecommunicativetranslationstrategy.Hethoughtthatwhentranslatingsuchsigns,thetranslatorsshouldbefamiliarwiththefunctionsofthesignsaswellastheirlanguagefeatures(2006:57).FangCanendeavoredtorevealtheenlightenmentonChinese-Englishtranslationofpublicsignsthroughthecontextualadaptation,includingphysicalworld,socialworldandpsychologicalworld.Withsubstantialexamples,itcouldbedrawnthatpublicsignstranslationisindeedaprocessofconstanteffortsfortranslatorstomakelinguisticchoicesinrespecttocontextsoastoadapttheirworkstocommunicativeactivity(2009:122).WeiZhirongandLingWeidiscussedthetranslationoflanguageonpublicsignsfromtheperspectiveofskopostheorie,pointingouttheexistingproblemsinthecurrenttranslation.Theyalsoanalyzedhowtheskopostheorieplayeditsimportantroleinthetranslationoflanguageonpublicsignsinordertoimproveournationallanguageenvironmentofpublicsigns(2008:114).WangMinandYaoGuowenanalyzedtheexistingproblemsofChinese-Englishtranslationofpublicsignsandtheirsolutionswereproposedtostandardizethepublicsigntranslation(2006:19).WangGangandHeJingdiscussedtheproblemsofC-EtranslationofpublicsignsbyusingthetheoryofFunctionalism.Afterclassifyingtheerrorsintothreetypes,namelylinguisticerrors,pragmaticerrorsandculturalerrors,theyputforwardsomesolutionsandsuggestions(2009:168).LiJianyinganalyzedapplicablefunctionsandfeaturesofpublicsigns,introducingtranslatingstrategiesviainstancestopromoteimprovementofpublicsignstranslatingquality(2008:31).Inaword,scholarshavemadetheirowncontributionstothesigntranslationstudies.Sofar,signtranslationstudiesathomecanbesummarizedasfollows:analysesofthefeaturesofsigns;erroranalyses;strategiesandprinciplesdiscussions.Meanwhile,differenttheorieshavealsobeenappliedtoresearchessuchasskopostheorie,speechacttheory,cultural,functionalandcommunicativeapproachesintranslationstudies,etc.Aseriesofprinciplesformoreeffectivesigntranslationhavebeenputforwardfromtheperspectiveofreaders’responses.Allthepreviousstudiesonsigntranslationhavelaidasolidfoundationforfutureresearch.Nevertheless,acarefulstudyofsomepapersathomeindicatesthatthereisnounitedtheoryorprincipletofollowforthetranslationofpublicsigns.Itseemsthattheheatdiscussionintheacademiadoesnothaveanobviouseffectonthesignsonthestreet;someerrorsarestillthereafterbeingtargetedbysomanyscholars.Inthisthesis,thepresentauthorwillcontinuallyanalyzetheerrorsofpublicsignsexistinginourdailylifethroughusingtheexamplescollectedmainlyinLanzhouandWuwei.And,thepresentauthorwilldiscusssomesolutionsforstandardizingthetranslationofpublicsigns.Withoutanydoubt,thecorrectionofalltheexistingerrorsisbynomeansaneasytask,instead,itisdefinitelyatoughandcomplicatedjobtotacklealltheproblemsinsigntranslationandfindpracticalwaystosolvetheproblems.Butactually,thisisexactlywhattheappliedresearchshouldendeavortoachieve.3.TheClassificationofPublicSignsPublicsignsareusedinourdailylifeandtheyhaveadirectimpactoneveryaspectofourlives.Publicsignshavetheirownfeaturesandperformfourbasicfunctions:directive,informational,restrictive,andmandatorypublicsigns(吕和发2005:32).Actually,thereisnopublicsignthatexhibitsonlyonefunction.Generally,publicsignsaremultifunctional,butinthisthesis,thepredominantfunctionofpublicsignswillbediscussed.3.1DirectivePublicSignsDirective/guidingpublicsignsgiveusenoughinformationaboutsomething,withoutanyrestrictionsormandatorysense.Therefore,itisnotnecessarytodemandthepublictotakeaction.Itsfunctionistoofferservices.Forexample:问询处/咨询台Information;自动取款机ATM;磁卡电话MagneticCardPhone;急救中心FirstAidCenter;武威人民医院WuweiPeople’sHospital;中国烟草ChinaTobacco；中国体育彩票ChinaSportsLottery；饮水处DrinkingWater;吸烟室SmokingRoom;植物园BotanicalGarden.Suchpublicsignsareoftenusedinpublicservices;peoplecanmaketheirposition,behavior,orpurposeclearthroughtheinformationprovidedbythepublicsigns,andtheinformationprovidedoftenshow“static”meaning.3.2InformationalPublicSignsInformational/promptingpublicsignshavenospecialsignificancetothepublic,onlytoindicate.Buttheyareusedwidely.Throughtheinformationprovidedbysuchpublicsigns,peoplecanunderstandwhattodoaccordingtotheregulations.Informationalpublicsignsjustremindthepeopleofafactoraphenomenonandtheydonothaveameaningofrestriction.Forexample:已消毒Sterilized;油漆未干WetPaint;老、弱、病、残、孕专座Courtesyseats;售完SoldOut;易爆物品Explosive;限高MaximumHeight;加收10%服务费10%ServiceCharge;最低消费MinimumCharge;小心滑倒WetFloor;单号入座OddNumbersEntrance;暂停服务TemporarilyOutofService;随手关门KeepDoorClosed前方弯路慢行BendAhead.SlowDown!Thistypeofpublicsignsisusedwithsimplewords,butvariedintermsofsentences;theydonotsuggestmandatory.3.3RestrictivePublicSignsRestrictivepublicsignsareusedtolimitandrestrictthebehaviorandactionofpeople,butpeoplewillnotfeeltough,brutalandunjustified.Forexample:保持安静KeepSilence;右侧行驶KeepRight;让路GiveWay;宾客止步ClosedtoVisitors;凭票入场TicketOnly;慢速驶出SlowOut;非机动车禁止入内MotorVehiclesOnly;残疾人通道HandicappedOnly;12岁以下儿童免费FreeChildrenUnder12;自行车停放处BicyclePacking;员工通道StaffOnly;紧急呼叫电话EmergencyPhone,etc.3.4MandatoryPublicSignsMandatorypublicsignsaretorequestpeopletotakeaction,toobeysomerulesandnottoviolatethelaw.Thelanguageofsuchpublicsignsisblunt,andhasnoroomfornegotiation.Suchwordsas“No”,“Forbidden”,“Prohibited”areoftenused.TheSentencestructureofthiskindisrathersimple.Itoftenusesimperativesentence.Inthiscontext,peopleoftenhavenootherchoicesbuttofollowit.Forexample:严禁吸烟NoSmoking;严禁停车NoParking;桥上严禁超车NoOvertakingOnBridge;禁止驶入NoEntry;此处严禁钓鱼NoFishingHere;警戒线勿超越PoliceLineDoNotPass;严禁摆卖VendorsProhibited;请勿随地吐痰NoSpitting;严禁携带易燃易爆等危险品进站DangerousArticlesProhibited;请勿拍照NoPhotography,etc.Suchpublicsignsarewidelyusedinpublic,publicfacilities,oremergencyrescue,moreusingthe“dynamic”vocabulariestoexpressthemeaning.4.TheTranslationProblemsofPublicSignsThetranslationerrorisdefinedbyNordasfollows:Ifatranslationerrorisdefinedasafailuretocarryouttheinstructionsimpliedinthetranslationbeliefandasaninadequatesolutiontoatranslationproblem,thentranslationerrorscanbeclassifiedintofourcategorieswhicharelinguistictranslationerrors,culturaltranslationerrors,pragmatictranslationerrorsandtext-specifictranslationerrors.(2001:75)Linguistictranslationerrorsarecausedbyaninadequatetranslationwhenthefocusisonlanguagestructures;culturaltranslationerrorsarecausedduetoaninadequatedecisionwithregardtoreproductionoradaptationofculture-specificconventions.(XuZhiheng2007:7)Asfarassignsareconcerned,inthisthesis,thesetwosortsoftranslationerrorswillbedealtwithinthefollowingpart.4.1LinguisticTranslationErrorsLinguisticTranslationErrorsareoftenduetothetranslator’sshortageofsourceortargetlanguagecompetence.Thetranslatorsgenerallyjusttranslatethesourcetextusingtheirownlanguagestructures,payinglittleornoattentiontothestructureofthetargetlanguage.Thefollowingpartwilldiscussthethreekindsoflinguistictranslationerrorsthatmostfrequentlyexist.4.1.1MisspellingFindingoutsignswhicharemisspelledisnotadifficultthingandthepresentauthorreallyfoundsomesignsthatarespelledwronglybothinLanzhouandWuwei.Inalocalhospitalofthepresentauthor’shometown,“西药配方”isputinto“WestemMedicineFormula”.Obviously,theword“Westem”isamisspelledword,andthecorrectformshouldbe“Western”.“武威市商业银行”isputinto“WUWEICTIYCOMMERCIALBANK”.“CTIY”iswronglyspelled.Itshouldbe“CITY”.Also,inLanzhou,“南方茶叶公司”isrenderedinto“SoutheaCompanyLimited”.Itisveryeasytofindthat“Southea”iswronglyspelled.Besides,wecannotfindthetranslationof“茶叶”.Itshouldbebetterifwetranslateitinto“SouthTeaCorporation”.Thus,wecanachievethefunctionalequivalence.Anotherexample,“世纪酒吧”isputinto“CRNTREYBAR”.“CRNTREY”isamisspelledwordandthecorrectoneshouldbe“CENTURY”.Allthesesignsfailtoexpresstheintendedmeaningandthisreflectsthattherearesometranslatorworkerswhoareverycarelessandarelackofasenseofresponsibility.Theseproblemscanbeavoidediftranslatorstakesignstranslationserious.4.1.2GrammaticalErrorsThegrammaticalerrorsinsignsareusuallyeye-catchingandself-evident,thusleavingbadimpressiononreaders.InLanzhou,ashopnamed“洁丰干洗”isrenderedinto“JIEFENGDRY-CLEAN”.Dry-cleanerreferstoashoporstorewhereclothesandfabricsarecleaned,especiallywithchemicals.“Dry-clean”isaverb,anditcannotbeusedasanameofashop.So,itshouldbe“JIEFENGDRY-CLEANER”.Moreover,“24小时自助服务”isputinto“24HOURSERVICE”.Obviously,thesigniswronglytranslatedbecausethegrammarisnotcorrect.Also,ifthesignistranslatedlikethis,itcannotexpresstheoriginalmeaningaccuratelyandappropriately.“HOURS”shouldbeusedhere;otherwise,itwillneedhyphen.Itwouldbebetterifitisrenderedinto“24HOURSSELF-SERVINGBANK”or“24-HOUR-SELF-SERVINGBANK”.Inpresentauthor’shometown,Thesign“补票处”attherailwaystationisputinto“TicketOfficeFor”.Itsoundsincompleteandratherstrange.Actually,“TicketOffice”issufficient,foritinvolvesallaffairsconcerningtickets,andthereisnoneedtodistinguishbetweenthetwo.Butifitisnecessarytotellthetwofromeachother,wecanchoosetheversion“FareAdjustment”.4.1.3LexicalErrorsInthetranslationpractice,thewordsinthesourcetextmayhavenocounterpartsinthetargettext.Butinsomeothercases,awordmayhaveseveralcounterparts.Thisisataskoftranslationanditisuptothetranslatorstodecidewhichwordshouldbeused.Animproperchoiceofwordsusuallycausesconfusion,ambiguityormisunderstanding.Whatwouldoccurtotheforeigners’mindwhentheycatchsightofthesign“RacistPark”(YeLing2009:10)?Racist,awordbearingstrongdiscrimination,referstosomeonewhobelievesthatpeopleoftheirownracearebetterthanothers,andwhotreatspeoplefromotherracesunfairlyandsometimesviolently.Verylikely,foreignerswillgetpuzzledorevenoffendedatthesightofit.TheoriginalinformationinChineseactuallyis“民族园”.Wouldn’titbebetterifitisrenderedinto“theParkofEthnicMinorities”?InLanzhou,“公用电话超市”isrenderedinto“PUBLICTELEPHONESUPERMARKET”insomeplaces.Infact,supermarketreferstoalargeshopwherewepurchasethefoodandothergoodsweneed.Thetranslatormaythinkthatallthe“超市”canbeputinto“supermarket”.But,here,thecorrectoneshouldbe“PUBLICTELEPHONESHOP”.Anotherexampleis“兰州市广场支行”whichisputinto“LANZHOUSHIGUANGCHANGCOUNTYSUBBRANCH”.ThesignmixesupEnglishandChineseandusesbothofthetwolanguagestotranslate.“LANZHOUCITY”shouldbeusedinsteadof“LANZHOUSHI”.And,using“branch”isenoughtoconveythemeaning“支行”,soitisunnecessarytoadd“sub”.Theversion“LANZHOUCITYGUANGCHANGBRANCH”canbeaccepted.Inaddition,anotherexamplealsohaslexicalerror.Itiscalled“豪食客比萨牛排店”andisputinto“HAOSHIKEPIZZAMEAT”.Thereexistsawordthatreferringto“牛排”―“steak”.And,“meat”doesnotexpressthemeaningof“牛排”.Also,arestaurantnamed“八百里”hasthetranslationversion“800KILOMETERS”.ItisallknownthattheChinesemeaningof“kilometer”is“公里”,whichisquitedifferentfrom“里”.Here,“MILES”shouldbeusedinsteadof“KILOMETERS”.Inahospitalofthepresentauthor’shometown,theEnglishversionof“咨询服务”isrenderedinto“AdvisoryService”.Italsoviolatestheruleofconciseness.“Information”canbeusedtotakeitsplace.Fromtheabove,aconclusionthatthesignswithlexicalerrorscannotconveytheintendedinformationaccuratelycanbeobtained.Theseproblemsexistinmanyplacesandgivereadersabadimpressionthefirstsightwhentheyseethem.4.2CulturalTranslationErrorsTobebilingual,onehastobebicultural(Nord2001:75).Language,asareflectionandcarrierofculture,variesgreatlyfromnationtonation.EnglishandChinesedifferfromeachotherinculturalfeaturesaswellascorrespondinglanguagestyles.Languageisasymbolofcultureandapartofculture.C-Esigntranslationisalsocloselyrelatedandevenconfinedtotherangeofculture,whichshouldbekeptinmindbythetranslatorsinordertoavoidcross-culturalcommunicationbarrier.Conversely,withoutthoroughunderstandingoftheculturalinformationcontainedinwords,thetranslatorwillfindittoughorevenimpossibletoaccomplishthetranslationtask.4.2.1UnidiomaticExpressionsThereexistalotofidiomsandfixedexpressionsinEnglish.However,somesignsjustadoptword-for-wordtranslationwithoutconsideringthenormsinEnglishlanguage.Thus,thesesignsmaylackofnaturalnessandappropriateness.Astheeastandthewesthavedifferentthinkingpatterns,theyemploydifferentwaystoexpressideas.Accordingly,theydifferinwording,insentencestructureandalsoincollocation.Takesomesignsasexamples.“暂停收款”“StopCashier”;“游客止步”“Novisitors”;“无烟医院”“SmokingIsNotAllowedInThisHospital”.Theabovesigns(刘法公,徐蓓佳,2008)aretranslatedwithnoregardtothewaytheEnglishlanguageisused.Inaddition,theydonotreadsmoothornatural.TheidiomaticexpressionofsuchsignsinEnglishshouldbe“暂停收款”“Closed”;“游客止步”“StaffOnly”;“无烟医院”“SmokeFree”.ItisimportanttofollowthehabitofusingEnglishandchoosethetermswhicharefrequentlyusedintheWest.Otherwise,thesignstranslationwillcauseconfusionandmisunderstanding.Inthehospitalofthepresentauthor’shometown,“中药配方”istranslatedinto“ChinesehespitalixedhandlesFormula”,whichisratherunclearandcomplicated.Asamatteroffact,theterm“中药”hasitsownEnglishequivalent,i.e.TCM,whichstandsfor“TraditionalChineseMedicine”.Foranotherexample,“眼科医院”shouldnotjustbeputinto“EyeHospital”.Thecorrecttermshouldbe“OphthalmologyHospital”.Moreover,inLanzhou,arestaurantcalled“新天地西餐厅”isrenderedinto“NEWSKYEARTHCOFFEESHOP”,whichappearsutterlyChinglishandbelongstounidiomaticexpression.“COFFEESHOP”istheplacewherecoffeeisofferedwhile“西餐厅”offersmanykindsofwesternfood,notjustcoffee.Besides,if“新天地”istranslatedinto“NEWSKYEARTH”,itviolatestheoriginalmeaningandtheexpressionhabitoftheEnglish.Itwouldbebetterifwetranslateitinto“NEWLANDCAFE”.Inaddition,“甘肃方舟旅游公司”isputinto“GANSUARKTOURISTCORPORATION”.“CORPORATION”shouldbesubstitutedby“TRAVLEAGENCY”.“TRAVLEAGENCY”referstoacompanythatarrangestraveland/oraccommodationforpeoplegoingforaholidayorjourney.Thus,itismoreappropriatetouse“TRAVLEAGENCY”inthetranslationofthissign.Using“CORPORATION”inthispublicsignisanunidiomaticexpression.4.2.2PoorReadabilityCurrently,therearestillalargenumberofsignsinChinaofpoorreadability.Signsofthistypearenotonlybeyondthecomprehensionofforeigners,butalsoleavebadimpressiononthem.Theyareprimarilyduetothepoorlanguagecompetenceofthetranslators.Thesign“游人止步”isafrequentoccurrenceatmostscenicspots.Varioustranslatedversionsarewitnessed,amongwhichsomearereallybeyondunderstanding.Forinstance,“NoticetoVisitors”,“Visitorsgonofurther”，“Offlimits”.Itgoeswithoutsayingthattheywouldfailtorealizetheirfunctions.Thesign“景区坏境卫生，需要您的维护(贺学耕2006:59)”istranslatedinto“ENVIRONMENTALSANITATIONOFTHESCENICSPOTNEEDSYOURCONSERVE”.Inthisversion,“SANITATION”,“ENVIRONMENTAL”and“CONSERVE”areabstractwords,whicharenotsuitabletouseinapublicsignandhavepoorreadability.Infact,wecansimplyputitinto“NOLITTERING”or“KEEPTHEPLACECLEAN”.InLanzhou,thesign“车站快餐店”isrenderedinto“COFFEECAKECREAMERY”.Thereisnodoubtthatthepoorreadabilitywillgivethereaderaverybadimpression.Actually,itshouldbetranslatedinto“FASTFOODSHOP”.4.2.3ImproperToneWhatisgrammaticallyrightmaybeculturallyimproper.InChinese,suchwordsas“严禁”“禁止”“勿”arefrequentlywitnessed(YangJian2009:37).Chinesepeopledon’tfeelstrangeorunpleasantwhentheyseethem.Thus,fortheChinese,thesewordsarejusteverydayacquaintances.Nevertheless,you’dbewrongifyoutakeitforgrantedthatsuchwordscanjustberenderedintoEnglishintranslation.Forinstance,suchsignsas“Don’tpicktheflowers!”“Don’tmakenoise.”aregrammaticallyrightandshownoprobleminwording.Buttheseimperativesentencesmaymakeforeigntouristsfeelunpleasant,forthetoneusedistooharsh.Thesignreadersmaynotfeelateasethemomenttheyseethem.Iftranslatedinto“Keepawayfromtheflowers,please.”or“Takecareoftheflowers,please.”or“Quiet,please”,theymaysoundmoremild,acceptableandproperinEnglish.Thesign“注意安全，小心脚下”(王楠2009:45)isputinto“Noticethesafety.Don’tfalldown”.Thesignbelongstoinformationalpublicsign.“Noticethesafety”istheword-to-wordtranslationandisconsistentwiththeexpressivehabitofEnglish.Theimperativesentence“Don’tfalldown”isnotappropriate,becausethetoneistooharsh.Thereadersmayfeelunpleasantthemomenttheyseeit.Maybe,itcanberenderedinto“Caution:MindYourStep”.5.TheTranslationSolutionsofPublicSignsFromwhathavebeendiscussedabove,wecaneasilydrawtheconclusionthatwestillhavealongwaytogoinordertoimprovethequalityofsigntranslation.However,findingoutproblemsisthebasisofsolvethem.Thescholarshaveputforwardsomesolutionstoimprovethesigntranslation.Thepresentauthorwilltalkaboutsomeoftheminthepaper.Theyarebacktranslation,borrowing,followinginternationalstandard,standardization,andqualifyingthetranslators.5.1BacktranslationBackTranslationistheprocessoftranslatingadocumentthathasalreadybeentranslatedintoaforeignlanguagebacktotheoriginallanguage―preferablybyanindependenttranslator.Aftertheback-translation,theoriginalandback-translateddocumentsarecompared.Whetherthefunctionofsignsisrealizedornotwouldthenbequiteclear.Backtranslationcanimprovethereliabilityandvalidityofresearchindifferentlanguagesbyrequiringthatthequalityofatranslationisverifiedbyanindependenttranslatortranslatingbackintotheoriginallanguage(XuZhiheng2007:08).Takesomeproblemsignsasexamples.“出口”“EXPORT”;“小心掉到河里!”“CAREFULLYFALLDOWNTOTHERIVER!”;“小心碰头!”“CAREFULLYMEET!”.Ifthetechniqueofbacktranslationhasbeenadoptedinthetranslationoftheabovesigns,suchsimplemistakescouldhavebeenfoundearlierandthenbeengetridof.Whenyouread“EXPORT”,itwouldoccurtoyouthatthisisatermusedintheCustoms.Withtheknowledgeofthat,itiseasiertogetthe