目的论视角下的景点公示语英汉互译策略研究

目的论视角下的景点公示语英汉互译策略研究摘要在政治经济全球化逐渐加深的同时，越来越多的国人以及外国友人渴望更多的文化上的交流，而对于了解文化最直观的做法就是进行国际旅游，到旅游景点去亲身领略其他国家文化的底蕴。与此同时出现的旅游景点公示语的翻译就显的尤为重要，但是同时也会出现或多或少、或大或小的问题。因此，笔者希望能够通过这篇文章，找到一个更加适合旅游景点公示语的翻译方法。旅游景点的公示语，有一些是警示语，有一些是日常用语，同样有一些是内含文化色彩的公示语。内含文化色彩的公示语是其中最为重要的，因为这是文化与文化之间沟通的桥梁，是了解国家文化的一个最直观的语言，因此，对于这类公示语的翻译就显得非常重要，翻译上的一点差错就可能使游客出现理解上的偏差，反而起到了南辕北辙的作用。本文将从目的论视角视角下，对景点公示语的英汉互译策略进行分析，从而能找到一个适合旅游景点公示语翻译的最佳方法和策略。关键词：目的论视角旅游公示语英汉翻译方法AStudyontheEnglish-ChineseTranslationofPublicSignsinPlacesofInterestsinSkoposTheoryAbstractWiththegradualdeepeningofthepoliticalandeconomicglobalization,moreandmoreChineseandforeignersareeagerformoreculturalexchanges,andthemostintuitivewaytounderstandthecultureistocarryoutinternationaltourism,tovisittouristsitestopersonallyappreciatetheculturaldepositsofothercountries.Atthesametime,thetranslationofpublicsignsoftouristattractionsisparticularlyimportant,butatthesametime,therewillbemoreorfewer,bigorsmallproblems.Therefore,theauthorhopestofindmoresuitabletranslationmethodsforpublicsignsoftouristattractionsthroughthispaper.Someofthepublicsignsoftouristattractionsarewarningsigns,somearedailyexpressions,andalsosomearepublicsignswithculturalcolors.Thepublicsignlanguageisculturallyloaded,anditisthebridgeofcommunicationbetweendifferentcultures.Also,itisoneofthemostintuitivemeanstounderstandanothercultureandlanguage.Asaresult,itisveryimportantforthiskindofpublicsignstranslation.Oneerrorinthetranslationcanleadtomisunderstandingonvisitors’part,andthedesiredeffectwillnotbeachieved.ThispaperwillanalysethestrategiesforEnglish-Chinesetranslationofpublicsignsofplacesofinterestsfromtheperspectiveofskopostheory,soastofindthebestmethodsandstrategiesforthetranslationofpublicsignsofplacesofinterests.Keywords:Spokostheory;publicsignsinplacesofinterests;English-ChinesetranslationsContentsTOC\o"1-3"\h\uIntroduction IntroductionWiththedeepeningofreformandopeningupandtheimplementationofthe“OneBeltAndOneRoad”nationalstrategy,thecooperationandfriendlyexchangesbetweenChinaandforeigncountriesareincreasingdaybyday.Underthebackgroundofthisera,manypublicsignsoftouristattractionsareexpressedinbothChineseandEnglishsoastoachievebettercommunicationbetweenChinaandforeigncountries.Thetranslationofpublicsignshasadirectbearingonthespiritualoutlookandexternalimageofacityoreventhewholecountry.However,therearesomeproblemsinthetranslationofpublicsignsoftouristattractionsinmanycities,suchasmistranslationandirregulartranslation,whichnotonlyfailtoplaytheirrole,butalsodestroythesoftpowerconstructionofcities,whichisnotconductivetothesmoothdevelopmentofopeningupandcommunication.SkopostheorywasproposedandperfectedbyReiss,VermeerandNord,therepresentativesofGermanfunctionaltranslationtheory.Functionalskopostheorysuggeststhat,asafundamentalprinciple,translationmethodsandstrategiesmustbedeterminedbytheintendedpurposeoffunctionofthetranslation.Functionaltheoryfollowsthreeprinciples:thelawofpurpose,thelawofcoherence,andthelawoffidelity.Skopostheoryholdsthatthetranslator,asthesubjectoftranslation,shouldmakethetranslationmeaningfulinthecontextofthetargetlanguagebasedontheanalysisoftheoriginaltext.Itshouldbeacceptedbythetargetlanguagesystem,andfitintothetargetlanguagesystem,andachievetheappropriatenessconsistentwiththetypeandfunctionoftheoriginaltext.Part1IntroductionofPublicSignsThedefinitionofpublicsignsPublicsignsaresigns,reminders,displays,warnings,signs,andexplanationsofwordsandpicturesthatarecloselyrelatedtopeople’slife,production,andecology.Thecommunicativepurposeofpublicsignsisclear,andtheymeettheusers’basicinformationneedssuchasdiet,accommodation,travel,sightseeing,entertainmentandshopping.Wordssimilartothemeaningofpublicsignsinclude“specifier”,“logo”,“accessibilitymarkers”and“slogan”.Thecombinationofsignlanguageandsigniswidelyusedinmanysituationssuchastransportation,tourismandtransportation.SignshavebeenwidelyacceptedintheITindustryandalmostbecomethelanguagebranchoftheindustry.Inadditiontotheconnotationandextensionof“specifier”,“logo”,“accessibilitymarkers”and“slogan”,itisstilldifficulttochooseotherbroadterms.Therefore“publicsignsbecomethecollectivenounof“specifier”,“logo”,“accessibilitymarkers”and“slogan”.ThefeaturesofpublicsignsPublicsignsarethe“face”ofacityandcarrytheculturalmeaningofacountry.Publicsignsrefertonotices,instructions,promptsorwarningsandrelevantinformationthatareopentothepublic.Asthemostcommonpracticallanguageinpeople’slife,publicsignsbelongtoaspecialstyle.Itisanindispensablehelperinpeople’slife.Theformofpublicsignsiseitheraconcisetext,orasimpleandeasy-to-understanddiagram,orboththetextandthediagram.Inordertorealizetheirfunctions,mostpublicsignshavethecharacteristicsofconcise,attractive,uniquesyntaxandfrankandpowerfullanguage.1.3ThecategoriesofpublicsignsDespitethewiderangeandvarietyofpublicsigns,publicsignscanbedividedintoseveralcategoriesaccordingtotheirfunctions,namely,instructionalsigns,indicativepublicsigns,restrictivepublicsigns,mandatorypublicsignsandculturally-loadedsigns.Thispaperwilldiscusstheinstructionalsignsandculturally-loadedsigns.Instructionalsignsprovideinformationtothepublicanddonotrestrictorforcethepublictotakecertainactionsorcarryoutcertainorders.Therefore,instructionalsignsaremostlycomposedofnounsandnounphrases.Suchas,“油漆未干”，“问讯处”,“中山路and“售票处”.Culturally-loadedpublicsignsrefertothosethatconveyacertainkindofculturalconnectionsorassociationswhichmayormaynotbefoundinotherlanguagesorcultures.Suchas,“应县木塔造型美观,气势恢宏,用鬼斧神工,巧夺天工,来形容也不为过.”ThissentenceshowsthespecialcultureofChinesewords.Sowhenwetranslatethissentence,weshouldconsiderthecultureinthisculturally-loadedpublicsigns.1.4PublicsignsinplacesofinterestsPublicsignsinplacesofinterests

canberoughlydividedintoinstructional

publicsignsandculturally-loadedpublicsigns.Generallyspeaking,theinstructional

publicsignsaresomeindicativewords,suchas“注意安全”,“小心地滑”,“不要攀爬”

and“在此左转”,whichareallinstructional

publicsignscommonlyseeninplacesofinterests.Andusuallyitisverydifficulttotranslateculturally-loadedwords.Suchas“路左有一巨石，时尚原有苏东坡手书‘云外留春’四个大字”.ItsEnglishversionis“ToitsleftisanotherrockformerlyengravedwithefourbigChinesecharactersYunWaiLiuChun(Beyondcloudsandflowsspring)writtenbySuDongpo(1037-1101),themostversatilepoetoftheNorthernSongDynasty(960-1127)”.TheintroductionofSuDongpointhetranslationalsoreflectsthehighculturalvalueoftheword“云外留春”,whichwaswrittenbyaversatilepoetoftheNorthernSongDynasty.PartIIIntroductionofSkoposTheory2.1TheconceptofskopostheoryThetermofSkoposisoftenusedtorefertothepurposeofatranslation.ThewordSkoposcomesfromtheGreekword“Skopos”.AswellasSkopos,Vermeerusestherelevantwords“aim”,“purpose”,“intention”and“function”.Toavoidconfusionofconcepts,Nordproposesabasicdistinctionbetweenintentandfunction.“Intent”isdefinedfromtheperspectiveofthesender,while“function”referstotextualfunction,whichisjointlydeterminedbytherecipient’sexpectations,needs,knownknowledgeandenvironmentalconditions.IntheframeworkofVermeer’sskopostheory,oneofthemostimportantfactorsdeterminingthepurposeoftranslationistheaudiencetherecipientofthetranslation.Eachtranslationpointstoacertainaudience,sotranslationis“atextproducedforacertainpurposeandtargetaudienceinthecontextofthetargetlanguage”.Vermeerbelievesthattheoriginaltextisonlythesourceofsomeoralloftheinformationforthetargetaudience.Therefore,thestatusoftheoriginaltextinSkopostheoryisobviouslylowerthanthatinthetheoryofequivalence.Inthe1970s,functionaltranslationtheoryemergedinGermany.Itsdevelopmenthasgonethroughthefollowingstages.Thefirststage:CatherineRiceintroducedfunctionalcategoriesintotranslationcriticismforthefirsttimeandconnectedlanguagefunctions,discoursetypesandtranslationstrategies.Shealsodevelopedatranslationcriticismmodelbasedonthefunctionalrelationshipbetweensourcetextandtargettext,andthusproposedtheembryonicformoffunctionalism.AccordingtoRice,theidealtranslationshouldbeacomprehensivecommunicativetranslation,whichisequivalenttotheoriginalintermsofconceptualcontent,linguisticformandcommunicativefunction.Thesecondstage:HansVermeerputforwardskopostheory,whichfreedtranslationstudiesfromthebondageoftext-centeredtheory.Accordingtothistheory,translationisapurposefulandfruitfulbehaviorbasedontheoriginaltext,whichmustbecompletedthroughnegotiation.Translationmustfollowaseriesoflaws,ofwhichthelawofpurposeisthefirst.Inotherwords,thetranslationdependsonthepurposeoftranslation.Inaddition,translationmustfollowthe“internalcoherencelaw”and“interlingualcoherencelaw”.Theformermeansthatthetranslationmustbeinternallycoherent,whichisunderstandabletotherecipientofthetranslation,whilethelattermeansthatthereshouldalsobecoherencebetweenthetranslationandtheoriginaltext.Afterthesethreeprinciplesareputforward,thecriterionoftranslationisnolonger“equivalence”,buttheadequacyofthetranslationtoachievethedesiredgoal.Vermeeralsoputforwardtheconceptoftranslationcommission,thatis,thetranslatorshoulddecidewhether,whenandhowtocompletethetranslationtask.Inotherwords,translatorsshouldadoptcorrespondingtranslationstrategiesaccordingtodifferenttranslationpurposes,andhavetherighttodecidewhatcontentsoftheoriginaltextcanberetainedandwhatneedstobeadjustedormodifiedaccordingtothetranslationpurposes.Thethirdstage:JastaHotz-Mantaridrewonthetheoryofcommunicationandbehaviorandproposedabehavioraltheoryoftranslation,whichfurtherdevelopedthefunctionalisttheoryoftranslation,whichsawtranslationasapurpose-driven,results-orientedinterpersonalinteraction.ThistheoryhadmuchincommonwithSkopostheory,andVermeerlaterfusedthetwo.Thefourthstage:ChristinaNordsummarizedandimprovedthefunctionalisttheorycomprehensively.Forthefirsttime,ChristinaNordusedEnglishtosystematicallyexplaintheinternalandexternalfactorstobeconsideredintextanalysisintranslation,andhowtodeveloptranslationstrategiesbasedonthefunctionsoftheoriginaltext.ChristinaNordsortedoutthefunctionalisttheoriesandproposedthattranslatorsshouldfollowtheguidingprincipleof“functionandloyalty”,thusimprovingthetheory.2.2Theprinciplesofskopostheory2.2.1SkopostheorySkopostheoryholdsthattheprimaryprincipleofalltranslationactivitiesisthe“principleofpurpose”,thatis,translationshouldbeabletofunctioninthecontextandcultureofthetargetlanguageinthewayexpectedbytherecipientofthetargetlanguage.Thepurposeoftranslationbehaviordeterminesthewholeprocessoftranslationbehavior,thatis,theresulttobeachieveddeterminesthemethodstoemployed.However,translationactivitiescanhavemultiplepurposes,whicharefurtherdividedintothreecategories:(1)thebasicpurposeofthetranslator(suchasearningaliving);(2)thecommunicativepurposeofthetranslation(e.g.toenlightenthereader);(3)thepurposetobeachievedbyusingaspecialmeansoftranslation(e.g.literaltranslationaccordingtothestructureofalanguageinordertoillustratethespecialfeaturesofthegrammaticalstructure).However,ingeneral,“purpose”referstothecommunicativepurposeofthetranslation,thatis,“thecommunicativefunctionofthetranslationtothetargetlanguagereadersinthesocialandculturalcontextofthetargetlanguage.Therefore,thetranslatorshoulddefinehisspecificpurposeinagiventranslationcontextanddecidewhichtranslationmethodtoadoptaccordingtothispurpose--amongtheliteraltranslation,freetranslationorothertranslationmethods.”[1]2.2.2CoherenceruleCoherencerulereferstotherequirementthatthetargettextconformtothestandardsofintra-textualcoherence,i.e.thetargettextisreadableandacceptable,enablingtherecipienttounderstandandmakesenseofthetargetcultureandthecommunicativecontextinwhichthetargettextisused.2.2.3FidelityruleThefidelityruleisthatthereshouldbeinter-textualcoherencebetweenthesourcetextandthetranslation.Thisisequivalenttotheso-calledfidelitytotheoriginalinothertranslationtheories,butthedegreeandformoffidelitytotheoriginaldependsonthepurposeofthetranslationandthetranslator'sunderstandingoftheoriginal.PartIII:AnalysisandMethodsofChinese-EnglishTranslationofPublicSignsinPlacesofInterestsUnderSpokosTheory3.1AnalysisandsolutionsofC-Etranslationofpublicsignsinplacesofinterestsunderspokostheory3.1.1AnalysisofC-EtranslationofpublicsignsinplacesofinterestsunderspokostheoryInplacesofinterests,weoftenseealotofpublicsignsinbothChineseandEnglishversions.Aftercarefulobservationandanalysis,itisnotdifficulttoseethattherearesomeproblems.Inthispart,therearesomeexamplesoftranslationerrorsfromthetranslationsofthepublicsignsinsomeplacesofinterestsinBaoDingHebeiProvince.Exampleone,“呵护生命，请勿垂钓”.Theoriginaltranslationversionis“RESPECTLIVESANDDONOTFISHINTHELAKE”.Sincethefocusofthepublicsignsistoforbidfishinginthelake,itcanbeimprovedbybeingtranslatedinto“nofishing”only,tohighlightthecentralinformation.Exampletwo,“于雍正八年(1730)改为直隶总督署大堂”.Theoriginalversionis“Finallyin1730(theeighthyearofYongzheng’srule),itbecamethemainhalloftheZhiliGoveinor-Central’Office”Examplethree,“1913年6月18日早晨，筑梦校长蒋方震因改革校务受阻，愤而自戕未遂事件就发生在尚武堂”.Theoriginalversionis“OnthemorningofJune18,1913,thefamousheadmasterJiangFangzhenattemptedtosuicideherefortheschoolreformwasblocked.Examplefour,“1962年9月在保定市北郊的韩庄出土”.Theoriginalversionis“InSeptemberof1962,itwasunderthedinHanzhuanginthenorthernsuburbsofBaoding.Inthetranslationsofthesethreeexamples,adverbialsoftimeareputinfrontofeachChinesesentence,butinEnglish,adverbialsoftimeareusuallyputattheend,andtheemphasisofthesethreesentencesisonthetime,butthebodyofthetext.Therefore,theadverbialsoftimecanbeputafterandthemainpartofthesentencetoachievethetranslationpurposeofgivingprioritytothemaininformationoftourists.Examplefive,“如遇紧急情况，请联系主管或拨打xxx”.Theoriginalversionis“Incaseofemergency,contactthesupervisororcallXXX”.Becausethereisnoneedtocontactthesupervisorormakephonecallswhenthereisnoproblem,soitisinappropriatetoputtheadverbialofconditioninthefrontpartofthesentenceforemphasis,consideringthatthetranslationshallabidebythe“faithfulprinciple”ofskopostheory.Thefaithfuldegreedependsonthetranslator'sunderstandingoftheoriginalandthepurposeoftranslation.Whenwearetranslatingsuchpublicsigns,weshouldconsiderwhethertheresultistobeemphasized.Ifnot,weshouldputtheresultatthebeginningofthesentenceinaccordancewiththeEnglishrulethatimportantinformationcomesfirst.Inthiswaytouristscangeteffectiveinformationinthefirstplace,whichfitsthecharacteristicsofpublicsigns.WecandrawaconclusionfromthefiveexamplesabovethatChinesespeakersandEnglishspeakersfocusondifferentrespectsinusinglanguage.ChinesespeakerstendtoputthemostimportantinformationinthelastplacewhileEnglishspeakerstendtoputthemostimportantinformationinthefirstplace.ThereforetranslatorsusuallyputthekeyinformationinthefirstplacewhentranslatingChineseintoEnglish.Butpublicsignsareintendedtoshowtouristsinformationclearly,soweshouldpayattentiontolocationofthekeyinformationtoconvey.Examplesix,“洗手间”wastranslatedinto“WashroomandToilet”.Simplicityandclarityisacharacteristicofpublicsigns.Ifonewordcanexpressclearlyandaccurately,thenitisnotnecessarytousemorewordstoexpressthesamemeaning.Thetranslatormaythinkthat“washroom”and“toilet”havedifferentmeanings.However,inthedictionarythedefinitionof“washroom”isthat“aroominapublicbuildingwherepeoplecanwashhandsandusethetoilet”,so“洗手间”canbeliterallytranslatedinto“washrooms”.Exampleseven,“外语在线，即时翻译”wastranslatedinto“InstantOnlineForeignLanguageTranslation”.Onthe“smartservice”

card,touristscanscantheQRcodetoenjoyonlineinstanttranslationinmultiplelanguages.ButtheEnglishtranslationof“外语在线，即时翻译”

containsredundantandunnecessaryinformation,resultinginsemanticdeviation,whichmakesitimpossiblefortouriststounderstandthemeaningaccurately.Whenwetranslatetheword“外语”

weshouldkeepitinmindthat“English”

isaforeignlanguageintheviewofChinese.WhenEnglishnativespeakersreadthispublicsign,theywillthinkitreferstoChineseorotherlanguages.Therefore,weshouldmakethetranslationconveytherealmeaningoftheorigintext.Sothispublicsignshouldbetranslatedinto“InstantOnlineLanguageTranslation”.Exampleeight,“南岳衡山是我国五岳名山之一”istranslatedinto“MountHengisamongthefivegreatestmountainsinChina.”ThetranslatorthinksthatforeigntouristsgenerallyknowmuchaboutthefivefamousmountainsinChina.Sothetranslatortranslatedthispublicsignliterally.Buttherearetwo“MountHeng”inChinaandoneofthemisinNorthChina”andtheotherisinSouthChina.AlthoughtwodifferentChinesecharactersareusedfor“Heng”,theyhappentobepronounceinthesamewayinEnglish.Sotheoriginalversionshouldberetranslatedinto“MountHenginSouthChinaisoneofthefivefamousmountainsinChina”.3.1.2SolutionsofC-EtranslationofpublicsignsinplacesofinterestsunderskopostheoryInviewofthetourismtext,thetranslatorshouldchoosethecorrespondingtranslationstrategyfirstlyaccordingtotheprincipleofpurpose,andthenensurethatthetranslationfollowstheprincipleofcoherence,soastomakethetranslationmorefaithfultotheoriginaltext.Theprincipleoffidelityisalsoapplicabletoguidethetranslationofnamesofplacesofinterests.Thetranslationofnamesofplacesofinterests

shouldmakethetouristswhousethetargetlanguageunderstandthespecificmeaningoftheplacesofinterests.Thetranslationoftourismtextsismainlytoservethemajorityofforeigntouristsandspreadthelocaltourismculture.Andalsothecharacteristicsandcharmofplacesofinterestscanbespreadinthisway.Alsoitwillhelpforeigntouriststohaveadesiretovisittheplacesofinterests.Themostfundamentalpurposeofpublicsignsistopublicizeandspreadtheplacesofinterests,soastoattracttouriststocomeandvisittheplacesofinterests.Therearedifferenttranslationstrategiesfordifferentkindsofpublicsigns,whicharetransliteration,literaltranslationandliberaltranslation.Themostimportantprincipleinskopostheoryistheprincipleofpurpose,whichmeansthatintheprocessoftranslation,thepurposeofthetranslationdetermineswhichtranslationstrategythetranslatorshouldadopt.Therefore,thetranslatorshouldmakeclearthepurposeoftranslationfirstly.Forexample,“从此，宋王朝对湘西地区仍实行‘以蛮夷治蛮夷’政策，同时也加强对湘西地区的军事控制。”TheEnglishversionis“Fromthenon,theSongDynastycarriedouttheautonomypolicyandalsostrengthenedthemilitarycontrolamongminoritiesinWesternHunanarea”[2].ThepurposeofthispassageistointroducetheTusigoverningtothetourists,sothattheycanhaveabetterunderstandingoftheTusigoverningculture.Andif“以蛮夷治蛮夷”istranslatedliterally,thenitwillbedifficultforforeigntouriststounderstandtherealmeaningofthispublicsign.Itcanbeseenfromthetranslationthattranslatorsconsideredtheculturalbackgroundoftheforeigntouristsandthepurposeoftheoriginaltext.Sothetranslatortranslateditinto“autonomypolicy”.“ThistranslationconformstotheprincipleofpurposeandachievesthepurposeofhelpingforeignaudiencesknowmoreaboutTusigoverningculture.”[3]Thecoherenceprinciplereferstotherelationbetweenthetranslationandthetargetlanguagespeakers,andalsothetranslationmustconformtothelogic,grammaticalstructureandexpressionhabitsofthetargetlanguagespeakerssothatthetargetlanguagespeakerscanacceptandunderstandthetranslationeasily.Therefore,fromtheaspectofthecoherenceprinciple,thetranslatorshouldconsiderthelanguageusinghabitsofthetargetlanguagespeakersandadoptappropriatetranslationstrategiestomakethetranslationmorecoherentandsmooth.Forexample,“更体现了古代中国作为一个统一多民族国家对西南民族地区独特的‘齐政修教、因俗而治’的管理智慧。”istranslatedinto“ItfurthermorebearsauniquetestimonytothewisdomofimperialChinaasaunifiedmulti-ethniccountryinadministratingthesouthwestminoritiesregionswiththeapproachof‘Retainoriginalethniclivingmodeandcustoms;introduceunifiednationaladministrationsystemandetiquette.”Inthistranslationsimplewordsandsyntacticstructuresareused.Butintheprocessoftranslation,thetranslatorignoredthelanguagehabitsofthetargetlanguagespeakersandadoptedtheliteraltranslation.Alsothetranslatordidnotfollowtheoriginalpublicsignandmadethetranslationslightlycomplicatedandrepetitive.Alsothistranslationdoesnotconformtotheprincipleofcoherenceandthetranslatordoesnotconsidertheacceptabilityandreadabilityofthetranslation.Thisversionmaketheforeigntourists’haveamisunderstandingofcultureintheprocessofvisitingtheplacesofinterests.Thethirdprincipleofskopostheoryistheprincipleoffidelity,whichmeansthatthetranslatorshouldrespecttheoriginaltextandaccuratelyconveythemeaningoftheoriginaltext.Thetranslationshouldfirstlyreflectthecontentoftheoriginaltextaccuratelyandconformtheformoftheoriginaltextstrictly.Forexample,“上效中央,下抚民众”istranslatedinto“Loyaltothecentralgovernmentandlenienttowardsitspeople.”Theorigintext“上效中央,下抚民众”aretwotypicalChinesefour-characterexpressions.Whenthetranslatorhandlesthispublicsign,thetranslatortranslateditintotwoadjectivephraseswithsimilarstructure,whichwellfollowsthemeaningandformoftheoriginaltext.Andthistranslationnotonlyreflectsthebeautyoftheformoftheoriginaltextbutalsoconformtotheprincipleoffidelityofskopostheory.AndalsothistranslationhelpstheforeigntouriststounderstandthecultureandachievesthesemantictransformationbetweenChineseandEnglish.3.2MethodsofChinese-Englishtranslationsinpublicsignsofplacesofinterestsunderspokostheory3.2.1LiteraltranslationLiteraltranslationreferstotheone-to-onetranslation,wordbyword,sentencebysentence,beingloyaltotheoriginaltextbothincontentandformandnotviolatingtheoriginalculturalbackground.Thistranslationmethodmakesthetargettextconsistentwiththeoriginaltext.Andthetargettranslatedversionandtheoriginaltextcorrespondtoeachotherincontentandstructure,sothatthetargetlanguagereaderscanunderstandthemeaningoftheoriginaltextaccuratelyandeasily.Oneofthecharacteristicsofliteraltranslationisthatthetranslatorshouldnotonlytranslatethemainmeaningoftheoriginalsentence,butalsocomplywiththesyntacticstructureofthetargetlanguage.Therefore,comparedwiththetransliterationstrategy,themostimportantfeatureoftheliteraltranslationstrategyistoretainthesyntacticstructureandlanguagestyleoftheoriginaltext.Thatis,tobefaithfultotheoriginaltext.Thistranslationstrategyofliteraltranslationreflectstheprincipleofcoherenceandfidelityofskopostheory.InChina,manyplacesofinterestsarenamedaccordingtotheiractualgeographicallocation,geographicalcharacteristics,historicalallusionsandfamoushistoricalfigures.Wecantranslatethenamesoftheseplacesofinterestsinviewoftheactualgeographicallocation,geographicalfeaturesandsoon.Andthesenamescanbetranslatedaccordingtothemethodofliteraltranslation.Three-riverAncientTownaroundChaohunationaltourismandleisureareaisanancienthistoricandculturaltowninChinaandanational5Atouristattraction.TheFengleriver,TheHangbuRiverandTheXiaonanRivermeetinthetownandflowintoChaohuLake,hencethenameofThree-riverAncientTownwasadoptedaccordingtothegeographicallocation.Here“三河”canbeliterallytranslatedinto“Three-river”intheEnglishversionofThree-riverTown.Andforeigntouristscanaccuratelyknowthatthisistownwitharichandgenerousculture.Andtherearethreeriverswindthroughthetown,thushelpingforeigntouriststoappreciatethesceneof“smallbridgewhichisflowingothers’house”,andmakingthetranslationconformtotheprincipleofthepurposeofthefunctionaltranslationtheory.3.2.2TransliterationTransliterationreferstothetranslationofawordintheoriginallanguagewhichistranslatedintoawordwiththesameorsimilarpronunciationinthetargetlanguage.Forexample,inChinese-Englishtranslation,manypropernounssuchaspersonalnames,namesofplacesandbrandnamescanbedirectlytransliteratedintoEnglish.Inaccordancewithinternationalpractice,Chinaplacenames,includingnamesofprovinces,cities,countiesandevenvillagesaretranslatedaccordingtothemethodoftransliteration,suchas“Anhui”,“Hefei”,“Chaohu”.Themethodoftransliterationcaneffectivelyreducethecommunication