英语翻译论文功能视角下的“禁止”类公示语特点与翻译研究.doc

功能视角下的“禁止”类公示语特点与翻译研究 功能视角下的“禁止”类公示语特点与翻译研究 A Study of the Characteristics and Chinese-English Translation of “Forbidden” Signs from Functionalist Perspective 【摘要】 随着中国对外交流的增加,英语在跨文化交际中的作用日显突出。汉语公示语的英译是我国对外宣传的窗口,其英译效果不仅关系着外国友人们的日常生活,而且对于提升我国的国际形象,促进我国的对外交往和经济合作具有十分重要的意义。然而,目前我国公示语的英译还存在着诸多问题,违背英语习惯表达方式、忽视公示语翻译功能意义的现象比比皆是。其原因主要是译者对汉英语言、社会与文化的差异缺乏深入系统的研究。因此,为公示语翻译寻求正确的指导理论、建立有效的翻译原则和策略,是一项刻不容缓的任务。本研究以功能翻译理论为指导,利用语料库研究方法,从分析汉英两种语言和文化差异及解析“禁止”类公示语的功能意义入手,探讨切实可行的功能翻译原则和策略。为了详细对比汉英“禁止”类公示语语言和文化方面的差异,作者建立了“禁止”类公示语语料库,并对每条语料的语言特征和文化特征进行了标识。通过对比分析,本研究得出如下结论:一、功能翻译理论为公示语的分析与翻译研究提供了理论框架和模式,能够有效地指导公示语的汉英翻译;二、汉英“禁止”类公示语的差异主要表现为:汉语公示语多使用否定结构、动词短语和主动语态,强调集体,英语公示语则多采用肯定结构、非动词短语和被动语态,强调个体;三、“禁止”类公示语的汉英翻译应遵循“功能优先”和“以受示者为中心”的原则,并根据实际情况适当运用直接借用(Borrowing Directly)、程式化翻译(Translating in Formula)、省略(Omitting)、转换视角(Converting Viewing Angles)等策略,只有这样,翻译出的译文才能准确、地道、标准并实现原公示语的功能。该研究在理论、实践及研究方法上都取得了一定的成绩,全新的研究视角和研究方法拓宽了其他研究者的视野,其研究成果不但能为翻译实践提供帮助,还将为今后的研究提供借鉴作用。【Abstract】 With the increase of communications between China and other countries, English is playing a very important role in cross-cultural communications. As an important part of global communication, public signs are closely related with peoples daily life. While offering convenience to foreign visitors, bilingual public signs of Chinese and English are also an important aspect of international communication. They have great significance to Chinas cultural exchanges and economic cooperation with other countries. However, in China today, there are still many mistakes and problems in the translation of public signs, such as nonstandard English expressions and failure in function. So it is very necessary and urgent to find the right guiding theory and effective principles and strategies for the translation of public signs.Based on functionalist translation theory and corpus-based methodology, this research is mainly involved in the study of the characteristics and translation strategies of“forbidden”signs. With the specific aim of investigating the linguistic and cultural differences between Chinese and English“forbidden”signs, the author compiled the Corpus of“Forbidden”Signs and annotated it with linguistic and cultural features for later research.The following conclusions are reached from the study: 1) The rationality and applicability of the functionalist approaches as the guideline for public signs studies are shown and proved in the thesis; 2) Chinese and English“forbidden”signs are different in both linguistic and cultural aspects: Chinese signs usually apply negative structure, verbal phrases and passive voice and emphasize collectivism, while English ones prefer affirmative structure, non-verbal phrases and passive voice and stress individualism; 3)“forbidden”signs should be translated in the principle of“functional priority”and“receptor orientation”with the strategies such as borrowing directly, translating in formula, omitting and converting viewing angles so that the translation can be appropriate and standard and achieve the function of the original sign.This research makes innovations in guiding theory, translation practice and research methodology which would broaden the horizon of other researches. Its findings would offer some implications to the further study of public signs translation. 【关键词】 功能理论; “禁止”类公示语; 语料库; 特点; 翻译略 【Key words】 functionalist approaches; “forbidden”signs; corpus; characteristics; strategies 功能视角下的“禁止”类公示语特点与翻译研究内容摘要 4-5 Synopsis 5-6 Chapter 1 Introduction 12-16 1.1 Significance 12-13 1.2 Research Questions 13-14 1.3 Methodology 14 1.4 Structure 14-16 Chapter 2 Literature Review 16-30 2.1 Translation Studies before Functionalist Approaches 16-18 2.2 Theories of Functionalism 18-28 2.2.1 Katharina Reiss: Text Typology and Language Functions 18-21 2.2.2 Hans J. Vermeer: Skopostheorie 21-25 2.2.3 Holz-M?ntt?ri: Translational Action 25-27 2.2.4 Christiane Nord: Function plus Loyalty 27-28 2.3 Contributions of Functionalism to the Translation of Public Signs 28-29 2.4 Summary 29-30 Chapter 3 An Overview of Public Signs 30-39 3.1 Definition 30-32 3.2 Classification 32-37 3.2.1 Classification according to Functions 32-35 3.2.2 Classifications according to Information Status 35-37 3.3 “Forbidden”Signs 37-39 Chapter 4 Research Methodology 39-43 4.1 Corpus Translation Studies (CTS) 39 4.2 Types of Corpora Used in Translation Studies 39-41 4.2.1 Parallel Corpus 40 4.2.2 Multilingual Corpus 40-41 4.2.3 Comparable Corpus 41 4.3 The Corpora Used in the Thesis 41-43 4.3.1 Online Corpus of Chinese-English Signs 41-42 4.3.2 Corpus of “Forbidden”Signs 42-43 Chapter 5 Corpus-based Analysis on the Characteristics of “Forbidden” Signs 43-63 5.1 Characteristics of “Forbidden”Signs 43-48 5.1.1 Use of Nouns and Gerunds 43-44 5.1.2 Utilization of Verbs 44 5.1.3 Application of Imperative Sentences 44-45 5.1.4 Conciseness 45-46 5.1.5 Directness 46 5.1.6 Combination of Letters with Pictures 46-47 5.1.7 Capitalization of English Signs 47-48 5.2 Corpus-based Analysis on the Differences between Chinese and English “Forbidden”Signs” 48-62 5.2.1 Linguistic Differences between Chinese and English “Forbidden”Signs 49-58 5.2.1.1 Difference in Expressions 49-54 5.2.1.2 Difference in Choice of Parts of Speech 54-56 5.2.1.3 Difference in Voice 56-58 5.2.2 Cultural Differences between Chinese and English “Forbidden”Signs 58-62 5.2.2.1 Different Ways of Expressing in Chinese and English 58-60 5.2.2.2 Different Centers of Power 60-62 5.3 Summary 62-63 Chapter 6 Application of Functionalist Approaches to the Translation of “Forbidden”Signs 63-79 6.1 Problems in the Translation of “Forbidden”Signs 63-68 6.1.1 Chinglish Style 64-65 6.1.2 Word Redundancy 65-66 6.1.3 Harsh tone 66-67 6.1.4 Inappropriate Diction 67-68 6.2 Translation Principles of “Forbidden”Signs 68-69 6.2.1 Functional Priority 68-69 6.2.2 The Receptor-oriented Principle 69 6.3 Suggested Translation Strategies of “Forbidden”Signs 69-78 6.3.1 Linguistic Strategies 70-75 6.3.1.1 Borrowing Standard English Expressions Directly 70-71 6.3.1.2 Translating in Formula 71-73 6.3.1.3 Conforming to the linguistic features of English 73-74 6.3.1.4 Omitting 74-75 6.3.2 Cultural Strategies 75-78 6.3.2.1 Using Euphemistic Tone 75-76 6.3.2.2 Converting Viewing Angles 76-77 6.3.2.3 Determining the Context 77-78 6.3.2.4 No Translation 78 6.4 Summary 78-79 Chapter 7 Conclusion 79-83 7.1 Findings 79-80 7.2 Limitations 80-81 7.3 Implications 81-83 References 83-88 Acknowledgement 88-89 摘要 89-92 Abstract 92-95