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Statement of Authorship Except where reference is made in the text ofthe thesis, this thesis contains no material published elsewhere or extractedin whole or part from a thesis presented by me for another degree or diploma.
内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.comNo other person’s work has been used without dueacknowledgement in the main text of the thesis.
copyright paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.comThis thesis has not been submitted for the awardof any other degree or diploma in any tertiary institution.
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内容来自www.paper51.com copyright paper51.com Acknowledgements
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内容来自www.paper51.com I wish to express my deepest gratitude to my thesissupervisor, Gao Yuling, for all the help she offered me during the thesiswriting. Without her gracious guidance, invaluable suggestions, insightfulcriticisms and constant encouragement, the thesis would never be possible.Honestly, no word can fully express my gratitude to this respectable andrighteous supervisor.
copyright paper51.com copyright paper51.com Also Iwould like to acknowledge Professor Xu Xianming, my thesis writing courseteacher who taught me not only knowledge but also the right way to doscientific research. Her interesting lectures all made contributions to anyachievement I have ever made.
内容来自www.paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.com I amgrateful to my classmates. Their friendship and kindness will always be aprecious part in the processes of my thesis writing. 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com http://www.paper51.com Lastly, I thank my family for their and support,without them, it is impossible for me to complete this thesis. 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com copyright paper51.com
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copyright paper51.com paper51.com 摘 要
内容来自www.paper51.com copyright paper51.com 本文从公示语的功能、特点及分类等角度对某某市公示语翻译现状做了粗略的调查。
http://www.paper51.com copyright paper51.com 由于我国对外开放的逐步深入，某某这个充满魅力的城市也越来越受到外国人的青睐，而公示语作为外国人日常生活的重要组成部分，其翻译质量也关系到了城市的发展。
paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.com公示语具有信息、指示、限制及警示四种应用功能，在措辞方面具有简洁、通俗及语言规范等特点。
http://www.paper51.com http://www.paper51.com但由于文化和语言的差异，公示语翻译中存在着大量的问题。如：拼写错误、用词不当、语法错误等。 copyright paper51.com copyright paper51.com 本文通过分析某某市公示语中存在的各种问题，提出了相应的改进方法，但公示语涵盖了生活的方方面面，本文只对部分实例进行了总结，无法尽其所有的问题。 copyright paper51.com http://www.paper51.com公示语的完善及改进需要全社会给予更多的关注，共同努力解决存在的问题。
copyright paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.com
http://www.paper51.com http://www.paper51.com 关键词：公示语； 功能主义；错误； 翻译
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内容来自www.paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.com
内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com copyright paper51.com http://www.paper51.com Abstract
内容来自www.paper51.com
paper51.com This thesis is a survey on the public signstranslation of Yuxi city from the perspective of functionalist approaches.
copyright paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com With the ever deepening of China's opening drive, the charmingcity—Yuxi is becoming more and more popular. As the important part in the dailylife of foreign people living in Yuxi, the public signs translation has closerelationship with the image of Yuxi.
内容来自www.paper51.com paper51.com Public signs have directing, prompting,restricting, compelling functions, and the signs are usually concise,conventional and convenient. http://www.paper51.com http://www.paper51.com However, due to the language andculture differences, there are a lot of problems exist. Such as spellingmistakes, lexical problems, grammar mistakes and so on. Through this survey, I analyzedthe translation of public signs in Yuxi and found out some problems andsolution. However, public signs are in every corner of life, the thesis cannotcover all the problems.
内容来自www.paper51.com copyright paper51.comTranslation of public signs shouldbe paid more attention to and various problems should be solved by the effortsof all society.
内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.comKey words: public signs； function；error; translation copyright paper51.com http://www.paper51.comhttp://www.paper51.com
copyright paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com Contentspaper51.com paper51.com Statement ofAuthorship. i 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com Acknowledgements. ii http://www.paper51.com 摘 要... iii paper51.com Abstract iv 内容来自www.paper51.com Contents. v 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com 1. Introduction. 1 copyright paper51.com 1.1 The Background of the Study. 1
内容来自www.paper51.com http://www.paper51.com 1.2 The Significance of the Study. 1 paper51.com copyright paper51.com1.3 The Scope of the Study. 2
paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com 1.4 The Research Question. 2
copyright paper51.com paper51.com 2. Literature Review.. 2 http://www.paper51.com 2.1 Related Theory. 2
paper51.com http://www.paper51.com 2.1.1 Reiss’s Text Typology. 2 copyright paper51.com copyright paper51.com 2.1.2 Functionalist Theory. 4
copyright paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com 2.2 Related Research. 5 内容来自www.paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com3. Research Methodology. 6 paper51.com 4. The General Information on Public Signs. 7 内容来自www.paper51.com 4.1 The Definition of Public Signs. 7
paper51.com paper51.com4.2 Types of Public Signs. 7
paper51.com paper51.com4.2.1 Traffic Signs and Road Signs. 7
paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com4.2.2 Signs at Scenic Spots. 7 paper51.com copyright paper51.com 4.2.3 Names and Services ofInstitutions and Shops. 8
copyright paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.com 4.2.4 Signs for EnvironmentalProtection. 8
内容来自www.paper51.com paper51.com 4.2.5 Public Signs. 9 http://www.paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.com 4.3 The Function of Public Signs. 9
内容来自www.paper51.com copyright paper51.com 4.3.1 Directing. 9 copyright paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.com4.3.2 Prompting. 10
内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com copyright paper51.com 4.3.3 Restricting. 10
copyright paper51.com paper51.com4.3.4 Compelling. 11
内容来自www.paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com 4.4 Language Features of PublicSigns. 11 copyright paper51.com paper51.com 4.4.1 Concise. 11 内容来自www.paper51.com copyright paper51.com 4.4.2Conventions. 12 http://www.paper51.com paper51.com4.4.3Convenience. 12
内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.com 5. Errors Existence and Solution. 13 copyright paper51.com 5.1 Errors Existence. 13 http://www.paper51.com paper51.com5.1.1 Spelling Error 14 paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.com 5.1.2 Error in Word Choice. 14 内容来自www.paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.com 5.1.3 Other Errors. 15 paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com 5.2 Solution. 16
http://www.paper51.com copyright paper51.com 5.2.1 Functionalism.. 16 paper51.com http://www.paper51.com 5.2.2 Cultural Adjustment 16
copyright paper51.com copyright paper51.com 5.2.3 Solution of Other Errors. 17 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com http://www.paper51.com6. Conclusion. 18 http://www.paper51.com References http://www.paper51.com paper51.com内容来自www.paper51.com
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copyright paper51.com List of the Tables 内容来自www.paper51.com paper51.com
http://www.paper51.com Table1 The Proportion of errors 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.comTable2 The amount and percentage of spelling error, error in word choiceand other error
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内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.com paper51.com http://www.paper51.com 1. Introduction1.1 The Background of the Study
paper51.com Nowadays,the research on public signs is becoming a hot topic, and is drawing attentionfrom academic to the government. Lu Zuben (1996), Liu Jichun (1997), Wuweixiong (1998), Liu fengling (1999) published their academic articlesdiscussing the translation of public signs. Some of the professors evenorganized students to identify translation errors and then write articles tocorrect them. For example, Wan Zhengfang (2004), Wang yinquan and Chen Xinren(2005) respectively present their findings in Chinese Translator Journal—“必须重视城市街道商店和单位名称的翻译”，“城市标识语英译及实例分析”. On May 22 2007 theTranslation Association in Yunnan Province hold a meetingto call for citizens to identify errors of public signs within the province andit marked the highlight of the study on public signs translation in Yuxi city.
http://www.paper51.com paper51.com 1.2 The Significance of the Study
copyright paper51.com Withthe rapid development of our society and close connection with the outsideworld, Yuxi becomes a charming city for foreigners of all walks of life inincreasing number. People have considered many measures to make foreigners toknow better about Yuxi and have a happy experience in Yuxi. One of the measuresis to make bilingual public signs to the main public places, and this hasbecome a tendency, thus it provides “window” to foreigners who can know thecity and our country well. 内容来自www.paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.comPublicsigns play an important role in our daily life and bilingual signs bring muchconvenience and help foreigners who come to Yuxi. On the other hand, thesebilingual public signs make yuxi more internationalized, draw more investmentsand help Yuxi build up its images as a highly civilized city in Yunnan Province.However, some of the public signs are so confused that readers can notunderstand them, but also make contrary effects. paper51.com paper51.com 1.3 The Scope of the Study
内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com Herewe should first clarify the scope of signs in this thesis. They cover a varietyranging from public signs for maintaining public order, shops or station andtraffic signs, the tourist directing appearing at scenic spots, but in thisessay, signs do not include those written materials that are printed in books,nor do they include gesture language for the mute.
paper51.com http://www.paper51.com 1.4 The Research Question内容来自www.paper51.com Atpresent, all kinds of problem existed in signs translation, these problems haveplayed a negative effect, and therefore my research questions are: what kindsof problems existed in nowadays’ signs translation in Yuxi? What the solutions?And to analyze this problem, which theories should I adapt?
paper51.com copyright paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com 2. Literature Review 2.1 Related Theorycopyright paper51.com 2.1.1 Reiss’s Text Typology内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com Asearly as 1971 Katharina Reiss was already an experienced translator herself.She knew there are situations in real life where equivalence is not possible,and in some cases, not even desired. She introduced her ideas into translationstudies, although still firmly within equivalence—based theory. Her book copyright paper51.com Inher book, Reiss tried to analyze the characteristics of different types oftext. Therefore, in order to build her translation typology, she thought that atext typology which is closely related to translation practice and covered allthe text types is essential to objective translation criticism. The type oftext is the first factor which determines the proper method adopted bytranslator, which is the score of Reiss’s translation typology. copyright paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.comInReiss’s text typology, she divided the types of text into three kinds:informative text, expressive text and operative text (Nord, 2001, 37) copyright paper51.com paper51.com Informativetext includes: “press release and comments, news reports commercial,correspondence, direction for use, educational works, the sciences, and othertechnical field” (Reiss, 2004, 27) paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.comExpressivetext is that the author determines the form of the text, the main structurelies in the meaning syntax level and artistic—form level(Zhu, 2004,7) This typeof text includes “literary prose, imaginative prose, and poetry in all itsforms”(Reiss, 2004,35)
内容来自www.paper51.com paper51.comOperativetext: The function is to stimulate the recovers to perform some action. Thistype of text has a definite purpose, rather than only transmit some informationthrough some form (Zhu, 2004, 7) http://www.paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.com Amongthose three texts, public signs belong to the combination of informative textand operative text, because the object of public signs is public reaction andaction. They provide information, instruction and action to public. Sometimespublic signs warn and restrict public. Or they can prompt you into action. paper51.com http://www.paper51.com Ina word, Reiss’s text typology has shown as a practiced way of source—textanalysis. It is the type of text that helps the translator makes a decision.The type of text is the primary factor influencing the translator’s choice of aproper translation method.
paper51.com http://www.paper51.com 2.1.2 Functionalist Theory
http://www.paper51.com AfterKatharian Reiss began her analysis of translation in Germany, another translator namedHans Vermeer did further try to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Hecalls his theory Skopos which regarded as a technical term for the aim orpurpose of a translation. Due to the crucial importance of the skopos intranslating, specification of the skopos of translation helps to determinewhether the source text needs to be translated, paraphrased or completelyre-edited, which expands the possibilities of translation, increases the rangeof possible translation strategies and releases the translator from the corsetof an enforced meaningless literalness (Vermeer, 2000)
paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.comIn the early 1990, Chrisriane Nord, who is the main advocator of thefunctionalist theory unlike the linguistic theorists, the functionalistscholiast scholars try to focus on the language---independent pragmatic orcultural aspects of translation, emphasizing the specific nature of translationcompetence as against language proficiency. Functionalism means focusing onfunctions of texts and translation (Nord, 2001:1)
http://www.paper51.com paper51.com Germany of functionalismtranslation tried to liberate translations form the slavery of originallanguage. They explain translation from the perspective of the target language.They think that the purpose of translation is a communicative activity, becauseof different cultural backgrounds, ways of thinking and the expression ofdifference in habits. There are still some difference between the originalauthor of the text and the use of target language readers. Therefore, duringtranslation, translator should translate text from the point of view of targetlanguage readers, and according to the expected purpose of translation. Theymake a wise choice on the usage of text, strategy, and manifestation oftranslation. So, functionalism can give support to the style of public signswith strong theory. paper51.com copyright paper51.com 2.2 Related Research内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com Having searched articles published since 1980’s in such core journals as Chinese TranslatorsJournal, Foreign Languages, and Shanghai Journal of Translation along with somearticles on the internet, I will next present a general review of the relatedstudies made on public signs translation. 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com paper51.com Wan Zhengfang (ET al.2004) investigates the translation of public namessuch as those of shops and government units, drawing on a collection of theChinese and English names of shops and government units in some famous streetsin Shanghai.They identified certain typical errors in translation and suggest somesolutions. Also, they called for more serious attention to the matter, as itwould reflect on the international image of a city or a city or a country. 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com http://www.paper51.com Dai Zongxian (2005), togetherwith lv Hefa, took a close look at the functional features of public signs inEnglish as well as their most prominent stylistic characteristics, and concludethat all things considered, back translation is the approach we ought to adoptin C-E translation of signs in public places 内容来自www.paper51.com copyright paper51.comBased on a one-yearsociolinguistic investigation in Shanghai,Xu jian (2006) classified names of public places in Chinese according to theircomponential structures, and then described and analyzed current strategies andnorms for translating these names from the perspective of their basecomponents. His research concluded with a discussion of how the translation ofsuch names could be standardized. copyright paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.com By using numerous examples he has collected by himself, Xia Kangming (2006)analyzed and discussed three common mistakes of Chinese-English translation ofpublic signboards and notices such as mistranslation, rigid translation. He hadnot only probed into causes of such mistakes but also come up with solution tothese problems.
内容来自www.paper51.com http://www.paper51.com Up to now, I have made a general review of the articles published in somecore journals of translation in china, which have some relevance to publicsigns translation. It is not difficult to find that there are many peoplediscuss the public signs in big cities, but few people have done the survey ofpublic signs in Yuxi city, therefore, I have done this paper.
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http://www.paper51.com 3. Research MethodologyPublic signs penetrate every corner ofour lives , unfortunately, with the limited time and energy, I have justcollected public signs in 13 main street road of Yuxi city and some of scenicspots such as Fuxian Lake, HuilongPark and Nine—dragon Park.All the public signs set in these places are typical for a detailedinvestigation of the current public signs status of Yuxi city. The studyprocessed from observation of naturally collected data in the survey to theirdescription and analysis is thus a qualitative study. 内容来自www.paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com 4. The General Information on Public Signs4.1 The Definition of Public Signs
copyright paper51.com Accordingto Prof Dinghengqi (2006), public signs refer to the language used in publicplaces to transfer information to the public. They include road signs, trafficsigns, public notices, indicators, cautions, signs in scenic places andservices of institution. 内容来自www.paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com 4.2 Types of Public Signs
内容来自www.paper51.com Signs can be used in all kinds of placeswith different purposes, according to their usages and places they appear, wecan divide them into the following types.
内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com 4.2.1 Traffic Signs and Road Signs
内容来自www.paper51.com Trafficand road signs are used to inform travelers and drivers about directionstraffic rules and road condition. For example, 禁止停车 （No parking）is telling the drivers that they can not park their cars or othervehicles at the places where the signs is located. 前方强制减速，谨慎驾驶 （Obliged to slow downahead, Drive carefully is telling drivers to drive carefully and slow down. Andfor the roads signs tell us what this street is named such as Nieer road, Longma road, and so on. Since a city is made of a lot of streets the stranger whofirst come to here may have difficulty in recognizing road then the road signsmay help a lot.
paper51.com paper51.com 4.2.2 Signs at Scenic Spots
paper51.com Nowadays,in order to meet the needs of the increasing number of foreign visitors, moreand more tourist attractions in china begin to use bilingual signs. So do Yuxi.Those signs are provided to help visitors further understand the history ororigin of the place or remind visitor to obey the rules. For examples: 游客须知 （Notice to visitors）
http://www.paper51.com copyright paper51.com 禁止跨越 （No striding ）
内容来自www.paper51.com paper51.com 售票处 （Ticket）
copyright paper51.com paper51.com五司庙 (The WusiTemples)
http://www.paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.com 4.2.3 Names and Services of Institutionsand Shops
内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com Thosesigns show their business and services of the institutions and shops. Generalspeaking, they include two types: one is the name of the institutions andshops. Such as: copyright paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.com某某市商业银行 YUXI CITYCOMMERCIAL BANK
http://www.paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com 云南省某某建筑设计院 Yuxi Architectural Design InstituteYun Nan
内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com copyright paper51.com 映月潭温泉 “MOON”LIKE HOTSPRING
内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com paper51.comThe other is the service of institutions and shops: http://www.paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com 留学、翻译、贸易等咨询服务 Study Abroad Services, Business andTranslation Services
内容来自www.paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.com 请你存包 Please Deposit Your Bags http://www.paper51.com http://www.paper51.com 4.2.4 Signs for Environmental Protectioncopyright paper51.com With the increasing of people’s consciousness ofenvironmental protection, more and more signs about environmental protectorappear. Here are some examples: 内容来自www.paper51.com copyright paper51.com 重视卫生，珍爱环境
内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com http://www.paper51.com Pay attention to the hygiene, treasure the environment
内容来自www.paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com 全国文明集镇，国家卫生镇
copyright paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com The National civilization Town,National Health Town
内容来自www.paper51.com http://www.paper51.com巩固创卫成果，建设美好家园 内容来自www.paper51.com copyright paper51.com Strength the cleaning positive result set up the finehome totally.
copyright paper51.com http://www.paper51.com 4.2.5 Public Signs http://www.paper51.com Whenyou go to the public places, you can see signs which inform, notify or forbidyou of or to do something. For examples: 小心地滑 （Caution, wet floor!） 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com 厕所 （Toilet） 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.com 禁止带宠物入内 （No pets）
内容来自www.paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.comPublicplaces can be libraries, hospital, cinemas, hotels, parks, exhibition halls,stores, public transports and so on. With the help of the signs in theseplaces, people are easily directed to do things they want or expected to do. paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com 4.3 The Function of Public Signs
内容来自www.paper51.com Public signs are used in our daily life and have greateffect on our daily life. It has brought us convenience and great help. In thispart, I will discuss the function of public signs. Though public signs includea wide range, they also share the basic functions in spite of their concretefunctions. According to Prof. LuHefa (吕和发，ig2004，1) Signs perform the following fourbasic functions: Directing, Prompting, Restricting, Compelling. 内容来自www.paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.com 4.3.1 Directing内容来自www.paper51.com The directing function of public signs is the indirectdirections or information for the people. It does not require the public totake actions. This is a very basic function of sign language. They are mostlycomposed by nouns with a static meaning. For example, NieEr Lu (聂耳路) on the crossroad, Ticket (售票处) in the entrance of the park, YUXICITY COMMERCIAL BANK (某某市商业银行) and ATM (自动取款机) denote what the institution is andtell you what is dealing with. To sum up, directing signs usually give readerinformation about what it is and what service is can provide.
http://www.paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.com 4.3.2 Promptingcopyright paper51.com Prompting signs have no particular meaning as thedirecting signs, but it arouses the public attention to their surrounding andactions. Take 小心地滑 （Caution! Wet slippery）for example, it tells usto take notice of their steps when they are passing. So the sign 注意安全 （Please pay attention tosafety） beside the bank of alake, remind people their safety, if not they may fall into the lake. There isstill other type of prompting such as, 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com copyright paper51.com 环境卫生，从我做起 Keep environmental sanitation, takeaction from me
内容来自www.paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.com 摒弃恶习，崇尚文明 Abandon the bad habit, advocate thecivilization http://www.paper51.com paper51.com 谈吐得体，从我做起 Take action from me to spit proper
http://www.paper51.com copyright paper51.com These aspects of prompting signs are used to encouragepeople to devote themselves to community by doing daily things.
copyright paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com 4.3.3 Restricting
http://www.paper51.com Every individual is expected to obey rules andregulation to keep a good social order. Restricting function is used to putrestriction and constraints on the public behaviors. Look at the followingsigns with restricting functions: copyright paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.com 未经允许，请勿入内 (AUTHORILED ONLY) tells peopleanyone who want to entre must with permission. 1.2m以下儿童免费 （Children under 1.2 mare free of charge）put constraint on people who want to entre some places
paper51.com copyright paper51.com Thelanguage used in restricting signs is direct and simple, but the readers do notfeel these signs are tough, impolite or rude.
http://www.paper51.com copyright paper51.com 4.3.4 Compellingcopyright paper51.com Compellingsigns require the reader to take or not take an action without compromise. Youmay see the signs say 禁止游泳 （No swimming）in the bank of a lake, ittells the public that you can not swim in it. 禁止宠物入内 （NO PETS）in park, tells people thatpets are not allowed to take into the park. This kind of public signs withcommands tell people to do or not to do something, so as to keep a good socialorder.
paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.com From the discussion above, we know the classificationof function in Chinese public signs is not every absolute and the boundaryamong them is not clearly. However, no matter what functions they perform, theyshare feature in common. And more details I would discuss in the followingparts.
copyright paper51.com copyright paper51.com 4.4 Language Features of Public Signs
copyright paper51.com Although there are some differences between Chineseand English, the language features of expressions on Chinese and English publicsigns are usually concise, conventional and convenient.(Bei & Shan, 2002,77-78)
内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.com 4.4.1 Concisehttp://www.paper51.com Publicsigns are used to give people convenience so they should be effective and be inleast words. Nouns, verbs, phrases, abbreviations and imperative sentences arewidely used in public signs. Take nouns as an example, nouns are usually usedon signs of information function and instruction function. For examples: 内容来自www.paper51.com http://www.paper51.com 会议中心 （Conference meeting）
copyright paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.com 中国邮政 (China post) copyright paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com龙潭 (The Dragon Spring) 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.com 4.4.2Conventions
copyright paper51.com As acertain signs have their own ways of expression. Genre conventions are theresult of the standardization of communication practices. (Nord, 2001:53) http://www.paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com In English some ways of expression on public signshave been fixed for a long time and can not be changed in order to avoidmisunderstanding. For examples: paper51.com paper51.com航班延误 （Delayed）
paper51.com http://www.paper51.com 双向行驶 （Two Way）
paper51.com paper51.com It is the same in Chinese such as : 小心碰头、 欢迎下次再来
http://www.paper51.com paper51.com 4.4.3Convenience
http://www.paper51.com Public signs are used to give people convenience inlife. So the words on public should be some commonly which can be easilyunderstood. And do not use the rarely used words, slangs and jargon
http://www.paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.com In theabove chapters some basic information of public signs has been presented.According to different functions, public signs fall into four categories:Directing, Prompting, Restricting and Compelling. As to the language featuresof public signs, they are usually concise, conventions, convenience. Intranslating public signs, we should keep the functions and features. If not,they would be some mistakes take places and make some bad effects. And afterthe survey of English translation of public signs of Yuxi, we can easily findthat there are some problems exist. copyright paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com
copyright paper51.com 5. Errors Existence and Solution5.1 Errors Existence内容来自www.paper51.com In order to make thissurvey more natural and reliable, the researcher collects 480 public signs. Theyare mainly from the public places of Yuxi city. Through the collection, I findout that some problems still exist, just as the following table:
内容来自www.paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.com http://www.paper51.com amount
copyright paper51.com copyright paper51.com percentage http://www.paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.comright paper51.com copyright paper51.com290 http://www.paper51.com paper51.com 62% 内容来自www.paper51.com copyright paper51.com wrong
http://www.paper51.com http://www.paper51.com184 copyright paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.com 38%
copyright paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com From this data, it is obvious that theamount and percentage of error takes op some parts of the collection. For theerrors, they can be divided into three groups: spelling error, error in wordchoice and others’, as the following table: copyright paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com内容来自www.paper51.com amount 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com http://www.paper51.com percentage copyright paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com Spelling error
http://www.paper51.com copyright paper51.com 56 内容来自www.paper51.com copyright paper51.com 30% 内容来自www.paper51.com http://www.paper51.com Error in word choice paper51.com copyright paper51.com104
copyright paper51.com paper51.com 57%
paper51.com http://www.paper51.com Other error 内容来自www.paper51.com paper51.com 24 copyright paper51.com copyright paper51.com 13% http://www.paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.com Theseare the main errors I find out from my collection, the error in word choicetakes up the highest percentage , and other error takes up the lowest percentage,the detail analyze are as following:
copyright paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com 5.1.1 Spelling Error
内容来自www.paper51.com When we are beginning to learn a language, eitherChinese or English, we are asked to spell the words correcting. Correct spellingis considered as the very basic requirement for accurate information in thewritten form or printed one. However, spelling errors takes up so highproportion. Here are some examples of spelling errors on public signs. 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com paper51.com 云南达亚有色金属有限公司 Yunnan Daya Non-ferrous MentalCO,LTD http://www.paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.comHere “mantal” should be “metal” copyright paper51.com copyright paper51.com 当心地滑 Cantion sliding not to Fall and for this “cantion” should be“caution”
copyright paper51.com http://www.paper51.com 男厕 MAL 女厕 FEMAL this one not only exists spelling errorbut also wrong word choice and according to the convenience one of the propertranslation for “男厕” and “女厕” can be “man” and “woman”. 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com copyright paper51.com Theincorrect spelling is considered as the symbol of poor knowledge and quality,however, spelling error is frequently found on public signs translation.
http://www.paper51.com paper51.com 5.1.2 Error in Word Choicecopyright paper51.com Manytranslation errors of public signs are due to the improper choice of words.These errors may happen when the translators can not figure out the exactmeaning of the original Chinese signs or the English words they choose. Hereare some examples: 内容来自www.paper51.com http://www.paper51.com某某汽车客运中心站 paper51.com paper51.com PASSEMGERS TRANSAPERTION CENTER of Yuxi copyright paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com The above translation is used the word to word method,so it is not so concise, the proper is Center Bus Station of Yuxi
http://www.paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.com 高快客运站 GAO KUAI BUS STATION
内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com Pinyin used here is not proper, foreigners mayconfuse, and do not fill the function the public signs, and suggest one isExpressway Station.
http://www.paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com 保护环境从我做起 Protect Circumstance begin with me
http://www.paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.com After reading the Chinese version, we know that itrefers to the natural conditions, while circumstance refers to the conditionsor facts connected with an event. And obviously circumstance used here is notproper, “environment” may be better.
内容来自www.paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com飞宇网吧 FEIYU NET BAR This is cultural translation, according to thedictionary bar originally means aplace where people drinks alcoholic or a long high table in such a place whilepeople sit when drinking, obviously 网吧 does not mean this , and internetcafé is the better choice. 内容来自www.paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.com 5.1.3 Other Errors内容来自www.paper51.com Inthis survey, there are 13 percent of other errors among all the errors, othererrors such as: overuse capital, word redundancy and nonstandard naming stillexist. http://www.paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.comTake word redundancy as an example. In Chinese andEnglish translation of public signs, some translators often tend to redundancy.Because the term in the Chinese version can be conclude in the translation ofanother term. This is especially true in translation of public signs. Forexamples: 公共厕所 （Public toilet）the “public” here isredundancy. Toilet is enough. So do the version 收银台 （Cashier desk） “desk” can be avoid, Cashier is enough. paper51.com copyright paper51.com 5.2 Solutionhttp://www.paper51.com 5.2.1 Solution of Spelling error内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com From this survey, we can easily find out that somemisspellings. And those usually caused by translators, printers and superiorinstitution because of their carelessness and neglect of duty. This kind ofproblem can be solved by the following measure. 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.comFirstly, the authorities may establish some standards forthem to following, and spot-check the public signs at any moment; what is more,the authority can set the complaint box on the internet. http://www.paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.comSecondly, for the translators themselves they should keeppace with the times, strengthen their own construction unceasingly, and improvetheir own quality. And the most important is that translators should bearresponsibility for their job. paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.com Finally, the errors of careless caused by printer should notneglect. Most of the printers do not know English well or not at all. They donot know where should be capital, and where should split. Therefore, theysometimes divide it at will and make some ridiculous errors.
内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.comIn short, only all of them attend to Chinese and English signtranslation all together, can the public signs translation improved. 内容来自www.paper51.com paper51.com 5.2.2Solution of Word choiceerror内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com As weknow, not all the Chinese public signs have the equal translation in English,and it call for translators to have a deep understanding of the languagecharacteristics of public signs, and in accordance with the functionalrequirement of public signs to determine their language style, then translatorcan feel safe to choose appropriate words. copyright paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com Generally speaking, public signs translation used tohave the following terms. The first term is mainly nouns. And those nounsusually indicate service, instruction and description. For example: 内容来自www.paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.com 商务中心 (Business Centre) http://www.paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com 注册登记 (Registration) http://www.paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.comThe second term is used verb or gerund to staterestriction, compelling. For example: copyright paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com 保持安静 (Keep Silence) paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com 严禁停车 (No Parking) http://www.paper51.com http://www.paper51.com The third is that a great number of phrases may usedin the indicative public signs. For example:
内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com copyright paper51.com 现在营业 (Open Now) copyright paper51.com http://www.paper51.com免费停车场 (Free parking)
paper51.com copyright paper51.comThe fourth one is that word choice in the public signsshould be preferred terms, and try not to use the uncommon words. copyright paper51.com http://www.paper51.com 5.2.3 Solution of Other Errors
内容来自www.paper51.com First,translation should grasp the use of the language features of public signs anduse the international practices on such terms. The prominent feature in publicsigns translation is the equivalence. It refers to the usage of expression inthe same function should be same and similarity. Generally speaking, indirecting, prompting public signs translation, international public signsshould directly used. For example, in supermarket, sales of goods at a discountto their langue habit, 打七折 (70% discount) should be 30% off. http://www.paper51.com http://www.paper51.comAssuredly, not all thepublic signs can directly use the internationally accepted equivalence words. Someof them in Chinahave Chinese characters. Therefore, we should avord mechanically usage. 内容来自www.paper51.com http://www.paper51.comSecondly, differentlanguage reflects different culture, so do the public sings, thus theconsidering of different culture is very important. During the translation, weshould put the readers’ language culture background at the first place. Try tograsp the culture differences between English and Chinese. If the translatorsdo not have a thorough understanding of the culture behind the textinformation, they will not be able to complete a very good translation of thetwo languages.
内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com copyright paper51.comFinally, grasp thepractical principle and distinguish if there is a need for translation. Becausesome of the restriction only limited to the domestic person
copyright paper51.com http://www.paper51.com
内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com paper51.com 6. ConclusionIn thissurvey, I have discussed the definition, type, function, language feature,error exists their solution of public signs. For the last chapter I analysisthe errors exist and adapt two theory to solve the problem.
copyright paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.comThis essay is supported by substantial samples and therelated theories are introduced to provide me with a wide conduct in thisfield. After the survey, I have achieved the aim that I learned much about theinformation about public signs translation. Although I have tried to make anoverall study on the public signs translation, with the limited time andenergies, what I have done here are far from satisfied. There is still muchroom for me to improve. 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.com References 内容来自www.paper51.com 内容来自www.paper51.com
内容来自www.paper51.com Bei Zhu & Shan Aimen 2002 On language Styles of English Public Signsand C-E Translation of Public Signs. Journalof Beijing International Studies University. NO.5PP76-79
内容来自www.paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com Nord, C. 2001. Translation as aPurposeful Activity: Functionalist Approaches Explained. [M]. Shanghai Foreign Language Education press
paper51.com http://www.paper51.com Reiss, Katharires, 2004, TranslatingCriticism：The Potential andLimitations, ShanghaiForeign Language Education Press
paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com Vermeer, H.J.2000. Skopos and Commissionin Translational Action［C］. Trans. By Chesterman A,in Venui 2000, P212-213. copyright paper51.com copyright paper51.com戴宗显，吕和发. 2005. (6)， “公示语汉英翻译研究：以2010年奥运会主办超时伦敦为例” [J]. 《中国翻译》. 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com paper51.com 丁衡祁，2006/6， 努力完善城市公市语，逐步确定参照性译文.［J］.《中国翻译》。 copyright paper51.com http://www.paper51.com刘季春，1997，广告标语，口号的套译. ［J］. 《中国科技的翻译》。 http://www.paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com刘凤玲，1999，标语、口号语言的诌议［J］. 《修辞的学习》（1）。
内容来自www.paper51.com paper51.com 陆祖本，1996，汉英标识语的翻译，《汉英实践技巧》，［C］. 旅游教育出版社。
paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com吕和发，2004／1， “公示语的汉英翻译”《中国科技翻译》。
paper51.com http://www.paper51.com 万正方，2004/2 ，“必须重视城市街道商店和单位各名称的翻译” ［J］.《中国翻译》。
copyright paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com 王银泉，陈新仁，2005/2， “城市标示语用语英译失误及其实例剖析”［J］.《中国翻译》。
copyright paper51.com http://www.paper51.com 吴伟雄，1998，“中文标语英译浅谈”［J］.《中国翻译》。 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com paper51.com夏康明，2005，（8），“公共标牌和标识英译的指瑕”［J］ 《乐山师院学报》。
copyright paper51.com 内容来自论文无忧网 www.paper51.com 徐剑，2006，公共场所中文名称的结构和译名的规范［J］. 《中国翻译》。 copyright paper51.com copyright paper51.com朱志瑜，2004/5，翻译策略：功能主义的翻译类型学［J］.《中国翻译》。
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