1. 2 Different lexical characteristics of tourism materials
Using four-word phrase to describe things is the lexical characteristics of tourism texts in Chinese. The phrases are more connotational and the author emphasizes the rhythm in the phrase and wants to create a grazioso atmosphere like poesy. But in English lexical characteristics is laconic and plain. Some translators do not know how to translate Chinese words in tourism texts into English wonderfully.
(1) The source text:
这里三千座奇峰拔地而起，形态各异，有的似玉柱神鞭，立地顶天；有的像铜墙铁壁；有的如晃板叠卵，摇摇欲坠；有的若盆景古董，玲珑剔透……神奇而又真实，迷离而又实在，不是艺术创造胜似艺术创造，令人叹为观止。
The target text:
3000 crags rise in various shapes. They are like whips or pillars propping up the sky; or huge walls, solid and sound; or immense eggs piled on an unsteady boarder; or miniature rocky or curio…Fantastic but actual, dreamy but real! They are not artistic work, but more exquisite than artistic works. One can not help marveling at the acme of perfection of Nature’s creation.
In the Chinese version of the example, there are total 10 four-character collocations, which depict a magnificent view and present it before our eyes. But in the English version, the complicated and flowery descriptions are reduced to make the text concise and thus more readable.
1. 3 Different linguistic and stylistic characteristics of tourism materials
The style of English tour texts is laconic and pellucid, contrarily Chinese texts of tourism culture are merited with vivid descriptions of the scenery of the place. It is by no means an easy job to translate these texts abundant in such challenging rhetorical devices. Now let’s take the two texts for example.
云台山以山称奇，以水叫绝，因林冠幽；以史诲人。这里四季分明，景色各异。春来冰雪消融，万物复苏，小溪流水，山花烂漫，是春游赏花，放松休闲的好去处；夏日郁郁葱葱的原始次森林，丰富独特的飞瀑流泉，造就了云台山奇特壮观，如诗如画的山水景观，更是令人向往的旅游避暑胜地；秋季来临，层林尽染，红叶似火，登高山之颠，观云台秋色，插茱萸，赏红叶，遥寄情怀；冬季到来，大自然又把云台山装扮得银装素裹，冰清玉洁，但见群山莽莽苍苍，雄浑奇劲，不到东北就可以领略到壮美苍茫的北国风光。
谷中急水奔流，穿峡而过，两岸树木葱茏，鲜花繁茂，碧草萋萋，活脱脱一副生机盎然的天然风景画。各种奇峰异岭，令人感受各异，遐想万千。
According to the two paragraphs, we can see the words and expressions are very gorgeous, in the beginning lot of parallelisms are used to strengthen a phonetic atmosphere. And many other rhetoric skills, such as parable and exaggeration etc; are used to beutify the text. All of these make the paragraph dramatic and full of poetry. The next article is about Grand Canyon.
The Grand Canyon is more than a great chasm carved over millennia through the rocks of the Colorado plateau. It is more than an awe-in-spring view. It is more than a pleasure ground for those who explore the roads, hike the trails, or float the currents of the turbulent Colorado River. This canyon is a gift that transcends what we experience. Its beauty and size humble us. Its timelessness provokes a comparision to our short experience. In its vast spaces we may find solace from our hectic lives. The Grand Canyon we vistit today in a gift from past generations. Take time to enjoy this gift. Sit and watch the changing play of light and shodows. Wander along a trail and feel the sunshine and wind on your face. Attend a ranger program. Follow the antics of ravens soaring above the rim. Listen for the roar of the rapids far below. Savor a sunrise or sunset [2].
According to it we can see the English stylistic characteristics. Its logic is very reasonable, it uses some sentences such as “it is more than” to arouse the reader’s curiosity. And the words are vivid, pellucid such as “Sit and watch …Wander along ...Attend a …Follow…Listen for…Savor…”
2 Translation problems in English versions of tourism materials
Nowadays in China, the translation quality of tourism materials is not so desirable. A glance at these seemingly beautiful English publications will surely shock you when you find so many errors in them. In my opinion, they are two reasons to explain the phenomenon. Firstly, English and Chinese people have different aesthetic feeling, secondly, the verbal sense and cultural imagery are different. Generally speaking; these errors can be grouped under linguistic errors, cultural errors and pragmatic errors.
2. 1 Linguistic errors
Here linguistic errors refer to lexical and grammatical errors, including spelling mistakes, inappropriate punctuation marks, misused words, and ill-constructed sentences, all of which are usually caused by the translator’s linguistic incompetence and are easy to spot.
(2) The source text:
湖南古属楚地，北枕长江，南接五岭，山河壮丽，历史悠久，文物古迹众多。[3]
The target text:
In ancient times, Hunan was a part of the state of Chu with the Yangze valley in its north, and the Five Ridge in its south. Hunan has najestic hills and rivers, a long history and many cultural and historic relics [3].转贴于 酷文网-论文下载中心 http://www.coolwen.net
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