公示语的汉译英错误分析及其翻译策略(英文)

Abstract: Bilingual signs play the significant role in giving instructions, directions and warnings. Nevertheless, study on their C-E translation is still too sparse. The present research deals with two questions: what errors occurred in the translation of signs, and how adaptation theory can be applied to translate signs appropriately. A great number of samples are collected to investigate these bilingual signs, from which the author finds that there are abundant incorrect translations. In order to change this situation, this paper makes a systematical analysis from the perspective of adaptation theory, which suggests two feasible methods that account for the improvement of signs translation: adaptation to the linguistic convention and adaptation to extra-linguistic convention. The former is composed of adaptation at word, phrase and sentence level. The latter is categorized into adaptation to the social-cultural convention and psychological desires. It's expected that the dissertation can provide a framework of reference for future study and will derive some practical value in purifying the bilingual language environment in China.

    Key words: Signs; Translation errors; Adaptation theory

摘  要: 城市公共场所的双语标识牌随处可见，其在指示、引导、警示方面起到重要的作用.尽管如此,对公示语的研究还是有很大的空间的。本文主要研究两个问题：一是公示语的英译翻译中存在的错误；二是应用顺应理论来恰当的翻译公示语。通过对大量的样例的分析，发现公示语英译翻译中存在大量的错误。为了改善这种翻译现状，本文从顺应论出发对其进行研究。顺应论为提高公示语的翻译水平提供了两条有效途径：语言顺应和非语言顺应，前者在词汇、短语、句子层面上进行研究；后者从社会文化习俗和心理欲求方面着手。希望本文可以从公示语英译翻译的进一步研究提供参考，同时对净化中国的英语语言环境有一定的现实意义。

关键词：公示语; 翻译错误; 顺应理论

Introduction
With China’s rapid economic globalization, English is becoming more and more indispensable in our daily life. Almost everything has been translated into English to facilitate the international communication. Nowadays, the bilingual expressions of signs have been widely exposed in our daily life, such as guidepost, billboard, road sign, shop names, reminding signs, propaganda and tourism brief. They are the word and picture information in public, which are closely related to living, production, life, and ecology, with the effect of noticing, directing, reminding, warning and signifying. They are meant to convey the necessary and useful information to the public with simple words and explicit illustration. However, be responsible for the difficulty in comprehending the translation. The first one is the negligent attitude of many professional or non-professional people. They hoped that the C-E translation of signs is very easy since most are short and simple. Consequently, there are a lot of careless errors. The second one is the challenges posed by the practical translation. Even people are well equipped with the translation theories; they still have difficulty in producing a good version. As a matter of fact, there are a lot behind the literal meaning that must be transferred from one culture to another. This difficulty gives rise to the inappropriate translation in practice.
Signs are a significant and direct symbol of China’s international image. As we all know, Beijing Olympics, Shanghai Expo and Guangzhou Asian Games are approaching. It’s hoped that in 2008 or 2010 the athletes or tourists from all over the world can be impresses by the convenience as a result of the bilingual signs. Given this situation, great importance should be attached to this issue.
On January 18, 2005, the research centre for public sign translation was established in Beijing International Studies University. The centre also succeeds in running the website: Chinese-English expressions on signs-service and research on line, which functions as an effective channel to handle the translation inaccuracy in public places. In September, 2005, the 1¬st Symposium on C&E Signs in a Global Context was held in Beijing, in order to promote the development of language and culture image in a city. It focuses on the discussion about the theory, practice and standardization of signs translation. In July, 2007, the 2nd symposium will be organized in Shanghai. Furthermore, since September, 2005, Translators Association of China has launched a public campaign called Standardization of Bilingual Signs in China. Guided by the professional organizations and supported by the local governments, the campaign aims to correct the common errors in the use of English so as to create a more Standard English environment. The researches have been conducted in such cities as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Qingdao, and Gulin. The professional will put forward the preliminary translation references.
Many researchers have made contributions to this area and have achieves much progress. For example: 
  1) Zhao Xiaopei(赵小沛, 2003)focuses on pragmatic failures caused by mother tongue interference.转贴于 酷文网-论文下载中心 http://www.coolwen.net