Modal Expressions In US Military Energy Reports And Translation

The thesis discusses the characteristics and translating techniques of modal expressions in English-Chinese translation taking Energy Flight Plan 2017-2036 published in January 6th,2017 as an example in the light of Systemic Functional Linguistics.It is featured by US Air Force’s plans and measures for energy use and energy equipment improvement,and mainly introduces the aiming to enhancing energy efficiency and operation capability.This report is an informative text with accurate and concise expressions.From the perspective of vocabulary,it is featured with energy and military words and expressions,and some common words endowed with military meaning.Based on the analysis of source text,the present study classifies the modal expressions into five types:Modal Nouns,Modal Adverbs,Modal Predicate Verb,Modal Clauses and Modal Verbs.Then a systematic analysis of E-C translation techniques of these different modal expressions can be conducted based on the Systemic Functional Linguistics.The research procedure can be generally interpreted into three phases as Phase Ⅰ:Searching source text by Tree Tagger and Antconc;Phase Ⅱ:Classification of modal expression in original texts;Phase Ⅲ:Studying the translation of these kinds of modal expressions from modal orientation and modal value.The study has three findings.Firstly,among the various formats of modal expressions,modal verbs account for the largest in modal Lexical items.In translation text,more Chinese modal verbs and clauses with higher value are chose to explicate the original meaning.Secondly,there are distinct differences between English and Chinese expressions.Therefore,for modal clauses,translator should transfer "explicit" into "implicit" to strengthen modal meaning.For modal lexical items,choosing the Chinese modal verbs with higher value to translate original text meaning is helpful.In addition,fluent and loyal translation is based on understanding background,purpose and social context of this report.Translator must take these elements into consideration.The present study explores the characteristics and translation of modality in military reports from the perspective of the theory of Modality in Systemic Functional Linguistics,hence it can be applied in the translation of other modal expression in informative text.