A Report On The Chinese Translation Of Elements Of International Law(Chapter Three Of Part Four)

Elements of International Law written by Henry Wheaton,a famous American jurist,is the first English legal work on the principles of international law.It has been popular in western countries since its publication in 1836.The source text of this report is from the excerpts in the third chapter of the fourth part of the book,with about 12,000 words.In terms of vocabulary,there are lots of legal terms and Latin words in legal texts,and they should be accurate and precise when translated.In terms of sentences,legal texts are full of long and difficult sentences,passive sentences,attributive clauses and conditional adverbial clauses,and they should be concise and clear when translated.In terms of discourses,in order to convey accurate information of the source text,the author added some coherence and cohesion to ensure consistency of the translated text.Therefore,this translation practice is based on the three principles of legal translation put forward by Professor Zhang Falian of China University of Political Science and Law and Tongji University,namely,accuracy and precision,consistency,and clarity and conciseness.This report analyzes the language structure characteristics of the source text from three aspects,namely vocabulary,sentences and discourses,and summarizes personal translation experience,gains and shortcomings,as well as the prospect of legal translation work,so as to make a modest contribution to China’s legal translation practice.