A Report On The E-C Translation Of English Dependent Clauses In EBM Texts From The Perspective Of Skopos Theory

From September 2021 to February 2023,the author participated in the translation project of International Cochrane Evidence-Based Medicine System Review,during which she completed the English-Chinese translation task of 8,065 English words.The translated texts covered many a medical topic and all the translations have been published on the Cochrane China Network website.Evidence-Based Medicine System Review texts are highly academic and professional,full of nominal structure,frequent usage of passive voice,with a large number of long and complicated sentences,among which the translation of dependent(subordinate)clauses has posed the greatest challenge to the author.This thesis is a report based on this translation experience.By showcasing a rich array of translation samples,this report has summarized the techniques in translating different types of English dependent clauses.According to the Skopos Theory,translators must follow the skopos rule,coherence rule and fidelity rule.Starting from the skopos rule,the author has analyzed the grammatical and semantic components and functions of each subordinate clause as well as the communicative effect that they should achieve after translation,based on which such translation techniques as linear translation,shifting parts of speech,changing word order,preposition and postposition should be appropriately adopted to meet the requirements of the coherence rule and fidelity rule.Specifically,in translating appositive clauses,linear translation can be used or modified nouns can be shifted into verbs;adjusting word order can be used when noun clauses are inconsistent with the logic of Chinese.The translation of most attributive clauses can resort to such techniques as preposition and postposition;in particular,attributive clauses embedded in the “there be” structure should be integrated in translation,while some of them actually acting as adverbs should be translated into Chinese subordinate complex sentences.In translating adverbial clauses,the techniques of addition,omission and reconstruction are helpful.Hopefully,this report can provide certain technical reference to the translation of English subordinate clauses for relevant medical translators.