A Report On The E-C Translation Of My Shot Balancing It All And Standing Tall(Excerpts) From The Perspective Of Translation Shifts Theory

The breakthrough of 3-on-3 Basketball in Tokyo Olympic Games has triggered an upsurge of interest in basketball as well as basketball icons.In this context,translating the autobiography of female basketball player of fame overseas helps to meet the growing demand of Chinese people’s attention to women’s basketball.Therefore,this translation practice report selects My Shot Balancing It All and Standing Tall,an autobiography written by WNBA basketball player Elena Delle Donne,as source text.In the English-Chinese translation,appropriate shifts at the language level are necessary in an attempt to convert the original meaning in English to idiomatic expressions in Chinese due to the huge differences in language structures between English and Chinese.Therefore,Catford’s translation shifts theory is used as the theoretical basis to analyze the shifts at language level in the translation of sports-related autobiography and to provide modifications for the problems encountered in the translation.In 1965,Catford,a wellknown British linguist and translation theorist,proposed the specific concept of “shifts”.He divided “shifts” into level shifts and category shifts.Through the case analysis,this translation project summarizes the main models of shifts in the E-C translation of sportsrelated autobiography: level shifts are illustrated in the shifts of grammars and lexis;structural shifts are characterized by the shifts of passive voices and active voices,shifts of negative expressions and affirmative statements;class shifts are exemplified in the shifts of nouns and verbs,shifts of adjectives and nouns;unit shifts are implied by the shifts of noun clauses and phrases or sentences;intra-system shifts are encountered in the shifts of system of length measurements and compounds.The purpose of this translation project is to give reference for the proper shifts applied to English-Chinese translation and to expand the range of application of translation shifts theory to sports-related autobiography.It is hoped that this translation project would bring some help and inspiration to future translators who also love basketball.