A Contrastive Study Of Techniques Used In The English Translation Of A Legal Document

By conducting a comparative study of two English versions of a Chinese legal document ?~~L ~ this thesis gains some insights into the translation of legal documents and puts forward some practicable techniques in translating a Chinese legal document into English.Part One conducts an investigation of the translation studies. In this part, the current theoretical controversy is elaborated; and traditional Chinese translation theories are contrasted with current western translation theories. In accordance with the new approach to translation studies offered by Wang Daiwei, which I am in favor of, I would concentrate on the exploration of micro-translation techniques in and try to use them to guide the translation of legal documents. The practical techniques explored here are concerned mainly with the features of the English translation of a legal document.Part Two focuses on the differences between Chinese and English on the level of vocabulary and the gapping of these differences in order to produce a faithful and idiomatic translated version. In this part, how to adequately particularize the meaning of the original is first elaborated; then, attention is directed to the translation of Chinese legal terms which are significant components in a legal document. After that, I explore how to put forward an English legal document which is faithful to the original in terms of brevity and formality.In Part Three, I undertake research into the translation of a legal document from the grammatical perspective. A frequently used technique, i. e. conversion of part of speech in translation, is discussed at the very beginning. Afterwards, I probe how to clarify modification relationship in an English version of a Chinese legal document. Considering the fact that we Chinese prefer to use no-subject sentences and topic sentences which are less frequently used in English, I also pore over the translation of sentences with Chinese characteristics. Finally, other critical grammatical issues in translation such as the proper use of tenses, the passive voice and modal auxiliaries are analyzed in great detail.Part Four is devoted to appropriate information arrangement in translating a Chinese legal document into English. In this part, close attention is directed to the conjunction and cohesion within an English translated version. Meanwhile, some applicable approaches are put forward in order to achieve satisfactory balancing and focussing effects.Part Five reiterates factors that should receive due attention when one attempts to render a Chinese legal document into English. Translation of legal documents is by no means an easy task. It requires flexible application of various translation techniques; on top of that. it requires English proficiency and consistent scrutiny on the part of a translator. Without these two prerequisites, a translator is likely to make mistakes in translating legal documents, as illustrated by the examples in this part.