A Target-oriented Study Of Example Translation In English-Chinese Dictionaries

Through applying the target-oriented translation theory of Nida to example translation study, and in the light of descriptive translation approach, this thesis focuses on example translations in English-Chinese dictionaries as "facts of a target culture" and examines example translation in the target socio-cultural and linguistic systems, so that to gain insights into example translation.Citing proofs from two E-C dictionaries in China, one that the author was involved in, that is, ECDIL, and the other by Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press in 2002, i.e. AECD, the thesis explores the nominative constraints related to example translation in bilingual dictionaries in the target socio-cultural system including dictionary users/readers, example translators and the role and functions of dictionaries, and in the target linguistic system which relates to the roles and functions of example and example translations per se, so that to clarify certain findings concerning example translation, including the aims, procedures and standards.Upon the systematic study of example translation, the thesis argues that example translation in bilingual dictionaries is meaning-based and the act of translating is also constrained by prevailing socio-cultural forces in the overall environment as well as by certain linguistic factors pertaining to examples per se.