A Study On The Translation Of Legal Terminology In An English-Chinese Bilingual Dictionary Of Law (ECBDL)

The thesis discusses the problems of legal terminology in bilingual law dictionaries, investigates the lexicographical difficulties, and examines issues relating to the translation of legal terms. It attempts to study the various types of translation equivalents and translation methods that have been used in translating legal terms, as shown in a statistical analysis of some sample entries in the English-Chinese Bilingual Dictionary of Law(2000), and discusses some of the factors that cause terminological confusion in bilingual law dictionaries. The English-Chinese Bilingual Dictionary of Law (2000) has been chosen as a case study, and 175 terms in the first three pages (pp. 211-14) on alphabet "D" in the dictionary have been selected to be the basis of our research, analyzing each term in terms of translation equivalents and categorizing them by means of translation methods. What comes out from this research is crystal clear: bilingual legal dictionaries are far from satisfactory—they are translationally inadequate and lexicographically improvable. The major difficulty is related to our understanding of the differences among different legal and cultural systems. It is therefore proposed that the lack of adequate explanations and legal contexts should be remedied by the provision of relevant information and usage guidance for dictionary users. It is hoped that the findings of this research can shed some light on the important issues relating to strategies in compiling English-Chinese bilingual law dictionaries, and a new generation of legal dictionaries will address the issues that have been found in this case study.