The Chinese-English Translation Of Public Signs From The Perspective Of Adaptation Theory

With the quickening pace of China's integration into the global economy and its preparation for the 2008 Olympics, English has permeated every part of the society. So do bilingual public signs. They play the significant role in giving instructions, directions and warnings. Nevertheless, study on their C-E translation is still too sparse.The present research attempts to deal with two questions: what kinds of errors occur in the translation of public signs; how adaptation theory can be applied to produce their appropriate English versions. A great number of samples are collected from pubic places in Guangzhou, such as scenic spots, airports, stations, shops and organizations. Additional data not only come from other cities in China, but also from internet and magazine articles (second-hand source). Having investigated these bilingual public signs, the author finds that there are abundant incorrect translations. In order to change this situation, the data analysis is made from the perspective of adaptation theory. As a translational strategy, adaptability suggests two feasible methods that account for the improvement of public signs translation: adaptation to the linguistic convention and adaptation to extra-linguistic convention. The former is composed of adaptation at word, phrase and sentence level. The latter is categorized into adaptation to the social-cultural convention and psychological desires.This research is a tentative study of public signs translation from the perspective of adaptability. It's expected that the thesis can provide a framework of reference for future study and will derive some practical value in purifying the bilingual language environment in China.