Translation Of Chinese Public Signs Into English: From The Perspectives Of Functionalism And Intercultural Communication

With further and faster implementation of China's policy of opening up to the outside world, especially since China's entry into the WTO, more and more international visitors and tourists have shown their interest in coming to China for business, tourism, or education. It is high time that we provided correct and idiomatic English versions of signs in public settings, which serve to offer much information and convenience for millions of foreigners from other countries. Accurate and idiomatic English public signs (PSs) will not only embody our thoughtfulness for foreign visitors and tourists, but also represent our efforts to integrate with the whole world. Moreover, they will help create a certain image of China for international businesspeople, tourists, and students. Therefore, translation of Chinese PSs into English is of great significance.At present, the quality of translation of PSs from Chinese into English is far from satisfactory and is therefore in dire need of improvement. A great number of translation problems and errors can be found in translated PSs. How to correct those mistranslations and standardize the practice of PS translation have become two urgent tasks for all the translators who are engaged in the endeavor to promote China's image in the ever-increasing intercultural communication with people from all over the world.This thesis is concerned with the issue of Chinese-English (C-E) translation of PSs from the perspectives of functionalism and intercultural communication (IC). According to functionalism, PS translators should bear in mind what the Skopos is and who target readers are. In the light of IC, PS translators should be aware of differences between Chinese and English cultures as well as differences between the characteristics of Chinese and English languages. Based on the theories developed in the fields of functionalism and IC, this thesis argues that ensuring target readers' accurate and barrier-free comprehension of the source text (ST) should be the guiding principle in C-E translation of PSs. The present thesis is an attempt to apply functionalism and IC to the practice of translating Chinese PSs into English.This thesis consists of six chapters. Chapter 1 includes discussions of the background of PS translation in China, the significance of C-E translation of PSs, and the study of PS translation from the perspectives of public opinions and academic researches. Chapter 2 presents a thorough analysis of PSs. In this chapter, the definition of PSs and functional and stylistic features of PSs are discussed in detail as a theoretical preparation for detailed analyses of PS translation in chapters 4 and 5.Chapter 3 starts with a literature review of functionalism and IC and analyzes the application of functionalism and IC to C-E translation of PSs. The rest of this chapter is concerned with the classification of PS translation. Two kinds of PS translation are identified. One is the translation of universal PSs, and the other is the translation of PSs with Chinese characteristics.In Chapter 4, this author presents a number of detailed analyses of translation of ten categories of universal PSs. The ten categories include directional signs, signs beginning with "No", warning signs, prompting signs, signs for behavior, signs for procedures, signs for regulations, signs for daily schedules, signs for prices and fees, and signs for shop names. Each category is discussed with reference to mistranslated examples as well as model versions in order to illustrate how to deal with common problems with translation of universal PSs.In Chapter 5, discussions are focused mainly on translation of PSs for names of Chinese dishes and PSs giving introductions to scenic spots. The present author takes these two categories of PSs with Chinese characteristics as major examples to illustrate how to deal with culture-loaded PSs under the theoretical guidance of functionalism and IC. Each discussion is provided with mistranslated examples first and then with model versions. This author also puts forward several practical translation strategies for the translation of these categories of PSs with Chinese characteristics.Chapter 6 is a conclusion of this thesis, which summarizes the major findings of this study and then discusses the limitations of this research before making a few suggestions for further studies in this area.