On The Problems And Strategies In C-E Translation Of Public Signs In Scenic Resorts-From The Perspective Of Skopostheorie

More and more foreigners come to China on business or for a tour,which makes the translation of public signs important and necessary.However,it is not an easy job for a translator to translate the signs correctly.Nowadays,public sign translation is in a"dirty, messy and bad"environment,erroneous translations can be seen everywhere.(Luo Xuanmin,2006)Therefore,the study of public signs and their translation becomes an urgent and significant task.With alternate names of placard boards or logos,signs consist of an important unit of communication and play a key role in our daily life,so considerable attention has been paid to the translation of signs.This thesis aims at drawing more attention to the translation of signs,therefore facilitating Sino-foreign communications.According to Skopostheorie,the prospective function or Skopos of the target text determines the translation process.(Vermeer,1978)Furthermore,"it is the reception that defines the function of the text,so it is safe to say that the reception of the target text defines the Skopos of the translation".(Nord,2001:17)Every action has an aim,a purpose,or Skopos,which is also the guiding principle of functionalist translation and determines the translation strategies.And one of the most important factors that determine a translation purpose is the addressee—the intended receiver or audience in the target language culture,with expectations and communicative needs.Therefore,in the translation of signs we must first make clear their functions and intended addressees.Focused on the public sign in scenic resorts,this thesis is composed of six parts: Firstly,short presentation is briefly given for the present study status,reasons and significance.Secondly,the theoretic basis,the overview of the Skopostheorie and its contribution to the translation theory as well as its three translation rules are introduced, i.e.skopos rule,coherence rule and fidelity rule.Thirdly,following the definition of signs, the characteristics of English signs are analyzed.Fourthly,errors in the translation of signs are set forth from the viewpoint of three rules of skopostheorie as well as linguistic and pragmatic aspects.Fifthly,some C-E translation strategies are proposed.In Chapter Six, brief summary of the thesis is made again;the discovery and implication as well as limitation are also revealed from the writing process.Finally it is suggested to make a further study of public signs with a wide scope of examples and make study in other fields.