A Study On The C-E Translation Of Public Signs

In modern world, as the communication between China and other countries becomes closer and closer,more and more foreigners come to China on the purpose of studying, doing business, travelling, and so on.As a kind of media in the cross-cultural communication, public signs hold great significance in all walks oflife, and they have been the window for China to propaganda itself. Even though most of the C-Etranslation of public signs can well express their connotations, however, the improper and nonstandard oneshave been a pressing problem, because they have given rise to troubles and inconvenience to the foreignersstaying in China and have defaced China’s international image.According to skopos theory proposed by Vermeer, it’s the translation aims that decide the certaintranslation strategies. Besides with the characteristics including conciseness, convention, consistence,conspicuousness, and convenience, public signs also bear the directing, prompting, restricting, andcompelling functions. Thus, within the framework of skopos rule, coherence rule, and fidelity rule ofskopos theory, different translation strategies are required in the C-E translation of public signs.Applying the comparative and error analysis method, the thesis starts with skopos theory and does thequalitative study. In the following, some typical instances about the C-E translation of public signs arelisted. Meanwhile, the improper and nonstandard ones of them are discussed by classified generalizationand comparative analysis in the thesis. Because these samples are from the website: www.e-signs.info, theresearch papers on public signs, and the author’s on-the-spot observations, they are authentic andrepresentative. The samples chosen include the ones of road signs, tourist attractions, commercial services,stadia and gymnasia, and health and medicines.Through the comparative analysis study, the following conclusions are drawn. Firstly, the mainlynon-standard and improper respects about the C-E translation of public signs are spelling and punctuationmistake, misused words, inappropriate collocation, improper structure, and Chinglish. Secondly, thereasons leading to those shortcomings can be outlined as two aspects: language and culture. The formerconsists of spelling and punctuation mistake, misused words, inappropriate collocation, and improperstructure, while the latter covers Chinglish. Thus, not only the microscopic translation strategies:amplification, adaptation, omission, and explanation, but also the macroscopic strategies can be adopted tocope with those problems.There are six chapters in the thesis. The background, aims, and significance of the research, and thethesis structure are respectively talked about in chapter one, while the orientation of chapter two is altered to the literature review of the C-E translation of public signs in China. Skopos theory is discussed in detailin chapter three. Chapter four is about the research design of the thesis. When it comes to chapter five, it’sthe key point of the whole thesis. After the thorough illustration and discussion about the functions or aimsof public signs, the errors currently existing in the C-E translation of them are listed and analyzed. Then,within the theoretical framework of skopos theory, the related translation strategies are put forward fromthe macroscopic and microscopic aspects. Certainly, the last chapter is about the major findings and thelimitations of the whole research.