A Tentative Approach To E-C Translation Of Railway Terminology From The Perspective Of Language Contact

The world has entered the era of high-tech. As the main means of transportation, railway shoulders the important historical mission of promoting the rapid and sustainable development of the national economy. The application of high-speed multiple units technology has injected new vigor and vitality into the development of railway transportation. In the process of railway investment and construction, extensive and in-depth international exchanges and cooperation is one of the important tasks. Therefore, the translation of railway terminologies has a special significance in railway construction.Railway workers need to constantly learn and employ the advanced technology all over the world. Railway terminology is always "a lion in the way" or "a stumbling block". If the translators can’t use appropriate method to deal with the problems in English-Chinese terminology translation, it will certainly influence the readers to understand such terminology and not conducive to the cooperation and exchanges of railway technology between China and the world. It will also hinder the development of railway in China.The communication and contact between different languages lies on the translation. This thesis takes the language contact theory as the framework. English and Chinese belong to different language families. On the one hand, English-Chinese translation of the railway terminology takes the Chinese society and culture as the leading factor, which matches the Chinese language expression habit; On the other hand, railway terminology has its own characteristics. It needs the translator considering the social and cultural background of the source language. Then the problems of lexical borrowing are revealed in the target language.This thesis takes the professional railway terminology dictionary as the analytical text. It makes a summary of the characteristics of railway terminology from the perspective of lexicology and semantics. Through the review of railway terminology translation, the application of language contact theory in the translation of science and technology and analysis the characteristics of large amounts of terminology, it arrives at some principles and methods of railway translation. Such principles and methods make the railway terminology translation more scientific and standardized. And it is hoped that these distinctive translation methods and strategies can apply to other types of science and technology terminology translation, and, in turn, it can prove the practicability of language contact theory. This thesis takes the language contact theory as an instruction, and analyses the problems existing in the translation of English-Chinese railway terminology. It provides a new research angle to railway terminology translation. This thesis consists of the following parts:Chapter One introduces the definition and characteristics of railway terminology in this thesis. Generally speaking, railway terminology is a form of sci-tech terminology which is the advanced scientific knowledge for the scientists, engineers, scholars or learners in this field to meet rapid development of railway science and technology and the increasingly frequency of international exchanges in this field. So the basic characteristics of railway terminology can be included as the following eight characteristics, that is, accuracy, monosemy, systematization, linguistically correct, conciseness, motivationess, stability and productivity. Railway terminology has its own characteristics, that is,(1) absorption of achievements from other fields;(2) railway terminology is a combination of both ancient and modern vocabulary;(3) computer science and automation technology are becoming more and more important;(4) frequent use of acronym and abbreviation. This chapter takes the article The quality acceptance standards of the railway bridge and culvert engineering construction TB10415-2003as an example, and does a statistical analysis on the errors of terminology translation. The author presents six problems existing in current railway terminology translation, that is,(1)poor acceptability of Chinese railway terminology;(2)mistranslation of the railway terminology into common nouns;(3)confusion of synonyms;(4)grammar mistakes;(5)spelling mistakes;(6) unreasonable omitting.Chapter Two introduces the concept, influencing factors, effects and outcomes of language contact theory. The contact between English and Chinese is different from other language contact. It does not happen in a pure bilingualism society which requires face-to-face communications. The most significant difference is that English-Chinese contact is not through face-to-face interaction. The author makes an analysis and summary on the difficulties and principles of the railway terminology translation. The difficulties are the following, that is,(1)confusion of common words;(2)inflexibility of English vocabulary;(2)necessity of structure and semantic analysis of compound terminologies;(4)differences between Chinese and English ways of expressions. And the principles are the following, that is,(1) correctly using the terminological aperture;(2)taking full advantage of rational thinking and imaginative thinking;(3)appropriately adding to conform to the rule of Chinese language;(4)handling common contradictions in railway terminology translation;(5)consulting with the dictionary and other people.Chapter Three presents some methods and strategies of railway terminology translation from the ADP (the process of adopting from source language to target language) approach and ASP (the process of assimilating inside target language) approach. With deepening of reform and opening up, economic prosperity and increasing importance of rail communications in China, the exchange with foreign countries in the field of rail science and technology has become increasingly frequent. Chinese language has been coming into contact with other languages in the process of contact. In the process of ADP (the process of adopting from source language to target language), it arrives at four strategies and methods of translating railway terminology, that is, free translation, transliteration, amplification, omission; in the process of ASP (the process of assimilating inside target language), it arrives at three strategies and methods of translating railway terminology, that is, zero translation, literal translation and mixed translation.Chapter Four translates some compound railway terminologies based on those methods and strategies above. Sci-tech phrase terminologies is growing rapidly and it has been considered to be a rule of the emergence and development of modern sci-tech terminology. When we translate the railway compound terminologies, we can’t only use the strategies and methods mentioned in chapter three but focus on the semantic analysis.In a word, railway technology has its own characteristics. As for the translation of railway terminology, the author believes that we should not only follow the general translation principles of technical terminology but also take the language contact theory as the framework to use free translation, transliteration, amplification, omission, zero translation, literal translation and mixed translation flexibility. When we come across some compound railway terminologies and can not find their corresponding translation in dictionaries, we should analyze their semantic meanings and refer to the general translation strategies of technical terminology to translate them properly.