| As a means of legal communication, the translation of legal texts takes great effectin the trend of globalization. Legal translation not only involves the simple codeswitch between Chinese and English, but also matters the process in which legalconcepts and effect are transferred, as legal language is more technical andprofessional in terms of distinctive characteristics at lexical, syntactical and textuallevels. The probe to features of legal language will be quite advantageous for thecomprehension of legal texts and the improvement of legal translation, by which thelegal effect of the original that always serve a specific function can be better delivered.Translation of laws or other spheres is in need of translation theories. As for legaltranslation that concerns the reproduction of legal effect and information, the theory offunctional equivalence is quite directive. Though Nida had introduced some maximsunder functional equivalence, there’s no mention of the operations in legal translation.Accordingly, this thesis puts forward conventional and flexible translation strategies toillustrate the adaptability of functional equivalence in legal translation. In case ofsimilarities between legal Chinese and English, conventional translation strategy shallbe applied to seek strict correspondence in choice of words, sentence building andstyle creation; In case of differences between legal Chinese and English, flexibletranslation strategy shall be applied to ensure that the way of expression and the styleaccord with the objective rules of target language.In light of the functional equivalence, this thesis enumerates the features of legallanguage and makes a systematic study on how to translate legal texts under thetheoretical guidance of functional equivalence through case study of Contract Law ofthe People’s Republic of China, with the prospect to illuminate the translation of legaltexts theoretically and practically and promote the legal communication successfully. |
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