A Study On Business Contract E-C Translation From The Perspective Of Functional Equivalence Theory

In the international trade communication, business contracts are playing a moreand more important role, and business contract translation also undertakes an everincreasing role. However, un-standardized business contract translation will not onlycause economic disputes and damage the interests of both parties, but also disruptthe development of international market. To guarantee normal proceedings ofbusiness activities, studies should be conducted to offer guidance for the translationof business contracts.The thesis studies business contract translation from the perspective offunctional equivalence theory. According to Nida’s functional equivalence theory,equivalence should be achieved first in meaning, and then in form. One of theremarkable features of business contracts is rigorousness in form, so the translatorshould try to accomplish formal equivalence on the basis of meaning equivalence. Inthe study, the author cites a great number of examples and applies functionalequivalence into the study of business contract E-C translation from the lexical,syntactical and textual levels. Through an abundance of study, the author concludesthat business contracts can normally achieve formal and meaning equivalence. Ifmeaning equivalence conflicts with formal equivalence, the translator should givepriority to meaning equivalence, and meanwhile strive to achieve formalequivalence.The thesis first reviews the researches on business contracts and translationequivalence theory; secondly, it illustrates functional equivalence theory in detail,including the content, the standard and translation process guided by the theory; thirdly, it introduces business contracts, including the definition and classification,and then analyzes the language features of business contracts at lexical, syntactical,and textual level，which has paved a way for applying theory into practice; fourthly,it applies functional equivalence theory into the study of business contracttranslation from the level of word, sentence and passage, and also presents thecorresponding translation strategies; finally, it summarizes the whole paper and givessome suggestions for further study.The study offers a new angle for the study of business contract translation, andis expected to be of referential value for the theoretical study and practice ofbusiness contract translation.