C-E Translation Strategy Of Public Signs From The Perspective Of Functional Translation Theory

Public signs are composed of pictures, colors, words, letters or the combination of the elements above to indicate the function, direction of certain public area or facilities, to provide prompting information and give guidance. Nowadays, with the further development of globalization and the rapid growth of China’s economy, China has a closer relationship with the rest of the world. More and more foreigners prefer to travel or study in China. As the important connection between China and other countries in communication, public signs translation reflects a city’s international image and even the image of the country. Correct public signs translation plays an important role in promoting China’s international image and communication with the world. Thus, more and more scholars and translators pay attention to the C-E translation of public signs. However, the current condition of it needs to be improved to increase the accuracy.Based on German functional translation theory, the author give a study on C-E translation of public signs by collecting a large number of pictures, signs marked in Chinese and English languages, then make a analysis on them in details. Aiming at promoting the accuracy and improving its total image, the thesis firstly introduces the background, the significance, and the purposes of the study, and presents the methodology and structure of it. The paper includes four parts. The first chapter states the importance of public signs C-E translation, and gives a general review of the most common ones, then analyzes the public signs, including the definition, language features, classification and functions’of public signs with the linguistic data collected in public places. Chapter two shows the theoretical framework of the paper from four translation theories in the development of functionalist translation theory, and introduces the application of them in C-E translation of public signs. The third chapter reveals the problems in the translation process and its causes. It also gives some strategies of public signs translation from the macro and micro perspectives. The last chapter of the thesis repeats the importance of the translation of Chinese and English public signs, summarizing the findings of the thesis, pointing out the limitations and shortcomings of the thesis, and appeals more people to research the translation of public signs so as to improve the quality of public signs translation.