A Research Report On The E-C Translation Strategies Of Business Contracts From Functional Equivalence Approach

The precise understanding and translating commercial contracts is very important for sellers and buyers in international trades. It is helpful to reduce the unnecessary disputes, which caused by the differences in grammar and expression of English and Chinese language.The translation report is based on a translation project, which consists of total 12,000 words of purchase contract, labor dispatch service contract, license contract of the transfer of technology and stock purchase agreement. The text of 12,000 words covers the relevant areas of business contracts. They are characterized by the refining language and compact structure of business contracts.On the basis of translation practice of four business contracts, which were done during the author’s MTI studies, this thesis first introduces the background, objective, significance and structure of the task as well as the source and main content of the translation project. After analyzing the requirements for the translator and difficulties in translation, the author presents the pre-translation preparation, which includes relative contract information, translation tools and arrangements. According to the language feature, the author puts forward three translation principles by analyzing that of source language from lexical, semantic, syntactical and textual level. Functional equivalence theory is introduced and the literal and liberal translation methods are adopted in solving translation problems. After giving a reflection and assessment for the translation project, the author makes a conclusion to this report. Through summarizing the experience and method learned from this translation practice, the author hopes that this thesis can shed some lights for the further translation practice of E-C business contract.