A Study On E-C Translation Of Business Contracts From A Register Perspective

With the acceleration of globalization and the deepening of China’s economy,Sino-foreign communication is increasing rapidly, especially the exchanges ineconomic field. English business contracts are the carriers to deliver information andnegotiate business. Its prominent position cannot be neglected. The E-C translation ofbusiness contracts has a far-reaching influence. As one of the core theories insystemic-functional linguistics, register theory is widely applied in translation.Through analyzing the three variables: field, tenor and mode, the register features inthe source text are successfully expressed.The data analyzed are selected from 《国际商务合同翻译教程》and 《国际商务英语语言与翻译研究》, which are compiled by Lan Tian and Liao Yingrespectively. The Chinese translation principles and strategies are presented by interms of register theory. Firstly, the author introduces the research background andstresses the significance of combining register with contracts analysis. In chapter two,the author makes an overview of business contracts’ definition, classification,functions, features and related studies. The differences between Chinese businesscontracts and English business contracts are also explained. Chapter three elaboratesregister theory, including its definition, development, three variables (field, tenor andmode), and its relationship with meta-functions of language. In addition, theapplication of register in translation is also discussed. Chapter four makes a detailedillustration of the application of register in E-C translation of business contracts. Theauthor presents some difficulties to the translation of business contracts first. Thencorresponding principles and translation strategies are put forward from a registerperspective. The principles are: preciseness, technicality and acceptability. Thestrategies are field equivalence, tenor equivalence and mode equivalence. Chapter fiveis the conclusion of the thesis, the major findings, limitations of the thesis as well assome suggestions for further study are presented in this part.The results illustrate that register theory is applicable in E-C translation ofbusiness contracts. In order to improve the quality of contracts translation, the translator should achieve the register equivalence as much as possible. The authorhopes that the analysis in this thesis can be of some value for the further study onbusiness contracts.