Conversion Of Word Classes In Translating New York Penal Law

The report is about the legal translation of New York Penal Law, which is detailing the relevant crimes and outlining the corresponding punishments in the New York State of America. It is of considerable importance for the development of American Penal law. In the translation practice, the author finds that as there are enormous differences in formality and official character between English and Chinese, it is very hard to find the corresponding word classes both in the source text and the target text. Maintaining the original word classes may not fully convey the meaning of the source text and such translated text does not conform to the traditional Chinese expression to some extent. Therefore,this report aims to deliver a brief analysis and conclusion about the conversion of word classes in New York Penal Law based on the general principles of legal translation, especially in the conversion between nouns and verbs in English and Chinese, between verbs and prepositions and between adjectives and verbs, expecting to provide useful reference for the translation of relevant laws and regulations in future.