A Report On The English-Chinese Translation Of Business Contract Based On Functional Equivalence Theory

The flourishing development of China's foreign trade industry makes the business contract become an indispensable media in the economic contacts.Accurate translation of business contract can assist us in expressing our ideas and stance,curtailing the economic disputes and facilitating the future cooperation.The analytic object of this report is the English-Chinese translation of a business contract text from XXX limited company,which was translated by the author.The analysis is mainly based on the functional equivalence theory put forward by Eugene A.Nida.Specifically,this report mainly conducts case study from the lexical and syntactical level,which combines the practical examples to summarize the relevant translation skills that can serve translators and that is aimed at enhancing the translation efficiency and quality of the target text.At the lexical level,Nida deems that the priority of translation lies in transferring the information of the source language accurately.If the formal equivalence cannot realize the functional equivalence between two languages,some adjustments in form should be made.Based on that,the author adopts some translation strategies,including omission,amplification and conversion for solving this kind of problem so that the functional equivalence between two languages can be achieved.At the syntactical level,the author mainly adopts the four steps for translation put forward by Nida,namely analysis,transfer,restructure and test to offer some theoretical guidance to the case study on translation of passive voice and long sentences.“Analysis” is to analyze the surface structure and information of the source text from the grammar to the semantic;“transfer” is to translate the analyzed information from the source language to the target language.The adjustments in the semantic structure and the structural structure will be involved,covering provision for contextual condition,redistribution of semantic components,word and phrase order,singular and plural agreement,ellipsis,passive and active structures and etc.;“restructure” is to reorganize the information that is delivered and make it conform to the requirements of the target language.The author mainly restructures the message from the aspect of the essential components and characteristics of these various styles;(4)“testing” is to put the attention into the target text for checking whether the source text and the target text can reach the functional equivalence.Nida deems that the key point rests with how the readers respond to the target text.For this,the author invites four relevant personnel,who have English knowledge background,to check and review his target text for verifying and guiding the target text more objectively.This translation report is mainly divided into five chapters: the first chapter is the description of translation assignment covering source text description and translation process;the second chapter is the guiding theory,embracing the general development of functional equivalence theory and application of functional equivalence;the third chapter is functional equivalence at lexical level;the fourth chapter is functional equivalence at syntactical level;the fifth chapter is conclusion.