A Comparative Analysis Of Three Chinese Versions Of President Trump's First Inaugural Address

Public speech,as a powerful means of communication,plays an important role in political life.This paper compares three Chinese versions of President Trump's Inaugural Address,analyzing their discourse features,and exploring the translation strategies different translators adopted and respective effects they have achieved.In trying to explain the differences,the author argues that the choices the translators made are actually influenced by their different standpoints and expectations.The three Chinese versions were issued respectively by the Bureau of International Information Programs(IIP),HKSTV,and Sina Education.Through comparison,the author draws the following conclusions:firstly,the version provided by the IIP represents the official attitude,which has the function of political propaganda in effect.Therefore,it is almost perfect with elegant language,careful choice of diction that fully conforms to standard Chinese expression.At the same time,the content and style of the original text are well preserved.Secondly,as the versions provided by the HKSTV and Sina Education are targeted at the general public,the words used by the two versions are comparatively simple and direct,and some details and structures are slightly deviated from the original text.Of course,on the whole,these two versions also have their merits.On the basis of the above comparison and analysis,the author also points out the limitations of the present study,which,hopefully,may be of some value to the future research.