Translation Strategies For Long Sentences From The Perspective Of Skopos Theory In Popular Science Text

The translation of long sentences in English has always been a difficult point in English-Chinese translation practice.There are great differences between English and Chinese in regard to the syntactical structures and the expressions.Long sentences are commonly used in English to express complex ideas and concepts,while in Chinese shorter sentences are often used in such case,which often causes difficulties for translators in the process of English-Chinese translation.Therefore,it is essential for them to select the theoretical guidance and translation strategies correctly in the translation of long sentences.The translation case of this thesis is selected from a popular science English text on agriculture,which is called In Meat We Trust.It is concerned with the magnificent development of the American meat industry.The author uses a large number of long sentences in the book,which reflects the strict logicality of the article and her professional research attitude.Therefore,it also brings some difficulties to the translation.Based on the seventh chapter of the book and German Functionalist Skopos Theory as well as its three basic principles,this thesis discusses the translation strategies of long English sentences,aiming at conveying the original information more accurately and effectively and corresponding with the reading habits of target language readers.By means of the case analysis,the translator draws the following conclusions: Skopos Theory has high applicability in the translation of long sentences in popular science English.If the readers cannot grasp the author's intention precisely,the translator can employ the strategies of annotation and adaptation by the “skopos rule”,so that the readers can understand the meaning of the article more intuitively and clearly.When the logical relations in the text are not clear,the translator can break or reorganize the translated text through the “coherence rule” and making it conform to Chinese expressions.When there are differences in expression between English and Chinese,the source text can be more faithfully translated by adding,subtracting or transforming words according to the “fidelity rule”.Thus,Skopos Theory is of great significance to the study of the translation of long sentences.This thesis is composed of six chapters.The background and significance of the book,and the layout of the thesis are discussed in Chapter One.Chapter Two describes the translation procedures including the preparation before translation,process in translation and proofreading after translation.Chapter Three introduces the Skopos Theory and the three rules of it.Chapter Four introduces the characteristics and classifications of long sentences.Chapter Five is a case study,which mainly analyzes the translation strategies of long sentences under the guidance of three rules of the Skopos Theory,namely,annotation,sequencing,adaptation,splitting,inversion,integrating,amplification and repetition.Chapter Six is the conclusion,which summarizes the translation practice and points out the findings and shortcomings of the thesis.