The E-C Translation Report On Jewelry Concepts And Technology(Chapters One-Two)

This paper is an English-Chinese translation practice report.The text is selected from the first and second chapters of Oppi Untracht's book Jewelry Concepts and Technology.The author of the book was awarded a lifetime achievement award on behalf of the US Craft Committee in 2,000.He is also an honorary member of the North American Goldsmiths Committee.This book gives a detailed introduction to the history of jewelry and the way jewelry making,as well as all kinds of materials needed for jewelry making,processing technology,and manufacturing process.The translated text mainly tells the history of jewelry development and tools of jewelry making.The translated text is a scientific and technological text and also an informative text.English for Science and Technology has a strict and standard writing style,objective and clear content-description,standard words,and a large number of professional terms.At the same time,the informative text has strong logic in language and focuses on the content itself.The translator should transfer the original information to the readers in concise language.Therefore,the requirements for the translator are extremely high in the process of pre-,during-and post-translation.The difficulties in this translation practice mainly include three levels: vocabulary,syntax and discourse.The difficulties in vocabulary mainly include translation of professional terms,unfamiliar meanings of familiar words,and translation of proper nouns.The translation difficulties in syntax are mainly the translation of long and difficult sentences,the translation of attributive clauses,and the technical English text usually inserts many modifying elements into sentences to explain a thing,which brings many understanding and translating difficulties to the translator.The translation difficulties at the textual level mainly include the extensive use of pronouns and the reappearance of hidden logical relations among sentences.The translator,in order to solve the above translation difficulties and meet the translation requirements of scientific and technological texts and informative texts,adopts the methods in vocabulary which are free translation,annotation and part of speech conversion.The translation methods used in syntax include restructuring sentence structure,dividing and combining sentences,and the preand post-position of attributive clauses.Translation methods adopted at the textual level include adding conjunctions and supplementing necessary information.Through this translation practice,the translator deeply experiences the difficulty in translation of scientific and technological texts from English to Chinese.Firstly,it requires the translator to collect and read a large number of relevant parallel texts.Secondly,it requires the translator to ensure the accuracy and readability of the target text while conveying information of the source language.Lastly,the translator also makes a glossary of professional terms and proper nouns that appeared in this practice report,which can be used as a reference for future study.