A Translation Report Of 3D Printing Technology Texts From The Perspective Of Catford's Translation Shifts Theory

Three-dimensional printing,also known as 3D,is a kind of transformational and digital additive manufacturing technology that creates three-dimensional objects by adding materials layer by layer.In recent years,3D printing technology has developed rapidly,and has been practically used in daily life areas such as architecture;aerospace,medical,automotive,jewelry,etc.,and there will be a wider range of use in the future.For the sake of introducing advanced foreign technology and promoting the development of domestic 3D printing technology as well,the translation of 3D printing technology texts is particularly important.British translator J.C.Catford put forward the shifts theory in his book A Linguistic Theory of Translation in 1965,asserting that the so-called shifts refer to departures from formal correspondence in the process of going from the SL to the T L.Catford divides translation shifts into two major types:level shifts and category shifts.The most remarkable feature of Catford's shifts theory is that it is aimed at semantic equivalence,which is expected to exert an important guiding role in the translation practice of 3D printing technology texts,whose focus is mainly on meaning conversion.Based on the book entitled 3D Printing Failures—How to Diagnose&Repair All Desktop 3D Printing Issues,the present study selects 15,000 words from it as the material for translation practice.The study mainly consists of the following three aspects:firstly,it introduces the background,meaning and preparation process of the translation project;secondly,it explains the origin and development processes of Cartford's translation shifts 'theory,and the two specific shifts methods of level shifts and category shifts are expounded in detail;finally,the problems arising in the translation practice of the selected texts are analyzed and studied in the light of the two shifts.It is indicated in the research that Catford's translation shifts theory is of strong guiding significance to the English-Chinese translation practice of 3D printing technology texts.Namely,the translator is able to detect suitable translation strategies from the perspective of the level shifts and category shifts in the translation process,so as to effectively improve the quality of the translation texts.