Research On The English Translation Of Instructions For External Use Of Proprietary Chinese Medicines Under The Guidance Of Relational Translation Theory

ObjectivesThe study examined both Chinese writing and English translation of instructions of Chinese patent medicine for external use through text analysis.On this basis,this study discusses how relevance theory guides the English translation,and puts forward the recommended translation for instructions of Chinese patent medicine for external use.MethodsBased on text analysis of vocabularies and texts of 26 instructions(Chinese and English version)of Chinese patent medicine for external use,present problems in Chinese writing and English translation were summarized,and strategies of English translation were discussed.ResultsThrough text analysis,it was found that the main problems in writing Chinese instructions of Chinese patent medicine for external use were lexical and grammatical errors,and lack of integrity of the textual structure.They included:①Problems in the Chinese writing of section titles including semantic errors and omissions.② Terminologies did not conform to normative expressions of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM),which led to ambiguity or inaccuracy of meanings of the words,and more difficulties in translation.③The Chinese writing of instructions of Chinese patent medicine for external use did not present the text information and structural order in accordance with relevant regulations of drug instructions in China,failing to accurately reflect the grammatical and semantic relations of the texts.Problems in English translation of Chinese patent medicine instructions for external use are as follows:①As parts of instructions’ structure,section titles were translated with omissions and inaccuracy.②Omissions of TCM terminologies were also found in the translation.Meanwhile,English versions of some terms were complicated,lacking accuracy and standardization,which was easy to cause misunderstanding among users.③The whole texts lacked structural integrity as well as standardization and conciseness of grammatical structure in the results of lacking consideration of cultural context of the target country or region,and putting too much emphasis on formal equivalence of Chinese and English texts.ConclusionsIn the light of the relevance theory and the results of text analysis,conclusions of this study are as follows:(1)Relevance of English translation of instructions of Chinese patent medicine for external useRelevance theory is appropriate to guide cultural default and language expression of English translation of TCM terminologies.The English translation does not conform to the translation norms of TCM terminologies recognized at home and abroad,and meanings and expressions of basic TCM nouns and verbs in terms of therapeutic methods and pathogenesis are inaccurate,which reflect cultural difference between TCM and Western medicine and lead to less contextual-effect in translation.It is also difficult to show the logic of terms of verb-object construction,"verb+object verb+object" construction and "modifier-head"construction and achieve the maximum relevance at the same time.The English translation of symptom and disease terms usually shows mixed use of Chinese and Western medicine vocabularies,which could hardly indicate cultural connotations of TCM terminologies.Relevance theory applies to the English translation of Chinese patent medicine instructions for external use in terms of text structure,grammar and pragmatics.Due to the excessive emphasis on formal equivalence with the original text,grammatical problems of English texts are serious.Also,the language style is rigid and serious,which makes it difficult to realize the purpose of communication.As a result,the text construction of instructions of Chinese patent medicine for external use would not fully match the writing principles of drug instructions in different contexts,as well as structural integrity.(2)English translation strategies for instructions of Chinese patent medicine for external use①Translation strategies for TCM terminologiesa.For terms of therapeutic methods and pathogenesis,translators should combine domestication with foreignization in translating basic terms of TCM and verbs of therapeutic method terms on the basis of clarifying Chinese connotations,examining meanings of English words,and referring to the English translation standards of TCM terms,so as to achieve the optimal relevance with accurate and concise English expressions.It is also suggested that pathogenesis terms of the verb-object construction should be translated by determining the verb,subject and omitted words.Translation of terms of the "verb+object verb+object"construction and modifying construction should follow the principle of faithfulness in terms of word selection and simplicity in sentence construction.b.It is suggested that terms of symptoms and diseases with corresponding words in Chinese and Western medicine should be translated by borrowing words.Terms with different names but the same actual meaning in Chinese and Western medicine could be translated by free translation and omission.Specific TCM terms are usually disease terms.In translating these terms,translators should fully understand the connotation of the original text,and adopt flexible translation methods,such as literal translation and loan translation based on weighing the principle of domestication and foreignization,to seek the optimal relevance in the English translation of TCM disease names and symptoms in Western medicine,and to keep the translation concise and approachable.②Translation strategies for texts of the instructionsa.Text constructing logicWhile ensuring the integrity of the text structure,the context of the target language should be fully considered and loan translation should be applied.Translators could adopt the loan translation method in translating section titles and the textual order of the instructions based on domestication.Translators should also pay attention to the cognitive structure of different audiences,like the texts of instructions presenting more medical information for doctors,and more drug-using information for patients.b.Pragmatic featuresTexts of instructions of Chinese patent medicine for external use should conform to grammatical norms dominated by the context of the target language.Domestication translation should be combined with free translation and loan translation methods,so that the target language readers may understand drug information in their own cognitive environment.In order to enhance communicative ability of the translation,translators should also consider the cognitive environment of different audiences,such as different language styles for doctors or patients.In addition,gerunds should be adopted in English texts of "actions and indications" to enhance the relevance of grammar and communicative nature of the texts with viewpoint and normalization oriented function information.Reduce users’ misunderstanding on drug information,so as to improve the recognition of TCM products among the target language readers to a certain extent.