A Corpus-based Study Of The English Translation Of Deootic Modality "应当" (Yingdang) And "可以" (keyi)

Legal translation plays an important role in transnational judicial practice and promoting understanding of China’s rule of law in foreign countries.As the demand for "telling China stories" continues to grow,it has become increasingly urgent to showcase the Chinese legal system and its progress in upholding the rule of law.Among them,the Criminal Procedure Law,as one of the building blocks of China’s criminal justice system,is a key legal text that needs to be translated into English.Of particular importance within this law are the deontic modalities“应当”(yingdang)and“可以”(keyi),which express mandatory and permissive norms respectively.However,the translation of yingdang and keyi in the Criminal Procedure Law remains a matter of debate,with little analytical research conducted on this topic.To address this gap,this study investigates the translation of yingdang and keyi in the Criminal Procedure Law under the guidance of Karl Engisch’s theory on the classification of legal norms.Based on a self-constructed corpus of Chinese and American criminal procedure legal texts,this study annotated the translations of yingdang and keyi in the existing English version of the Criminal Procedure Law and the deontic modal operators in the U.S.Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure under the framework of the classification theory of legal norms.A total of 1,372 annotations were conducted,aimed at identifying and comparing the deontic modal operators and their frequency in both texts.Through this analysis,the study aims to explore the most appropriate English translations of yingdang and keyi.The study’s findings include the following:(1)The English version of the Criminal Procedure Law generally maintains consistency in the translation of yingdang and keyi within the text,indicating standardized legal translation practices;(2)There are instances where the translations of yingdang and keyi are reversed;(3)Keyi is consistently translated as "may",regardless of whether it indicates authorization or qualification;(4)The Criminal Procedure Law translates almost all instances of yingdang as "shall",which is contrary to the current trend in American legal texts of avoiding the use of "shall".This study also proposes measures to improve the current translation:(1)It is recommended to replace "shall" with "must" or other adjectival predicates;(2)When indicating authorization,it is recommended to translate keyi as "may",while "can" should be used for qualification;(3)It is important to update the legal translation terminology database and enhance the organization of translation activities of legislative texts.