A Report On The English Translation Of The History Of Baimai Springs (Excerpt) In Light Of Semantic And Communicative Translation Theory

The History of Baimai Springs is about the history and culture of Zhangqiu.The translator selected Chapter One and Chapter Two of The History of Baimai Springs(about13,000 Chinese characters)for the Chinese-English translation practice,in order to help promote the history and culture of Zhangqiu.Taking the excerpt from the book The History of Baimai Springs as the research object,guided by Newmark’s semantic and communicative translation theory,this translation practice intends to accomplish the translation task and explore the translation strategies and techniques for such texts.At the lexical level,under the guidance of semantic and communicative translation theory,clarification is used to translate the four-character expressions.Reduction is employed to make the translation more concise.Addition makes the depiction more vivid and lively.Annotation is used for the translation of culture-loaded words,which facilitates the dissemination and communication of the local culture.And adaptation is used to make the translation more readable.At the syntactic level,based on semantic and communicative translation theory,six translation strategies are employed,namely addition of the subject,conversion of the subject,conversion of the voice,conversion between the affirmative and the negative,division and restructuring,aiming to make the translation not only express the meaning of the source text but also conform with the English expression habits.At the level of discourse,three translation techniques are utilized: addition of linking words,substitution for cohesion and addition for coherence.These devices can strengthen the cohesion and coherence of the English text.What’s more,with the construction of a glossary,the cultural connotation and relevant information of some proper nouns and terms will be clear to the target readers.Through this translation practice,the translator realizes that the translation of historical and cultural publicity texts requires a high level of bilingual translation ability and profound language skills.The translator hopes that the translation practice can contribute to the publicity of the history and culture of Zhangqiu,and provide reference for the translation of these texts in the future.