The common errors and the error analysis of C-E translation of public signs from the perspective of Skopostheorie 英语毕业论文.doc

IntroductionWith the deepening of Chinas reform and opening-up policy, China has achieved great success in economy as well as its international influence. China, stronger than ever before, is with no doubt attracting more and more oversea people to come here to travel, work, or live. Before they master Chinese, the C-E translation of public signs is unquestionably a convenient and quick way for them to be informed of a particular information such as a guidance like “Exit”(出口) or a warning notice like “No Smoking”(请勿吸烟) .While the role of English version of public signs becomes more and more important, little attention is paid to it and loads of errors keep appearing in public areas-spelling errors, grammatical errors, Chinglish expressions and so on. Though it is a fact that most of the public signs are written in both Chinese and English, among which a large part of the simple and most frequently used signs like “No parking”(禁止停车), “WC”(洗手间) and “Airport”(飞机场) are correctly translated, whereas the signs that are relatively complex and/or less frequently used in western countries like “1st BRIDG” which refers to “一大桥” in Xiangtan and “JIANGLU SOUARE” which refers to “江麓广场” in Xiangtan are quite often wrongly translated or translated without normalization. In conclusion, the quality of the C-E translation of public signs is now far from satisfactory. In face of such a cloudy situation of public signs translation, this thesis is aimed at not only showing and analyzing the common errors of the translation but also trying to give some solutions and strategies for it from the perspective of Skopostheorie. The thesis is composed of four chapters except introduction and conclusion.Chapter One is an overview of public signs. Chapter Two makes a brief introduction to Skopostheorie. Chapter Three shows the examples of common errors in the C-E translation of public signs and makes an error analysis from the perspective of Skopostheorie. Chapter Four puts forward some solutions and strategies for the C-E translation of public signs under the guidance of Skopostheorie. Chapter OneBrief Introduction to Public Signs When more and more foreigners come to China, the C-E translation of public signs becomes increasingly important in offering convenience for them. Before talking about the translation of public sign, we should first make clear what it is and what it is for. In this chapter, the definition, features and functions of public sign will be discussed.1.1 Definition of Public Signs As a matter of fact, there is not yet a clear definition of “public sign” which is adopted by all the dictionaries or the scholars. According to Lv Hefa (2005:17), public signs are characters and graphic information which are relative to peoples lives, production. And according to He Xueyun (2006:57), public sign is a special style shown to a specific group of people for a specific communicative purpose. In Baidu Encyclopedia (“百度百科”), public sign refers to the language in public places for a specific purpose which is open to the public. There are still many other definitions. To sum up, we can find that public sign refers to the sign set in public places. There are two layers of connotation beneath the literal meaning of it. First, it is a sign which may take the form of either language or pictures as long as information can be provided. Second, it is for the public which means that it is socially concerned with particular social functions. Since this thesis is aimed at discussing public signs translation, public signs in the form of words will be the only object. Furthermore, because of the limitation of the authors knowledge and investigation, the examples mentioned in this thesis may not cover all the types of public signs. 1.2 Features of Public Signs According to Ding Hengqi (2006:42), the features of English public signs are described as 5 Cs, namely, Conciseness, Conventionality, Consistency, Conspicuousness and Convenience. Conciseness means that the public signs should be simple in words and sentence patterns. For example, “请勿触摸展品” is translated into “No Touching” or “Hands off” instead of “Please do not touch the exhibits”.Conventionality means that there are conventions or standards of expression in public signs, which have been widely accepted by the source culture. For example, “前方学校，请慢行” is translated as “Slow, school”; “买一送一”/“买一赠一” is translated as “Buy one and get one free”; “顾客服务处” is translated as “Customer services”.Consistency means that the C-E translation of public signs should be consistent with the international standard and that the translation of the same public signs in different places of China should be consistent with each other. For example, public signs like “EXIT”(出口), “ENTRANCE”(入口), “Reservations”(预定) are widely used around the world. Conspicuousness means that the public signs should be eye-catching so as to attract the readers attention. Such effect is often achieved by way of using capitals. For example, “禁止吸烟” may be translated as “No Smoking” with both words capitalized. In addition, “EXIT” and “ENTRANCE” are also typical examples of this feature.Convenience means that the public signs should meet the needs of the public. This may explain why most public signs will choose the frequently-used words. The examples listed above basically embody the feature of convenience. 1.3 Functions of Public Signs In general, there are four functions of public signs according to Dai Zongxian and Lv Hefa (2005:38). The first one is directing function which means that public signs provide readers with guiding or instructive information and do not require readers to do this or forbid from doing that. For example, “Information”(问讯处)，“Honesty Rd.” (至诚路) and so on.The second one is prompting function which is similar to directing function except that the former carries the tone of warning. It aims at warning readers to pay considerable attention to signs. For example, “Handle With Care”(小心轻放), “Wet Paint”(油漆未干), “Engaged”(厕所有人) and so on.The third one is restricting function which means the public signs are putting restrictions and constraints to readers. The languages are direct and simple, but readers dont feel being offended. For example, “Ticket Only”(凭票入场), “Staff Only”(游客止步) and so on.The last one is compelling function which means that the public signs require readers or the public to take or not to take some actions. Namely, readers are compelled to do or forbidden from doing due to maintaining a normal and civilized order. With a tough tone, there will be no compromise. For example, “No Photos”(严禁拍照), “No Littering”(严禁乱扔垃圾) and so on. Chapter TwoBrief Introduction to Skopostheorie Having got a general knowledge of public signs, we are now moving to the introduction to Skopostheorie. As an important translational theory in the functional school, Skopostheorie offers a new standard for translation. In this part, the definition, development and basic principles of Skopostheorie will be discussed.2.1 Definition of SkopostheorieSkopostheorie is an important theory in functional approaches “which was developed in Germany in the late 1970s, and which reflects a general shift from predominantly LINGUISTIC and formal translation theories to a more functionally and socioculturally oriented concept of translation” (Baker 1998:235). It holds that translation is a specific form of human action rather than a process of transcoding. “Like any other human action, translation has a purpose, and the word skopos, derived from Greek, is used as the technical term for the purpose of translation” (Baker, 1998:236).2.2 Development of Functionalist SkopostheorieIn 1970s, Katherina Reiss put forward the embryonic form of the functionalist theory. In her book, Translation Criticism: the Potential and Limitations (2004), she developed a model of translation criticism based on the functional relationship between source and target texts and suggested that the purpose of the translation action should be regarded as the criteria for translation criticism. Then Hans J. Vermeer advanced Reiss' theory and held that the focus of Skopostheorie is mainly functional and cultural. He also raised three principles, namely, Skopos rule, coherence rule and fidelity rule. Later, Christiane Nord further developed the Skopostheorie and added the “Loyalty Principle” to perfect this theory. 2.3 Main Principles of SkopostheorieThe three guiding principles of Skopostheorie are Skopos rule, fidelity rule and coherence rule. Among them, Skopos rule is regarded as the top-ranking one for any translation. Meanwhile, another two subordinate rules-coherence rule and fidelity rule-should also be taken into account. Skopos rule means that “a translation action is determined by its Skopos”. It is “the end justifies the means” (Reiss & Vermeer 1984:101) which requires translators to be able to adjust their translational strategy according to particular Skopos in a given translational situation.Coherence rule, or intratextual coherence, means that the TT (target text) must have full coherence and accordance to make the TT reader understand it with his knowledge background in a particular context.Fidelity rule “concerns intertextual coherence between translatum and source text, and stipulates merely that some relationship must remain between the two once the overriding principles of Skopos and coherence have been satisfied” (Baker 2004:236). It requires the translated text to be loyal to its corresponding source text in meaning, sentence pattern, semantic color, and rhetorical devices.  Chapter ThreeMistranslations of Public Signs from the Perspective of SkopostheorieDespite the improvement of the quality of C-E translation of public signs, loads of mistranslations keep appearing here and there which offer no help for foreigners. Whats worse, these mistranslations may give a bad impression on the foreigners which may have a bad influence on Chinas international image. In this chapter, some common errors in C-E translation of public signs mainly in Changsha, Zhuzhou and Xiangtan will be showed according to their classification. Then the causes of these errors will be analysed from the perspective of Skopostheorie.3.1 Common Errors in Translating Public SignsWhile most public signs in Changsha, Zhuzhou and Xiangtan are translated into English, a large part of them are not correctly translated. In this thesis, Id like to divide these errors mainly into four types: spelling errors, grammatical errors, Chinglish expressions and errors caused by cultural misunderstanding.3.1.1 Spelling Errors Without any exception, spelling errors break the rule of Fidelity on the ground that they are not in accordance with the source text and may not express the right information which will cause misunderstanding for foreigners. Basically, the spelling mistakes are made by carelessness. They are not severe mistakes, but will cause the problem that the target text is not in good accordance with the source text. The examples are as follows.E.g.1: On the sign that makes a brief introduction of Qi Baishis career, “工匠”is translated as “Sculpture” where a letter “r” is omitted. So the correct translation should be “Sculpturer”.E.g.2: On the directive sign in front of Peace Park (和平公园) of Xiangtan, “一大桥” is translated as “1st BRIDG” while the correct one should be “1st Bridge”, and another spelling error here is that “江麓广场” is translated as “JIANGLU SOUARE” while the right one should be “Jianglu Square”.E.g.3: On the introduction board of“爱晚亭”，“爱晚亭”is translated into “Autumn-admiring pavilion”. But in fact, the first letter of each word in a title should be capital. So the correct translation should be “Autumn-admiring Pavilion”.E.g.4: In the introduction of Cai E(蔡锷) s lifetime, “护国军”is translated as “RepublicProtecting Army” where apparently a dash is omitted. And the correct translation should be “Republic-Protecting Army”.E.g.5: At the entry of Qi Baishi Memorial, “齐白石的艺术人生陈列” is translated as “The Exibition of Qi Baishis Art Life”. In this case, the word “Exibition” is wrongly written with a letter “h” omitted between “x” and “i”. So the correct translation should be “The Exhibition of Qi Baishis Art Life”.3.1.2 Grammatical Errors In general, these mistakes also break the rule of Coherence in that they are not in accordance with the target text and fail to make the foreigners understand them with their knowledge background. Here are the examples.E.g.1: On the surface of dustbin in the campus of Hunan University of Science and Technology, a sign reads “Protect CircumStance begin With Me” which is the translation of“保护环境从我做起”. In regardless of the spelling error of writing “Circumstance” as “CircumStance”, there also exists a grammatical error- using a verb phrase as the sentences subject without changing its form into gerund, what's more, the predicative verb breaks the rule of verb agreement. So the correct translation should be “Protecting Circumstance Begins with Me”.E.g.2: At the entrance of Peace Park (和平公园), there stands an introductive board writing “Theres zoo inside the park which covers an area of 24,719 square meters.” which is the translation of “园内设动物园，面积24719平方米”. In this translation, the indefinite article “a” is omitted. E.g.3: In the Exhibition of Qi Baishis Art Life, the sentence “齐白石（1864-1957），原名纯之，字渭清, 后改名璜，字濒生，号白石” is mistranslated as “Qi Baishi(1864-1957), whose old name was Chunzhi and Zi was Weiqing. Later he changed his name to Huang and Zi to Binsheng and Hao to Baishi.” In this case, the structure of the sentence is wrongly divided into two parts. In the former sentence of the translation, there is only one subject with an attributive clause but lacks a predicative verb. E.g.4: Another grammatical error in Qi Baishi Memorial is the translation of “深耻临摹夸世人” into “be shame for copying anyone else”. “shame” is a noun, but here it is misused as an adjective.E.g.5: In the translation “It is shame to be a thief for living and I would rather suffer hungry than please the evil force” (which means “寿高不死羞为贼，不丑长安作饿饕” in Chinese), there are two errors. The first one is the misuse of “shame”. If a noun is used here, then an indefinite article should be added. And if an adjective is used here, then “shame” should be replaced by “shameful”. The second one is the misuse of “hungry”. In fact, “hungry” is an adjective, but the verb “suffer” should be in collocation with a “from+N” phrase or a noun or nouns. 3.1.3 Chinglish Expressions The Chinglish expressions are basically correct in grammar and some are even beautiful in form and sound, but most of them bear no relationship between the source text and the target text and fail to info