从德国功能主义看国际商务英语合同的汉译策略论文

1、 . 学校代码：10254密 级：论文编号：上海海事 大 学SHANGHAI MARITIME UNIVERSITY硕士学位论文MASTER DISSERTATION论文题目：从德国功能主义看国际商务英语合同的汉译策略学科专业： 外国语言学与应用语言学 指导教师：完成日期：3 / 95Strategies for Translating International Business English Contracts into Chinese-From the Perspective of FunctionalismBy Jiao RuiUnder the Supervision ofProf

2、essor Qu ZongdeA Thesis Submitted to the College of Foreign Languages ofShanghai Maritime Universityin Partial Fulfillment ofthe Requirements for the MA DegreeShanghai Maritime UniversityMay, 2009AcknowledgementsI would like to avail myself of this opportunity to extend my heart-felt gratitude to al

3、l those who have offered me great help in one way or another in my composition of this paper.First and foremost, I am most indebted to my supervisorProfessor Qu Zongde, for his enthusiastic support, expert guidance and constant encouragement during the past two academic years, especially in the cour

4、se of my preparation for this paper.My acknowledgement also goes to all the other devoted professors and the staff of ShanghaiMaritimeUniversity, who have spared no effort to enrich my knowledge. Without them this paper would not have turned out as it is. Foreign Languages Collage of SMU really offe

5、rs excellent environment for academic study and research.I am also grateful to my classmates and friends for their sisterly care and cordial help.My ineffable gratitude also goes to my beloved parents, whose great affection and support always urge me on. Their love will encourage me to move forward.

6、Last but not the least, I want to thank all the authors whose books or articles have been found for my reference in writing this paper.毕业设计（论文）原创性声明和使用授权说明原创性声明本人重承诺：所呈交的毕业设计（论文），是我个人在指导教师的指导下进行的研究工作与取得的成果。尽我所知，除文中特别加以标注和致的地方外，不包含其他人或组织已经发表或公布过的研究成果，也不包含我为获得与其它教育机构的学位或学历而使用过的材料。对本研究提供过帮助和做出过贡献的个人或集体

7、，均已在文中作了明确的说明并表示了意。作 者 签 名：日 期：指导教师签名： 日期：使用授权说明本人完全了解大学关于收集、保存、使用毕业设计（论文）的规定，即：按照学校要求提交毕业设计（论文）的印刷本和电子版本；学校有权保存毕业设计（论文）的印刷本和电子版，并提供目录检索与阅览服务；学校可以采用影印、缩印、数字化或其它复制手段保存论文；在不以赢利为目的前提下，学校可以公布论文的部分或全部容。作者签名： 日 期：学位论文原创性声明本人重声明：所呈交的论文是本人在导师的指导下独立进行研究所取得的研究成果。除了文中特别加以标注引用的容外，本论文不包含任何其他个人或集体已经发表或撰写的成果作品。对本文

8、的研究做出重要贡献的个人和集体，均已在文中以明确方式标明。本人完全意识到本声明的法律后果由本人承担。作者签名： 日期： 年 月 日学位论文使用授权书本学位论文作者完全了解学校有关保留、使用学位论文的规定，同意学校保留并向国家有关部门或机构送交论文的复印件和电子版，允许论文被查阅和借阅。本人授权大学可以将本学位论文的全部或部分容编入有关数据库进行检索，可以采用影印、缩印或扫描等复制手段保存和汇编本学位论文。涉密论文按学校规定处理。作者签名：日期： 年 月 日导师签名： 日期： 年 月 日指导教师评阅书指导教师评价：一、撰写（设计）过程1、学生在论文（设计）过程中的治学态度、工作精神 优 良 中

9、与格 不与格2、学生掌握专业知识、技能的扎实程度 优 良 中 与格 不与格3、学生综合运用所学知识和专业技能分析和解决问题的能力 优 良 中 与格 不与格4、研究方法的科学性；技术线路的可行性；设计方案的合理性 优 良 中 与格 不与格5、完成毕业论文（设计）期间的出勤情况 优 良 中 与格 不与格二、论文（设计）质量1、论文（设计）的整体结构是否符合撰写规？ 优 良 中 与格 不与格2、是否完成指定的论文（设计）任务（包括装订与附件）？ 优 良 中 与格 不与格三、论文（设计）水平1、论文（设计）的理论意义或对解决实际问题的指导意义 优 良 中 与格 不与格2、论文的观念是否有新意？设计是否

10、有创意？ 优 良 中 与格 不与格3、论文（设计说明书）所体现的整体水平 优 良 中 与格 不与格建议成绩：优 良 中 与格 不与格（在所选等级前的画“”）指导教师： （签名） 单位： （盖章）年 月 日评阅教师评阅书评阅教师评价：一、论文（设计）质量1、论文（设计）的整体结构是否符合撰写规？ 优 良 中 与格 不与格2、是否完成指定的论文（设计）任务（包括装订与附件）？ 优 良 中 与格 不与格二、论文（设计）水平1、论文（设计）的理论意义或对解决实际问题的指导意义 优 良 中 与格 不与格2、论文的观念是否有新意？设计是否有创意？ 优 良 中 与格 不与格3、论文（设计说明书）所体现的整体

11、水平 优 良 中 与格 不与格建议成绩：优 良 中 与格 不与格（在所选等级前的画“”）评阅教师： （签名） 单位： （盖章）年 月 日教研室（或答辩小组）与教学系意见教研室（或答辩小组）评价：一、答辩过程1、毕业论文（设计）的基本要点和见解的叙述情况 优 良 中 与格 不与格2、对答辩问题的反应、理解、表达情况 优 良 中 与格 不与格3、学生答辩过程中的精神状态 优 良 中 与格 不与格二、论文（设计）质量1、论文（设计）的整体结构是否符合撰写规？ 优 良 中 与格 不与格2、是否完成指定的论文（设计）任务（包括装订与附件）？ 优 良 中 与格 不与格三、论文（设计）水平1、论文（设计）的

12、理论意义或对解决实际问题的指导意义 优 良 中 与格 不与格2、论文的观念是否有新意？设计是否有创意？ 优 良 中 与格 不与格3、论文（设计说明书）所体现的整体水平 优 良 中 与格 不与格评定成绩：优 良 中 与格 不与格（在所选等级前的画“”）教研室主任（或答辩小组组长）： （签名）年 月 日教学系意见：系主任： （签名）年 月 日摘 要当前国际商务英语合同汉译方法大部分是“自下而上”的。这种方法在理论指导方面有所欠缺，仅注重了对具体的字、词、句的翻译，这样的话合同比较难的实现汉译文本功能。本篇文章采用了德国功能主义翻译理论为指导策略，系统地阐述、分析、指导了“自下而上”的国际商务英语合

13、同的汉译方法，创造性地探讨了“自上而下”的国际商务英语合同的汉译策略。全文包括下列六章：第一章是引言。概述了当前英文合同汉译的状况，存在的不足与造成这些不足的原因，并阐述了本文研究的宗旨和意义。第二章概述了合同文本的特点，介绍了合同的定义和分类，揭示了英文国际商务合同的一般特征与功用，目的在于提高译者对国际商务英语合同具体容的认识，为翻译实践做好准备。第三章系统分析和比较了中英文商务合同文体异同点在词汇、句法与语篇三个层次上的具体体现。一样点:词汇层包括运用大量古语词、正式(法律)词汇与专业术语。句法层包括:单词类型一频繁使用名词、动词与一些固定的连词、副词，很少或不用代词;句子类型一以述句和

14、条件句为主，无疑问、祈使语气。语篇层则表现为词汇重复、平行结构和极少使用代词作衔接手段。不同点:词汇层:英文商务合同中常出现同(近)义词的并列使用，而中文商务合同无此特点。句法层:单词类型一英文商务合同中名词居多， 且有大量介词、冠词;而中文商务合同以动词为主;词组类型一英文商务合同中频繁使用名词结构，且多后置修饰成分，而中文商务合同以动词词组为主，多前置修饰语。第四章对德国功能主义进行了概述,并对合同翻译实践的理论指导进行了可行性分析，概述了德国功能翻译学派提出的功能主义的开始与发展过程，本学派主要代表人物的理论与其对翻译领域所作出的贡献，分析了德国功能主义对于指导国际商务合同翻译在理论层面

15、的不足和缺陷。第五章分析了以德国功能主义为理论指导的的国际商务英语合同翻译策略。从具体的翻译实践，并以国际商务英语合同的语言特征的参照，分析论证了在德国功能主义理论的理论指导下，应该给予译者在合同翻译行为中一定的决策自由；论证了译文质量的高低的翻译的标准之一不仅仅是译文的忠实性，更重要的是灵活运用各种翻译策略达到功能上的对等。在英汉合同表达形式一样的时候，可以采用传统的直译的翻译策略；在因为保留英语合同语言形式而可能会造成难以实现汉译文本功能的时候，一定要考虑汉语读者的认知和语言上的习惯，要敢于运用已有的增译、减译、转译和省译等策略；根据英语合同语言的特点（如古语词、复杂长句、平行结构等）则可

16、创造性地采用公式化翻译、分译、合译、套译等翻译策略，以实现国际商务合同汉译文本的实际效果，大大提高合同翻译的质量。第六章是结论部分。总结全文，指出研究的局限性，提出进行相关研究的建议。关键词：功能主义；翻译策略；翻译行为；合同语言； ABSTRACTIn view of the unsatisfactory translation of international business contracts nowadays, this paper breaks away from the traditional study method of contract translation which

17、merely focuses on the linguistic features of contracts, and adopts the framework of German functionalism in the research on business contract translation. By adopting the top-down approach first advocated by Christian Nord as the dominant principle, the author intends to find out translation strateg

18、ies which are able to realize the translation skopos and text functions of contracts at macro level. Then, under the guidance of functionalism, the author makes study of contract translation methods in the bottom-up process in dealing with the linguistic features of contract at the micro level to ma

19、ke the translation version precise and accurate.The paper is composed of five chapters.Chapter one is to introduce the present situation of the E-C international business contract translation, analyzing the causes of the unsatisfactory contract translation and emphasizing the necessity of the curren

20、t research.Chapter two introduces the definitions and classification of contract and reveals general features and the functions of the international business English contracts. The author points out that the first step is a full understanding of a contract when do contract translation.Chapter three

21、makes a detailed comparison between English and Chinese business contracts as to similarities and differences at three levels. Similarities: 1 ) at the lexical level: frequent use of archaic words, formal or legal words and unique terminologies; 2) at the syntactic level: preference for verbs and no

22、uns, a limited number of conjunctions, adjectives and adverbs, rare use of pronouns; dominance of declarative sentences and conditional clauses, with no interrogative and imperative sentences; 3) at the textual level: repetition of words and rare use of pronouns as cohesive devices and frequent use

23、of parallel structures in terms of layout. Differences一1 ) at the lexical level: English business contracts often employ the parallel synonyms while Chinese versions never allow such a feature; 2) at the grammatical level: English business contracts prefer nouns, prepositions and articles, while few

24、erprepositions in Chinese versions. In addition, English business contracts prefer nominal groups and post-modifiers while in Chinese business contracts verb phrases and pre-modifiers are more frequently used.Chapter Four is the literature review of the development of functionalism, the representati

25、ve scholars of functionalism and their contributions to the translation theory. The author further analyzes the theoretical feasibility of applying functionalism to the E-C international business contract translation.Chapter Five is the study on the strategies for the E-C international business cont

26、ract translation under the guideline of functionalism. If we want to realize the communicative skopos of the TT , the starting point is to select strategies according to functionalism, different translation strategies should be adopted to treat different factors. If the retained structure of the Eng

27、lish contract is incompatible with that of the target language and unacceptable to the target text receivers, we should adopt flexible translation methods such as shift, conversion, omission, amplification, etc. As for translation of the modal verb “shall”, omission, combination or formula translati

28、on methods are chosen depending on its meaning in different situations. For archaism translation, formula translation is the most applicable strategy. For lengthy sentences division and combination is usually preferred. Omission or amplification is adopted respectively after classifying two kinds of

29、 parallel usage of synonyms.Chapter Six is the conclusion of the thesis. The author points out the limitation of the present study and tries to provide some constructive suggestions for the future study in this field. Key words: functionalism; translation strategies; translational action;contract la

30、nguage; ContentsAcknowledgementsi摘要iiABSTRACTivChapter One: Introduction1Chapter Two: Overview of International Business Contracts32.1 Definition of Contract32.2 Classification of Contract42.3 General Features of Contracts42.4 Functions of Contract5Chapter Three: A Comparison between English and Chi

31、nese Contracts73.1 Lexical Comparison73.1.1 Frequent Employment of Archaic Words83.1.2 Careful Choice of Legal Words83.1.3 Special Terminologies93.1.4 Preference for the Parallel Synonyms in English Contracts93.2 Syntactic Comparison103.2.1 Word Forms103.2.2 Phrase Type123.2.3 Sentence Type143.2.3.1

32、 Characteristic Sentence Type143.2.3.2 Distinctive Sentence Structures143.3 Textual Comparison14Chapter Four: The Functionalist Translation Theory164.1 The Development of Functionalism164.1.1 Katharina Reiss TranslationOriented Text Typology164.1.2 Justa Holz-Manttfiri: Translational Action174.1.3 H

33、ans J.Vermeers Skopos Theory184.1.4 Christiane Nord: Function plus Loyalty194.2 Key Concepts of German Functionalist Theories204.2.1 Text Type and Text Variety204.2.2 Skopos and Text Function224.2.3 Basic Rules of Skopos Theory244.2.3.1 The Skopos Rule244.2.3.2 The Coherence Rule254.2.3.3 The Fideli

34、ty Rule264.2.4 Translational Action and Translating274.3 The Theoretical Feasibility of Functionalism to the E-C International Business Contract Translation284.3.1 Contract Text and Contract Function284.3.2 Rules of Contract Translation304.3.3 The Contact Translational Action324.3.4 The Contract Tra

35、nslators Loyalty and the Fidelity of the Target Text32Chapter Five: Strategies for the E-C International Business Contract Translation355.1 Strategies Adopted in the Top-Down Process355.1.1 Equifunctional Translation365.1.1.1 Application to the Conventional Module Sentence Translation365.1.1.2 Appli

36、cation to the Conditional Clause Translation375.1.1.3 Application to the Terminology Translation395.1.2 Homologous Translation405.1.2.1 Application to the Word Level405.1.2.2 Application to the Sentence Level415.1.2.3 Application to the Passage Level425.1.2.4 Strategies Adopted in the Bottom-Up Proc

37、ess445.2.1 Conversion445.2.1.1 Conversion of Parts of Speech445.2.1.2 Sentence Pattern Conversion455.2.2. Amplification515.2.2.1 Semantic Amplification515.2.3 Repetition525.2.4 Omission525.2.5 Combination535.2.6 Division545.2.8 Shift of Adverbial Order555.2.8.1 Adverbials in the Main Clause555.2.8.2

38、 Adverbials in the Subordinate Clause56Chapter Six: Conclusion58Reference59Chapter One: IntroductionGenerally speaking, contracts are documents with legally binding effects, whose language falls into the category of legal language. In the recent decades, studies on contract translation usually adopt

39、 the bottom-up approach, which mainly focuses on the language features and views translation as a code-switching process. The special language features of legal documents (including business contracts) differ with those of other language varieties, such as science language, literature language, etc.

40、, in style and in structure. How to translate such a special text variety has drawn scholars special attention recently with Chinas entrance to the WTO. It marks a new era of Chinas globalization process and thereafter brings forth an urgent need of the successful translation of contract documents t

41、o make a step forward to the international markets. However, it is regretful that the quality of the current E-C contract translation isnt so satisfactory. Translation errors or mistakes occur in the E-C contract translation because of following reasons:Firstly, the target text cant keep fidelity to

42、 the source text (thereinafter shorted as the TT and the ST).According to him, contract documents are documents carrying legal effects and should fall into the category of the Black Letter Law(refers to the basic standard elements for a particular field of law, which are generally known and free fro

43、m doubt or dispute).In his opinion, fidelity is the foremost translation criteria of contract translation. He advocates the literal translation strategy as the preferable contract translation strategy to keep the linguistic structures and the semantic meaning of the TT equivalent to those of the ST.

44、Secondly, contract language features are complicated and distant form Chinese receivers as well as the contract translator. He calls for translators to pay special attention to contract language features at the lexical, syntactic and textual levels, for example, to identify clearly the relationship

45、of multi-level attributives to avoid translation mistakes.Last but not least, some contract translators are short of a comprehensive knowledge structure. The international business contract translation requires high accuracy and translators should be equipped with knowledge in the fields of law, int

46、ernational trade, engineering, tax, insurance, logistics, custom clearance, quality inspection and etc.The difficulties that a translator confronts in contract translation also include some purposive interpretation of contract clauses or intentional blurring of liabilities one party should carry for

47、 the breach of contract. Therefore, the contract translators should have high ethnic codes.We should admit both the two scholars positive contribution to contract translation studies. However, there are still some limitations in those studies, such as the first two reasons which cause the poor quali

48、ty of the E-C international business contract translation in Song leis analysis are contradictory with each other. If we try to retain the same structural features to achieve semantic identification between two languages by adopting the literal translation, its almost impossible. Just as he has said

49、, its really difficult for a translator to fully understand the original meaning of the ST. If it is not easy for a translator, a TT brought forth by this translation strategy would be even more difficult for the target culture receivers to understand.What should be considered as a successful transl

50、ation of the contract document or put it in another way, what are the principles of contract translation? According to functionalism, translation is a purposeful activity. And the translation of contract documents is a purposeful action in itself. That is why the present author adopts functionalism

51、as the theoretical basis to analyze various translation strategies for the E-C international business contact translation.Chapter Two: Overview of International Business Contracts2.1 Definition of ContractA contract ordinarily means an agreement between two or more persons-not merely a shared belief

52、, but a common understanding as to something that is to be done in the future by one, both or all of them. Contracts are essentially promises, or groups of promises, to do something in the future. If the promises have certain characteristics defined by law, then the promises give rise to rights that

53、 will be protected by law and the breach of the promises will give rise to enforced remedies. Contracts can be oral or written. In fact, contracts, in a broad sense, are so much a part of life in a society that you are probably unaware of how many contracts you make every day: two people exchanging

54、wedding vows enter into a contract of marriage; a person who has a child contracts to nurture and support that child; shoppers selecting food in a supermarket contract to purchase the goods for a stated amount. 1999 Chinese Contract Law defines contract as follows: A contract in this Law refers to a

55、n agreement establishing, modifying and terminating the civil rights and obligations between subjects of equal footing, that is, between natural persons, legal persons or other organizations. Steven H. Gifts says in Law Dictionary (1997:25):“A contract is a promise, or a set of promises, or breach of which the law gives remedy, or the performance of whi