功能主义目的论视角下的公示语汉英翻译的中期报告

功能主义目的论视角下的公示语汉英翻译的中期报告Functionalismandthepurpose-orientedapproachinthetranslationofChinese-Englishpublicsigns:MidtermreportAbstractWiththeincreasingglobalizationandinternationalizationofsociety,thetranslationofpublicsignshasbecomeincreasinglyimportant,especiallyinmultilingualandmultinationalareas.ThispaperfocusesonthetranslationofpublicsignsfromChinesetoEnglishfromtheperspectiveoffunctionalismandthepurpose-orientedapproach.ByanalyzingandcomparingthelanguagefeaturesandculturaldifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglish,thispaperaimstoexploretheprinciplesandmethodsoftranslation,andprovidepracticalguidanceforimprovingthequalityoftranslationandenhancingcross-culturalcommunication.Keywords:functionalism;purpose-orientedapproach;publicsigns;Chinese-EnglishtranslationIntroductionPublicsignsareanimportantcarrierofinformationandacrucialelementincommunicationandsociallife.Asabasicformoflinguisticexpression,publicsignsoftenplayanessentialroleindailyactivities,suchasroadtraffic,publictransportation,emergencyrescue,tourism,andsoon.Infact,publicsignsareubiquitousinourdailylife,andtheyarealsopresentinvariouslanguagesandcultures.However,duetothedifferencesinlanguagesystems,culturalbackgrounds,andsocialcontexts,thetranslationofpublicsignshasalwaysbeenachallengingtask.Inrecentyears,scholarsandpractitionershavepaidmoreattentiontothetranslationofpublicsigns,anddifferenttranslationtheoriesandmethodshavebeenproposedandapplied.Amongthem,functionalismandthepurpose-orientedapproacharetwoinfluentialtranslationparadigmsthatprovidetheoreticalandpracticalguidancefortranslationpractice.Functionalismfocusesonthefunctionalequivalenceandcommunicativelanguageuse,emphasizingthepurposeandfunctionofthetargettext.Thepurpose-orientedapproachemphasizesthetranslationpurposeandtheresponsetothetargetreaders,aimingatreachingthetranslationgoalseffectivelyandefficiently.Basedonthesetheoreticalframeworks,thispaperaimstoinvestigatethetranslationprinciplesandmethodsofpublicsignsfromChinesetoEnglish,andprovidepracticalguidancefortranslatorsandstakeholdersinthisfield.Thepaperconsistsoffourparts:thefirstpartintroducesthebackgroundandsignificanceoftheresearch;thesecondpartpresentsaliteraturereviewoftherelevanttheoriesandstudies;thethirdpartanalysesthelanguagefeaturesandculturaldifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglish,andexploresthetranslationprinciplesandmethodsbasedonfunctionalismandthepurpose-orientedapproach;thefourthpartconcludeswithsomesuggestionsontheimprovementoftranslationqualityandcross-culturalcommunication.LiteratureReviewTranslationtheoryisamultidisciplinaryfieldthatcoversdifferentareas,suchaslinguistics,culturalstudies,sociology,psychology,andsoon.Intheareaofpublicsigntranslation,differenttheoriesandmethodshavebeenproposedandapplied,andsomeofthemhaveachievedsignificantprogressandrecognition.Functionalismisaprominenttranslationparadigmthatemphasizesthefunctionalequivalenceandpragmaticfunctionofthetargettext.Accordingtothisview,translationisnotaprocessoftransferringwordsorsentencesfromthesourcelanguagetothetargetlanguage,butaprocessofcreatingatargettextthatservesthesamecommunicativefunctionasthesourcetext.Hoey’s(1991)theoryoflexicalprimingandHalliday’s(1973)systemic-functionalgrammarareimportanttheoreticalpillarsoffunctionalism,whichprovideinsightsintothelanguageuseandcommunicativepurposeoftexts.Thepurpose-orientedapproachisanotherinfluentialtranslationparadigmthatfocusesonthetranslationpurposeandtheresponsetothetargetreaders.Thisapproachemphasizestheimportanceofdefiningthetranslationgoalsandmakingstrategicdecisionsontranslationmethodsandtechniques.Nord’s(1991)functionalisttext-typologymodelandReiss’(1971)translationfunctionmodelarerepresentativeexamplesofthepurpose-orientedapproach,whichprovidepracticalguidancefortranslationpractice.Inthefieldofpublicsigntranslation,somescholarshaveappliedthesetheoriesandmethodstoexplorethetranslationprinciplesandmethods.Forexample,Zhang(2012)proposeda“functionalistandcultural-faithful”approachtothetranslationofChinesepublicsigns,whichemphasizesthefunctionalequivalenceandculturalauthenticityofthetargettext.QiandWang(2016)analyzedthetranslationstrategiesandprinciplesofChinesepublicsigns,andproposeda“dynamicequivalenceandculturaladaptation”approachtoachieveeffectivecommunicationacrosscultures.Thesestudieshaveprovidedvaluableinsightsintothetranslationofpublicsigns,butmoreresearchisstillneededtoexplorethespecificfeaturesandchallengesofChinese-Englishpublicsigntranslation,andtoprovidemorepracticalguidancefortranslatorsandstakeholders.AnalysisandDiscussionLanguageFeaturesandCulturalDifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglishChineseandEnglisharetwodifferentlanguageswithdifferentlanguagesystemsandculturalbackgrounds,whichposechallengesandopportunitiesfortranslation.Intermsofgrammar,Chineseisamonosyllabic,agglutinativeandtonallanguage,whileEnglishisapolysyllabic,inflectionalandstress-timedlanguage.Intermsofvocabulary,Chinesehasarichsystemofcharacters,idiomsandproverbs,whileEnglishhasalargevocabularyofLatinandGreekorigin,aswellasloanwordsfromotherlanguages.Intermsofculture,Chinahasalonghistoryandrichculturalheritage,whicharereflectedinitslanguage,literature,art,philosophy,andsoon,whileEnglish-speakingcountrieshavediverseanddynamiccultures,whichareinfluencedbytheirhistorical,geographical,andsocialcontexts.Theselanguagefeaturesandculturaldifferenceshaveimplicationsforthetranslationofpublicsigns.Forexample,inChinese-Englishpublicsigntranslation,thechoiceofvocabulary,syntax,anddiscoursepatternsshouldbebasedonthefunctionalequivalenceandculturaladaptationprinciples,toensuretheclarity,accuracy,andculturalauthenticityofthetargettext.Thetranslationshouldalsotakeintoaccountthesocialcontextsandtargetreaders,andadoptappropriatestrategiesandtechniquestoachieveeffectivecommunicationandcross-culturalunderstanding.TranslationPrinciplesandMethodsBasedonFunctionalismandthePurpose-orientedApproachBasedontheanalysisofthelanguagefeaturesandculturaldifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglish,thispaperproposesthefollowingtranslationprinciplesandmethodsforpublicsigntranslation:1.Focusonthefunctionandpurposeofthepublicsign,andaimatachievingthesamecommunicativeeffectinthetargetlanguageasinthesourcelanguage.2.Selectappropriatevocabulary,syntax,anddiscoursepatternsbasedonthefunctionalequivalenceandculturaladaptationprinciples,andensureclarity,accuracy,andculturalauthenticityofthetargettext.3.Takeintoaccountthesocialcontextsandtargetreaders,andadoptappropriatetranslationstrategiesandtechniques,suchasparaphrasing,simplification,expansion,substitution,addition,deletion,andlocalization.4.Payattentiontothevisualandgraphicelementsofthepublicsign,andensuretheconsistencyandcompatibilityofthevisualandlinguisticmessages.5.Applyqualitycontrolmeasurestoensuretheaccuracyandconsistencyofthetranslation,andinvolvestakeholdersinthetranslationprocesstoprovidefeedbackandsuggestions.ConclusionandSuggestionsThetranslationofpublicsignsisanimportanttaskthatrequirestheapplicationofvarioustranslationtheoriesandmethods,aswellastheunderstandingofthelanguagefeaturesandculturaldifferencesbetweenthesourceandtargetlanguages.ThispaperhasinvestigatedthetranslationofChinese-Englishpublicsignsfromtheperspectiveoffunctionalismandthepurpose-orientedapproach,andproposedsometranslationprinciplesandmethodsforenhancingthequalityoftranslationandpromotingcross-culturalcommunication.However,moreresearchisstillneededtoexplorethepracticalimplicationsofthesep