Analysis of Common Errors in Translation.docx
- 文档编号:30489376
- 上传时间:2023-08-15
- 格式:DOCX
- 页数:9
- 大小:22.23KB
Analysis of Common Errors in Translation.docx
《Analysis of Common Errors in Translation.docx》由会员分享,可在线阅读,更多相关《Analysis of Common Errors in Translation.docx(9页珍藏版)》请在冰豆网上搜索。
AnalysisofCommonErrorsinTranslation
1.Introduction
Publicsignsarethosewordsandgraphicimagesabouttheirlife,preduction,livesandecologyfacethepublicopenly,suchasnotices,instructions,tips,indications,warmingsandspeciments.[1]Asanimportantelementofurbanhumanenvironment,toacertainextent,itreflectsthelocallevelsofinternationalliteracyandculturalliteracy.Chinese-Englishtranslationofpublicsignsisakindofopeningandfacingthepublicinordertoachieveacommunicativepurposeofaspecialstyle.Therangeofapplicationsinvolvingalmosteveryaspectofourlives,suchas,roadsigns,billboards,shopsigns,promotionallanguageinpublicplaces,tourismprofileandsoon.Onthestyle,publicsignshavesomefeatures:
First,terse.Suchas,“市区公共汽车专用”(CityBusesOnly);second,codeofrules,namelyaccordingwiththecharacteristicsofBritishandAmericanpeople’slanguagehabits.Forexample,“办理入住/离店手续”(Checkout/Checkin);third,intertext,as“油漆未干”(Wetpaint!
).[2]Aboutthewordingmeaning,publicsignsarethecombinationofperlocutionaryactandillocutionaryact.However,inourdailylife,translatingthepublicsignsalwaysignorethesefeatures,whichleadstothemeaningcouldn’tbetransmittedandacceptedsmoothly.NextwewillmakeasimpleanalysisabouttheChinese-Englishmistranslationsofpublicsigns.
2.Wordinganalysisofpublicsignstranslation
Swedishscholar,J.Allwoodhassaid“Thecenteropinionofpragmatics,Ithinkitisregardedexchangeoflanguageinformationasabehaviorandinteractionbetweenthesenderandtherecipient.Thesendersendsallkindsofinformationact,someisspeechact,andsomeisnon-verbalbehavior.Therecipientwillhavesomereaction:
understandornot,hewilltakedifferentkindofpositionandformvariousattitude,atthesametimedosomereaction.”[3]Publicsign,asakindofpracticallanguagethatwidelyusedinpublicplaces,althoughitisdiversityonthesubstance,inessence,it’sincidentofcommunication.So,theChinese-Englishtranslationofpublicsignsmustbesatisfiedwithtworequirements:
perlocutionaryactandillocutionaryact.
However,themistranslationofpublicsignscanbefoundeverywhereinourdailylife.Itsrootisnoneotherthanthetargetlanguagediscoursethediscourseofthelanguageisunequalonillocutionaryforce,whichledtothefailureoftheintentionofcommunication.
2.1Themainformofexpressiononmistranslation
2.1.1InformationProcessing
Whethertheinformationisstrongornot,itistheprerequisitethatdeterminethedegreeofdiscourseintendtoconveythepremiseissmoothornot.Asalanguagethatusedinpublicplaces,thepurposeofthepublicsignsistoprovidethepublicwithdetailedandthoughtfulinformationservices.Thereforeononehand,informationmustbetrueandcopious,ontheotherhand,itcannotbetoomuchortoolittle,toavoidunnecessarywasteoftimeandenergy.Atpresent,partoferrorsabouttranslationofpublicsignscausedbytheimproperinformationprocessing:
someinformationabouttranslationisnoteasytoread;someofferedfalseinformationthatmisleadthepublicdirectly.
(1)Theproblemofinformationburdensomeortheshortageofinformation.
Insomepublicplaces,thetranslationofpublicsignsistooonerous,translationcontentisduplicationandevenusedmetaphor,personificationandotherrhetoric.Forexample,ashop’strademarkinascenicspot,wroteDrinks:
“HotandColdDrinks”,repeatedtheword“drinks”;apark“请勿踩踏草坪”wastranslatedbyapersonificationway“GrassisSmilingSlight,PleaseWalkonPavement”,thisneedspeopletoguessitsmeaningcarefully;astreetpromotionalbanner“中国金都,山东招远”,wastranslatedbyametaphorway“ZhaoyuanCityofShandongProvinceistheGoldCapitalofChina”,here,“GoldCapital”willhavedifferentunderstanding,buthere“金都”referstoarichgoldreserve.
Contrarytoinformationburdensome,theinformationisincomplete,aswellasconciseexpressionwouldcauseinconveniencetopeopleunderstanding.Suchasadepartmentstoretranslated“一律十元”as“AllCommoditiesareRMB”madepeoplecouldn’tunderstandit.Anotherexample,anAutomatedTellerMachinethatwrote“IfYourCardIsWithinPleaseConnectWithXXX”,thegrammarandvocabularyisconfused,alsoitisimpossibletodistinguishthesemantic.
(2)Informationisuntrue.
Publicsignisakindofmediathatofferspracticalinformationforthepublic,iftheunknowninformationwillmakepeople’slifeinconvenience,thefalseoftheinformation’scontentwillbemoreseriousaffectpeople’slife.Thiskindoferrorisverycommonintheintroductionofscenicspots.Forexample,“清顺治帝在此入关后继皇帝位,并颁布第一道大赦令”wastranslatedas“WhenEmperorShunzhioftheQingDynastyascendedthethrone,heissuedhisfirstdecreeatthisgate”,thetranslationofthissentencewithoutanygrammarerrors,“decree”,generally,referstoordinance,governmentorder,itisdifferentfrom“大赦令”(amnesty),iftheforeignvisitorsdothesameunderstandingofthismeaning,theywilldistorttheoriginalmeaning.Anotherexample,aprovisionshopthatread“热红茶-Tea;热牛奶-Milk;水冲方便面-Noodle”,unawareofthetruth,I'mafraidthatforeignvisitorswillfallintoatrap.Suchkindofmisleadingpublicsignsmakepeopleunderstanditwithtroubles.
2.1.2IrrationalExpression
(1)Intertextualitylacking.
Intertextualityreferstooneorsomesymbolicsysteminanotherorseveralsymbolsinthesystemconversionandthestyleorintentionoftheoriginallanguageofdiscoursecanberetainwellintargetlanguagediscourse.[4]Suchassomeonetranslated“验票处”inChineseorder,“CheckTicket”;also,someoneeventranslatedit“TicketChecking”;butthecorrecttranslationis“TicketCheck”.Ascenicspottranslated“保护文物,爱护护栏”as“HelpProtecttheCulturalRelics,HelpProtecttheRailing”,here“Help”iscompletelydoanunnecessarything.Anotherexample,“禁止车辆通行”wastranslatedwordbyword,“ProhibitVehiclePassingThrough”,butinEnglish-speakingcountriesalwayssay“NoThoroughfare”.
(2)Languageculturalconflicting.
Ondifferentoccasionshavedifferentrulesofdiscourse.Onlyconformingtothepublic’srequirementatthatgiventimeandplace,theinformation,whichistransmittedbypublicsign,willbeacceptedwidely.Suchas,asupermarkettranslated“干货”as“FuckGoods”,“Fuck”isakindofvocabularythathasthemeaningofinsult,itshouldn’tusedinpublicplaceslikesupermarket,evenmoreit’sdifficulttoaccept.Anotherexample,“民族园”istranslatedas“RacistPark”,buttheword“Racist”isfullofmeaningofracialdiscrimination,theforeignvisitorswillbedisgustedwhentheyseeit,howcantheyacceptandunderstanditinacorrectway.Aboveall,themistakenofpragmaticcanreflectnotonlyistheproblemsofproficiencyaboutusingtheforeignlanguage,alsoitwillberegardedasinterrogators’akindofroughandmaliciousactionbyinformationreceivers.[5]
2.2CommonTypeoftheErrorofTranslationofPublicSign
2.2.1WordforWordTranslation
ThiskindoftranslationistranslatingChineseintoEnglishwordforwordinastiffway,itisakindoftypical“Chingilish”,italwaysmakesmisunderstandingbecauseofthedifferentculturebetweenChinaandwesterncountries,alsogivesthebadimpressionforthepublic.Forexample,“兰州是我家,清洁靠大家”istranslatedas“Lanzhouisourhome,soeachofusshouldkeepitclean”.Thissentencewithoutanymistake,butIthinkthemorecorrecttranslatedversionshouldbe“PleaseKeepLanzhouCleanandClear”.Theword“Please”makesthissentencenotfeelstiffandmakesthesentencemuchmorenaturalandcordial,the“ourcity”iseasytomakeforeignersfeelrepugnance,asiftellingthemthatbecarefulfortheenvironmentalsanitation,don’tpullettheenvironmentofourcity.Thiskindoftranslationisthesourcethatcausesthemisunderstanding.
2.2.2Mistranslation
Beforetranslating,weshouldanalyzethecontentcarefully.Ifwedon’tcompletelyunderstandandadmittheideasofthecontent,wewillhavenowayoftranslatinginacorrectway.
(1)Directiveisn’tclear.
Directiveisoneofthefunctionsofthepublicsigns.Inthepracticaltranslation,translatorsleaveoutsoimportantelementsthatleadtotheshortageoftheinformation,whichmakepeoplefeelempty.Forexample,inadepartmentstore,ontheshelfmarked“小心!
”,theEnglishtranslationis“BeCareful!
”.Thereisanerroraboutuncleardirective,whichcommandswhatcustomersshouldtakeprecautions?
Then,therighttranslationis“HandlewithCare!
”.Anotherexample,“花鸟市场”istranslatedas“FlowerMarket”,clearly,halfoftheinformationislost.Althoughthepublicsign’stranslationshouldfollowtheprincipleofeconomy,buttheblindwillonlyresultinmissinginformationisomitted,leadingtounclearinstructions.
(2)Intentionisdistorted.
Relativetothedirectiveisnotclear,intentionisdistortedismuchmoreserious,whichleaddirectlytotheintentandlanguagedoesnotmatchthepublicsign,then,itwillcausesomebewildermentandmisunderstanding.Inthiscase,thepublicsign’stips,instructions,thefunctionofcross-referencecouldnotberealized,orevencounterproductive,receivedundeservednegativeeffects.Suchaswroteonethesigninfrontofshoppingmalls“Welcomeyouagain”.Inaccordancewiththecontext,Chinesepeoplecandeducethemeaningis“欢迎再来”.But,“again”inEnglish,means“oncemore”,sotheforeignpeoplewilldoubtthat“Thisismyfirsttimetovisithere,whytheywelcomemetwice”.Inapark,abigbanneronthelakewrote“小心掉到湖!
”,theEnglishtranslationis“Carefullyfalldowntothelake!
”.ForthosepeoplewhocouldnotunderstandChinese,theythinkthatre
- 配套讲稿:
如PPT文件的首页显示word图标,表示该PPT已包含配套word讲稿。双击word图标可打开word文档。
- 特殊限制:
部分文档作品中含有的国旗、国徽等图片,仅作为作品整体效果示例展示,禁止商用。设计者仅对作品中独创性部分享有著作权。
- 关 键 词:
- Analysis of Common Errors in Translation