1、 CONTENTS Abstract. . .1 Introduction. . .2 Chapter 1 Literature Review .5 1.1 Definition of Prompting Public Signs. . .5 1.2 Prior Studies of C-E Translation of Prompting Public Signs. .6 Chapter 2 Language Features of Prompting Public Signs.10 2.1 Conciseness . .10 2.2 Common Vocabulary 11 2.3 Att
2、ractiveness and Markedness1 1 2.4 Conventional Expressions 12 2.5 Euphemistic Representation . 12 Chapter 3 Principles of C-E Translation of Prompting Public Signs.14 3.1 Readability. 14 3.2 Economical Word Employment. . 16 3.3 Functional Equivalence. .17 3.4 Situational Coherence . . 19 3.5 Conform
3、ity in Emotional Evocation . . .20 Chapter 4 Strategies for C-E Translation of Prompting Public Signs. .22 4.1 Borrowing. 22 4.2 Negation . 24 4.3 Omission. . . . 25 4.4 Substituting . . 26 4.5 Zero Translation. . . 28 Conclusion. . .30 Notes. . . . . 32 Bibliography. . . . . 33 Acknowledgements. .3
4、4 1 On C-E Translation of Prompting Public Signs Abstract: As a specific text form, the application of public signs has a long history and is in close attach with all aspects of our life. Acting as the face of a city, public signs are a showplace for our natives as well as the foreigners to get a be
5、tter understanding of the spiritual appearance and all fields of China. Thus they affect a foreigners first impression of China when he visits this country. Then it is natural that the prompting public signs, an important part of public signs, are a crucial component of a nations external publicity.
6、 Their translation standard would directly influence the accuracy and quality of the information conveyance and cultural transmission, and further impact the foreign exchange and human environmental construction of a country. For the above reasons, this paper aims at conducting a concrete analysis a
7、nd study on the translation of Chinese prompting public signs to explore the translation principles and improve the translation strategies. Key Words: prompting public signs; translation principles; translation strategies 2 论提示性公示语的英译 摘要 :公示语作为一种特定功能的文本形式，应用历史悠久，其运用范围之广泛几乎涉及到我们生活的方方面面。充当“城市面孔”的公示语 是
8、国人以及世界了解中国各个方面的情况及精神风貌的窗户， 是给来中国的外国人士留下第一印象的中国名片 。而 作为公示语一份子的提示性公示语，是国家对外宣传翻译不可忽视的一部分，其翻译水平直接影响到信息的准确传达和文明传播，进而影响中国对外交流水平和人文环境建设。基于以上原因， 本文旨在对提示性公示语的英译进行细致的分析和研究 ,探究其翻译原则， 改善其翻译策略。 关键词 :提示性公示语；翻译原则；翻译策略 3 Introduction Nowadays, globalization is the main trend of the evolution of our world, and the i
9、nternational economic activities have become more and more frequent. Under such a circumstance, a countrys economic and political development increasingly depends on the international communication and cooperation. Thus, for a better cross-cultural understanding, it becomes crucial for a nation to i
10、mprove its language environment. As an essential part of foreign-advocating media, public signs have made a great contribution to a countrys language and cultural environment construction. According to the different functions, public signs are classified into four categories, with prompting public s
11、igns as one kind. Since public signs act as the face of a city, reflecting the spiritual and cultural condition of it, they affect the foreigners first impressions of a city, and further influence their attitudes towards this country. As a result, the accuracy and quality of the public signs transla
12、tion is a showplace of a nations foreign exchange level. As an important component of public signs, prompting public signs are mainly designed to send some warm messages to the public and remind the target readers of the correct conducts for their own sake. For the above reasons, the translation of
13、prompting public signs also plays a fairly significant 4 role in our daily life and any misunderstanding arising from it may cause some serious social problems. For the above-mentioned reasons, great efforts should be made to explore and improve the translation of prompting public signs and make thi
14、s kind of text play its full role in serving the public. However, many problems regarding the translation of public signs still exist in a common way. Moreover, though many scholars have made enormous previous researches on the translation of public signs, a systematic and comprehensive research of
15、the prompting public signs translation still remains as an unfinished task. Thus, it is quite necessary and urgent to make a specific study on this subject. 5 Chapter 1 Literature Review Public signs are frequently used in our daily life and influence every aspect of our life. Prompting public signs
16、, as one type of public signs, play great social functions. The part of prompting public signs cant be replaced by other things, for they are mainly designed to provide the suggestive information to guide the correct conducts of the citizens and warn the potential danger in public. Therefore, it is
17、fairly necessary to carry out a study on prompting public signs for a better understanding of such a kind of text form. To start with this research, it first comes to us that what prompting public signs are and what prior studies on their translation have been done. 1.1 Definition of Prompting Publi
18、c Signs When we look up the term “prompting public sign” in English dictionaries, we may find no clear definition for it. But through its literal level, we can get the first impression that it is a kind of signs. Then what are the signs? There are many versions about the definition of“ sign”. In New
19、 oxford Dictionary of English (2001), “sign” is defined as a notice that is publicly displayed giving information or instruction in a written or symbolic form. According to professor Dai 6 Zongxian (戴宗显 ) and L Hefa (吕和发 ) in their paper “On C-E Translation of Public Signs” (2005), public signs refe
20、r to “the characters and symbols which are closely related to all aspects of peoples life and displayed in public.”1 When mentioning the definition of a sign, the “public” place where it is found is always emphasized. Public signs have four main functions, which are “directing, prompting, restrictin
21、g and compelling”. Thus, prompting public signs are signs that play the role of prompting the public, giving the target readers some related suggestive information or reminding the audience of the potential danger nearby, with a view to guiding the proper and correct behaviors of the target readers.
22、 In Chinese, the term “prompting public signs” is equal to “提示性公示语 ”,“提示语 ”. Within prompting public signs, there exist descriptive public signs and warning public signs. The former ones are signs that indicate the messages which are relevant to the surrounding places or organizations, while the lat
23、ter ones point out the hidden danger to arouse the attention of the target readers and ensure their safety. 1.2 Prior Studies of C-E Translation of Prompting Public Signs With Chinas rapid economic globalization, English is becoming more and more important in our daily life. To facilitate the intern
24、ational communication, many things need to be translated into English. “The twentieth century is sometimes called the age of translation or 7 reproduction.” 2 Till now， there have widely appeared bilingual expressions of Public signs. So the research on public signs and their translation into Englis
25、h is becoming a hot topic, and is drawing attention from academic field and even from the government. As a result, the translation of prompting public signs has benefited a lot from these changes. In 1992,Yu Genyuan(于根元 ) expressed his viewpoint on Chinese signs in his book Four Hundred cases of Adv
26、ertisements, Slogans and Posters Analysis (广 告，标语，招贴用语评析 400 例 )and Gong Qianyan also analyzed public signs in his article“Studies on social application of languages”( 社会用语研究诌议 ). As early as in 1998，in He Zirans edited book papers on socio-pragmatics( 社 会 语用 建设 论文集 ), scholars began to pay attentio
27、n to the sign translation and pragmatic failures in terms of pragmatics. Later, many academic writings regarding this area appear in an enormous way. The following is a list of some relevant important works. In 2002, “public signs” was first systematically studied by Bei Zhu and Shan Aimin (北竹、单爱民，
28、2002) in their paper “On the language feature and C-E translation of public signs” ( “谈英语公示用语的语言特点与汉英翻译 ”). In the next year, Li Changjiang (栗长江 ), published an article in Chinese Translators Journal, “English Translation of Signs and Words of Caution in Public Places” (“公安标示语和警示语的特点 ”)， in 8 which
29、the author discussed the necessity and characteristics of warning signs translation as well as came up with some practical translation strategies. In 2003, the first special dictionary on standardization of C-E and E-C sign translation edited by Yu Fulin(余富林 ) was published. C-E Translation of Publi
30、c Signs ( 公示语汉英翻译 ) edited by professor L Hefa(吕和发 ) and Wang Ying (王颖 ) was published by China Translation & Publishing Corporation. It contains many photos of public signs and covers a wide range of various signs. This book has made a specific and comprehensive collection of C-E public signs trans
31、lation and has been considered as a micropaedia for the translation of public signs of different functions. The above mentioned are some major theoretical achievements. In the ordinary life, many efforts have also been made to improve the standard of C-E translation of prompting public signs. In som
32、e universities, many professors organized students to identify translation errors and then compiled articles to correct them. In Beijing International Studies University, professors Dai Zongxian and L Hefa defined public signs and classified their functions. They founded the research center of public signs and collected the original texts from London, and set up the websites to identify errors of public signs and discuss their correct translations with the cyber citizens on line. The media also played a crucial and active role to arouse the public awareness of this issue and
