Abstract

With rapid development of the China’s economy and the expansion of international communication, more and more foreigners come to China for their business, education and tourism. Yancheng as a developing city in China, its communication with the international community was in a growing trend. More and more foreigners appeared here. English is one of the most fashionable languages in the world. So the C-E translation of the public signs which help the foreigners live better here is quite important. However, because of being a small city, Yancheng doesn’t get many scholars’ attention. And previous researches are not systematic.

    As public garden signs are especially designed for the foreign friends, the purpose of the signs translation is to ensure the foreigners completely understand the messages that source text conveys. This thesis tries to illustrate how to do a good translation of public garden signs by the usage of Christina Nord’s theory. 

Key words: public signs, Chinese-English translation, Nord’s theory, translation principles

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1 Introduction 1

1.1 Background-1

1.2 Significance of the Research-1

1.3 Present Situation of Translation of Public Signs-2

2 Literature Review-2

2.1 Previous Studies of Public Signs Translation-2

2.2 Limitations of the Previous Studies-3

3 General Introduction to Public Signs-3

3.1The Definition of Public Signs-3

3.2 The Function of Public Signs-4

3.3 The Classification of Public Signs-4

3.4 The Characteristics of Public Signs-5

4 Theoretical Preliminaries-5

4.1 The Foundation of Nord’s Theory-5

4.2 Nord’s Theory-5

4.2.1 Key terms and Concepts-5

4.2.2 Nord’s Contributions to Functionalism-6

5 Application of Nord’s Functionalism to the Translation of Public Garden Signs-7

5.1 Brief Introduction of Yandu Park and Shui Jie-7

5.2 Brief Introduction to Functionalism-8

5.2.1 Skopos Theory-8

5.2.2 Text Typology-8

5.2.3 Theory of Translation Action-9

5.2.4 Functionality plus Loyalty-9

5.3 The Analysis about Translation of Public Garden Signs-10

6 Conclusion-13

6.1 Significance of the Study-13

6.2 Recommendations for the Further Research-13

References-15