Abstract

The translation standard of road signs can be categorized into two types at different levels—one is at national level and the other is at municipal level. The unity of translation standard of road signs improves language environment of a city, and shows foreigners civilization and etiquette. According to the national standard, proper names and common names shall be spelt in pinyin while according to the municipal standard proper names shall be spelt in pinyin and common names shall be translated into English. In order to make a conclusion of the municipal standard, the thesis collected 100 photos of road signs in Yancheng and searches for information about the use of English in public signs of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong. The author analyses and makes a comparison between the translation strategies used in the national standard and the municipal standard. The translation strategy used in the former standard is transliteration and that used in the later one is transliteration combined with the free translation. It is showed that this strategy can help target readers capture the useful information quickly.  

Key words: road signs; translation standard; Yancheng

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

1 Introduction-1

2 Literature Review-3

2.1 Introdution to the National Standards-3

2.2 Introduction to the Municipal Standards-4

2.2.1 Standard of Beijing-4

2.2.2 Standard of Shanghai-5

2.2.3 Standard of Guangdong-7

3 Methodology-8

3.1 Analysis of Road Signs in Yancheng-8

3.2 Comparisons Between the Two Standards-10

3.2.1 Advantages-10

3.2.2 Disadvantages-11

4 Countermeasures to the Translation of Road Signs in Yancheng-12

4.1 Transliteration plus Paraphrase-12

4.2 Unified Standard-12

4.3 Qualified Team-13

5 Conclusion-13

References-15