Analysis of the Cultural Connotations in Public Signs and their Translation Strategies

Analysis of the Cultural Connotations in Public Signs and their Translation Strategies

By Ai Xin

In partial fulfillment of the requirement

For the B.A. degree

Department of English

School of Languages and Cultures

Nanjing University of Information Science amp; Technology

June, 2017

Acknowledgements

The accomplishment of this thesis means that my four years of study in Nanjing University of Information Science amp; Technology will be finished. In this college, I’ve received a lot of guidance and encouragement, which has made a great difference both in my life and study. Thus, I’d like to express my appreciation to all who have helped and encouraged me a lot in the past four years.

Firstly, I’m sincerely grateful to my tutor, Professor Zhang Jun, for his valuable instruction and encouragement in my study especially in the process of finishing this thesis. Secondly, I would like to thanks the teachers who are working in the Department of English for their wonderful lectures, which has greatly enriched my horizon and encouraged me to finish this paper. Finally, I am greatly thankful to my families and friends, who have great confidence in me and have greatly encouraged me when I met some difficulties.

CONTENTS

Abstract 1

Chapter One. Introduction 3

1.1 Public Signs 3

1.2 Features of Public Signs 4

1.2.1 Concise Language 4

1.2.2 Simple Sentences 4

1.2.3 Suitable Mood 4

1.3 Basic Functions of Public Signs 5

Chapter Two. Cultural Connotations of Public Signs 6

2.1 Emphasis of Awareness of Laws 6

2.2 Highlight of Humanistic Care 6

2.3 Reflection of Animals-protecting 6

2.4 Reflex of Differences in Thinking 7

2.5 Reflection of Differences in Cultural Customs 7

Chapter Three. Translation Strategies of Public Signs 8

3.1 Literal Translation and Free Translation 8

3.1.1 Literal Translation 8

3.1.2 Free Translation 8

3.2 Domesticating and Foreignizing 10

3.2.1 Domesticating 10

3.2.2 Foreignizing 10

3.3 Omission and Amplification 11

3.3.1 Omission 11

3.3.2 Amplification 11

Chapter Four. Conclusion 12

References 13

Analysis of the Cultural Connotations in Public Signs and Their Translation Strategies

Ai Xin

Department of English

School of Languages and Cultures

Nanjing University of Information Science amp; Technology, Nanjing 210044

Abstract: Public signs can provide some information full of direction and persuasion for people, and have great influences on our lives. Recently, with the fast development of globalization, China's increasing international status and the growing development of China's tourism industry, bilingual signs have been more and more widely used in the public. And the translation of public signs has been playing an important role in cultural exchanges of countries. Thus, we need to pay much attention to the translation of public signs. This paper primarily discusses several translation strategies used in the translation of public signs. By means of analyzing the strategies used for translating public signs, we will do better in translating public signs and prompt cultural communications between countries.

The paper is made up of four chapters: Chapter One is the introduction, which presents the definition, features and basic functions of public signs. Chapter Two discusses cultural connotations of public signs. Chapter Three mainly discusses several strategies for the translation of public signs. Chapter Four is the conclusion, in which a brief summary will be made.

Key words: Public signs; Cultural connotations; Translation strategies

摘要：公共标识语能为人们提供信息，具有指向和劝导作用，在日常生活中发挥着不可替代的作用。近年来，随着全球化程度的日益加深、我国国际地位的日益提高以及我国旅游产业的日益发展，中英双语公示语在公共场所的应用也越来越普遍。此外，公示语的翻译在国家间的文化交流过程中起着非常重要的作用，因此，我们需要对公示语的翻译予以足够的重视。本文主要讨论公示语翻译中使用的不同策略。通过对公共标识语翻译策略的分析，我们将更好地翻译公共标识语，促进国家之间的文化交流。

本文共有四个章节。第一章对公示语的定义、特点和基本功能进行了简单的介绍；第二章主要讨论公示语的文化内涵；第三章主要探讨了公示语翻译的几种策略；第四章是结论，对文章总体进行了简要的概括。

关键字：公共标识语；文化内涵；翻译策略

Chapter One. Introduction

1.1 Public Signs

“Public signs are characters, words and graphic information that are closely related to people’s life, environment and business, and intend to have the functions of notifying, directing, displaying, warning and labeling to the public.” (Daiamp;Lv, 2005:38) As a special kind of applied texts, signs are widely used in the public places to convey some useful information, which will make a great difference in our social lives. They make our lives easier and more exciting when we are familiar with them. However, every coin has two sides. Although public signs are of great benefit to make our social lives easier, sometimes they also cause us problems. For example, the misunderstanding of public signs of a tourist in a foreign country will affect the image of this city even our country. Therefore, “Translation of public signs is the concrete embodiment of a country’s level in foreign exchange and its construction of humanized environment.” (Huang, 2004:5) In fact, several researches of public signs have been carried out, but the citizens haven’t paid much attention to translating public signs, which will affect the cultural communication between countries. Thus, it’s essential for us to attract people’s attention to the translation of public signs.

1.2 Features of Public Signs

Signs belong to functional varieties. They are distinguished from other types of languages by their unique features embodied in their applied circumstances. Generally speaking, there are several features.

1.2.1 Concise Language

The space of public signs that we can write words on is so limited that the expressions must be concise and neat with no associated words. And the words that are unnecessary in that expression must be omitted. The most important purpose of the expressions is to provide great, directive and accurate information for the public in a very short time with the most concise words or simple sentences. For example, “No U Turns”, “Low Bridge Ahead” and “Out of Bounds” are more often used than a translated sentence. The most striking feature of both Chinese and English public identifiers is the direct and concise expression.

1.2.2 Simple Sentences

In the language of public signs, statements are often used in the translation to convey some indicative and informative information to citizens, and imperative sentences are often used to convey some warning information. And in some English public signs, some articles, auxiliary verbs or copulas will be omitted to make the sentence simpler. For example, “Road Closed” is often used instead of “The Road Is Closed”. And the public signs designed to prompt, restrict or enforce the immediate behavior of the public in the particular environment in which they are located, often use the simple present tense generally. For example, “This lift is only for construction personal”.

1.2.3 Suitable Mood

We all know that public signs can convey some useful information to people, which can be regarded as a communication between objects and people. Thus, we must pay enough attention to the tone of the expressions written on the board. In a word, the expressions of signs must be comfortable for the public, such as “How can we disturb it when the grass is sleeping”, “Please wait here for enquiries” and “Please Use Yours with Consideration For others”.

1.3 Basic Functions of Public Signs

Signs perform four basic functions: indicating, promoting, restricting and compelling. The indicating public signs are designed to offer some indication or guidance to the citizens. This kind of public signs, without tough tone and negative words, can offer the citizens detailed information about certain things. And this function goes hand in hand with the other three functions. Each type of signs has indicating function, such as “Toilet for Men”, and “Toilet for Women”. And the basic function of indicating signs is to provide citizens with some detailed information to make our daily lives easier.

The difference between prompting signs and indicating signs is that prompting signs have the tone of warning and the tone of indicating signs is gentler. And the purpose of it is to attract people’s attention.

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