An Analysis on English Translation of Typical Terms in Property Law: zhai jidi as an Example

By Zhao Xing

In partial fulfillment of the requirement

For the B. A. degree

Department of English

College of Liberal Arts

Nanjing University of Information Science amp; Technology

May 2018

Acknowledgements

The completion of the paper means it is time for us to bid farewell to the university life. Here, I would like to show my enormous gratitude to the teachers, classmates, and my parents.

First of all, I would like to show my sincere gratitude to my mentor Mr. Liu Jiehai. In the process of writing the paper, it was his careful guidance and help that contributed to the completion of my paper. At the same time, I was inspired by Mr. Liu’s rigorous academic attitude, profound knowledge, and patience, setting an excellent example for me to make unremitting endeavors to become better in the future.

I also sincerely appreciate teachers who selflessly spread knowledge and classmates who helped me in the four years. Their care and encourage let me have enough confidence and courage to meet the challenges of the future. At the same time, I would like to thank my parents who gave me life. They always made silent sacrifices and gave me encouragement and support when I felt confused.

Finally, I would like to thank all the teachers who reviewed the paper and participated in the oral defense.

Contents

1. Introduction 1

1.1 Property Law of People’s Republic of China 1

1.2 Legal terminology 1

2. Analysis on Official English translation of zhai jidi 2

2.1 Conceptual system of Property Law 2

2.1.1 Structure of Property Law 2

2.1.2 The term zhai jidi 3

2.2 Comments on official translation of zhai jidi 4

2.2.1 Violating the principle of accuracy 5

2.2.2 Violating the principle of systematism 6

2.2.3 Regional differences of terminology 7

2.3 Translation revised 7

3. Reasons for the defects in official translation 8

3.1 The status quo of legal translation 8

3.2 Characteristics of legal texts 8

3.3 Historical and cultural factors 9

3.4 The subjectivity of translator 9

4. Translation strategies 10

4.1 Functional equivalence 10

4.2 Paraphrase 10

4.3 Liberal translation 11

5. Conclusion 12

References 13

An Analysis on English Translation of Typical Terms in Property Law: zhai jidi as an Example

Zhao Xing

Department of English

College of Liberal Arts

Nanjing University of Information Science amp; Technology

Abstract: This study discusses the English translation of some special terms, particularly the name zhai jidi (宅基地) in Property Law according to the relevant theory of terminology. First, the paper introduces the definition of legal terms and the characteristics of a conceptual system of Property Law, focusing on the specific factors of defects in the translation of the term zhai jidi and the different reasons for these defects. Then, the paper proposes translation strategies for translating common legal terms to reduce unreasonable errors and improve quality of translation of legal terms.

Key words: legal translation, legal typical terms, zhai jidi, defects in translation, translation strategy

摘 要：本文对《物权法》中典型特色术语“宅基地”的英译进行了辨析。基于法律术语的概念、《物权法》概念体系和术语学相关理论分析了《物权法》官方译本中“宅基地”英译存在的问题及其表现。同时分析了翻译问题产生的原因，提出了优化的法律特色术语的翻译策略，以期优化特色术语“宅基地”的翻译，提高类似术语的翻译质量。

关键词：法律翻译；法律特色术语；宅基地；翻译缺陷；翻译策略

1. Introduction

1.1 Property Law of People’s Republic of China

The Property Law is a statute designed to safeguard the fundamental system of the country, maintain the order of the socialist market economy, define the ownership of objects, and protect the property rights of right holders. It mainly includes six parts: General Provisions, Ownership, Usufructuary Rights, Real Rights for Security, Possession and Supplementary Provisions (Jiang 2007:1-23). It adjusts the legal relationship between civil subjects. Therefore it has the nature of private law.
In China, the Constitution is the fundamental law, and other laws are common laws. Therefore, the Property Law is a common law. Since the Property Law adjusts property issues between civil subjects, it is also a property law. And one of the fundamental characteristics of the law is the compulsory enforcement by the state, that is to say the Property Law is also jus cogens^[1] (compelling law).

1.2 Legal terminology

The name “terminology”, the study of knowledge terms, was derived from the Latin word "terminus" which means “end and limitation”. Zheng (2005: 4-11) analyzed the methods used by foreign scholars with which the notion terminology is defined in the perspective of philosophy, logic, terminology and linguistics respectively. He thinks that terms are keywords aggregating systematic knowledge of a subject. Here “keyword” highlights the importance of terminology in studying professional glossary. Technically, a term can be either a word or a phrase, and the study of it, i.e., terminology is both systematic and logical. There is no doubt that with the continuous development of technology, innovation will continuously occur in terminology and that new terms will be used to express particular concepts.

Legal terminology is the invention of knowledge, and it is created by human beings in the course of long-term development and progress. Certain words will inevitably be used to express concepts when the ruling class use laws to govern the country and to adjust the relationships among various subjects, such as justifiable defense, criminal detention, combined punishment for several crimes in criminal law; bona fide acquisition, negotiorum gestio^[2], liens in civil law, etc. These words are collectively referred to as legal terminology, so it is not difficult to derive the meaning of legal terminology based on the definition of terminology: legal terminology are words or phrases used to express the concept of legal concepts.

2. Analysis on Official English translation of zhai jidi

2.1 Conceptual system of Property Law

2.1.1 Structure of Property Law

In Shang Jun Book, Shang Yang, a famous statesman of the Warring States Time, once said, “一兔走，百人逐之，非以兔为可分以为百，由名之未定也。夫卖兔者满市，而盗不敢取，由名分已定也。” In English, literally it means that the running rabbit belongs to no one, so everybody chased it and wanted to get it, and although the merchants sold many rabbits on the market, everyone did not dare to steal because the owner of the rabbit has been clearly defined. Thus we can see that the unclear attribution of ownership of goods will inevitably bring about the disorder of society, and an orderly society undoubtedly needs to be guaranteed by the Property Law. The Property Law of the People's Republic of China, which was adopted at the 5th session of the Tenth National People's Congress on March 16, 2007, was promulgated for effect as of October 1, 2007. It consists of five parts and 19 chapters, concluding 247 legal provisions. The specific structure in Chinese is shown in Table 1:

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