英语公益广告翻译

上海海事大学外国语学院院系航运英语专业年级英航121学生姓名严明学号 201210811032指导教师陈书鹏二○一四年六月The study on the translation of Chinese PSA culture from the Functional Skopos Translational Theory严明201210811032 英航121TABLE OF CONTENTSAbstract (2)1.The definition and importance of PSA (2)2. The problems and cultural difference in the translation of Chinese PSA (2)2.1 The problems in the translation of PSA (3)2.1.1 Word-for-Word Duplication (3)2.1.2 Wrong choice of words (3)2.1.3 Syntax error (4)2.2 The cultural difference between Chinese PSA Slogan and Western PSA Slogan (4)2.2.1 The difference of word meaning (4)2.2.2 The difference of cultural value (5)3. the Functional Skopos Translational Theory (5)4. Means of translation (6)4.1 word-for-word translation (6)4.2 corresponding translation (6)4.3 simplify information (7)5.Conclusion (8)Bibliography (8)AbstractNowadays, the economic globalization and technology have become the changing trend of the world. The international communication becomes more and more frequent with the deepening of the international division of labor and the strengthening of economic integrations in the world. China, as a member of the WTO, has established a closer relationship with other countries. PSA has become a very important means and a necessary tool for sending information, promoting social responsibility, raising international image. Therefore, the translation of PSA has become more and more important.PSA is a practical text type with high publicity value. How to translate PSA to make them easy to understand? How to translate PSA to set up a good image in cross-cultural communication? It‟s a urgent problem for us to solve. The translation of Chinese PSA into English isn‟t mature and need to be developed .This paper is mainly to introduce some translation phenomenon in Chinese PSA slogans and provide suggestions and advice in this respect, such as, word-for-word translation, corresponding translation, simplify information .Keywords: PSA; language characteristics; text type; cultural difference;the Functional Skopos Translational Theory; word-for-word translation; corresponding translation; simplify information.1.The definition and importance of PSAThe definition of PSA can be summarized as, an announcement for which no commercial charge, is sponsored by the non-profit agency, government or individual. It provides the message, such as, culture, assistance , public health and so on. Its goal is to spread the positive mind for public and guide them to follow.Therefore, it plays a significant role in the society. It calls for some actions beneficial to society，to persuade a viewer to take a specific action or adopt a particular viewpoint on a cause or social issue, such as the prevention of an unhealthy practice. It enhances the public moral accomplishment. In a word ,PSA culture is of great social significance.2. The problems and cultural difference in the translation of Chinese PSAWith the acceleration of globalization process, Chinese PSA is growing at high speed. Accordingly, PSA translation has become an increasingly significant part of cultural communication. A well-translated PSA will help attract readers and inspire their enthusiasm to act; while an improperly translated PSA sometimes will bring negative effects. Nowadays, we can find a lot of well translated PSA, but we should also be aware of some problems in PSA translation. Various kinds of mistakes inevitably occur. One major kind of translation errors are generally caused by cultural differences. On account of differences in culture, traditions and languages between Chinese and English, there are different ways and customs of expressing.2.1 The problems in the translation of PSAOne of the problems often found in the present stage of translation is Chinglish. Chinglish makes PSA translation ineffective and far from satisfactory. It fails to deliver the real message to foreign readers.2.1.1 Word-for-Word DuplicationWord-for-word translation is the easiest job for translators. It is not suitable for all the PSA translation. As we know, because of the difference between Chinese and Western culture, not all of the words can be translated. In most cases, word-for-word duplication will inevitably lead to misunderstanding.For example, “小草有生命，足下多留心”False Translation: Little grass on earth have lives, little feet of ours have hearts. This translation obviously mixes with Chinese and English in a confusing manner.“ 爱我,追我,千万别吻我.”False Translation: “Love me, run after me, but mustn‟t kiss me!”The Chinese original is in fact a warning about safety driving. Here, “吻”means “to hit, strike, run into another car.” So the proper translation should be “Wish you safe and sound in your driving.”2.1.2 Wrong choice of wordsSometimes, we can see some words adopted improperly in the translation for some PSA slogans.For example, “珍惜粮食是一种美德.”False Translation: Treasuring the food is a good virtue. Theword “treasure” means “to have or keep something that you love and that is extremely valuable to you”. According the meaning of the source text, the correct translation should be “Saving on food is a good virtue”.“保护环境，造福子孙后代。