从归化和异化的角度谈公示语的翻译

摘要
近年来，随着我国对外交流的不断增多，来华外国友人日益增多。

为此各大城市不断推动城市的国际化进程，中英文双语的公示语随处可见，英语公示语不仅为游客提供信息，也是反映国家形象的一个重要窗口。

但令人遗憾的是，部分公示语翻译中存在不少问题，所以有必要加强研究公示语的翻译。

公示语是一种特殊的应用文体。

近年来，我国公示语翻译研究发展迅速，越来越多的研究者对其进行了多方面的探讨。

本文从归化和异化的角度入手，研究公示语的翻译。

本文根据归化异化翻译理论，分别提出归化策略下适用于公示语翻译的四种具体翻译方法，异化策略下适用于公示语翻译的四种具体翻译方法，并对各类现行典型性的公示语翻译现象进行详细分析，分析其存在的问题，并提出一些可行性建议，期望为以后的公示语翻译提供一些思路。

关键词
公示语翻译; 归化; 异化
Abstract
Recently, along with China’s increasing exchange and cooperation with foreign countries, more and more foreigners visit, work even live in China. In consequence, major cities promote the process of internationalization constantly, and lots of public signs have been translated into English. Proper translations of public signs is very important for foreigners, because foreigners can get necessary information form the translations and the quality of the translations of public signs often reflect the city’internationalization level. In order to realize the functions of public signs, translators should give priority to cultural differences between source language and target language. Moreover, in the translation of public signs, translators could borrow some fixed expressions from the target language and adopt translation strategies that conform to the target language readers’ mode of thinking to achieve the goals. But, regrettably, there are various kinds of problems in the current translations of public signs. Therefore, more attention is supposed to be paid to the research of translations of public signs.
Public signs is a special style, which is playing an increasingly important role in the development of cities. In recent decades, the translation of public signs has developed rapidly, because more and more scholars have studied the translations of public signs from different
perspectives and they have made great achievements. Their achievements provide reference for this paper. It is notable that this paper studies the translation of public signs from Chinese to English from the perspectives of foreignization and domestication. According to the theories of foreignization and domestication, this paper puts forward eight kinds of methods of the translation of public signs from Chinese to English, and makes detailed analyses of the current translation of public signs with various kinds of examples and explanations, then sorting out and classifying the problems in them. At last, some suggestions are put forward. And it would be a great honour that what this paper has studied is helpful to the development of the translation of public signs.
Keys words: translations of public signs; foreignization;
domestication
Acknowledgements
My idea for the thesis sprang from the enlightenment of Mrs.Lee, my tutor, to whom I owed great gratitude and appreciation. She gives me invaluable instruction and encouragement. Moreover, I am deeply grateful to those teachers who gave much help these two years. I benefit a lot from sparkling ideas in their lectures. My indebtedness also goes to my parents, who as the supporters of my life and studies, try hard to keep me strong physically and intellectually. Finally, I would like to offer my sincere thanks to those who spend their precious time in reading this thesis.
Contents
Abstract (In Chinese) (i)
Abstract (In English) ................................................................................................ i i Acknowledgements ................................................................................................. i v Introduction . (1)
1. Public signs (1)
1．1 Definition of public signs (2)
1．2 Classification of public signs (2)
1．3 Characteristics of public signs (2)
2. A brief introduction to foreignization and domestication and often employed translation strategies (3)
2．1 Foreignization (4)
2．2 Domestication (5)
2．3 Often employed translation strategies of public signs (6)
2．3．1 Four translation strategies of using foreignization (6)
2．3．2 Four translation strategies of using domestication (7)
3. Employment of the foreignization and domestication in translating public signs from Chinese to English (8)
3．1 Employment of domestication among the current accepted translation of public signs from Chinese to English (9)
3．2 Employment of foreignization among the current accepted
translation of public signs from Chinese to English (10)
4．Error analysis and some suggestions (10)
4．1 Several typical mistakes in the translation of public signs (11)
4．2 Some suggestions for reducing the errors in the translation of public signs (12)
Conclusion (13)
Works Cited (14)
On Translation of Public Signs from the Perspectives of Foreignization and
Domestication
Introduction
With the accelerating of global economy and exchanges of China, translation of public signs from Chinese to English gets more and more attention, and an increasing number of translators are devoting themselves into this field. Nowadays, it is generally accepted that the quality of the translation of public signs is of great importance for increasing a city's taste and improving its image. Improper translations of public signs will cause people's misunderstanding, which is of great disadvantage for the cultural construction and development of a city. Moreover, it will also bring negative influence on the construction of language standardization or even results in international negative influence. Therefore, "Translation of public signs is the concrete embodiment of a country's level in foreign exchange and its construction of humanized environment."(Huang Youyi 2005: 31)
As far as the translators are concerned, translation of public signs involves not only translation skills but also the understanding of foreign culture. What's more, translators should have a keen sense of responsibility and improve their qualities to avoid the unnecessary mistakes. This paper first presents the definition, classification, characteristics of public signs, and gives a brief study of translation strategies including foreignization and domestication and some often employed translation methods, followed by analyses of current translations of public signs, with the hope of putting forward some feasible suggestions of the public signs.
1. Public signs
Public signs is a kind of special style, which usually refer to the public bulletins, instructions, and warning notices. Public signs are most widely used in public facilities, public institution, zone name, scenic spots, important military police, manufacturing base and so on.
1．1 Definition of public signs
The so-called public signs refer to the language used in public places. Public signs are used extensively in many fields, including business promotion, signs of public facilities, administrative division, transportation, shopping, sightseeing, organization names etc.
1．2 Classification of public signs
Classifying public signs facilitates us to find out the universality of the same kind of public signs, and to grasp the universal law of writing and translation of public signs. Public signs can be classified in many ways, this paper tend to classify public signs according to their functions into four categories: indicating public signs; prompting public signs; restricting public signs and compelling public signs，because this four functions cover the majority of public signs.
1．3 Characteristics of public signs
Public signs are supposed to have the characteristics of simplicity, conventionality, and purpose for the function of giving a sign to public. The words of language used for public signs should be concise, accurate, normative, practical, and courteous. Extensive use of content words, key words, phrases and abbreviations, words and logo combination constitutes a unique language style of public signs. Public signs generally use the terms commonly used to avoid the use of uncommon words, such as the old saying, and slang.
First, simplicity means that both words and sentences must be concise, and strive to obtain the best practical effect of making people understand the most accurate and
direct information in the shortest time through the most concise form. For instance, 单行道One Way, 外币兑换Foreign Exchange, 施工现场，严禁入内Construction Site Keep Out. In addition，abbreviation is often used in public signs for example 贵宾会员VIP, 停车场P, 餐饮F＆B and so on..
Second, by conventionality, the author means the rules required in the course of public signs translation, that is to say, some public signs’ translations should adhere to a set of conventions and can not be changed at will, or will cause ambiguity. For instance 中山路Zhongshan Road, 禁止转弯No Turn, 结算Check Out etc. All of these expressions are concise and conform to the convention in full compliance with the Anglo-American language habits.
Third, purpose here means that the information conveyed by public signs should be understood by people and encourages them to act on these ideas. English public signs should meet the social, behavioral, and psychological need of foreigners. If an English public can accurately give a sign to foreign friends, it can be called a good English public sign. For instance 右侧行驶Keep Right, 禁止停车No Parking, and so on.
2. A brief introduction to foreignization and domestication and often employed translation strategies
Domestication designates the type of translation in which a transparent, fluent style is adopted to minimize the strangeness of the foreign text for target language readers; while foreignization means a target text is produced which deliberately breaks target conventions by retaining something of the foreignness of the original. In the contemporary international translation field, Eugene Nida is regarded as the representative of those who favor domesticating translation, whereas the Italian scholar Lawrence Venuti is regarded as the spokesman for those who favor foreignizing translation. Domestication and foreignization, however, are concerned with the two cultures, the former meaning replacing the source culture with the target
culture and the latter preserving the differences of the source culture. Only when there are differences in both linguistic presentation and cultural connotation, domestication and foreignization exist.
2.1 Foreignization
It is the Italian scholar Lawrence Venuti who can be regarded as the spokesman for those who favor foreignizing translation. Venuti’s foreignizing strategy is put forward in the “aggressive monolingual” cultural background such as the Anglo-American culture. As a staunch advocate of foreignization, Venuti believes there is violence residing in the very purpose and activity of domestication. He holds that the phenomenon of domestication involves an ethnocentric reduction of the foreign text to Anglo-American target language cultural values. This entails translating in a transparent, fluent, invisible style in order to minimize the foreignness of the TT (Jeremy 2001:146). Venuti proposes the strategy of “resistant translation”( i.e. foreignization) against the tradition of “smooth translation”. He argues that foreignization entails choosing a foreign text and developing a translation method along lines which are excluded by dominant cultural values in the target language (Venuti 1997: 242).
Foreignization produces something that cannot be confused with either the source-language text or a text written originally in the target language. Venuti (1995: 20) considers the foreinizing method to be ‘an ethnodeviant pressure on [target-language culture] values to register the linguistic and cultural difference of the foreign text, sending the reader abroad’. It is ‘highly desirable’, he says, in an effort to ‘restrain the ethnocentric violence of translation. In other words, the foreignizing method can restrain the violently domesticating cultural values of the English-language world (Jeremy 2001:147). In summary, foreignization advocated by Venuti and his followers is a non-fluent or estranging translation style designed to make visible the presence of the translator by highlighting the foreign identity of the ST and protecting it from the ideological dominance of the target culture.
2．2 Domestication
In the contemporary international translation field, the person who has initiated the controversy between domestication and foreignization is Eugene Nida, whom is regarded as the representative of those who favor domesticating translation. Nida differentiates between two types of equivalences: formal and dynamic (or functional) as basic translation orientations. Formal equivalence focuses attention on the message itself, in both form and content. It is a means of providing some insight into the lexical, grammatical or structural form of a source text, which is similar to literal translation. Functional equivalence, however, is based on the principle of equivalent effect, i.e. the relationship between receiver and message should aim at being the same as that between the original receivers and the SL message. In language, Culture and Translating, a minimal definition of functional equivalence is stated as “the readers of a translated text should be able to comprehend it to the point that they can conceive of how the original readers of the text must have understood and appreciated it”. The maximal, ideal definition is stated as “the readers of a translated text should be able to understand and appreciate it in essentially the same manner as the original re aders did”. (Nida 1995: 118)
In fact Nida’s functional equivalence is based on and is used to guide the translation of Bible. His translation work, splendid though it is, comes out of a specific purpose: the translation of a Christian text with the goal of converting non-Christians to a different spiritual viewpoint. In order to entail a good understanding and operative function for the receptors of the target language, the message in the Bible with the meaning in Latin “do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing” can be rendered in English as “do it in such a way that even your closest friend will not know about it”. Nida points out that this translation first avoids the possible misunderstanding by the receptors and thus makes clear the tangible reference to present-day circumstances of life. This practice may be acceptable in translating Bible, but in handling cultural factors in texts other than Biblical one, functional equivalence is inadequate and isleading.
2．3 Often employed translation strategies of public signs
Translation strategies of foreignization and domestication refer to the translation strategies selected by translators depending on the cultural position of translators. The so-called translation strategy of domestication means that translation should adhere to the target language ,abide by the cultural language traditions of the target language readers, return to the authentic target language expression, requiring the translator using the target language readers’accustomed expression to convey the contents of the original, and the translation should try to adapt, to take care of the target language and cultural factors for the readers’ sak e to eliminate linguistic and cultural barriers. On the contrary, the so-called translation strategy of foreignization means that translators should adopt and pay more attention to cultural factors in source language and the original author’s wording.
2．3．1 Four translation strategies of using foreignization Foreignization means to accept foreign culture, and its main purpose is to try to preserve the cultural characteristics of source language and let readers know exoticism. There are several methods of the translation of public signs as following.
(1) Literal translation
Literal translation means to try to keep the meaning of vocabulary, sentence structure, and the tone of translation consistent with the source language. For example, “打破铁饭碗” is translated into “to break the iron ricebowl”. “铁饭碗” is an idiom in Chinese. “饭碗” is a metaphor of making a living in Chinese. And “铁” refers to a stable work.. There is no doubt that using the method of literal translation to translate such words of obvious Chinese characteristics is not only beneficial to retain the image of source language but also to introduce China’s unique culture. Moreover, such words as “the year of dragon龙年, “Confucianism 儒家, “Three Represents三个代表” have gradually been accepted by foreigners.
(2) Transliteration
Transliteration is a method that can not be ignored in the course of translation of
public signs. Not only must the translation of the proper terms (names and places etc.) be a transliteration, but also the translation of many words that can not find the exact corresponding word in the source language. Such as “logic” has been translated into “逻辑”. In one word, transliteration is a practical method to absorb foreign words.
(3) Amplification
It is inevitable to add some words in the course of translation from one language to another language because of the disparity between the languages. For simplicity or conventionality, it is quite normal to omit some words in Chinese, so translators have to add some words in order to translate accurately. For instance, “发展才是硬道理”, here “发展”can not be translated into “development”simply, but to translate as “Economic growth is most important”.
(4) Not to translate
In fact, some public signs need not to be translated into English. Because some western slogan public signs are designed to call people up to act, while the counterparts in China are designed to inform people of the information. Westerners often feel uncomfortable when see this kind of slogan public signs in China, because they feel that someone are ordering them to do something. Moreover, some public signs are limited in the public life of Chinese people, for instance “只生一个好”, “军车免费”, “禁止在公园内大小便” and so on.
2．3．2 Four translation strategies of using domestication Domestication try to regard language as a tool of communication and make translation read like a mother tongue to minimize the cultural differences, which is a reader-centered translation. There are several methods of the translation of public signs as following.
(1) Free translation
The so-called free translation refers to a translation method of only retain the contents but not the form of the original work during the translation. For instance, the slogan of China International Travel Service “在家靠自己，出门靠国旅”has been translated into “At ho me you are your own boss. In China your Aladdin’s Lamp is
CITS”. This translation takes cultural differences into full consideration.
(2) “borrow” from foreign public signs
There are many public signs in English-speaking countries, some of them can be used directly in China. For example, “请勿触摸Hands off”, “小心地滑Wet floor”, “不收门票Admission is f ree”, “专用车位Authorized personnel only”, “数量有限,售完为止Subject to availability”, “老弱病残专座handicapped”.
(3) Rewriting
Chinese tend to be magnificent while English straightforward and simple. In the translation of public signs we should sometimes adopt the method of rewriting. For instance, “鼓山风景区，美化靠大家”are supposed to be translated into “Environmental protection starts from you and me”. “走近世界地质公园．感受中国灵秀泰宁” is translated into “Welcome to Taining World Geopark”.
(4) Omission
Many of public signs in Chinese are concise slogan. If they are translated literally, the simplicity of the slogan will be undermined. In order to keep the simplicity of slogan, some contents that is not necessary for foreigners to know can be omitted. For example, “永葆先进性,建设新农村”can be translated into “Working together towards a New Socialist Countryside”.
3. Employment of the foreignization and domestication in
translating public signs from Chinese to English Domestication and foreignization are not incompatible, but should complement with each other. They are just two different strategies of translation, we should not bring them to extremes: domestication does not mean translators can make adaptations at will, while foreignization does not equal word-for-word translation or static translation. What we should do is to draw a balance between the two sides, choosing one does not negate the application of another. Even if the translator takes domestication as the dominating strategy in order for the translation to be easily understood by the receivers, he/she can also reserve the original images concerning
specific culturally loaded expressions; on the other hand, even if the translation is to preserve the exoticism to import foreign cultures into the target language, changes must be made on certain points which appear quite unnatural or even unaccepted by the target readers and language.
3．1 Employment of domestication among the current accepted translation of public signs from Chinese to English
The author puts forward several following examples complete with explanations to facilitate the readers to have a general understanding of employment of domestication in translating public signs from Chinese to English.
Example 1
"欢迎再来！Welcome again!"
"欢迎再次乘坐12路公交Welcome to ride Line 12 again!"
"欢迎收听我的新闻Welcome to listen to my news".
The Chinese word "欢迎" is often used in restaurants, hotels, public service places. We often follow Chinese habits of expression, then finding out the according English phrase “welcome to”to translate “欢迎”. There are no grammatical errors in the above translation, even no expression errors, but they are not correct expressions in English. The above public signs can be translated as following:
“欢迎再来! Please come again!”
“欢迎再次乘坐13路公交车! Thank you for riding Line 13 and we would be pleased to welcome you back aboard at any time!”
“欢迎收听我的新闻Thanks for tuning in”
Example 2
“有困难，找警察If you have trouble, ask for the policeman”
Almost every city has this public sign, and most of them are translated literally, failing to meet the English expression habit. So we can translate it as following:
“有困难, 找警察In case of trouble, call the police”
Example 3
“开车前五分钟停止检票check in stops 5 minutes before train departure”
This is a public sign in railway station. At the first glance there is no grammatical mistake in the translation. But when the phrase “check in”function as a noun ,it should be written as “chick-in”; Moreover “chick-in”is only used in airport but not in railway under normal circumstances. So we can translate it as following:
“开车前五分钟停止检票Gates close 5minutes before departure”.
When we translate Chinese public signs into English, we are supposed to use the strategy of domestication, and adhere to the language tradition of English readers. Translators are supposed to convey the contents of public signs in the way in which English-readers are accustomed to and make them have according action.
3．2 Employment of foreignization among the current accepted translation of public signs from Chinese to English
When translating the public signs that contain the vocabulary of Chinese characteristics, translators can use the strategy of foreignization. And there are some successful precedents, for example, “柔道Judo”.When there are unique things of Chinese chracteristics in the public signs, they can be translated into Hanyu Pinyin, maximing the reserves of the characteristics of traditional Chinese culture and national language style. For example, jiaozi(饺子), kungfu(功夫)，yin＆yang(阴阳)，kowtow(叩头)，qipao(旗袍)，mantou(馒头) can be used for cultural exchange in the form of Hanyu Pinyin. Introducing the oriental culture to the world through translation will be a meaningful work.
If a translator uses the strategy of foreignization, that is to say, convey the contents of Chinsee public signs in "Chinese way", he or she should take foreigner's feeling into consideration to ensure that the public signs can function well and there is no misunderstanding to foreigners.
4．Error analysis and some suggestions
Proper translations of public signs is very important for foreigners, because foreigners can get necessary information form the translations and the quality of the translations of public signs often reflect the city’ internationalization level. However, it is a pity to find that there are various kinds of mistakes in the current translations of public signs. This chapter collects a large number of current translations of public signs and finds out the problems in them, then sorting them out. These problems are classified into four categories according to this paper. Last but not least, this paper attempts to put forward some feasible suggestions to improve the translation of public signs.
4．1 Several typical mistakes in the translation of public signs
This paper aims to summarize the common errors in translation of public signs. The translation of public signs of the common errors can be divided into the following four categories.
(1) spelling mistakes
This is the most common type of error. As long as people who has some basic knowledge of English are careful enough, this kind of mistake can be avoided. However, this kind of error is everywhere. For example, “Domestic Arrivas (Arrival) 国内到达（某国际机场）”, “Purking (Parking) Lot 停车场（成都蓝色加勒比广场）”, “General Snrgery (Surgery) （某大学校医院）”.
(2) grammatical mistakes
This type of error is largely due to translator capacity, often resulting in translations that do not meet the English habits, and are even unintelligible. For example, in some tourism attractions, “请勿游泳”and “请勿戏水”are translated into “Don’t Swimming”and “Don’t Playing in the Water". Obviously, they are not correct. “No Swimming”and“Don’t Play in the Water”are more proper translations.
(3) verbal errors
A misnomer is also very common in the translation of public signs. This kind of
error may not only bring foreigners the obstacle to understanding the public signs, even worse, it may cause their misunderstanding. For example, “某地民族公园” has been translated into “Racist Park”. Racist is often related to racial discrimination, so “National Park”is a more proper translation. “药房”sometimes is translated into “medicine store”, which is not proper. And it can be translated into “pharmacy”.
(4) cultural understandings
Language is not only a tool of communication, but also a carrier of culture. According to culture background, Chinese tend to be implied and tactful, and do not want to say or do something directly, so such kind of public signs as “请勿吸烟”, “请主动为老弱病残让座”is everywhere. While westerners tend to be straightforward and strict in public signs, such words of “don’t”, “must”frequently appear in their public signs. For example, translating the public sign of “爱护花木”into “Don’t pick flowers” is more proper than “Please cherish flowers and trees”. 4．2 Some suggestions for reducing the errors in the translation of public signs
Those mistakes in the translation of public signs not only bring inconvenience to foreigners, but also affect China’s international image negatively. Therefore, how to improve the translation of public signs from Chinese to English has become an urgent and serious issue. Some suggestions are made in this paper.
First, translations of public signs are vital to improve the overall quality of the city and to change the image of city. Relevant authorities are supposed to set up a special working group responsible for setting standards to make translations of public signs standardized and have rules to follow. Moreover the popularity of translations of public signs requires the active participation of the general public.
Second, strengthening the supervision of Public Signs publication is helpful to decrease the number of mistakes in the translation of public signs. Public signs should be translated by experts according to relevant national standards to prevent the errors in the translation of public signs. In addition, the manufacturing staff of public signs。