从感召功能看汉语公示语英译——以宁波城市公示语为例

How to Transmit Vocative Function in C-E Translation of Chinese Public Signs

公示语是一种具有感召功能的文本,意在促使读者去行动、思考或感受,即按照文本预期的意图做出反应。目前国内汉语公示语英译错误的主要根源就在于忽视传递公示语的感召功能。翻译时应当采用交际翻译法,把整个公示语文本作为一个翻译单位,以读者为中心,以效果为目的,实现文本与读者之间的互动。借译、仿译和创译是汉语公示语英译的三种常用方法。

The public sign is a vocative text designed to call upon the readership to act,think or feel in the way intended by its sponsor. Many common errors in translating Chinese public signs into English have their roots in the failure to transmit the vocative function which the source texts are expected to perform.As a general guideline for C-E translation of public signs,the method of communicative translation,a holistic treatment of the entire text as a unit of translation,and a reader- and effect-oriented approach should be adopted,so as to achieve interaction between the text and its target readers.Borrowing.imitation and recreation ought to be the three major strategies for translating Chinese public signs.