轨道交通公示语翻译的礼貌层级对等——以广州城市轨道交通公示语英译为例

Equivalence of Politeness in Translation of Rail Transit Signs:A Study of English Translation of Guangzhou Metro Signs

现有轨道交通公示语英译存在语法和语用双重问题,而语用问题较之语法问题更加隐蔽,亦更难处理。文章参照英语国家(英、美、澳)轨道交通公示语,探讨我国轨道交通公示语英译的语用问题之一——礼貌层级对等问题。分析表明,只有实现语义和语用双重对等,才能实现译文功能对等。

Existing English translations of rail transit signs have both grammatical and pragmatic problems,the latter being more invisible and more difficult to handle.This paper,based on rail transit signs in English speaking countries(i.e.,the UK,the US,Australia),explores equivalence of scale of politeness,one of the important pragmatic problems in English translation of rail transit signs in China.The paper holds that only if semantic and pragmatic equivalence is achieved,can functional equivalence be achieved in rail transit signs translation.