Abstract
The rapid development of science and technology makes exchanges in various fieldsamong countries increasingly frequent, resulting in a number of E-C translation worksconcerning popular science, and the translation of railway application software text is one ofthem. The translation of railway application software text belongs to translation of scienceand technology text. It is commonly accepted that the translation of science and technologytext aims at conveying information as well as focusing on the content rather than the form,which is one of the criteria for translation of railway application software text. During thetranslation process, one language is changed into another, and conveying the meaning of thesource text accurately is of utmost importance, which is also one of the criteria for thetranslation of science and technology text. Due to the differences between Chinese andEnglish and their own language features, it is almost impossible to realize absoluteequivalence between source text and target text, whether in terms of form or content. In otherwords, there are changes in form or content of target text. Thus, the author resorts to thetranslation shift theory when dealing with "departures" from the formal correspondence.
The translation shift theory gives priority to the semantic equivalence at the expense offormal correspondence and meets the translation criteria of railway application software textto some degree. The translation shift theory includes two major categories: level shift andcategory shift, while category shift includes structure shift, class shift, unit shift and intrasystem shift. The adoption of translation shift theory helps to resolve the difficulties in theconversion from one language to another and facilitates translators in delivering theinformation of the source text with a concise, accurate and fluent target language.
The report is a translation project report. The selected text for translation is excerptedfrom Railway Applications-Communication, Signaling and Processing Systems-Softwarefor Railway Control and Protection Systems, a science and technology text, which aims atintroducing a European standard concentrating on the methods which will be used forproviding software that meets the demands for safety integrity. The two chapters selected fortranslation feature mainly the characteristics of words in text for railway application software.Besides, a number of terminologies and complicated sentences emerging from the selected chapters require the proper application of translation theory, and the translation shift theory isamong the most commonly applied one.
This translation project report consists of three chapters. Chapter One is the introduction,which includes the background and the significance of the translation task. Chapter Two isabout the translation process, which includes the pre-translation preparation, in-progresstranslation and post-translation stage as well as the schedule for completing the translation.Chapter Three is the translation case analysis, which selects the typical cases from the sourcetext to elaborate the translation shift theory. The conclusion is an experience summarizationof this translation practice, and also an introspection of the deficiencies during the translationprocess from which the author expects to make a little contribution to improving thetranslation efficiency and quality of similar texts in the future.
The author hopes to provide some references for those who wish to be engaged intranslation of science and technology text.
Keywords: Translation for railway application software text; Science and technology text; Translation shift
摘 要
科技的迅猛发展使得国家间各领域的交流日益频繁,同时也导致了科普类文献诸 多汉译作品的出现,而铁路应用软件类文本的汉译就是其中之一.铁路应用软件类文本的汉译属于科技文本翻译.科技文本的翻译旨在传递信息,聚焦于内容而非形式, 而这也是铁路应用软件类文本汉译的标准之一.在翻译过程中,一种语言被转化为另一种语言,而准确地传递源文本内容至关重要,翻译科技文本时更应如此.由于汉英两种语言之间的差异且其具有本身的语言特征,因此在翻译过程中几乎无法实现原文和译文的绝对对等,无论是在形式还是在内容上.换言之,源文本的形式或内容将会发生变化.因此,作者在处理译文与原文形式上的"偏离"时采用了翻译转换理论.
翻译转换理论优先考虑语义上的对等,因而牺牲了形式的对等,因此在一定程度上契合了铁路应用软件类文本汉译的标准.翻译转换理论主要包括层次转换和范畴转换两大类,而范畴转换包括结构转换、类别转换、单位转换和系统内转换.翻译转换理论可用以解释铁路应用软件类文本汉译时原文和译文之间形式上出现的转换,从而有助于解决从一种语言到另一种语言的转换所遇到的困难,亦利于译员使用简洁、准确、流畅的目标语提供源文本的信息.
本论文为翻译实践报告.所译文本选自《铁路应用-通信、信号和处理系统-铁路控制和保护系统软件》,而原文属科技文本.原文旨在介绍一款铁路应用软件所适用的标准,该标准主要介绍如何使用符合安全性能一体化要求的软件.用于翻译的两个选定章节比较能体现铁路应用软件类文本的特征.分析选定章节中出现的大量术语和复杂句子的汉译需要采用适当的翻译理论,而翻译转换理论为最常用的理论之一.
此次翻译实践报告由三个章节组成.第一章为序言,该部分包括对此次翻译任务及其背景的描述以及选定其作为此次翻译实践报告选材的意义.第二章是对翻译过程的描述,其中包括译前准备、译中、译后三个阶段以及完成翻译任务的时间表.第三章选取节选文本中的典型案例以详述翻译转换理论.结论部分是对此次翻译实践的经验总结,也是对翻译过程中不足的反思,作者希望通过此翻译实践报告为提高翻译效率和类似文本翻译的质量做出一点贡献.
作者希望借此次翻译实践报告为有意愿从事科技文本翻译的人员提供一些翻译经 验参考.
关键词:铁路应用软件类文本翻译,科技文本,翻译转换
Contents
Abstract...................................................................................................................................I
摘 要...................................................................................................................................III
Contents.................................................................................................................................. 4
Chapter One Introduction.................................................................................................... 5
1.1 Background of the project .......................................................................................... 5
1.2 Task Description......................................................................................................... 6
1.3 Requirements of Client............................................................................................... 6
1.4 Nature of the Text....................................................................................................... 7
1.5 Significance of the Translation Task. ......................................................................... 7
Chapter Two Process and Schedule of Translation ............................................................ 9
2.1 Pre-translation Preparation ......................................................................................... 9
2.2 In-progress Translation............................................................................................... 9
2.3 Post-translation Stage............................................................................................... 10
Chapter Three Translation Case Analysis..........................................................................11
3.1 The Characteristics of Science and Technology Text............................................... 11
3.2 The Reason for Adopting the Translation Shift Theory ........................................... 11
3.3 The Level Shift......................................................................................................... 12
3.4. Category Shift.......................................................................................................... 13
3.4.1 Structure Shift................................................................................................. 14
3.4.2 Class Shift....................................................................................................... 15
3.4.3 Unit Shift........................................................................................................16
Conclusion............................................................................................................................18
Bibliography......................................................................................................................... 20
学位论文独创性声明........................................................................................................... 22
学位论文版权使用授权声明...............................................................................................22
Acknowledgments................................................................................................................ 23
Appendix I............................................................................................................................ 24
Appendix II.......................................................................................................................... 79
Chapter One Introduction
1.1 Background of the project
With the acceleration of economic globalization, cultural exchanges among countries arebecoming increasingly frequent, which stimulates the need for E-C translation of varioustypes of text (Sun Tingting, 2013(24): 168-169). The translation of science and technologytext is one of them, and such translation aims at conveying information as well as focusing onthe content rather than the form. Since the railway application software text belongs to scienceand technology text, conveying information and focusing on the content instead of form arealso one of translation criteria for railway application software text. Due to differencesbetween Chinese and English and their own language features, realizing absolute equivalencebetween source text and target text is almost impossible. In other words, there are changes informs regarding target text. Thus, the author resorts to the translation shift theory whendealing with those changes.
The two chapters selected for translation are excerpted from Railway Applications-Communication, Signaling and Processing Systems-Software for Railway Control andProtection Systems, a science and technology text. The source text aims at introducing aEuropean standard concentrating on methods which need to be used in order to providesoftware that meets the demands for safety integrity. The selected chapters feature mainly thecharacteristics of words of railway application software text. Besides, a number ofterminologies and complicated sentences emerging from the selected chapters require theadoption of proper translation theory, and the translation shift theory is the most commonlyused one.
The reasons for choosing this two chapters as study object are as follows. First, the sourcetext is a typical representation of English of science and technology, which has importantresearch value particularly in a time when English of science and technology has beenattached great importance to with the increasingly frequent international cultural exchanges.Second, this first-hand version of the translation conducted by the translator, who has gainedpractical experience during the translation process, and the experience made it possible to study translation theory further. Third, the whole translation task, including the pre-translationpreparation, the in-translation progress and the post-translation stage, has largelydemonstrated the process for translation project operation as well as management, which canprovide reference for later study concerning similar translation project.
1.2 Task Description
The translator worked for a translation company as freelancer during the first year of hispostgraduate study and engaged himself in lots of translation works. From March to the endof May of 2017, the translator was introduced into this project by a friend and signed acommission contract for this translation project after reconsideration. The commissioncontract is an E-C translation for a British standard and was signed between The FifthElectronic Research Institute of Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (the earliestauthority engaging in reliability study in China) and the translator. The source text entitledRailway Applications-Communication, Signaling and Processing Systems-Software forRailway Control and Protection Systems, belongs to science and technology text and aims atintroducing a British standard whose remit covers software applications within the context ofthe whole railway system, including the fixed installations and signaling systems. Thisstandard has over 45,000 English words and 9 chapters in total. This standard provides a setof requirements with which the development, deployment and maintenance of any safetyrelated software intended for railway control and protection applications shall comply.
1.3 Requirements of Client
Upon singing the commission contract for this translation, the client, i.e. The FifthElectronic Research Institute of Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, made clearthe requirements for translating this British standard. First, the translator was required tocomplete the translation task within two months. In addition to delivering desirable translationon time, specific requirements on the translation of proper nouns and terminologies were alsostated in the contract: (1) the target text should meet the standards for fluency, accuracy byusing standard technical terms and avoid ambiguity; (2) all terminologies shall be welldocumented to meet the corresponding national terminology standard.
There were also requirements for translation text format and ways of delivery stating inthe contract. For example, the font size of the translation text shall be No.11 for text and No.10for footnotes. The final translation text shall be delivered via e-mail and informed thecompany status quo of translation daily via e-mail. Besides, should any quality problemsoccur, the author shall be obliged to modify the translation without extra charge upon therequirements of the client. Furthermore, the author shall obey the rules regardingconfidentiality and copyright of the source text.
1.4 Nature of the Text
The source text belongs to science and technology text whose major features are largelyin their lexicon, syntactical structure and discourse (Wei Mengfen, 2015(5): 35). The sourcetext is to introduce a British standard whose remit covers the software applications within thecontext of the whole railway system, including the fixed installations and signaling systems.Besides, the source text has almost shared all the features of science and technology text. Inthe source text, readers would find massive use of abbreviations, like "COTS" for"Commercial off-the-shelf", "JSD" for "Jackson System Development Method", "MASCOT"for "Modular Approach to Software Construction, Operation and Test", etc. For syntacticalstructure, various sentences are used to specify the configuration, technical principle, thefunction and application of railway system. Besides, those sentences, as they exist in scienceand technology text, shall share the principles of being objective, rigorous and accurate. Fordiscourse, since the source text is science-oriented, the simple present is the major tense forthe source text. The use of simple present in sentence enhances the accuracy and objectivityof science and technology text, and makes the science and technology text more indicative(Mu Lei, 1990(2): 85).
1.5 Significance of the Translation Task.
Most scholars give priorities to the studies concerning the translation for science andtechnology text, and their focuses are placed mainly on the principles and features governingthe translation for science and technology text (Bao Zhennan, 2008). Only a few scholarstapped into the fields of translation of science and technology text with translation shift theory, and the studies concerning the translation of railway application software text are one of them.
Catford's translation shift theory appeared in China at the early 1990s, but it did notobtain much attention until the 21st century (Tan Zaixi, 2008). Catford's translation shifttheory suggests that translation is not a mere correspondence between source text andtranslation form, and this theory needs to express the original contents by shifting. This theorycoincides with the features of science and technology text, which focus on contents. However,the adoptions of Catford's translation shift theory are rarely found in the articles concerningthe studies on translation of science and technology text, especially in the field of translationof railway application software text. Thus, this translation project report would analyze thecharacteristics of sentences, discourse of the target text with Catford's translation shift theory.
This translation project report would help provide the translators engaged in thetranslation for railway application software text with a better understanding of thecharacteristics of science and technology text in a systematic and all-round way. This reportwould also use Catford's translation shift theory as theoretical guidance for later studiesconcerning the translation for science and technology text. Meanwhile, through the analysisand discussion for the selected materials for translation, the translator can acquire a better anddeeper understanding for translation for science and technology text as well as elevate thelevel of translation.
…………由于本文篇幅较长,部分内容省略,详细全文见文末附件
Conclusion
This thesis examines and analyses the translation of two selected chapters excerpted fromRailway Applications-Communication, Signaling and Processing Systems-Software forRailway Control and Protection Systems, from the perspective of translation shift theory. Thedifferences between Chinese and English make the adoption of translation shift theory in aflexible way necessary. In other words, conveying the information of source text to the publicin a precise and accurate way and without any omission coincides with the feature of scienceand technology text.
For shift that occurs in the level of words, the translator should be fully aware of themeaning that source text aims to convey, master the shift among verbs, nouns and adjectivesof any property and try to avoid word-to-word translation. For the specific voices and tensesof the source text, the Chinese equivalences should be used when translation shift occurs inorder to demonstrate the syntax of source text and enhance the readability of target text. Fortranslation of singular or plural forms of the source text, proper translation shift theory shouldbe adopted while equal importance should also be given to integrity of source text.
For shift occurring in the level of phrase, the translator should know clearly the internallogical relation and the information that the source text tries to convey, and then choose thesuitable translation shift theory that meet the reading habits of target language.
Admittedly, there are deficiencies in this thesis. First, due to the inherent differencesbetween Chinese and English, A very deep exploration into intra-system shift of Catford'stranslation shift theory is not viable.
Regardless of the fact that the Catford's translation shift theory is studied by a few ofscholars in China, it cannot be denied that translation is closely related to shift. The thesisconcludes that Catford's translation shift theory can be used as a guiding theory for the E-Ctranslation of science and technology text. Besides, if translator knows about the differencesbetween Chinese and English well and skillfully uses Catford's translation shift theory, theywill be able to better improve the quality of E-C translation, and to enhance the developmentof translation of science and technology text.
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