On Translation of WTO Documents
CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ………………………………………………………………………i
CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION………………………………………………1
- 1 Background Information…………………………………………………2
1.1.1 The World Trade Organization ……………………………………2
1.1.2 The WTO Documents……………………………………………………3
1.1.3 China and the WTO……………………………………………………6
1.2 Significance of the Translation of the WTO Documents…………8
1.3 Study Methods ……………………………………………………………8
CHAPTER TWO AN INVESTIGATION OF TRANSLATION THEORIES…9
2.1 The Current Theoretical Controversy………………………………9
2.2 Traditional Chinese Translation Theories ………………………10
2.3 Current Western Translation Theories ……………………………11
2.4 A New Approach to Translation Studies……………………………13
CHAPTER THREE FEATURES OF THE WTO DOCUMENTS………………15
3.1 Lexical Features ………………………………………………………15
3.1.1 Preference for Formal Words ……………………………………15
3.1.2 Common Words with Special Meaning ……………………………17
3.1.3 Frequent Employment of Archaic Words…………………………19
3.1.4 Employment of Loan Words and Phrases…………………………21
3.1.5 Employment of Acronyms and Initialisms………………………22
3.2 Semantic Features………………………………………………………25
3.2.1 Frequent Use of Synonyms and Parallel Structures…………25
3.2.2 Preference for Nominalization……………………………………27
3.3 Grammatical Features……………………………………………………29
3.3.1 Frequent Employment of
Long Complicated Sentences………………………………………29
3.3.2 Preference for Modal Verbs………………………………………31
3.3.3 Constant Use of Notes and Footnotes……………………………33
CHAPTER FOUR TRANSLATION SKILLS AND TECHNIQUES……………35
4.1 Criteria for WTO Translation……………………………………………35
4.2 Literal Translation and Liberal Translation………………………36
4.3 Giving Priority to Literal Translation……………………………37
4.4 Techniques in Translation of the WTO Documents…………………38
4.4.1 Repetition…………………………………………………………… 39
4.4.2 Amplification…………………………………………………………42
4.4.3 Omission……………………………………………………………… 43
4.4.4 Conversion…………………………………………………………… 44
4.4.5 Inversion………………………………………………………………46
4.4.6 Division ………………………………………………………………48
4.4.7 Negation ………………………………………………………………50
4.4.8 The Change of Voices ………………………………………………53
CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSION ………………………………………………55
BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………………57
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS …………………………………………………………58
摘要
中国加入世界贸易组织已近三年，其间既有冲击也带来了机遇。与此同时，全国上下掀起了一阵翻译热潮，国民对于翻译WTO文件的要求与日剧增。本文分析研究WTO文件的语言特征，着眼于为WTO文件的翻译提供系统的翻译技巧框架。 本文共分五章。第一章为简介，介绍世界贸易组织的背景，WTO文件的内容，本课题的研究意义以及研究方法。第二章概述翻译理论。第三章重点分析WTO文件的语言特征。第四章讨论翻译的标准以及八项翻译技巧在WTO文件翻译中的应用。最后一章为整篇论文作出结论。
关键词：世界贸易组织，文件，翻译，特征，技巧
ABSTRACT
The past three years after China’s accession to the WTO has witnessed both the impact and the opportunities for this nation. At the same time, the demand for translating the WTO documents has surged in the nation wide. This thesis investigates the linguistic features of the WTO documents and aims to present a systematic frame of techniques for the translation of the WTO documents. It consists of five chapters. Chapter One is a brief introduction, which presents the background information about the WTO, the categories of the WTO documents, the significance of the translation, and study methods. Chapter Two is devoted to an investigation of translation theories. Chapter Three focuses on the linguistic features of the WTO Documents. Chapter Four discusses the criteria for translation and eight techniques in the translation of the WTO Documents. The last chapter draws a general conclusion for the whole thesis.
Key Words: WTO, documents, translation, feature, technique
