功能對(duì)等理論指導(dǎo)下城市公示語(yǔ)；功能對(duì)等；翻譯方法

PAGE20摘要隨著我國(guó)國(guó)際地位的提升，與國(guó)際間的交流互動(dòng)越來(lái)越頻繁，因而城市公示語(yǔ)的翻譯顯得尤為重要。城市公示語(yǔ)在我們的生活中扮演著十分重要的角色，從某種程度上來(lái)說(shuō)，公示語(yǔ)代表著一個(gè)城市的形象。隨著城市公示語(yǔ)使用頻率的增長(zhǎng)，部分城市公示語(yǔ)翻譯暴露出來(lái)許多問(wèn)題，這無(wú)疑不利于城市的發(fā)展。城市公示語(yǔ)是一種特殊的文體，簡(jiǎn)潔性是其主要特點(diǎn)。它還具有指示、限制、提示、強(qiáng)制的功能。奈達(dá)的功能對(duì)等理論主要強(qiáng)調(diào)譯文與原文在意義與文體兩個(gè)方面的動(dòng)態(tài)對(duì)等，對(duì)城市公示語(yǔ)的翻譯有很強(qiáng)的指導(dǎo)意義。目前城市公示語(yǔ)翻譯存在語(yǔ)言、文化、語(yǔ)用三個(gè)角度的問(wèn)題，可采用借用法、替代法、重組法等翻譯方法，最大程度地提高城市公示語(yǔ)翻譯的質(zhì)量。關(guān)鍵詞：城市公示語(yǔ)；功能對(duì)等；翻譯方法

AbstractWiththeimprovementofChina’sinternationalstatus,theinteractionbetweenChinaandtheworldismoreandmorefrequent,sothetranslationofurbanpublicsignsisparticularlyimportant.Urbanpublicsignsplayaveryimportantroleinourlife.Tosomeextent,urbanpublicsignsrepresenttheimageofacity.Withtheincreasingusagefrequencyofurbanpublicsigns,manyproblemsexposeinsomeofthetranslationofurbanpublicsigns,whichisundoubtedlynotconducivetothedevelopmentofthecity.Urbanpublicsignsbelongtoaspecialstyle,withsimplicityasoneofthemajorcharacteristics.Italsohasthefunctionofdirecting,restricting,promptingandcompelling.Nida’sfunctionalequivalencetheorymainlyemphasizesthedynamicequivalencebetweenthetranslatedtextandtheoriginaltextinmeaningandstyle,whichhasastrongguidingsignificanceforthetranslationofurbanpublicsigns.Atpresent,therearethreemajorproblemsinthetranslationofurbanpublicsigns:language,cultureandpragmatics.Threesolutionshavebeenputforward,namely,borrowing,substituting,restrictingtoimprovethequalityofthetranslationofurbanpublicsignstothegreatestextent.Keywords：urbanpublicsigns；functionalequivalence；translationmethods

Contents24035摘要 I28479Abstract II3361Introduction 13473ChapterOneAnOverviewofUrbanPublicSigns 2200141.1TheDefinitionofUrbanPublicSigns 256311.2PracticalFunctionsofUrbanPublicSigns 2295051.3ClassificationofUrbanPublicSigns 321211.3.1DirectingPublicSigns 386941.3.2PromptingPublicSigns 3279181.3.3RestrictingPublicSigns 471941.3.4CompellingPublicSigns 450961.4LinguisticFeaturesofUrbanPublicSigns 4153221.4.1LexicalFeatures 4315881.4.2SyntacticFeatures 598141.4.3TextualFeatures 5311691.4.4RegisterFeatures 64075ChapterTwoNida’sFunctionalEquivalenceTheory 7134662.1Nida’sConceptofEquivalence 719712.1.1LexicalEquivalence 799592.1.2SyntacticEquivalence 8112682.1.3TextualEquivalence 8122762.1.4StylisticEquivalence 8307152.2PrincipleofFunctionalEquivalenceTheory 9151802.3InfluenceoftheTheory 96746ChapterThreeTranslationofUrbanPublicSignsfromthePerspective

of

Functional

Equivalence 11206393.1TranslationPrincipleofUrbanPublicSigns 1121023.2CurrentStatusofUrbanPublicSignTranslation 1251623.3DifferencesBetweenChineseandEnglishUrbanPublicSigns 12210753.4MistranslationofUrbanPublicSigns 13172073.4.1AnalysisfromthePerspectiveofLanguage 13148783.4.2AnalysisfromCulturalPerspective 14219223.4.3AnalysisfromPragmaticPerspective 15111643.5TranslationMethods 16298373.5.1Borrowing 16112193.5.2Substituting 16142443.5.3Restructuring 171910Conclusion 1826022Bibliography 1911216Acknowledgments 20IntroductionGlobalization,modernization,urbanizationandinformatizationhaveputforwardurgentexpectationsandstrictrequirementsforthestudyandtranslationofpublicsigns.Publicsignsareasymbolthatreflectsthedegreeofinternationalizationofacity.Sincepublicsignsareofgreatsignificancetothelifeofthepublicandtourists,anyambiguity,misunderstandingandabuseofpublicsignswillleadtoadverseinternationalimpact.InChina,whethertheapplicationofpublicsignsinChineseandEnglishinaregionisstandardizedisatestoftheinternationalizationoftheregion.Thefeasibletranslationisadirectmanifestationoftheoverallqualityoftheregion.Forthisreason,thetranslationofurbanpublicsignsshouldbetakenseriously.WiththegradualdeepeningofChina’sinternationalization,someproblemsareincreasinglyapparent.Forexample,inthecaseoflanguagebarrier,itisnecessarytoconsiderhowtoletforeignersgetimmediateandeffectivehelpandguidanceinsomesituationswheretheyneedhelp.Forexample,themostdirect,fastestandmosteffectivewaytofindaway,takepublictransportation,andhandlebusinessistousethebilingualsignsaroundthem.Theapplicationofurbanpublicsignsinallaspectsofourlifehasadirectimpactonourlife.However,judgingfromthebilingualpublicsignsthatcanbeseeneverywhere,itcanbeseenthatpeoplelackenoughattentiontothetranslationofurbanpublicsigns.Translationisacomplexandinterestingtask.Therearemanyessentialandbasalfactorstocreateahigh-leveltranslation.FormerlytheC-Etranslationofpublicsignsinurbanareaswasnotsatisfactoryandthiscannotbenotedenough.Today,however,duetotheincreasinglyfrequentexchangesbetweenChinaandtheinternationalcommunity,thestandardEnglishtranslationofpublicsignsisbecomingmoreandmoreimportant.Underthiscircumstance,translatorsareladenwiththedutyofamelioratingtheleveloftranslation.ChapterOneAnOverviewofUrbanPublicSignsWiththedevelopmentofsociety,ourlifehasbeengreatlyimproved.Thereismoreandmoredemandanddependenceonurbanpublicsigns.Beingconvenientforourlife,theyarecloselyconnectedwithourlifeandmakeourlifeeasier.1.1TheDefinitionofUrbanPublicSigns“Urbanpublicsigns”refertothewrittenlanguagethatisshowntothepeopleinpublic,andisthemostcommonpracticallanguageinpeople’slives.Itisaspecialstylethatisopenandfacesthepublic,usingtextandgraphicinformationwithnotices,instructions,prompts,warningsrelatedtoitslife,production,ecologyandprofession,inordertoreachsomecommunicativepurpose.Urbanpublicsignshavesomeapplicationcharacteristicsthesameassymbol,logo,announcementandrevealinglanguage,buturbanpublicsignsaremorewidelyused.Allthebasicformulasandinformationcontentpublicizedtoallkindsofbehaviorsandneedsarewithinthescopeofthepublicsignresearch.1.2PracticalFunctionsofUrbanPublicSignsTheapplicationscopeofurbanpublicsignsisveryextensive.Publicsignscanbefoundeverywhereinfood,lodging,travel,entertainmentandshopping.Themostwidelyusedareaofurbanpublicsignsispublicfacilitiessuchasmetro,taxistation,cruiseterminal,ticketingcenter,placeofinterest,monument,park,alley,street,community,shop,supermarket,restaurant,bank,cinema,hospital,emergencypolice,lostandfound,etc.Urbanpublicsignsservethemasses,exoticguests,expatriates,etc.,whichincludethebehavioranddemandoflife’sbasicnecessities.Publicsignsareasymbolthatreflectsthedegreeofinternationalizationandcivilizationofacity.Urbanpublicsignsareofgreatsignificanceinregulatingpeople’ssocialbehavior,adjustinginterpersonalrelationships,improvingproductionefficiency,optimizingthequalityoflifeandbuildingaharmonioussociety.1.3ClassificationofUrbanPublicSignsUrbanpublicsignsprovideakindofinformationservice,whichcoversallaspectsofourlifeandbringsconvenienceandhelptopeople’sdailylife.Thescopeofurbanpublicsignsisextensiveandvarious.Thesepublicsignsareclassifiedintofourcategoriesaccordingtotheirsignatoryfunctions,thatis,directingpublicsigns,promptingpublicsigns,restrictingpublicsignsandcompellingpublicsigns.1.3.1DirectingPublicSignsDirectingpublicsignsprovideinformationtothepeoplewithoutanylimitandcompulsion.Languageapplicationdoesnotnecessarilyrequirethepublictotakeanyaction.Itsfunctionistoindicatethecontentoftheserviceratherthantorestrictorforcethepublictotakesomeactionsorexecutesomeorders.Therefore,directingpublicsignsaremostlycomposedofnounsornounphrases.Herearesomeexamples:問(wèn)詢臺(tái)InformationDesk

售票處Ticket

Office租車(chē)服務(wù)CarRental 機(jī)場(chǎng)休息室AirportLounge收費(fèi)停車(chē)場(chǎng)PayParking 購(gòu)物商場(chǎng)ShoppingMall干洗店DryCleaner 野生動(dòng)物保護(hù)區(qū)GameReserve24

小時(shí)自助銀行24-Hour

Self-service

Bank1.3.2PromptingPublicSignsPromptingpublicsignsdonothaveanymeaninginparticularandjustahint,buttheyarebroad-spectrum.Thepurposeistoremindthepublictopayattentiontothecontentoftheprompt,butitdoesnotrequirethepublictotakeanyaction.Examplesareasfollows:油漆未干Wet

Paint 向左急轉(zhuǎn)彎Abrupt

Turn

Left限高3.3米R(shí)estricted

Height3.3

M 售完SoldOut請(qǐng)注意小偷Thieves

Love

Crowds 前方學(xué)校SchoolAhead客滿FullBooked 緊急出口EmergencyExit

1.3.3RestrictingPublicSignsThepurposeofrestrictingpublicsignsistoraiserestrictiveclaimofrelevantpublicbehavior.Theuseoflanguageisbluntandfrank,butit’snottough,roughandunreasonable.Andthefollowingaresomeexamples,suchas:閑人免進(jìn)Staff

Only 站隊(duì)等候StandinLine限停30分鐘30Minutes

Parking 讓路GiveWay不可回收垃圾Non-recyclableGarbage請(qǐng)勿踐踏草坪Please

Keep

off

the

Grass1.3.4CompellingPublicSignsCompellingpublicsignsrequestthatthepeopleconcernedmustormustnottoactwithastrongtone.Itisthestrongesttoneofthesepublicsigns.Itaskstheaudiencetoexecute.Theuseoflanguageisstraightforwardandnon-negotiable,whichplaysastrongwarningrole.ForExample:嚴(yán)禁吸煙No

Smoking 嚴(yán)禁戲水NoSplashing禁止隨地吐痰NoSpitting 嚴(yán)禁觸摸NoTouching?禁止攜帶寵物NoPetsAllowed 嚴(yán)禁攀爬NoClimbing警戒線勿超越PoliceLineDoNotPass無(wú)牽引繩時(shí)請(qǐng)勿遛狗Dogs

must

be

kept

on

a

leash

1.4LinguisticFeaturesofUrbanPublicSignsTherequirementsofurbanpublicsignsmustbeconciseandstrivetoachievethebestpragmaticeffectinthesimplestform.Thisisdeterminedbythepracticalvalueofpublicsignsthemselves.Therefore,concisenessandclarityarethemostprominentlanguagecharacteristicsofpublicsigns.Accordingtothis,thepaperclassifiesthecharacteristicsofurbanpublicsignsintofourcategories:lexicalfeatures,syntacticfeatures,textualfeaturesandregisterfeatures.1.4.1LexicalFeaturesSometimestheEnglishurbanpublicsignswillusealargenumberofnounsorgerunds,whichcandirectlydisplaythespecificinformationcontentandallowconciseexpressionstoconveyclearcontents,whilethecorrespondingurbanpublicsignsinChineseoftenuseverbstoconveymeaning.Italsofrequentlyusesverbsorverbphrasestofocuspublicattentiononactionsdemandedbythemakersofpublicsigns.Inordertoexpressthemainideaofurbanpublicsignswitheffect,theuseofphrasesisbriefinstructureandmultiformincollocation.Andbymeansofshortening,publicsignsofpublicfacilitiesorservicesmostfrequentlycontactedandusedbythepublicwillbemarkedbyabbreviations.Theadvantageisthattheprominentcentralcontentcanbeexpressedinaconciseandpithyform.1.4.2SyntacticFeaturesUrbanpublicitypragmaticwordsareconciseandprecise,soellipsisisoftenused.Aslongastheaccuracyoftheimplicationofurbanpublicsignsisnotaffectedandthespecificfunctionandmeaningcanbereflected,itispossibletouseonlynotionalwords,keywordsorcorewords,whileomittingotherunimportantsentence-formingfactors.Publicsignsgivethepublicinaspecificareathedirections,promptsorrestrictionsorcompellingbehavior.Forthisreason,presenttenseismostlyused.Becausemostofaudiencescomeandgoinhaste,andthetargetaudienceofpublicsignsisdefined,imperativesentenceshavebeenwidelyappliedinpublicsigns.Inordertoenabletheaudiencetounderstandthemessageinashorttime,thestructureofpublicsignsshouldbeshort.Furthermore,thewritingformisalsounique.Itcanbeallcapitalizedoronlytheinitialsofthenotionalwordsandtheendingusuallywithoutpunctuation.1.4.3TextualFeaturesAs

an

applied

language,

urban

public

signs

pay

more

attention

to

practicality

in

function.Urbanpublicsignsstrivetobeconcise,somostofthemareshort.But

their

connotations

are

rich,

and

each

word

in

them

has

their

own

meaning.Asingleword,asinglesentence,orevenasinglepicturecanbeapieceorarticle.That

is

really

easy

to

be

noticed

and

understood.However,duetothedifferentcontentsandthediversepurposestheywanttoachieve,thelengthofurbanpublicsignsalsocanbelongorshort.1.4.4RegisterFeaturesAsfarasregisterisconcerned,urbanpublicsignspresenttheinformationrelatedtocertainactivitiesintheconspicuousplacethroughthedifferentcarriers,andtheaudienceswillrespondaccordingly.Thetopicsvaryaccordingtotheactivitiesoftheaudience.Publicsignsdisplaybothstaticanddynamicinformation.In

some

cases,

standard

rules

are

followed,

whereas

sometimes

unfamiliar

words

are

avoided.

And

it

all

depends

on

the

situation

and

the

audience.

ChapterTwoNida’sFunctionalEquivalenceTheoryEugeneA.Nida,anAmerican,cameupwiththetheoryoffunctionalequivalence.Basedonthelinguisticperspectiveandintermsoftheessenceoftranslation,heproposedthefamoustranslationtheoryof“dynamicequivalence”,and“functionalequivalence”.Theso-called“functionalequivalence”meansthatthetranslationdoesnotquestforseemingformalistcorrespondence,butachievesfunctionalequivalencebetweenthetwolanguages.Thepurposeistosetastandardfortheconversionbetweenthesourcelanguageandthetargetlanguageandtoreducethedifferences.2.1Nida’sConceptofEquivalenceAccordingtothistheory,translationreproducestheinformationofthesourcelanguagefromsemanticstostyleinthemostsuitable,unaffectedandequivalentlanguage.Nida’sdefinitionoftranslationindicatesthattranslationisnotonlyequivalenceinlexicalmeaning,butalsoequivalenceinsemanticsandstyle.Nidabelievesthatformislessimportantthanmeaning.Formsarelikelytoconcealtheculturalmeaningofthesourcelanguageandblockculturalexchanges.Intheprocessoftranslation,basedonNida’stheory,thetranslatorshouldpreciselyreappeartheculturalconnotationofthesourcelanguageintothetargetlanguage.2.1.1LexicalEquivalenceEnglishandChineselexicalequivalenceincludesfivekindsofequivalence:wordequivalence,multi-wordsynonymy,polysemy,lexicalinterweavingandnon-equivalentwords,amongwhichthecompleteequivalenceofwordsaremainlythepropernounsandtechnicalvocabulary.Althoughtherearenotwowordsexpressingcompletelyconsistentmeaningbetweenthetwodifferentlanguages,thelanguagecanexpresstheuniformimplicationindifferentforms.Inaddition,someoccasionalsimilaritiesbetweenlanguagessometimesbringaboutmisunderstandings.Soitisimpossibletofindexactequivalentwordsintwolanguages.2.1.2SyntacticEquivalenceThereisnodoubtthatsyntacticequivalenceismorecomplicatedthanlexicalequivalence.Chineseoftenusesthepluralformwithoutobvioussigns,butinEnglish,thepluralmeaningisvividlydisplayed.Furthermore,grammaticalmarkerssuchasgenderandnumberalsoincludetheconsistencyoftenseintranslation.Therefore,thetranslatorshouldnotonlyknowwhetherthereissuchastructureinthetargetlanguage,butalsounderstandthefrequencyofitsuse.Andlexicaldifferencescanalsocausetranslationbarrierstosyntacticequivalence.Forexample,thereisnorelativepronounsinChinese,whichmeansthatinEnglish-Chinesetranslation,theorderandcombinationofattributiveclausesneedtobeconsidered.Intheprocessoftranslation,whatmakesthereorganizationofthesyntacticstructurebecomemorecomplicatedisthattheChineseattributiveisinfrontofthesentence,notthelatter.ThisisthereasonwhyChinesesentencesareobviouslybrieferthanEnglish.2.1.3TextualEquivalenceThatisnotenoughtomerelyanalyzethelanguageitselfindiscourseanalysis.Itismorecrucialtoexplorethelanguage’smeaningandfunctioninaspecificsituation.Textualequivalenceconsistsofthreelevels:contextualcontext,situationalcontextandculturalcontext.Intranslation,problemssuchasvocabularyvacanciesandevenculturalmistakesareoftenencountered.Theseproblemsaredifficulttobesolvedwithtranslationtechniques.Therefore,translatorsmusthaveexhaustivecomprehensionanddeepthinkingofthesourcelanguageandthecultureofthetargetlanguage.Nidaoncesaid,“Forthetrulysuccessfultranslation,familiaritywithtwoculturesisevenmoreimportantthanmasteringtwolanguages,becausewordsaremeaningfulonlyintheculturalcontextinwhichtheyfunction.”2.1.4StylisticEquivalenceOnlywhenthecharacteristicsofbothsourceandtargetlanguagesaremasteredatthesametimeandthetranslatorsareproficientinusingbothlanguages,canthetranslatorscreatetranslationsthattrulyreflectthestyleofthesourcelanguage.Thedifferentlanguagestylesoftheworksmeanthattheculturalfactorscontainedinthemarealsodifferent.Theexacttranslationoftheinformationcontentofthesourcelanguageintothetargetlanguageismorecrucialthantransformationbetweentwolanguagesandcultures.Butcultureistheprimaryconsiderationinliterarygenre.Theexcellenttranslatorscouldtactfullysolvetheproblemofculturaldifferencesfromdifferentgenresinprocessoftranslation.2.2PrincipleofFunctionalEquivalenceTheoryItishardtofindasentencethatisabsolutelyequivalenttoEnglishinChinesetoexpressthesameconnotation.AccordingtoNida’stranslationtheory,thetreatmentofculturaldifferencesiscloselyrelatedtoreproducingthesourcelanguageinthetargetlanguagefromsemanticstostyle.Inordertoaccuratelyreproducethecultureofthesourcelanguageandeliminateculturaldifferences,translatorsshouldstrivetocreatetranslationsthatconformtoboththesemanticsofthesourcelanguageandtheculturalcharacteristicsofthesourcelanguage.However,therearetwodifferenthistoriesandbackgroundsofthetwodifferentlanguages,whichcannotbeequivalentinallaspects.Therefore,itisimpossibleforaperfecttranslationtofullyexpresstheculturalconnotationoftheoriginaltext,andthetranslatorcanonlyreproducethesourceculturetothemaximumextent.Whenmeaningandculturecannotbeconsideredtogether,thetranslatorcanonlychoosetoabandontheformalequivalenceandtransformtheformtoreproducethemeaningandcultureofthesourcetext.Ifvariousformsarestillnotenoughtosolvetheproblem,thewordsofthetargetlanguagecanalsobeusedtoexpoundculturalconnotationofthesourcelanguage.2.3InfluenceoftheTheoryNida’stranslationtheorywasborninthe1960s.ThetranslationcircleinChinafirstcameintocontactwithNida’stheoryinthe1980s,andexperiencedagapof20years,whenChinawasinthebeginningofreformandopening-up,andtherewasahugegapbetweenwesterncountriesandChinaintermsofeconomy,culture,scienceandtechnology,educationandsoon.Inordertospeedupeconomicandculturalconstruction,itisurgenttoabsorbinformationofforeignexperience.AndChinesetranslationstudies,whichareatleast20yearsbehindthewesterncountries,needtolearnfromwesterntranslationstudies.Insuchaspecificenvironment,Nida’stranslationtheorywasintroducedandtheChinesetranslatorsregardeditasthecriterion.SinceNida’stranslationtheoryhasbeenintroducedintoChina,westerntranslationtheorieshavebeenpouringintoChinacontinuously,whichhasopenedupanewfieldofvisionforChinesetranslationstudiesandprovidedanewperspectivefortranslationstudies.Inaddition,Nidaisabletokeepmakingprogressanddarestoquestionthetheoryputforwardbyhimselfandimproveit.ThiskindofthinkingthatdarestobreakthetraditionandchallengetheauthorityhasundoubtedlyexertedasubtleinfluenceonChinesescholars.Nida’stheorycenteredonfunctionalequivalencetheoryisarelativelysystematicone,usingthelatesttheoriesoflinguistics,semanticsandinformationtheoryatthattime.Inparticular,thetheoryofreaders’responsehasbrokenthetraditionofover-focusingonthetextinthetranslationcirclesinChinaandturnedtofocusingonthereadersandreaders’response.Frommorethan100yearsago,YanFu’s“Faithfulness,ExpressivenessandElegance”toFuLei’s“SpiritualConformityratherthanFormalConformity”toMr.QianZhongshu’s“SublimedAdaptation”,thedebateintheChinesetranslationcircleisultimatelycenteredontwofocuses:strivingfor“faithfulnesstotheoriginaltext”or“correspondenceofform”,andthefocusofattentionisinseparablefromthetext,butNida’sfunctionalequivalencetheoryfocusesonthereadersandthereaders’response.Althoughdomesticscholarshavedifferentopinionsonthe“readerresponsetheory”andevenhavemanydoubts,regardlessofwhetherthestandardcanbeachievedornot,inthesenseoffocusingonthereader,Nida’sfunctionalequivalencetheoryprovidesanewperspectiveforthestudyoftranslationtheoryinChina.Besides,aftercontactingthetranslationtheoriesofwesternmodernlinguisticschools,Chinesetranslationcirclebegantopaymoreattentiontoanddomorein-depthresearchoncomparativestudyofChineseandforeignlanguages.

ChapterThreeTranslationofUrbanPublicSignsfromthePerspective

of

Functional

EquivalenceThejudgmentofthequalityofthetranslationshouldnotrestonwhethertherearecorrespondingmeanings,grammaticalstructuresandrhetoricaldevices.Whatcountsisthecorrectunderstandingofthepersonwhocontactsthetranslation.Therefore,themostfundamentalthingabouteffectiveequivalenceistocomparehowpeoplewhoareincontactwiththesourcetextunderstandthesourcetextandhowpeoplewhoareincontactwiththetargettextunderstandthetranslation.3.1TranslationPrincipleofUrbanPublicSignsUrbanpublicsignsareanapplicationstylethatshowsthecontentsofpublicnoticeinpublicplacesinthecity.Itrequiresreader-orientation,sothatforeignerscanunderstandthecontentsofthepublicnoticeinaveryshorttime,sothelanguagerequirementsareconciseandclear.Theprincipleofeasy-to-understandinC-EtranslationofurbanpublicsignsreferstothereadabilityofEnglishtranslation,whichmakesiteasyforforeignersinChinatounderstand,andavoidunfamiliarvocabularyorChineseEnglish.ThepublicsignswithChinesecharacteristicsarespecialandaretheproductsofChineseculture.Therearenoready-madetranslationsforreference.Althoughtherearenolexicalandgrammaticalerrorsinsometranslatedpublicsigns,foreignersstillcannotunderstandthembecausetheydonotunderstandtheirculturalbackground.Atthistime,thetranslatorhastostandintheperspectiveofthereader,considertheirculturalbackground,andexpresstheinformationthatthepublicsignsneedtoconveyaccuratelyandcompletely.Differentwaysofexpressionreflectdifferentmoodsandemotions.Thechoiceofmoodsandemotionsdependsonthespecificenvironmentandsituation.Publicsignshavedifferentfunctionssuchasinstructions,prompts,restrictionsandcompelling.Fordifferentfunctionsofpublicsigns,weshouldusedifferenttone.Directing,promptingandrestrictingpublicsignsmostlyembodyakindofhumanisticconcern,andtheirtoneshouldbemildandeuphemistic.Asforcompellingpublicsigns,becauseoftheirmandatoryfunction,seriousconsequencesmayoccuriftheyareviolated,soitisnotnecessarytoadopteuphemism,butatoughandnon-negotiabletone.3.2CurrentStatusofUrbanPublicSignTranslationWiththeimprovementofChina’sinternationalinfluenceandeconomicstrength,theincreaseoftradeandtechnologicalcooperation,thethriveofculturalexchangesandsportsactivities,bilingualpublicsignshavebecomeapopulartrendinChinaunderthebackgroundofglobalization.However,thetranslationofurbanpublicsignsisunsatisfactory.Someleadersandfunctionaldepartmentshavethevagueunderstandingoftheroleandimportanceoftranslationofurbanpublicsigns.Theleveloftranslationprofessionisunevenandthereisnorelevantregulatoryprovisionsorregulationstorestrictandsupervise.Therearemanylow-qualitytranslationsandsomeareevenwrong.Therefore,thetranslationofurbanpublicsignshastobesolvedurgently.Thestudyofpublicsignstranslationhasalonghistoryinforeigncountries,andnowitisrelativelymatureandstandardized.Chinastartedlateinthisrespect.Theresearchconductedbythetranslationcircleisstillnotenough,especiallylackingnormativestudies.Aftersearchingforsuchstudiesonthejournalwebsite,it’sfoundthatonlyafewrelevantpaperswerescatteredinsomedomesticjournalsbeforethe21stcentury.Afterenteringthe21stcentury,theybegantobediscussedinarticles.ThisshowsthatthetranslationofpublicsignsisstillanewdomaininChina.3.3DifferencesBetweenChineseandEnglishUrbanPublicSignsThedictionofEnglishpublicsignsisprecise,formalandstraightforward,whileChineseemphasizesspecific,vividandlivelylanguageexpression.Aslongastheydonotaffecttheaccurateexpressionofspecificmeaningandfunctions,Englishonlyusesnotionalwords,keywordsandcorewords,whilearticles,pronounsandauxiliaryverbscanbeomitted,andabbreviationsarealsocommonlyused,suchas“PassengersOnly”(送客止步),“Danger”(危險(xiǎn)),“WashingBay”(洗車(chē)場(chǎng)),“AdmissionFree”(免票入場(chǎng)),“BeverageNotIncluded”(酒水另付),“i”(旅游咨詢),“F&B”(餐飲服務(wù)),etc.AnotherexampleistheChineseslogan“為了您和他人的健康，請(qǐng)不要吸煙”.Infact,itistoremindyounottosmoke,soEnglishtranslationcanbedirectlyusedwith“NoSmoking”.“保護(hù)地球就是保護(hù)我們的未來(lái)”canbetranslatedinto“OurPlanetOurFuture”,whichisaccurateandauthentic.Thetranslationof“善待環(huán)境關(guān)愛(ài)自然”couldbe“PleaseRespectAllNature”,whichcanachievethesamefunctionasthepublicsigninthetargetlanguage.Languageisusedforcommunication,soappropriatenessisveryimportant.Everynationhasitsownwayofpoliteexpression.TheprincipleofpolitenessismoretakenintoaccountinEnglishverbalcommunication.InChinesepublicsigns,commandingtonesandimperativesentencessuchas“forbidden”and“notallowed”canbeseeneverywhere,butwhentranslatedinto“donot”,thetoneissternandtoughwhichdoesnotconformtoEnglishhabits.Forexample,“TakeOnlyPictures