基于语域理论的化妆品说明书的英汉翻译策略的研究

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3.0 陈辉 2024-11-19 4 4 781.48KB 78 页 15积分

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ABSTRACT

This thesis is intended to investigate the English-Chinese translation of cosmetic

instructions from the perspective of register.

Cosmetic instructions are the materials which introduce to consumers the use,

function, composition, application and maintenance of commodities. With the

improvement of people’s living standard and the development of science and

technology, a great variety of foreign cosmetics have entered the domestic market to

meet the increasing demands of consumers in China. Cosmetic instructions can help

Chinese consumers to know and apply the products, and can arouse consumers’ interest

of purchase through detailed introduction and evaluation. To some extent, cosmetic

instructions affect the publicity and promotion of products. Therefore, it is important to

translate English cosmetic instructions into Chinese, but how to translate the cosmetic

instructions reasonably and correctly to attract the consumers of the target language

has not been studied sufficiently so far.

The thesis aims to investigate the translation of cosmetic instructions based on

Nida’s functional equivalence and Halliday’s register theory. Nida deems that

translating is communicating and its aim is to achieve functional equivalence. The

reader of a translated text should be able to understand and appreciate it in basically

the same manner as the original reader does. Register is defined by Halliday as

variation according to use. Register theory is developed not to guide the translation

practice, but to discover a series of common rules governing the changes and varieties

of language so as to know what context determines what language features. It can be

divided into three aspects: field, tenor and mode. Any change in any one of the three

variables may result in a different register which, in turn, leads to a different style of

writing.

Enlightened by the above theories, the author firstly analyzes the stylistic features

of cosmetic instructions, i.e. language features that cast light on setting some

translation principles and strategies for cosmetic instructions, and then analyzes and

compares the English and the Chinese cosmetic instructions from the perspective of

between English and Chinese cosmetic instructions in terms of cultural backgrounds,

language features, thought patterns and psychological needs. Finally, the author

iii

ventures principles and strategies for the translation of cosmetic instructions: principle

of faithfulness, principle of clarity and principle of simplicity, strategies of adapting to

the cultural backgrounds, catering to the audience, and striking a balance between

content and form in aesthetic effect. At the same time, the author applies these

strategies to her own translating practice to illustrate by questionnaire the validity of

these strategies. The result shows that these principles and strategies are, to some

extent, reasonable and practical, for the translated text is suitable for the target

language features, cultural backgrounds and the target readers.

Key Words: Cosmetic Instruction’s Translation, Register, Stylistics,

Functional Equivalence

摘要

本文的目的是从语域角度分析化妆品说明书的英汉翻译。

化妆品说明书就是向消费者介绍商品的用途、性能、成分、使用方法、保持期

限等知识的文字材料。随着人民生活水平的提高和科学技术的迅猛发展，为了满

足消费者不断增长的物质生活和精神生活的需求，越来越多的国外化妆品涌入国

内市场。说明书对人们了解和使用这些商品起着非常重要的作用，并通过对商品

的详细介绍和评价，激发人们购买的欲望，达到产品宣传和促销的目的。因此，

化妆品说明书的英译汉工作显得非常重要。但是对于化妆品说明书应该怎样合理

正确的翻译才能被目的语消费者所接受目前尚未有深入的研究。

本文以奈达的翻译理论和韩礼德的语域理论作为论文的理论依据。奈达认为，

翻译是交际，翻译的目的是实现功能对等，即接受者语言中的信息接受者应能产

生与源语中的接受者基本相同的反应。韩礼德认为，语域是根据使用场合不同而

产生的变体。语域理论的目的并不只是用来指导翻译实践，而是为了发现制约语

言变体变化的一般规则，进而了解什么样的语境因素决定什么样的语言特征。它

可分为三类：语场、语旨和语式。这三个变体中，任何一变体的变化，都会引起

语域的不同，从而影响翻译的策略。

运用以上理论，本文首先分析了化妆品说明书的文体特征，即语言特点。这

对于制定翻译方法和策略提供了一些启示和帮助。然后从语域的三个不同方面分

析和比较了化妆品英汉说明书。得出了他们在文化、读者心理、语言和思维等方

面存在一些差异。最后本文试着提出了化妆品说明书的一些翻译原则和方法，即

“忠实”，“简单”，“清楚”的原则和适应文化背景，迎合消费者，平衡和统一内

容美和形式美的翻译方法。同时，作者用这些翻译方法指导自己的翻译实践，以

问卷调查的方式验证这些翻译方法是否合理和可行。结果表明这些方法具有一定

的规律性和可行性。因为按上述方法翻译出来的译文比较符合目的语读者的心理

特征，思维习惯，并且符合目的语的语言特征和文化结构。

关键词：化妆品说明书翻译语域文体功能对等

Contents

Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................i

ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... ii

摘要 ............................................................................................................................... iv

Chapter One Introduction ................................................................................................. 1

§1.1 Research Background ............................................................................................1

§1.2 Related Studies on the Subject .............................................................................. 2

§1.3 Structure of the Thesis ...........................................................................................4

Chapter Two Theoretical Frameworks ..............................................................................5

§2.1 Nida’s Translation Theory ..................................................................................... 5

§2.1.1 Nida’s Translation Procedure ..........................................................................5

§2.1.2 Nida’s View of Language ................................................................................6

§2.1.3 Nida’s View of Communication ......................................................................8

§2.1.4 Dynamic Equivalence and Functional Equivalence ......................................10

§2.2 Register Theory ................................................................................................... 12

§2.2.1 Definition of Register ................................................................................... 12

§2.2.2 Types of Register .......................................................................................... 13

§2.2.3 Register Variables and Meta-functions ......................................................... 13

§2.2.4 Register Theory and Translation ................................................................... 15

§2.3 Summary ..............................................................................................................16

Chapter Three Cosmetic Instructions and Their Stylistic Features .................................17

§3.1 The Relationship between Register and Style ..................................................... 17

§3.2 Cosmetic Instructions and Their Text Type .........................................................18

§3.2.1 Definition of Cosmetic Instructions ..............................................................18

§3.2.2 Text Type of Cosmetic Instructions .............................................................. 19

§3.3 The Stylistic Features of English Cosmetic Instructions .....................................20

§3.3.1 The Stylistic Features at the Lexical Level ................................................... 21

§3.3.2 The Stylistic Features at the Syntactic Level ................................................ 22

§3.3.2.1 Preference for Simple Sentences ............................................................ 22

§3.3.2.2 Frequent Use of Imperative Sentences ................................................... 23

§3.3.2.3 Tendency to Elliptical Sentences ............................................................ 23

§3.3.3 Stylistic Features at the Discourse Level ...................................................... 24

§3.4 Summary ..............................................................................................................25

Chapter Four Analysis of English-Chinese Translation of Cosmetic Instructions ......... 26

from the Perspective of Register .....................................................................................26

§4.1 Analysis of English-Chinese Translation of Cosmetic Instructions .................... 26

§4.1.1 From the Perspective of Field ....................................................................... 26

§4.1.2 From the Perspective of Tenor ...................................................................... 32

§4.1.2.1 Analysis by Mood ................................................................................... 33

§4.1.2.2 Analysis by Modality .............................................................................. 35

§4.1.3 From the Perspective of Mode ...................................................................... 38

§4.1.3.1 Thematic Progression and Coherence .....................................................38

§4.1.3.2 Cohesion and Coherence .........................................................................40

§4.2 Summary ..............................................................................................................45

Chapter Five Principles and Strategies for the Translation of Cosmetic Instructions .... 46

§5.1 Principles for the Translation of Cosmetic Instructions ...................................... 46

§5.1.1 Principles of Faithfulness ..............................................................................46

§5.1.2 Principles of Accuracy .................................................................................. 48

§5.1.3 Principles of Simplicity and Clarity ..............................................................49

§5.1.4 Principles of Removing Cultural Barriers .....................................................50

§5.2 Strategies for the Translation of Cosmetic Instructions ...................................... 51

§5.2.1 Adapting to the Target Cultural Factors ........................................................ 51

§5.2.2 Catering to the Target Audience ....................................................................53

§5.2.3 Striking a Balance between Form and Content in Aesthetic Effect ..............54

§5.3 Case Study ........................................................................................................... 56

§5.4 Summary ..............................................................................................................58

Chapter Six Validating the Strategies: A Questionnaire Survey ..................................... 60

§6.1 Hypothesis and Purpose ...................................................................................... 60

§6.2 Participants .......................................................................................................... 60

§6.3 Design and Procedures ........................................................................................ 60

§6.4 Results ................................................................................................................. 61

§6.5 Discussion and Conclusions ................................................................................ 62

Chapter Seven Conclusion ..............................................................................................65

§7.1 Findings: Principles and Strategies for the Translation of Cosmetic Instructions65

§7.2 Limitations and Suggestions for Further Research ............................................. 66

Appendix .........................................................................................................................67

Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 71

在读期间公开发表的论文 .............................................................................................74

Chapter One Introduction

§1.1 Research Background

Cosmetic instructions are the bridge linking the producer with the customer. With

the ever-increasing international exchanges and globalization of international economy,

many foreign commodities are aimed at the domestic market. At the same time, with the

improvement of people’s living standard and the development of science and technology,

more and more customers want to purchase cosmetics of high quality. Under such

circumstances, it is a good chance for foreign companies to enter Chinese market, and

therefore, it is of importance to translate English cosmetic instructions into Chinese for

the publicity and promotion of cosmetic products. The quality of the translated

instructions are, in a certain sense, a truthful reflection of the quality of the products and

will be examined by the general public and specialists both at home and abroad.

Cosmetic instructions can not only help people know the products and make clear the

correct ways of using the products, but also can, in a degree, sell products, because

well-written instructions can arouse the consumers’ interest in the products.

Owing to the insufficient knowledge about the translator and the linguistic and

cultural differences between two languages and cultures, the present English-Chinese

translation of cosmetic instructions is far from satisfactory and in many cases fails to

realize the function of the original text. For instance, there exist random translation and

mistranslation in the English-Chinese translation of commodity instructions. Random

translation is a kind of translation which does not faithfully transfer the original

information in the target language. In translating, the translator produces some

information that does not exist in the source language or cuts off some original

information at random. As a result, in random translation the complete information in

the source language will not be delivered into the target language. Mistranslation is a

kind of translation in which the source language is not correctly translated into the target

language. There exist a lot of mistakes in this kind of translation. The common mistakes

lie in misuse of diction, ambiguity, superfluity, mistakes in terminology and grammar,

and wrongly written words, etc. All these will jeopardize the translation quality and

hinder the delivery of the original information. Therefore, the study on the translation of

cosmetic instructions is a new subject, and translators are still in an exploring period,

Towards Register-Based Strategies for English-Chinese Translation of Cosmetic Instructions

lacking criteria for a suitable translation method. It is the translator’s duty to strength

the knowledge backgrounds both of the source language and the target language to

remedy those deficiencies, and by all means eliminate the problems in translating

caused by the cultural and linguistic differences of the two languages, and finally

reproduce textual functions and achieve equivalent effect of the original text in the

translation. Furthermore, translators should endeavor to probe into the suitable

translation strategies under the guidance of criteria in practice.

§1.2 Related Studies on the Subject

The study of the English-Chinese translation of cosmetic instructions from the

perspective of register is a sparse area. Though many translation theorists have talked

about instruction translations, they have not discussed cosmetic instructions from the

angle of register theory. For example, Newmark, in A textbook of Translation, mentions

that literal translation is a proper method for instruction translation. Hatim (2004: 156)

concerns instruction texts in Discourse and the Translator, but his “instruction texts”

are different from those of cosmetic instructions.

In China, many scholars put great emphasis on English for Science and Technology

(EST for short), but do not mention translation of cosmetic instructions. For instance,

Liu Minqing, in Style and Translation, discusses instructions within one thousand words.

Gao Yongzhao discusses “technical manual”-- a special type of instruction in The Style,

Writing and Translation of EST. Still many researchers like Qin Xiubai，Ning Jianxin，

Hu Xin ，Li Changshuang, etc. regard instructions as a kind of technical writing and

simply talk about cosmetic instructions. Yan Qinjia and Yan Wenpei in their book 《科

技英语翻译方法》mention various ways of translating at the lexical level. These

discussions are helpful, but they are not systematic and can not be used as a general

guide for the translation of cosmetic instructions. By surfing on “www.cnki.net (中国期

刊网 )”, the author finds no dissertations or theses on register-based strategies for

English-Chinese translation of cosmetic instructions, except for some on stylistic

features of cosmetic instructions and on register theory and translation. One thesis

entitled “Stylistic Features of English Instructions”, written by Wang Jun (2003), deals

with general stylistic features of different kinds of instructions. In this thesis, 50 English

original instructions are classified into three types according to the products concerned,

Chapter One Introduction

namely instructions for machines, instructions for medicines and instructions for food

recipes. Then the stylistic features of instructions in English are analyzed respectively at

the lexical, syntactic and discourse level by analysis of the statistic data. However, this

thesis does not concern special features of cosmetic instructions in detail. One thesis

entitled “On Chinese-English Translation of Commodity Instructions---From the

Perspective of Semantic and Communicative Translation Theory”, written by Tian Ying

(2006), analyzes the application of semantic translation and communicative translation

to C-E translation of commodity instructions. However, it does not refer to the

translation of cosmetic instructions. In another thesis by Li Fengxia (2002), the

translation of commodity instructions is analyzed from the perspective of semiotics. It

analyzes a few translation examples from the perspective of semiotics, and also

discusses the features of commodity instructions. In this thesis, only one example of

cosmetic instructions is cited and the discussion is insufficient and many aspects of

cosmetic instructions are not involved.

Journals on the translation of cosmetic instructions are few too. In Chinese Journal

Full-text Database from 1995 to 2007, there are papers such as “化妆品英语说明书的

语言特征”，“浅谈英文化妆品说明书之美学翻译”，“英文化妆品说明书汉译之要

点”, “化妆品说明书英译的原则与特点”，and “浅谈产品说明书的英译”. All these

papers only explain some phenomena with a few examples, but do not explain in detail

the deep reasons for these phenomena.

In addition, multinational companies want to save money on translating products’

instructions, so they encourage researchers to develop software for instruction

translation. This urges programmers to study and analyze the linguistic features of

cosmetic instructions. In the website of the Information Research of Institute of

University of Brighton, there are a large number of publications on instruction

translation software. Some of them can be used to guide the translation of instructions.

For example, Stylistic Variation in Multilingual Instruction written by Paris lists the

global structure of instructions.

To sum up, the research on the translation of cosmetic instructions is very limited; so

far, there is no systematic research on the English-Chinese translation of cosmetic

instructions from the perspective of register, though this task is very important and

urgent. To remedy this situation, the author of this thesis attempts to venture some

English-to-Chinese translation strategies for cosmetic instructions on the basis of

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iiABSTRACTThisthesisisintendedtoinvestigatetheEnglish-Chinesetranslationofcosmeticinstructionsfromtheperspectiveofregister.Cosmeticinstructionsarethematerialswhichintroducetoconsumerstheuse,function,composition,applicationandmaintenanceofcommodities.Withtheimprovementofpeople’slivingstandardandthede...

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