3.1 Application of Skopos Theory in Three Aspects 5

3.1.1 Linguistic aspect 5

3.1.2 Pragmatic aspect 6

3.1.3 Cultural aspect 7

3.2 Analysis on Public Sign Translation from the Perspective of Skopos Theory 8

3.2.1 Public sign translation at linguistic level 9

3.2.2 Public sign translation at pragmatic level 14

3.2.3 Public sign translation at cultural level 17

3.3 Guidelines for C-E Translation in Public Places 18

4. Conclusion 20

References 22

1. Introduction

1.1 Research Background

With the rapid development of economic globalization, tourism has truly strengthened the connection between China and the world. China is attracting more and more foreigners to visit. Besides, public signs, as the name card of a city, play a more and more significant role in the development of a city. Good translation of public signs may stand for a sound image of one city while mistranslation of public signs might leave foreigners a bad impression, and it might also have negative influence on the image of a country. Hence, the quality of public sign translation must be paid more attention to.

So far, research on public sign translation does not have a long history in China. Most researches concentrate on aspects including functions of public signs, errors of public sign translation, translation methods, standard of public sign translation, etc. However, few researches about translating public signs are discussed from some specific perspective. Thus, it is worth adopting Skopos theory to make an analysis on public sign translation. As for Skopos theory, it is a functional translation theory that was established by the German linguist Hans Vermeer in the late 1970s. Skopos theory believes that translation is a kind of human action, an intentional, purposeful behavior that takes place in a given situation. It sheds significant light on translating. In China, several scholars also make studies on it.

1.2 Purpose of the Research

The main purpose of this thesis is to analyze the translation of public signs from the perspective of Skopos theory. Since Skopos theory has a powerful explanation of translation, it’s necessary to have a further study on the relationship between them. Moreover, public signs reflect a city or even a country’s image and its civilization level to the outside world, so public signs play a more and more important role in the development of international tourist cities. However, there are many problems existing in public sign translation. Therefore, it is of great importance on improving the quality of public sign translation. Skopos theory can be used to analyze translation errors and guide whole process of public sign translation. Only if the whole society makes efforts in public sign translation, can those errors be eliminated.

1.3 Structure of the Thesis

This thesis is composed of four chapters. Chapter one is the introduction, including the research background, the purpose of the research and the structure of the thesis. Chapter two, literature review, mainly focuses on the guiding theory of this research, Skopos theory, as well as the concept of public sign and translation of public signs. Furthermore, chapter three is the core of this thesis. It analyzes the application of Skopos theory in public sign translation. It explains the translation errors which might break the rules of Skopos theory and introduces guidelines based on Skopos theory. At last, chapter four draws a conclusion of the whole thesis, consisting of the major findings and some research limitations.