Business English translation should follow certain principles, which will help realize the accurate and valuable transfer of ideas and information in business English translation, so as to realize the effective conduct of international business activities. Business English plays a significant role in our international financial arena or in the careers of some people. Let’s take a look at the principles of business English translation.
Business English is not a general language description, so its translation is different from literary and other stylistic translations, with special emphasis on semantic equivalence or equivalence, and the pursuit of “authentic and accurate”. The general principles and standards of translation, from Mr. Yan Fu’s “Faithfulness, Expressiveness, and Elegance”, to Peter Newmark’s communicative translation method, cannot be fully applied to business English translation. In business English translation, the translator must not only be proficient in the two languages and their respective cultures, as well as various translation techniques, but also must be familiar with relevant business knowledge, and understand the language characteristics and related expressions of various fields. The business English translation standards proposed by Mr. Liu Fagong “faithfulness, exactness, and consistency are fundamentally adapted to the particularity of business language and information content” (Liu Fagong, 2002: 45), which can be considered as The three principles that business English translation should follow will help to achieve the greatest equivalence of ideas and information in business English translation.
(1) Principle of Faithfulness
In business English translation, the faithfulness of the target language text to the source language text requires the translator to accurately express the information in the original language in the target language. Compared with the form, the meaning is more important, so there is no need to be exacting The grammar is consistent with the sentence structure, but information equivalence should be pursued. For articles involving business genres in the fields of trade, contracts, insurance, finance, etc., the translation should be faithful to the language and writing norms of the source language in terms of wording, structure, and writing, so as to reproduce a rigorous and formal text.
例1. If the forward exchange rate is higher than the spot rate, we call it forwardpremium, and if it is lower, we call it forward discount.
Translation: If the forward exchange rate is higher than the recent exchange rate, then we will call it “forward premium”, otherwise, we will call it “forward premium”.
(2) Principle of accuracy
The principle of accuracy refers to accurate word selection, accurate conceptual expression, accurate data and units in the translation process, especially the large number of professional vocabulary, abbreviations, etc. that appear in business English, in order to achieve the standardization, politeness and function of the translation. Of peers.
例2.General cargo vessel: a vessel designed to handle break bulk cargo such as bags.cartons, cases, crates and drums, either individually or in unitized or palletized loads.
original translation:
General cargo ship: A cargo ship designed to carry bulk cargo such as parcels, cardboard boxes, boxes, crates and drums, either individually, jointly or in parallel.
Modified translation: General cargo ship: A cargo ship used to load groceries such as bags, cartons, boxes, boards, wicker boxes, barrels, etc., individually, in groups or on pallets. (Gu Weiyong, 2005: 8)
In the four terms in this example, the original translation is not accurate enough. Only by using accurate terminology can it meet the requirements of users of the target text and let readers feel the same professional context.
例3.Party A shall be unauthorized to accept any orders or to collect any count onand after September 20.
Original translation: After September 20, Party A has no right to accept any orders or receipts.
Modified translation: Since September 20, Party A has no right to accept any orders or receipts. “On and after” includes the following dates, so the actual time difference between the original translation and the original text is one day, mistranslation will cause economic losses to users of the target text.
(3) Unification principle
The principle of uniformity means to follow the convention, “The translated name, concept, terminology, etc. should be unified at all times, and it is not allowed to change the translated name of the same concept or term at will” (Liu Fagong, 2002: 47), so as to avoid misunderstandings and information not equal.
For example: letter of credit—— letter of credit
Counter-offer——counter-offer
Bid——Bid
Insurance policy——Insurance policy
Manual——User Manual
Exclusive territory——exclusive territory
Exclusive contract——Exclusive contract
The principle of uniformity is also reflected in the use of business text formats. The language and writing style of the translation must conform to the language specifications of business documents, and strive for equivalence in stylistic style.
例4.These Rules shall govern the arbitration except that where any of these Rules is in conflict with a provision of the law applicable to the arbitration from which theparties cannot derogate, that provision shall prevail.
Translation: These rules shall govern arbitration, but if any clause of these rules conflicts with the legal provisions applicable to arbitration and which cannot be deviated from by the parties, the provisions shall prevail. This example is a clause with legal significance, and the translated language must also be legal language, otherwise it would violate the principle of uniformity in style.
例5.The home of your dreams awaits you behind this doo,. .Whether your taste bea country manor estate or a penthouse in the sky, you will find the following pages filled with the world’S most elegant residences.
Translation: Open the door, waiting for you is your dream home. Whether you are looking forward to a country house or a skyscraper roof. Turn over the following pages and you can see the most elegant houses in the world for you to choose from.
This example is a real estate agency advertisement. In the advertisement, await, manor, elegant, residence, etc. are all formal words, which replace wait, house.nice, place in 12 languages, making the style appear elegant and solemn. It can not only highlight the noble quality of the goods, but also satisfy the public’s consumer psychology of admiring identity and pursuing taste. Several vocabularies in the source language are translated as “waiting”, “expecting”, “house di”, etc., which are basically consistent with the source language in terms of style and style.
Functional theory regards translation as a dynamic behavior, requiring dynamic equivalence of translations, especially the equivalence of semantic information and style information. This is the basic requirement for business English translation. Therefore, business English translation should follow the above three principles in order to realize the effective conduct of international business activities. Dear friends, Hujiang editor is here to cheer for everyone!
