用功能对等理论研究旅游文本的翻译

编号: 河南大学2012届本科毕业论文 A Study of Tourist Texts Translation from the Perspective of Functional Equivalence 用功能对等理论研究旅游文本的翻译 论文作者名称:姚立月 作者学号:080170057 所在学院:外语学院 所学专业:英语语言文学 导师姓名、职称:侯健助教 论文完成时间:2012-05-07 1 A Study of Tourist Texts Translation from the Perspective of Functional Equivalence 用功能对等理论研究旅游文本的翻译 Y ao Liyue College of Foreign Languages Henan University May 2012 Acknowledgments I would like to express my gratitude to many people who have provided me with valuable advices and revisions through the difficult course of my undergraduate thesis. My deepest gratitude goes first to Mr. Hou, my supervisor, for his constant encouragement and guidance. He has helped me through all the stages of writing this thesis. Heartfelt thanks are also due to all my competent teachers in College of Foreign Languages at Henan University. Their consistent and illuminating instructions are treasure in my whole life. Finally, my thanks would go to my beloved friends and family members for their loving considerations and great confidence in me through all these years. Only with your sincere support, can I reach the present success. Abstract [Abstract]Although China has developed in-bound tourism for years and accomplished great achievements, some English translations of scenic-spot introductions are still beyond satisfaction: even though the translations suffer no apparent grammatical mistakes, it is hard or even impossible for foreign tourists to understand. Because the foreign tourists mainly depend on the English scenic spot introductions to know relevant information, proper English scenic spot introductions are not only of great help to tourists, but also to the further development of China's tourism. Therefore, tourist texts translation has become an urgent issue which deserves a deep st udy to call for the translators?attention and solution. The thesis introduces Nida and his functional equivalence theory, analyzes the characteristics as well as the functions of tourist texts, studies cultural problems in tourist text translation, and explores the features and requirements and criteria of tourist text translation. This thesis makes a tentative study on tourist text translation based on functional equivalence theory, and prescribes what strategies and methods should be adopted in the translating of Chinese tourist texts with examples illustrated. [Key W ords] Nida; functional equivalence; English tourist texts; translation strategies 摘要 【摘要】尽管中国开展入境游已经很多年, 也已取得巨大的成就, 但是一些旅游景点的英译并不如人意:有的英文景点介绍虽无明显语法错误, 却让外国游客很费解, 甚至是不知所云。由于外国游客很多依赖英文景点介绍来获知景点的相关信息, 所以恰当的英文景点介绍不仅方便游客, 也有助于推动我国旅游业的进一步发展。因此, 我们有必要深入研究旅游文本的翻译以此唤起翻译者的注意并提出解决方案。本论文介绍了奈达的功能对等理论, 分析了旅游、旅游文本的特点和作用;研究了翻译涉及的文化问题, 并探讨了旅游文本翻译的特点以及翻译的要求和 标准 excel标准偏差excel标准偏差函数exl标准差函数国标检验抽样标准表免费下载红头文件格式标准下载 。本文以奈达的功能对等理论为基础, 对旅游文本的翻译做了尝试性研究, 并用实例说明在中文旅游文本翻译过程中所应采用的策略与方法。 【关键词】奈达;功能对等;旅游文本;翻译策略 Contents Acknowledgments Abstract (English) (i) Abstract(Chinese) (ii) Introduction (1) Chapter One An Introduction to Nada and Functional Equivalence T heory (3) 1.1 Brief Biography of Eugene A. Nida (3) 1.2 A Brief Introduction to Nida?s Functional Equivalence (4) Chapter Two Features of Chinese Tourist Texts (6) 2.1 Figurative Use in Description... (6) 2.2 Abundant Quotation of Poems and Allusions (7) 2.3 Flowery Style of Writing (7) Chapter Three Tourist Text Translation (9) 3.1 Requirements and Criteria of Tourist Text Translation……………….….…. .9 3.2 Tourist Text Translation and Culture (9) Chapter Four Strategies and Methods of Tourist Text Translation (11) 4. 1 Translation Strategies (11) 4. 2 Translation Methods (12) 4.2.1 Addition (12) 4.2.2 Deletion (13) 4.2.3 Explanation (14) 4.2.4 Analogy (15) 4.2.5 Paraphrase (16) 4.2.6 Rewriting (17) 4.3 Summary (17) Conclusion (19) Bibliography (20) Introduction As we all know, tourism is the worldwide favorite recreational activity in modern society. With the development of the national communication, tourism becomes more and more important in the cross cultural communication. It is an important channel through which China can communicate with the other countries. With a fairly long history of civilization and resplendent culture, modern China has plenty of well-known historical sites, spectacular scenic spots, colorful national customs, and potential tourist resources, which guarantee the unceasing development of its tourist industry. According to the estimate by the World Tourism Organization, China would become the world?s leading tourist destination, overtaking traditional destinations such as Spain, France and the United States by 2020. It is believed that China?s tourism has a bright future. With the development of domestic tourist trade, more and more tourist texts need to be translated into English. Tourist text publicizes tourist resources, local customs, culture, history and religion. As the principal means of tourist advertisement, tourist texts play a significant role and are needed to be translated into English in much larger quantity and higher quality. Proper translation of tourist text helps to build up China?s international image as a highly civilized country, to show her attractiveness to the world, and to expand the international tourism market. Despite the importance of tourist texts translation, the quality of Chinese-English (C-E) translation of tourist text is far from being satisfactory. Many of them are filled with word-for-word translation, linguistic mistakes, Chinglish, and many cultural elements are not adequately rendered into English. Some of them even cause misunderstanding by English speaking tourists. Serious mistakes may frequently occur in some publications, which results in a negative influence on the image of China. So, in order to enhance the national image and accelerate the development of tourism, it is quite necessary to produce satisfying tourist text translations. The reason behind the inadequacies in C-E translation is the interference by Chinese language and culture and the failure to take target language and culture into consideration. Tourist text translation is by no means an easy job, so the thesis will make a tentative study on tourist text translation by applying functionalist approach and prescribe what methods and strategies should be adopted in the translating of Chinese tourist text. Anyway, the thesis is hoped that it will not only be helpful to improve the quality of the whole tourist text translation, but will help the development of China?s tourism. Chapter One An Introduction to Nida and Functional Equivalence Theory 1.1 Brief Biography of Eugene A. Nida Born on November 11, 1914, in Oklahoma City, Eugene Nida and his family moved to Long Beach, California when he was 5 years old. He began studying Latin in high school and was already looking forward to being able to translate scripture as a missionary. By the time he received his B achelor?s degree in 1936 from the University of California at Los Angeles, he was well on his way. Having earned his degree in Greek, he enrolled in the Summer Institute of Linguistics and discovered the works of such linguists as Edward Sapir and Leonard Bloomfield. Nida then pursued a Master's degree in Greek New Testament at the University of Southern California. In 1941 he began a Ph.D. in linguistics at the University of Michigan and completed it in two years. His dissertation, A Synopsis of English Syntax was, at that time, the only full-scale analysis of a major language according to the “immediate constituent” theory. Nida was determined to produce a theory that would foster effective communication of the Good News of Bible across all kinds of cultural and linguistics barriers. A prolific writer, his book Toward a Science of Translating, and later The Theory and Practice of Translation helped him achieve this objective. These two very influential books were his first book-length efforts to expound his theory on what he called dynamic equivalence translation, later to be called functional equivalence. How significant, revolutionary, and convincing this new approach proved to be can be seen in the fact that hundreds of the Bible translations have now been effectively carried out with this methodology. In essence, this approach enables the translator to capture the meaning and spirit of the original language text without being bound to its linguistic structure. Nida?s work with indigenous language translations had shown that in order to reach people who bring no prior knowledge to their encounter with the Bible, the translation needs to place the highest priority on clear communication in easily understood language and style. Thus, under the leadership of translator William Wonderly, a Spanish New Testament, called the Versión Popular, a contemporary translation, was published in 1966. At almost the same time, the Good News Bible New Testament, Today?s English V ersion, under the leadership of Robert G. Bratcher, a Nida colleague, was published. Both of these books were enormously successful publications, with sales in dozens of millions even before the Bible editions were published in 1976. A scholar, teacher, leader, influencer, innovator, and influential theoretician, Eugene A. Nida is very possibly unsurpassed in the history of the Bible Society movement in terms of global impact. His work, his organization, his ideas and the organization he put into place represent a watershed for the movement and for Bible translation. Thanks to him, the world of Bible translation and translation studies has been enriched and challenged into an exciting field of study and discourse. 1.2 A Brief Introduction to Nida’s Functional Equivalence Nida is an outstanding American linguist and translation theorist of the contemporary time. In the early phase of translation studies, the conception of linguistic equivalence plays a predominant role. Discarding the traditional equivalence, Nida advocates a functional approach and differentiates between formal and dynamic equivalence in t ranslation. “Formal equivalence”refers to faithful reproduction of the source text (ST) while “dynamic equivalence” indicates acquisition of equivalent extra-linguistic communicative effect. According to Nida translation is a communicative process, so he views dynamic equivalence as a translation principle. In order to achieve the purpose of effective communication, any text must be the reader-centered. Nida explains his concept of dynamic equivalence as follows: in terms of the degree to which the receptors of the message in the receptor language respond to it in substantially the same manner as the receptors in the source language (Nida, 1969:24). That?s to say, the relation of target language receptors to the target language text should be roughly equivalent to the relationship between the original receptors and the original text. The concept of “dynamic equivalence” which has featured Nida?s whole theory system later has been replaced by the term “functional equivalence” which emphasizes the function of communication. Different from traditional translation theories which focus on the relationship between the ST and target text (TT), Nida?s dynamic equivalence introduces a new measurement----the response of the receptor to the target text should be equivalent to that of the source text reader to the original. Nida stresses that the target text should function in the same manner in the target situation as the source text functions in the source text. That is to say, the target text should be functionally equivalent to the source text. Nida indicates that the validity of a translation cannot be judged only by a comparison of corresponding lexical meanings, grammatical classes and rhetorical devices. What is more important is the extent to which the target receptor can understand or appreciate the translated text. Functional equivalence requires both the equivalence of message and equivalence of form, because the receptor will no doubt has different response to that of the source text reader if the translator only transmits the meaning of the original but ignore the style. According to Nida, the comparison of the receptors? response rather than the comparison of the structure between the ST and the TT is the key point to determine whether it is faithful to the source text or not. He believes that if the translation has laid great difficulty the source text, or resulted in the misunderstanding, the translator has the right to correct the source text so as to make the target text reach the expected response. Chapter Two Features of Chinese Tourist Texts In Chinese tourist texts, specific attention is always paid to the introduction of the Chinese culture. The particular cultural information is always embedded in Chinese tourist texts. Because of the deep-rooted differences in thought patterns and aesthetic habits between Chinese and English speaking people, the same text type may have quite different language conventions. According to Newmark?s text typology and Nida?s dynamic equivalence, tourist text transl ation should be reader-centered and the translation needs to make sense to the target readers so as to reach the intended purpose of the target text. One of the difficulties in C-E tourist translation is caused by the differences between Chinese and English tourist texts.Thus the translator has to do one work before starting: studying the specific features of Chinese tourist texts. 2.1 Figurative Use in Description It is full of figurative language in Chinese descriptive tourist texts. The use of figurative language makes the tourist texts more interesting, and such rhetoric devices as simile, metaphor, parallelism, hyperbole and personification can help to enhance communication effect by making the texts more vivid and appealing. Many tourist texts make great effort to impress the reader by offering flowery and exaggerated descriptions of the scenic spots. 玻璃与铜板相间,宛如“琴键飞奔??;凌空飞架的四条钢架,又似高山流水、水袖当舞。 ……Between the glass and bronze plates are ……piano keys?? and the four steel flames look like stream running from high mountains and sleeves flying in the sky.”1 In the above example,the Chinese version uses the simi les, “宛如琴键飞奔", while in the English version, it just renders as the “piano keys”. 2.2 Abundant Quotation of Poems and Allusions 1 Because of China?s long history, numerous historical allusions have come into use and become valuable legacy of Chinese culture as well as rich materials for Chinese literature. In scenery descriptions, Chinese people like quoting Chinese classic poems or allusions to support their opinions and at the same time enhance charm to the scenic spots. Each allusion has an impressive story, either appealing or instructive. Chinese writers like to use allusions to bring numerous associations to readers, who are familiar with the Chinese culture and history, while foreigners are not acquainted, thus it eventually brings about great challenges for translators, as the following example shows: “慈母手中线,游子身上衣。临行密密缝,意恐迟迟归。谁言寸草心,报得三春晖。”这是唐朝著名诗人孟郊的经典之作。德清是孟郊的故乡。 “Thread in the hands of a loving mother Turns to clothes on the traveling son. She adds stitch after tight stitch until he leaves and worries about his return. A grass blade is bathed in spring sun; How can its inch-sized heart return such love?” This is the great poet in Tang Dynasty, Mengjiao?s classics. Deqing is Mengjiao?s hometown. In this example, the poem is quoted in the introduction of Deqing County in Huzhou,which is the hometown of the poet Mengiiao. Mengiiao may be a household name for the Chinese readers and the writer use the poem to produce deeper impression on Chinese readers. 2.3 Flowery Style of Writing Comparing with the English tourist texts, Chinese tourist texts are more ornate, or “flowery”. It is a tradition that the Chinese have developed great favor of flowery words and lyrical writings from ancient times. Many Chinese writers of scenic descriptions, influenced by Chinese literature, have special favorite to rhythmical prose style, neat parallel structure and elegant descriptions. As a result, many Chinese tourist texts are characterized by gorgeous diction and the abuse of adjectives, four-character phrases. Chinese featured four-character phrases compounds reveal the aesthetic value of Chinese. Balanced in form and sounding with emphasis on meaning, they are generally regarded as the refined expressions, since many of them are derived from the rich Chinese literary tradition. For example: 山海相连,岚光晦明,峰峦叠嶂,怪石嶙峋,深涧幽谷,碧海仙居,缥缈海市,构成了崂山幽邃文袤、离奇多变的天然之美。峰顶耸立,层峦叠嶂,深涧幽谷,奇峰异石,有“天然雕塑公园"之称。2 In this short description, 13 four-character phrases are used to achieve rhythm and parallelism which depict a magnificent view before Chinese readers. Some of these four-character phrases do not have practical meanings. So it is not easy for translators to render these texts. 2 Chapter Three Tourist Text Translation 3.1 Requirements and Criteria of Tourist Text Translation The principles or the criteria of translation are not only a norm for measuring the quality of translation but also an ultimate goal for translators to pursuit. Alexander Fraser Tytler, an English translation theoretician has put forward the criteria which claimed that a translation should be made or judged by three fundamentals in the last decade of the 18th century: (1)A translation should give a complete transcript of the ideas of the original work. (2)The style and manner of writing should be of the same character as that of the original. (3)A translation should have all the ease of the original composition (Chen Hongwei, 2004:5). For a long time, the translators are bound to the literal translation theory by the translation traditions, and they have little freedom to show their creativity. But the function or intention of translating tourist texts is quite different from those texts such as legal documents, scientific reports, and Government Documents, etc. It is successful if a translation can adequately reach the intended purpose of the target text. Because the function of tourist texts is to transmit Chinese unique cultural to the foreign tourists and to arouse their curiosity to travel, the translation should be interesting to the target readers. But Chinese readers and English readers belong to different culture backgrounds, so the quality of a tourist translation must be evaluated by the degree of the cultural exchange on the basis of the readability of the translated version and of the receptiveness of the readers. In conclusion, the criterion for C-E tourist translation demands a translator make the promotion of Chinese culture bear in mind, and express as much cultural information as possible to the foreigners. 3.2 Tourist Text Translation and Culture Translation and culture are closely linked. Every culture has its particular point of view of the world and its own thinking pattern. Translation as the connector between the source language and the target language is used to convey the unique culture and to achieve the better communication. In the translation process, cultural information in one language can be conveyed in another language. In this process, new concepts, new genres and new devices are introduced into a target culture. This is indeed a communicating process facilitated by means of translation. The history of translation is, in a way, “the history of the shaping power of one culture upon another. As Nord (1997) puts it, “Translating means comparing cultures”, a foreign culture can only be apperceived by means of comparison with our own culture. In the process of this comparison, translators interpret source-culture phenomena in the light of their own culture--specific knowledge of that culture, from either the inside or the outside, depending on whether the translation is from or into the translator?s native language and culture. A good tourist text translated in a cultural perspective can immeasurably contribute to mutual understanding and cultural exchanges especially for those foreign visitors who know little or nothing about Chinese culture. A combination of general introduction with cultural interpretation will better display the functions of tourist texts. Transcultural action or communication across culture barriers has to take account of cultural differences with regard to behavior, evaluation and communicative situations. Nida also says, “For truly successful translating, biculturalism is even more important than bilingualism” (Nida, 1993:64). Chapter Four Strategies and Methods of Tourist Text Translation 4. 1 Translation Strategies Tourist texts translation is by no means an easy task for translators to complete, since there are so many obscurities for translators to cope with that translation always requires translators to be equipped with linguistic competence and cultural perception. So the following part is to find out some practical strategies for tourist text translation. As is stated in previous chapters, tourist text combines informative and vocative functions. The ultimate purpose of any tourist texts is to achieve its vocative function, namely to attract overseas tourists to visit the scenic attractions in China. Based on such purpose and function, translators have to please the reader by adapting the form and content of Chinese text while taking their background knowledge, expectations, cultural background and aesthetics into consideration. In the case where the vocative function is predominant, “one might be justified for playing down or even omitting certain information if it obstructs the appellative function” (Nord, 2001:77). On the basis of this viewpoint, the information which is regarded by foreign visitors as irrelevant to the subject of source text or insignificant should be deleted in translation. Translator has the responsibility to introduce the rich culture of China to the westerners, which is another purpose of C-E, tourist translation that should not be forgotten. In this case, translator should adopt a foreign translation strategy when translating the cultural phenomena such as the customs, the ways of living, the emotions of Chinese people and the proper names. If culture-loaded information is indeed not understandable to the target reader because of language and cultural barrier, translator may add some explanation in the target text. English language readers have their inborn sociocultural background and aesthetic psychology which make the shape of the writing style of English tourist texts. According to these translation theories, translators have to please the reader by adapting the form and content of Chinese text while taking their background knowledge, expectations, cultural background and aesthetics into consideration. The information which is regarded by foreign visitors as irrelevant to the subject of source text or insignificant should be deleted in translation. 4. 2 Translation Methods 4.2.1Addition Addition is usually employed in translating names of persons and places, dynasties, historical events and literary quotations, etc. by supplying necessary information on the basis of accurate comprehension of the original texts. English and Chinese are two entirely different languages and each has its own characteristics of language, historical and cultural background. Therefore, it is necessary for translators to provide some additional information to assist tourists to understand. Example[1]:南京夫子庙是用来供奉古代中国伟大的思想家、教育家孔子的地方。其始建于宋朝,曾于清朝年间重建过。 For the foreign tourists, they can hardly know the special term “宋朝” and “清朝”. Thus when translating them into English, we had better add the year. So the proper translation is: Nanjing Confucius Temple is for consecrating and worshiping Confucius,the great thinker and educator of ancient China. Nanjing Confucius Temple was built in Song Dynasty (A.D.1 034) and once was rebuilt in Qing Dynasty (A.D.1 869). Example [2]:五四广场是为纪念“五四运动”而命名的。 May 4th Square is named to honor the May 4th Movement which took place in 1919.3 The translator added the year when the May 4th Movement took place. If there was no such explanation, foreigners would feel confused with the movement, because they neither know what kind of the movement is nor understand the historical meaning 3 of this movement. 4.2.2 Deletion This process is to omit unnecessary and meaningless information. From the above analysis, it is known that the ways of expressing ideas are different between Chinese and western people. Chinese people like to quote or cite the classics or the poems to add some artistic value to their writings, while the foreigners prefer the plain and direct way to express what they think. So in translating, to ensure the fluency and conciseness of the translated text, it is proper to omit some useless redundant information and make the version understandable. Nida says that “to translate precisely out of the source language is not to observe the number of words, but the perfect sense and meaning”(Nida, 1964:16). The translator has the right to decide which part should be translated or deleted. Proper deletion should be applied in translating Chinese tourist texts with allusions and quotations, flowery description, and unnecessary information, which otherwise might result in overloaded communicative effect. Example [3]:从二十世纪20年代初,青岛就成为一座景色秀美,气候宜人的旅游城市和避暑胜地。沙滩上海风习习,山丘绵延不断,再加上欧式的红顶建筑和绿树,绘成一幅美妙的画卷,成为观光、度假的好去处,也是商会洽谈和举办展览的好地方。 “Early in the 1 920s, Qingdao became a famous tourist city and a summer resort. Qingdao has beautiful scenery and a pleasant climate. Winding beaches, undulating hills, European-style red-roofed houses and green trees paint a fabulous picture. The area is an excellent place for sightseers, holidaymakers and for holding business talks and exhibitions.” The above underlined sentence in Chinese tourist text is a long sentence which consists of several clauses. If translated word for word, the English version is likely to cause many reading difficulties. Thus the translator deletes some redundant information. Another example, example[ 4]:巫峡两岸,群山相拥,云遮雾绕,奇峰异岭隐 没其间,宛如仙境。景色奇妙处要数巫山十二峰,而尤以神女峰独具神韵。巡游于此恍若漫步于大自然的艺术画廊,美不胜收。 “On the bank of the Wu Gorge are mist-covered fairy-land-like mountains and grotesque peaks. The most marvelous scene here is the twelve mountains? peaks, and in particular, Goddess Mount Peak. To cruise here is like wandering in a natural art gallery.?? Comparing these two texts, it is obvious that the translator turns the parallel structure completely to direct and concise words in the English version. For example, “独具神韵” in source text is translated as “and in particular”. And at the end of the source text, “美不胜收” is deleted to avoid repetition. 4.2.3 Explanation Explanation refers to a literal interpretation for words, phrases and sentences. In cases when words, phrases, and sentences are not familiar to foreign visitors, it is necessary to explain and offer them enough messages, which is not in terms of cultural background information, but the equivalent meaning of the lexemes. In this way, the reader can understand the inner meaning and find the translated text more delightful, intelligible and appealing. Example[ 5]:现在人们常说的峨嵋山,主要指的是大峨山。大峨和二峨两山,远远望去宛若嵘首峨眉,细而长,美而艳,如《水经注》所记:“秋日清澄,望见两山相对如峨眉焉。??峨嵋山之名由此而来。 ……The term …Mount Emei? mainly refers to Da?e Mountain. In the distance, the Da?s and Er?s mountains look like a moth?s pair of antennas that extend long and slender in a picturesque fashion. Just as the book Commentary on the Waterways Classics put it, …On a fine autumn day, the two mountains stand opposite each other like a moth?s antennas? hence the name, Emei literally means …Moth?s Brows?” (Xiao Qianhui, 2000). Comparing the original text with the translation version, the author finds the translator adds an attributive clause, “literally means …Moth?s Brows?” in the translated text. This is the explanation of the name of Emei, which makes the reader learn about the origin of this name. Therefore, the reader will have a clear understanding of the name, and have a deep impression of the place and imagine the shape of Mount Emei. 4.2.4 Analogy Analogy in translation is such a method as words are created in the imitation of other words that have similar features in order to shorten the distance between foreign readers and the Chinese culture. That is to say, use their familiar things to compare and to interpret the different objects can make the readers feel close to the target text. Nord says “real life presents situations where equivalence is not possible and in some cases, not even desired” (Nord, 1997). In tourist texts, analogy can also be a useful strategy to deal with culture blanks. When it is difficult to translate the Chinese characterized items and the omission of them is likewise impossible, cultural analogy can be taken into consideration. Analogy is a concise and effective way to introduce characters and spots to addressees from a different culture. Many Chinese historical celebrities and events are introduced to the foreigners in this way. It will make it easier for westerners to understand and appreciate the significance of the Chinese culture. Example[ 6]:故宫耗时14年,整个工程于1420年结束。 “The construction of the Forbidden City took 1 4 years, and was finished in 1 420, 72 years before Christopher Columbus discovered the New World.” (Yao Baorong and Han Qi, 1998: 27) For foreigners, the year 1 420 is no more than a year. When it is analogized with the great event, the discovery of the New World,the interest of the foreign tourists is aroused. In Lanxi (兰溪) county of Zhejiang Province, there is a monument to Jigong. It says “济公劫富济贫,深受穷苦人民爱戴。” Example [7]:“Jigong, Robin Hood in China, robbed the rich and helped the poor?? (Liu Huimei and Yang Shoukang,1996:1 2) In this example, Jigong is compared to Robin Hood, with whom every westerner is quite familiar. Like Jigong, he is a hero in the western culture enjoying love and esteem of the foreigners. Through this analogy, foreign readers can easily understand the reason why Chinese people like him so much. 4.2.5 Paraphrase Due to cultural differences between China and Western countries we may not find in English the equivalents of many objects in Chinese. When the words, phrases, sentences in the original version are too difficult to understand, paraphrase should be applied. Paraphrase, which is different from explanation, refers to re-wording of a piece of writing, statement, etc. in different words. That is to say, we can use more common words to translate the original, yet the meaning is reserved. Nida (1982:73)also holds the similar view about this point:When artifacts that exist in a source language do not correspond to anything in a receptor language, there?s a tendency to paraphrase the thing or to employ a descriptive equivalent. Example [8]:元宵节那天,各家各户装点彩灯,准备糯米面做的元宵,煮着吃或炸着吃。 “On the Lantern Festival (which falls on the 1 5th of the first lunar month), every household is decorated with colorful lanterns and prepares Yuan Xiao, a kind of round dumpling made of glutinous rice flour with sweet or salted fillings, which is boiled or fried.?? We cannot find an equivalent of “Yuan Xiao” in English, so the best method to inform foreigners about this special Chinese food is to paraphrase it. Many other terms unique in China are translated this way with paraphrase so that the foreign readers may obtain insight into Chinese culture. As for paraphrase method we also have the following examples: 哈达hada (a piece of pure white silk used as a greeting gift for honorable guests especially by Tibetan people) 华 表 关于同志近三年现实表现材料材料类招标技术评分表图表与交易pdf视力表打印pdf用图表说话 pdf huabiao (marble pillar carved with clouds and dragon motifs) 火锅huoguo (a container with a heater under it, used for cooking or keeping food warm, especially at the table) 粽子zongzi (special pyramid-shaped dumplings which people eat in the 5th month of the Chinese lunar calendar) 4.2.6 Rewriting The specific feature of the tourist texts determines that it is impossible for the translators to explain all the difficult words or usage in a limited length of passage. In this case, rewriting works more effectively. Rewriting, as one of the translation methods, refers to a more dramatic adjustment of the contents or the structure of the source text to make the version understandable, readable and enjoyable. So we?d better adjust the sequence of given sentences so as to make them idiomatic-sounding. Example [9]:四川西部,有一处美妙的去处。它背倚眠山主峰雪宝顶,树木苍翠,花香袭人,鸟声婉转,流水潺潺。这就是松潘县的黄龙。 “One of Sichuan?s finest scenic spots is Huanglong (Yellow Dragon), which lies in Songpan County just beneath Xuebao, the main peak of the Minshan Mountain. Its lush green forests, filled with fragrant flower, bubbling streams, and songbirds, are rich in historical interest as well as natural beauty.” The source text is a traditional Chinese one, with the topic sentence normally coming last. Owing to the different thought patterns of Chinese and westerners, the English version has rearranged the structure of the source text. The whole text is divided into two sentences with the topic sentence“松潘县的黄龙” leading at the beginning of the target text, followed by detailed description in sequence. 4.3 Summary Considering the peculiar features of tourist texts, this chapter takes the above examples as illustrations. It is obvious that the translators have such an excessive freedom in translation that they have addition, deletion, explanation, analogy, paraphrase, and rewriting to make the translation fluent and comprehensible. However the methods mentioned are far form exhaustive. Sometimes they are likely to be overlapped with each other and could be used together. The functions of the tourist texts require the translator to take the text as integrity and to adopt proper methods. Any method used in translation should be target language reader-oriented, that is to say, to best meet the needs and preferences of the foreign tourists. In a word the translation of Chinese tourist texts should attach importance to the information provided for the tourists to fulfill its vocative and informative functions. Under this circumstance, the application of these methods should be based on the analysis of the original text with the aim to promote overseas tourists? interest in Chinese unique culture. Conclusion China is one of the few countries in the world which is endowed with abundant tourist resources. With the ever deepening of China?s reform and opening-up policy, increasing numbers of overseas visitors come to China. Historical and cultural relics, beautiful sceneries and interesting national customs are all preference of the Westerners. The booming international tourist industry needs well-translated tourist texts eagerly to provide qualified traveling information to arouse more potential touris ts? interest to visit a certain destination in China. The tourist text translation is a special kind of cross-cultural communication. The aim of tourist text translation has become cultural exchange. In the thesis presented Skopos theory, Newmark?s text t ypology and Nida?s functional equivalence are taken as a theoretical framework. The tourist text features a combination of informative and vocative functions, which is also the basic purpose of tourist text translation. Because of the specific nature of the tourist texts, and the cultural differences between China and western countries, the translation difficulties lie in the treatment of different language styles as well as in the cultural blanks. According to Skopos theory, the intended purpose of the target text determines the overall translation practice, including the choice of translation strategies methods. The translator, based on the analysis of the source text, should consider the criteria of tourist text translation from cultural perspectives. The criterion requires the translators to try their best to convey as many cultural messages as possible to achieve the intended function of the target text. Some flexible translation methods of addition, deletion, explanation, analogy, paraphrase and rewriting are suggested. Though far from exhaustive, in practice, these methods ale of some value for the translator to deal with the cultural problems and they do shed light on future tourist text translation. Tourist text translation is by no means an easy job. Tourist text has various types thus its translation is really complicated. To some extent the thesis has done some help to improve the quality of tourist text. However, what has been discussed above is only a limited part of the possible methods, and further researches in this field are expected to explore more strategies to step up the development of China's tourism. Bibliography Castello and Erik. 2002. Tourist Information Texts:a Corpus-based Study of Four Relate Genres.Italy: Unipress. Eugene, A. Nida. 1964. Toward A science of Translation. Leiden: E. J. Brill. Eugene, A. Nida.1974. The Theory and Practice of Translation.Leiden: E. J. Brill. Eugene, A. Nida. 1982. Translating Meaning. London: English Language Institute. Eugene, A. Nida. 2000. 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