韦娟容广西梧州岑溪市大隆镇西宁中心小学543200
中图分类号：G623.5文献标识码：A文章编号：ISSN1001-2982（2019）02-012-05
ChapterOneIntroduction
1.1TheBackgroundoftheStudy
Publicsignscoveralmosteveryaspectofpeople'ssociallife,somehowitstandsforinternationalimage,moreandmorepublicplacesareprovidedwithbilingualpublicsigns.However,thefrequentoccurrenceoftranslationproblemscanbeseeneverywhere,anymisunderstandandmisuseofthemcancausetroublewithbadresultforpeople.Amongtheseproblems,sometranslationerrorsaresoobvious,suchasspellingerrors,lexicalerrors,grammaticalerrors,pragmaticerrorsandculturalerrors.
Signingaffectseverybody–travelers,shoppers,visitors,drivers,etc,weatherinthecourseofbusinessorpleasure.Badsigningisatbestirritatingandworstcanbelifethreateninganddangerous.Underthiscircumstance,studyandanalysisofpublicsignsbecomeurgentandnecessary.
1.2TheNecessityofTheStudy
Publicsignsconstituteavitalpartinourdailylife,translatingthepublicsignsinproperwaysfromaspectsinspelling,lexical,grammatical,pragmaticandcultural,cannotonlybringmoreconveniencetoforeignvisitorsbutalsoresultinagoodimpression.Morefurther,makingsuccessfulandeffectivepublicsignscannotonlyfulfillthecommunicativegoalsofinforming,warmingandadvocatingwithoutmanydifficulties,butalsoattainapositiveinternationalimageandreputation.
Onthecontrary,allthetranslationerrorsmaycausemisleadingormisunderstandingtoforeignguests,theymaygetthewrongdirectionandmessagesfromthesepublicsigns.Besides,themistranslationofpublicsignswillmisguidetheprimaryEnglishlearnersthattheywillacceptthemastrueandcopytheexamples.WhattomakemattersworseisthatitmayseriouslyleaveanawfulimpressiontoforeignguestsandresultindamagetoChineseinternationalimage.
Soitisofgreatnecessitytomakearesearchonthetranslationcauseanderrorsofpublicsigns
1.3PresentStatusOfC-ETranslationOfPublicSignsInCenxi.
Atrecentyears,“publicsigns”isaverycomplicatedlanguagesystemwhichundertakesalotofsocialcommunicativetasks.Publicsignsarewidelyandfrequentlyusedinmanykindsofpublicplace,moreandmoreattentionsarepaytotheC-Etranslationofpublicsigns.Inaddition,manyresearchershavealreadytakensomeeffectivemeasuresandgreatachievementshavebeenmadeinthisfield.However,bycloselyobservingthepublicsigns,wealsomayfindmanykindsoftranslationerrors.Allthesetranslationerrorsmaymakemisunderstandingtoforeigners,theymaygetthewrongdirectioninashortperiodoftime.Believeitornot,itwillleaveanawfulimpressiontoforeignvisitorsandmayresultinanunrecoverabledamagetoChina’sinternationalimage.
WhatbellowsexpectationwasthattheattentionwaspaidontheC-Etranslationofpublicsignswasquiteinadequate.Manyatime,mostscholarsjustresearchthestudyfromasingleaspectwithouthavingenoughconsideration,forexample,theyonlytargetedfortheroadsignsorthetouristspot.Fortunately,thefirstspecialdictionaryinChinaonstandardizationofChinese-EnglishandEnglish-ChinesesigntranslationeditedbyYuFulinwaspublishedin2003.LvHefaandShanLipingeditedAChinese-EnglishDictionaryonSigns(2004)whichwaspublishedbyCommercialPress.BothofthetwodictionariesprovedthatwehavemadegreatstridesinC-Esigntranslationtowardsastandardandsystematicresearch.
1.4TheSignificanceoftheStudy
Publicsignscoveralmosteveryaspectofpeople'ssociallife,internationalexchangesandcooperationbecamemoreandmorefrequent.Publicsignsreflecttheculturalandeducationallevelofaplace,thewrongorthenonstandardtranslationofpublicsignswillseriouslyaffecttheimageoftheplace.
Signingaffectseverybody–travelers,shoppers,visitors,drivers,etc,weatherinthecourseofbusinessorpleasure.Badsigningisatbestirritatingandworstcanbelifethreateninganddangerous.Inthiscase,itisofgreatnecessitytoanalyzeerrorsonC-Etranslationofpublicsignsandprovidestrategiestoeliminatetheseerrors.
Thebilingualpublicsigns,especiallyC-Etranslationpublicsigns,whicharesupposedtobethemostimmediatepublicguidanceforvisitors,hasbecomemoreandmoreimportantnotonlyinitspublicfunctionfordirectingpeople,butalsomoreintheirsignificanceupgradingtheinternationalimageandreputationofChinainglobalcommunity.So,well-translatedpublicsignscanpromotethedevelopmentoflanguageenvironmentandenhancetheimageofthecountry.Asamatteroffact,itisurgetotranslatethepublicsignsinacorrectandproperway.
ChapterTwoGeneralizationofPublicSigns
2.1TheDefinitionofPublicSigns
ProfessorLvHefadefinesthepublicsigninhisbook----‘AChinese-EnglishDictionaryonSigns’as“publicsignsareterseandexplicitwords,sentences,evenphotographsthatarecloselyrelatedtodailylife,production,ecologyandprofessionssoastodirect,prompt,restrict,warm,orevencompelthepublic.”(LvHefa2004)Hepointsoutthatdirecting,prompting,restrictingandcompellingarethefourmostimportantfunctionsofpublicsigns.Healsosaid,“Atpresent,whenwearedoingresearchontheChinesetoEnglishtranslationonpublicsigns,ourperspectiveisfromthecultureandtranslationfield,weborrowedtheconcept‘publicsigns’inourpresentstudy,buttheconceptisendowedwithnewmeanings”.(LvHefa2005)
HeXuegeng(2006)definesthatpublicsignsisaspecialgenreofwritingthatisseenbycertainpeoplesoastoachievesomecertaininterpersonalobjectives.LuoXuanmin(2006)alsodefinesthatpublicsignsarethewordswithspecialinterpersonalfunctions,whichareshowninpublicplaces.Specificallyspeaking,roadsigns,advertisements,instructionofproducts,guidelines,andplacardsallbelongtopublicsigns.
Intotally,allthedefinitionsofpublicsignsarereasonable,butthereisstillnounifiedandcleardefinitionofpublicsigns.Baseontheabovedefinitions,theauthorleantothedefinitionofLvHefa.BecauseitisthemostsimilartothepublicsignsinChinese:公示语、告示语、标识语、揭示语、标志、标识。
2.2TheFunctionsofPublicSigns
AccordingtoprofessorLvHefa,publicsignscanbepidedintofourterms:directing,prompting,restrictingandcompelling.ButBeiZhuandShanAimin(2002)classifiedthepublicsignsintoanotherfourfunctions:informative,instructive,regulatoryandwarning.HerewewillhaveadetaillookatthesampleswhichrelatedtothefourfunctionofLvHefa.
2.2.1DirectingFunction
Thisdirectingfunctionofpublicsignsistoprovideinformationaboutwhatthingsare.Theydonotnecessarilyforbidorrequirereaderstotakeanyactiontodosomething,onlydirectthecontentoftheservice.Typicalexamplesareasfollows:
Tickets(售票处)
SmokingRoom(吸烟室)
AirportSecurity(机场安检)
Internetbar(网吧)
24HoursSelf-serviceBank(24小时自助银行)
Exit(出口)
Supermarket(超市)
BusinessHours(营业时间)
Hotel(旅馆)andsoon.
2.2.2PromptingFunction
Thefunctionofpromptingaimatremindingpeopletopayattentioniftheywanttoperformanyaction.Peoplecanhaveaclearideahowtheyshouldbehave,whattheyshoulddowhentheyreadthesignswhichistopromptortowarnafactorphenomenon.Inotherwords，thesesignsemphasistheinformationthatyoushouldorshouldnotdosomething.Theexamplesareasfollow:
KeepOffTheGrass勿踏草坪
HandleWithCare小心轻放
DoNotDisturb请勿打扰
RoadunderRepair前面修路
Reserved预留席位
WetPaint油漆未干
ParkingFine停车违规罚款
RearandCollision追尾危险
Pedestrians’Paradise行人专用道
FullBooked客满
2.2.3RestrictingFunction
Thiskindofpublicsignsisdirectandexplicit,butthetoneisnotrough,impoliteandunreasonable.Theyaretoinformtheconstraintsorrestrictionsonthepublic’sbehaviors.Forinstance:“ConstructionSite”meaning“施工现场，禁止入内”
Usuallyappearsatthebuildingsite,ittellspeoplenottoenter,incasethattheirlivesmaybeatrisk.“HandicappedOnly”meaning“残疾人通道”canbeseeninmanypublicplacessuchasairportsorrailwaystation,ittellspeoplethewayisonlyusedfordisabled.Thesepublicsignswithrestrictingfunctionareshowninadirectandclearway.Howeverpeopledon’tfeeltheyarerough,impoliteortough.Moreexamples:
KeepRight右侧行驶
SlowOut减速慢行
KeepSilence保持安静
TicketOnly凭票入内
StandinLine站队等候
60km/h60公里/小时
FreeforChildrenunder12十二岁以下的小孩免费
2.2.4CompellingFunction
Amongthefourfunctions,compellingfunctionhasthestrongesttone.Thiskindofpublicsignsgiveclearrequirementforthepublictotakeornottotakecertainactionwithoutcompromise.Wordslike“No,Forbidden,Prohibited”arealwaysusedinsuchkindofpublicsigns.Itmeansthatpeoplehavetoobeytheruleswithoutanyotherchoices.Lookatthefollowingexamples:
NoSmoking禁止吸烟
NoCameras禁止拍照
NoVisitors游客止步
NoLittering请勿乱扔垃圾
DoNotTouch请勿触摸
FireProhibited严禁烟火
DogsNotAllowed禁止带狗入内
Don’tDriveafterDrinking严禁酒后驾车
NoAdmittanceinSloppyDresses衣冠不整者谢绝入内
KeepClearEmergencyExit紧急出口，保持畅通
DoNotFeedtheAnimals禁止投喂动物
Asawhole,thefourfunctionalfeaturesarethemostdistinctivefeaturesofpublicsigns.BothChinesesignsandEnglishsignssharethesefourfunctions.Sincethat,itisnecessarytoknowmoreaboutthesefeaturesbeforestartingthestudyonC-Etranslationofpublicsigns,
2.3TheCharacteristicofPublicSigns
Nowpublicsignshavebeenappliedincommonuseandhaveplayedanindispensableroleineveryaspectofourlives.Theyareinwideuseofnouns,verbs,gerunds,phrases,abbreviations,combinationofwordsandgraphics,primarytenses,imperativesentence,standardizedandnormalizedvocabulary,conciseandaccuratedictionandwordingswithlocalcharacteristics.Havingagoodknowledgeofthecharacteristicsofpublicsignscanbeofgreathelpforustohaveabetterunderstandingofpublicsigns.
2.3.1UseofNouns
Amongthepublicsigns,nounsareusuallyappliedtoexpress“stative”meaning,withthepurposeofofferingservice,directing,andexplainingofsomething.Forexamples:
FoodandBeverage餐饮部
Registration注册登记
TollGate收费站
TicketMachines售票机
ConferenceCenter会议中心
TheCustoms海关
Caution:Pedestrians注意行人
2.3.2UseofVerbsAndGerund
Whenthepublicsignsindicatea“dynamic”meaning,verbsandgerundsarewidelyused.Theyareusuallyusedinrestrictingandcompellingsignsticallforimmediateactionofreaders.Examplesareasfollows:
KeepSilence保持安静
LookLeft注意左侧
NoParking严禁停车
NoSpitting严禁随地吐痰
PleaseMindtheSteps请小心台阶
KeepClear保持畅通
StandFacingtheDirectionofTravel面向前方站立
Slow减速行使
2.3.3UseOfPhrases
Publicsignsoftenusenounphrasesandverbphrasesbecauseoftheirsimplestructureandflexiblecombination.Weoftenseethefollowingexamples:
OpenNow现在营业
SoldOut售完
CheckIn入住登记
GameReserve野生动物保护区
OutofOrder暂时停用
PerformanceCenter表演中心
DutyManager值班经理
2.3.4UseOfAbbreviations
Abbreviationsareoftenseenforthenamesofpublicfacilitiesorservices.Wecaneasilytellwhatitisonlybyshootingaglanceattheabbreviationofit.Forexample:
IDD国内直播、DDD国际直播、WC厕所、i旅游咨询、P停车场、YMCA基督教青年会、YHA青年旅舍、SQ广场、CNTR中心、GDNS花园、VIPSUITE贵宾候机室、CCTV中央电视台
2.3.5CombinationOfWordsAndGraphics
Inordertoleaveadeepimpressiononthepeople,notonlywordsbutalsographicsareusedinpublicsigns.Combiningwordswithgraphicscouldmakethesignseasytounderstand.Lookingatthefollowingexamples:2.3.6UseOfPrimaryTenses
Theuseofprimarytenseofpublicsignsistodirect,prompt,restrictandcompeltheactualbehaviorofthepublicinacertainarea.Typicalexamplesareasfollows:
KeepDry保持干燥
GiveWayToBuses公交优先
Don’tDriveWhenTired严禁疲劳驾驶
ProtectAgainstHeat怕热
FastenYourSeatBelt系好安全带
BewareObstruction小心障碍
ToAvoidCongestion,PleaseDoNotStandNearTheStairs
为避免拥挤请勿在楼梯附近停留
2.3.7UseOfImperativeSentence
Imperativesentencesareoftenusedinpublicsignswhichpointatexplicitpeople,andmostofthosepeopleareonbusygoing.Herearesomeexampleofthiskindofpublicsigns:
DoNotDisturb请勿打扰
KeepOffTheGrass勿踏草坪
HandleWithCare小心轻放
BewarePedestrians注意行人
NoEntryPleaseEnterAtOtherEnd严禁进入请走旁门
2.3.8UseOfStandardizedAndNormativeVocabulary
Asweallknow,publicsignsarecloselyrelatedtopeople’sdailylife,manysignshaddevelopedtheirownfixedwaysofexpressionwhichwereacceptedbythegeneralpublicforyearsorevencenturies.Thereforanyambiguityandmisunderstandingmayleadtothenegativeresults.Forexamples:
Men’sLocker男更衣室
DomesticArrivals国内抵达
NationalPark国家公园
DutyFreeShop免税商店
DangerHighVoltage高压危险
BewareofPickpockets当心扒手
McDonald’sOpen24HoursADaySevenDays
麦当劳每周七天全天开放
2.3.9UseOfConciseWordsAndAccurateDiction
Inordertodrawattentionofthepublicwhomayjustcastaglimpseatthesignwhentheyarewalking,andmakethemhaveafullunderstandingofthetext.Thepublicsignsshouldbeconciseandsimpleonlybyusingsubstantivewordsorkeywordsandarticles,pronounsandauxiliaryverbscouldbeomitted.
PassengersOnly送客止步
Danger危险
WashingBay洗车场
AdmissionFree免票入场、
BeverageNotIncluded酒水另付
CourtesySeats老幼病残孕专座
AuthorizedPersonnelOnly机房重地非请莫入
CautionDoorOpensoutwards当心此门朝外开
2.3.10WordingsWithLocalCharacteristics
LocalcharacteristicsarepidedintotwotypesbetweenBritishEnglishandAmericanEnglish.Lookingattheexamplesasfollows:
BritishEnglishAmericanEnglish
药房Chemist’sShopPharmacy
垃圾箱RubbishBinGarbageCan
地铁UndergroundSubway
厕所ToiletRestroom
邮资已付PostFreePostPaid
汽油petrolGas
人行道PavementSideWalk
管理学院FacultyofManagementSchoolOfManagement
ChapterThreeAnalysisonC-EMistranslationofPublicSigns
3.1AnOverviewOfTheDifferentTranslationErrorsOnPublicSigns
InthebookofATextBookOfTranslation,Newmark(1988:103~104)hold:“translationisfirstascience,whichentailstheknowledgeandverificationofthefactsandthelanguagethatdescribesthem.Here,whatiswrong,andmistakesoftruthcanbeidentified;Secondlyitisaskill,whichcallsforappropriatelanguageandacceptableusage;Thirdly,anart,whichdistinguishesgoodfromundistinguishedwettinganditisthecreative,sometimestheinspiredlevelofthetranslation;Finally,amatteroftaste,whereargumentceases,preferencesareexpressed,andthevarietyofmeritorioustranslationsisthereflectionofinpidualdifference.”Therefore,translatingthepublicsignsinacorrectandproperwayisurgentlyneeded.
Alltheerrorscausedbythetranslators’insufficientlinguisticskillsorcarelessness.AccordingtoNordinTranslatingasAPurposefulActivity-FunctionalistApproachesExplained(2001:44~45),heholdsthat:ifatranslationerrorisdefinedasafailuretocarryouttheinstructionsimpliedinthetranslationbriefandasaninadequatesolutiontoatranslationproblem,thentranslationerrorscanbeclassifiedintofourcategorieswhicharelinguistictranslationerrors,pragmatictranslationandculturaltranslationerrors.(2001:93~94)
3.2LinguisticErrors
3.2.1SpellingErrors
Spellingerrorsinpublicsignsareoftenfoundinpublicplaces.Theseerrorscausebythecarelessnessorirresponsibilityofthetranslatorsorprinters.Itmaynotresultinmisunderstanding,butwillleaveabadimpressiononforeignersormisleadtheprimaryEnglishleaners.Suchkindoferrorscanbecompletelyavoidedbytranslators.Forthefamiliarpublicsignof"Nosmoking"(禁止吸烟),misspellingsof"Nosmoky"or"Nosmorking"areoftenseen.AnotherexamplefoundbytheauthorinCenxirailwaystation:"DoNotLieDown"(火车站)misspells"NoNotLieDown."3.2.2LexicalErrors
Lexicalerrorsmeanthattranslatorsuseimproperwordsorvocabularyorunnecessarywordsorphrasesduringtranslation.Thiskindoferrordemonstratesourpoormasteryofwordswhenwelearnvocabulary.Thetwocommonstylesoflexicalerrorsareinappropriatedictionandlexicalredundancy.Takethe“停车场-Park”inSouthMarketinCenxiforexample,therighttranslationofitis“Parking”,not“Park”.
Anothertypicalexample:“InternationalConventionCenterLightPassengerVehicleGarage”and“InternationalConventionCenterHeavyPassengerVehicleGarage”（国际会议中心小型车停车库/国际会议中心大型客车停车库）.Theappropriateandbrieftranslationshouldbe“ParkingForMinibuses”or“ParkingForCoaches”.
3.2.3GrammaticalErrors
Grammaticalerrorsarealsocommoninpublicsigns.Mostoftheseerrorsarenotthatvisible,buttheyarestillwillgivepoorimpressiontoforeigners.InatouristspotofCenxicalled"LvYunShanZhuang",theauthorfindsomepublicsignswhichisingrammaticalmistakes.Forinstance,"请清理"istranslatedinto"Pleasecleaning",whichshouldbereplacedby"PleaseClean-up"；"禁止攀爬"istranslatedinto"PleaseDon'tClimbing",whichshouldbe“PleaseDon’tClimb”.Anotherfamousmotto"时间是一只永远飞翔的鸟"whichtheauthorfoundontheInternetareoftentranslatedinto"Timejustlikeabirdandflyforever"buynetizen.Obviously,itistranslatedbythetranslatorswithoutconsideringthebasicgrammar.Thecorrecttranslationshouldbe"Timeisabirdforeveronthewing".
3.3PragmaticErrors
Pragmatictranslationisinfluencedbyculturaldifferences,whenpeopleintendtocommunicatewithothersfromdifferentculture,variousproblemsmayarise.Thetranslatorsareeasytomakeerrorsbyneglectingthepragmaticprinciplesandrules.JennyThomas(1983:101~104)pidespragmaticerrorsintotwotypes:pragmalinguisticerrorsandsociopragmaticerrors.Howeverbothofthetwoerrorsarenotdifficulttobedetectedifwecomparethesourcetextwiththetargettext.
3.4CulturalErrors
“Cultureplaysanimportantroleintranslation,butitisunpredictableanddifficulttodealwith.”SaidWanZhengfang(2004).Exceptforinappropriatechoiceofwordsorinaccuratetranslation,manyofthetranslationerrorsweremadebylackingunderstandofbothChineseandwesternculture.ChineseandEnglisharetwodifferentlanguages,andtheyreflectcompletelydifferenthistory,cultureandvalues.Translationerrorsontheculturewillmakeforeignersfeeltheyareoffendedinfieldascustoms,beliefsandfaith.
Forexample:thepublicsignsatthebusstopinYiZhouDaDaoinCenxi,“老年人优先候车”istranslatedinto“OldPeopleWaitingAndGettingOnFirst”.However,inWesterncountrytheelderlyusuallydon'twanttobesaidthathisold,evendon’tlikeotherscallingthemwithawordof“old”.Intheireyes,“old”meansdisableorincapable.Sotheyuseeuphemisms“seniorcitizens”insteadof“oldpeople”.Therighttranslationshouldbe“SeniorCitizensFirst”.MoreexamplesinJiaJiasupermarketinCenxithat“七折”istranslatedas“70%discountor70%off”，foreignerswillconsideritas30%discount.
3.5CausesOfC-ETranslationOfPublicSigns
Therearedifferentreasonsforthetranslationerrorsmentionedabove.Differenterrorsaremadefordifferentreasons.Inauthor’sopinion,causesoftheseerrorsmaybeasfollowings:
3.5.1TheTranslators’CarelessnessAndIrresponsibility
Translationerrorsonlinguisticlevel,suchasspellingerrors,lexicalerrorsandgrammaticalerrors,maycausebythetranslator’scarelessandirresponsibleattitude.Sometranslatorsdonottakethejobseriouslyorlackthesenseofresponsibility,sometimestheyhavenotenoughtimeandfeelitdifficulttofindproperEnglishwordstoreplacetheChineseones.What’sworse,someprinterswhowanttodecreasetheworkinghoursprintthepublicsignsarbitrarily.
3.5.2LackInLanguageCompetence
InNord’sviewinthebookofTranslatingasAPurposefulActivity-FunctionalistApproachesExplained,linguisticerrorsareoftenduetodeficienciesinthetranslator’ssourcelanguagecompetence.Someculturalerrorsarealsocausedbythisreason.Formostoftime,anincompetenttranslatormakethiserrorbyusingculturallyoffensivetermsorexpressions.
1.ShortageOfKnowledgeToThePublicSigns.
Manytranslatorsneglecttheimportantofcontext.Theyjusttranslatepublicsignsliterallywithoutgraspingthesourcelanguage,orevennotfamiliarwithpublicsigns.
2.DifferentCulturalBackground
Peoplefromdifferentculturalbackgroundshavedifferentconceptiononthepublicsigns.AfamousscholarnamedWangZuolianginChinaoncesaidthatthemostdifficultelementduringtranslatingisculturalimpact,andaqualifiedtranslatormustbefamiliarwiththeforeignculture(XingXinying,2006).Nidaalsosaid,“Fortrulysuccessfultranslating,biculturalismisevenmoreimportantthanbilingualism,sincewordsonlyhavemeaningintermsoftheculturesinwhichtheyfunction”(Nida,2000:115).Therefore,ifatranslatorhasnotagoodcommandoftwolanguages,translationmistakeswillcomeintoexistence.
ChapterFourStrategiesForTranslationOfPublicSigns
Fromthestudyabove,wecanseethatC-Etranslationofpublicsignsisveryimportantinourdailylife.itisurgetotranslatethepublicsignsinacorrectandproperway.HeXuegeng(2006)thinksthatwhentranslatingpublicsigns,firstly,translatorsshouldbefamiliarwiththelinguisticfeaturesandfunctionalmeaningofpublicsigns;secondly,theyshouldunderstandtheculturaldifferencesofpublicsignsbetweenChineseandEnglish;thirdly,translatormustputtheculturalcustomsofwesterncountriesinthefirstplace.ShiJianhua(2008)considerthatcommunicativetranslationshouldbethetranslationguidelineforpublicsignaccordingtoPeterNewmark’stranslationtheoryanditscharacteristic.Heputsforwardfourstrategiesfortranslatingthepublicsigns:cross-culturestrategy,context-analysisstrategies,popularandeasy-understandingstrategyandsimpleandclearstrategy.Inthisarticle,theauthorwilldiscussthestrategiesfromthefollowingaspects:
4.1ReinforcingTheTranslator’sInterculturalAwareness
Interculturalawarenessisthekeytodealwiththeproblemofculturaldifference.Itisanimportantandindispensableelementforatranslatorduringtheprocessoftranslatingpublicsigns,whichmeanstheyshouldrecognizetheculturaldifferencesamongdifferentnationsorpeoplewithhighqualityandefficiency.Therefore,asatranslatorofpublicsignshe/sheshouldrecognizetheculturalfactorsandpayattentiontotheculturalbackground.What’smore,moreconsiderationforthetargetculturetothetranslatorwillshortenthegapofculturaldifference.Generallyspeaking,reinforcingthetranslatorsinterculturalawarenessareofmuchvalue.
4.2PromotingtheTranslator’sInterculturalCompetence
Culturalunderstandingisofgreatimportance,andinterculturalcompetenceoffersbetterserviceforthetranslation.Inordertoexplaintheculturalinformationclearlytoforeigners,translatorsmustfindouttheculturaldiscrepanciesbetweenthesourcelanguageandtheacceptorlanguage,thentodealwiththeminabetterway.Otherwise,thetranslationwillbemeaninglessanduseless.
4.3.Omission
Weknowthat,oneoftheimportantfeaturesofpublicsignsisconciseness,theEnglish-speakingpeopleemphasizeonconcisenessandtrytheirbestnottousethesamewordsinsigns.Thismeansthatanyword,whichperformsnousefulfunctioninthesentence,shouldbeleftout.Besides,word-by-wordtranslationwillnotnecessarilycaterforforeignvisitors.So,anEnglishpublicsignshouldcontainnounnecessarywords.Takingthesign“创优秀旅游城市，为名城争光”forexample,aChinese-speakingpeoplemaytranslateitinto“BuildaChinabesttourismcity,winhonorofthefamouscity.”However,iftranslatingthesentencebythesideofanEnglish-speaking,therighttranslationshouldbeomittedas“BuildaChinabesttourismcityforthehonorofthefamouscity.”.
4.4.Summary
Translatingpublicsignsisnotaneasytask,anyproblemintranslationwillleadtomisunderstandingforeigntourists.Whentranslatingapublicsign,thetranslatorsshouldreinforceculturallever,promoteinterculturecompetence,avoidingimproperadditionandwordredundancy.Whatisthemostimportant,thetranslatorshouldberequiredseriousandaccountableinattitudeandproficientinboththesourceandthetargetlanguagesarthesametime.Inaddition,thetranslatorshouldalwaysbearinmindthefeaturesandcharacteristicsofpublicsigns.Onlyinthiswaycanatranslatormakethetranslationofpublicsignscorrectandacceptable.