Nowadays, the whole world is integrated and the trade between countries is gradually enriched. At present, English is the most common language in the world. Business English requires translators to be more accurate and equivalent, because business English will involve a lot of documents, terms and other information, so it must be accurate. Only in this way can the activities of both sides proceed smoothly. Especially in China, there are great differences between Chinese and western cultures, so we should pay more attention to this issue. One word difference is easy to make a big mistake. Therefore, it is particularly important to do a good job in business English translation.
First, the stylistic features of business English
1. The thinking is logical and unpretentious.
The clauses in formal English are more complicated, and the sentence length is usually longer than that in informal English.
The segmentation of long sentences and the frequent use of absolute structures are typical features of written style. They are suitable for expressing multi-level complex logical relations and can fully and completely express interrelated meanings. This effect can't be achieved by short sentences.
Because business letters and telegrams often indicate that certain terms are mutually established and conditional, or describe a series of causal events, this style is not suitable for this requirement. For example:
The work under this contract shall start simultaneously with the construction work of Party A? Should be completed within 30 days after the completion of Party A? When the factory is in the condition that the air conditioning device can be put into trial operation, it includes the completion of the factory interior. ?
This is an English contract style sentence. In the complex sentence of this poem, the subject is work, and two predicates (should start and should finish) are connected.
2. Always use formal written sentence patterns.
2. The expression is simple and clear
Business English is a tool for business activities. By reading the literature, we can find that business English often uses concise, easy-to-understand, standardized and formal words.
This feature is determined by the nature of international business communication, because international business communication pays great attention to benefit and efficiency, and the use of common words is easy for both parties to understand and accept; There are few modifiers and the content is straightforward.
Remote communication may increase communication barriers between the two parties, so it is not welcome.
Business English pays attention to refinement and preciseness in vocabulary selection, and rarely uses colloquial, informal, uncommon and irregular words or jargon.
Understanding the stylistic differences between spoken and written language is helpful to realize the appropriateness and appropriateness of language communication.
3. Grammatical ambiguity, making good use of imperative sentences?
Business English requires accuracy, completeness, clarity and conciseness, but proper use of vague language can play a positive role.
The fuzziness of language is not only reflected in the level of word meaning, but also in the fuzziness of the meaning expressed by syntax in specific business activities.
The use of fuzzy syntax does not mean a lack of language competence, on the contrary, it is an essential part of language communication.
In order to improve the objective accuracy of business English, we should avoid expressing uncertain facts or data clearly and completely; Similarly, due to the diplomatic strategy of business negotiations, some views should not be too specific and clear.
Proper use of some vague expressions in some occasions is of great positive significance for regulating the tense relationship between the two sides, easing the embarrassing situation and self-protection.
As the two parties involved in the communication are trading partners, their status is equal.
Therefore, if one party wants the other party to take some action, it usually does not use imperative sentences, but uses declarative sentences to express its wishes. As for whether the other party takes such action, it is left to the other party to decide for itself.
This way of writing is very extensive in business letters. The following examples all play the role of imperative sentences in common style, but the tone is euphemistic and can achieve polite effect. For example:?
We would appreciate it if you could send us your shipping instructions.
Please confirm this and we will appreciate it.
In written communication, it is very important to pay attention to politeness.
In order to embody the principle of politeness, communicators often use the other side's position to show respect and understanding, so that the other side can easily accept their own opinions.
Therefore, in foreign trade letters, the second person (you) or the second person possessive pronoun plus noun (your+ n) is often used as the subject, and the first person (I, we) is rarely used as the subject, or the passive omitted first person (I, we) is often used as the subject.
Second, the language characteristics of business English
1. Good at using technical terms.
This is mainly because business English involves trade, commerce, marketing finance and so on, which is both theoretical and objective, showing strong language professionalism.
Abbreviations of some familiar and commonly used business English words, such as bill of lading? Bill of lading, World Bank. World Bank? World Trade Organization. ? WTO and so on; Some of them are commonly used words, such as economic policy, holding company, devaluation, etc. There are also some words that are increasing in the development of business trade, such as debt consolidation, third-party logistics and online payment, which enrich the content of business English.
2. The content is rigorous and the structure is complex.
The use of words should be accurate and rigorous, and the meaning of words is closely related to the context of use and the culture of existence.
Different contexts have different meanings. In the process of translation, the translator should choose words accurately, express concepts accurately, and be accurate in numbers and units? It is necessary to faithfully and accurately express the information in the source language in the target language, so that the information obtained by the original readers is equal to that obtained by the target readers.
In order to achieve the effect of euphemistic expression, business English "often uses passive sentences", which is very different from Chinese expression. Therefore, "there is no ready-made corresponding expression when English passive sentences are translated into Chinese", and appropriate means should be chosen from rich sentence patterns and auxiliary words according to Chinese idioms to express the passive meaning of the original text.
3. Wide range and strong practicability.
The language form, vocabulary and content of business English are closely related to professional knowledge, which carries the information of business theory and business practice. Accurate use of professional vocabulary is the biggest feature of business language in vocabulary use.
For example, exclusive license and exclusive license, both of which have precise meanings, cannot be used interchangeably.
The former means that in the licensing transaction, the technology transferee enjoys exclusive rights to the technology under the license within the agreed area within the validity period of the agreement, and is not allowed to grant it to a third party, but only allowed to use the technology and sell the product within the specified area; On the other hand, the latter said that the Licensor shall not accept any license agreement with the same content from any third party in the region, and even the Licensor himself shall not use the technology in the region (Hu Gengshen, 200 1: 154).
Another example is: anti-dumping measures, investment in non-productive projects with quota-free products, clearance sale, customs clearance and so on.
4. Abbreviations are often used
Translation names, concepts and terms used in business English translation should always be unified.
It is not allowed to translate the same concept or term at will. Inconsistent translation will inevitably lead to misunderstanding and confuse readers with the translation.
As a business translator, you should have a good understanding of relevant professional knowledge, so as to avoid mistranslation and cause disputes and losses to both parties concerned.
In the process of translation, we should pay attention to the correct use of business terms, abbreviations and professional neologisms that appear in different fields.
Third, translation methods.
1. Sequential translation
The so-called sequential translation method is to organize the translations in the order of the original text. In business English, when a sentence states a series of actions and arranges them according to the time schedule or logical relationship, such a sentence is more in line with the Chinese expression and can be translated in the order of the original text.
2. Inverse translation
The language structures of English and Chinese are quite different. English comes first, Chinese comes last, and Chinese long sentences are summarized.
The more information points are placed at the back, the more important they are. If a sentence has both narrative and attitude, "Chinese puts the narrative part first."
On the contrary, when the position part is placed in post-$ English, the position part is often placed at the beginning of the sentence and at the end of the sentence when it is translated into Chinese, thus forming reverse translation, some words with negative meaning.
3. Expand translation methods
The extended translation method of word meaning is to accurately express the essence of the original text through the literal meaning of words or phrases in the sentence and even the whole sentence, using some expressions that are in line with Chinese habits, and choosing the exact Chinese words and phrases according to the internal relationship of the context.
From the perspective of word meaning, extension can be divided into abstract extension and concrete extension. From the syntactic level, extension can be divided into logical extension, pragmatic extension, rhetorical extension and conceptual scope adjustment.
The abstraction and extension of meaning refers to the use of words with abstract and generalized meanings in Chinese to express some words with clear and concrete literal meanings in the original text.
Extending this concreteness means that when words representing abstract concepts or attributes are used to express a concrete thing, they are expressed by concrete things, and their concrete true colors will be presented to readers at a glance.
Logical extension means that in the process of translation, literal translation of a word, phrase or even the whole sentence will make the translation not smooth and not conform to the expression habits of the target language, so it is necessary to choose the exact words and expressions from the original intention of the word, phrase or the whole sentence, from the surface to the inside, and according to the logical relationship of the context.
Semantic extension is a supplement to the hints in the original text and belongs to pragmatic extension.
Pragmatics is a non-semantic pragmatic meaning, which is generally not expressed by vocabulary and grammar. It is unconventional and potential. The receiver understands this pragmatic meaning by virtue of communicative competence, in other words, it is a kind of meaning derived from the speaker's speech by combining the communicative object, communicative purpose and communicative situation.
In addition, there are translation methods such as rhetorical extension and conceptual extension.
4. Concise translation method
Some sentences in business English are complex and informative, so it is difficult to translate them in place by one method alone.
When translating such sentences, it is necessary to clarify the relationship between modifiers and headwords, as well as the relationship between the components in modifiers.
Various methods are reasonably integrated and handled flexibly, which not only faithfully reproduces the original content, but also ensures the fluency of the translation, accurate expression and fluent sentences. From the linguistic features, English is hypotaxis, while Chinese is hypotaxis.
5. Translation methods of part-of-speech conversion
Conversion refers to the change of language part of speech and expression in business English translation.
Due to the differences in expression habits, sentence structure and word collocation between English and Chinese, it is often difficult to achieve the consistency of part of speech and expression in translation.
In order to adapt to the expression habits and grammatical rules of the target language, translation skills of changing parts of speech and expression should be used in business English translation.
In order to achieve the effect of euphemistic expression, passive sentences are often used in business English, which is very different from Chinese expressions.
Therefore, when English passive sentences are translated into Chinese, there is no ready-made corresponding expression, but we need to choose some appropriate means from rich sentence patterns and auxiliary words according to Chinese idioms to express the passive meaning of the original text.
Four, business English translation principles
1. Translation strives for specialization.
This is mainly because business English involves trade, commerce, marketing finance and so on, which is both theoretical and objective, showing strong language professionalism.
Abbreviations of some familiar and commonly used business English words, such as bill of lading? Bill of lading, World Bank. World Bank? World Trade Organization. ? WTO and so on; Some are commonly used words such as economic policy, holding company, holding company, devaluation, etc. There are also some words that are increasing in the development of business trade, such as debt consolidation, third-party logistics and online payment, which enrich the content of business English.
2. The translation content is accurate and rigorous
Translation actually reproduces information in different languages, so we should also pay attention to the faithfulness of business English translation when we are engaged in business English translation.
Only in this way can both parties clearly understand the requirements and principles, and communication on this basis is of substantive significance.
Obviously, the translation of numbers in business English is a very important content, and once the translator is negligent, it may cause immeasurable losses.
In business English translation, accurate and faithful information should be used to express the source language in the target language, so that readers can get information equivalent to the original content when reading, that is, information equivalence.
In the process of translation, the translator should use accurate words and clear concepts, especially accurate units and numbers. Compared with other language expressions, business English pays more attention to the accuracy and faithfulness of the content, so that the whole translation can achieve the purpose of use.
An Overview of verb (Verb Abbreviation) Translation in Business English
Business English covers a wide range and has many kinds. English used in international business activities such as international trade, accounting and finance mostly belongs to the category of business English.
The fields involved mainly include foreign trade, investment attraction, international tourism, overseas investment and international transportation.
In addition to a wide range of fields, it also includes many specialized English, such as advertising English, legal English, practical English, packaging English and so on.
Therefore, with the continuous expansion of international trade, more and more people begin to join the translation business.
The translation of business English has attracted much attention for a long time, and the translation of business English is also a very complicated task. Due to its wide use and special importance, the translation of business English should not be limited to the translation of traditional Chinese vocabulary, but should have a good business grammar foundation. These are the principles and skills that a translator should have, and should not just rely on them? Shindaya? In order to complete the translation of business English, it is necessary to translate business documents according to their wishes, which can not only clearly express the meaning, but also conform to the language habits of both business parties. In the process of translation, we must proceed from the actual situation and analyze specific problems.
Abstract of intransitive verbs
To sum up, business English has its own linguistic features and its own principles to follow in translation.
Vocabulary and sentences are the basic elements of business English. Mastering the characteristics of business English vocabulary and sentence patterns and adopting appropriate translation methods can effectively standardize business English translation, improve communication efficiency, and then better promote the development of international trade and international exchange activities.
A better understanding of the linguistic features and translation principles of business English will help us to further understand the essence and function of business English and promote its learning and practical application.
When translating business English texts, we should grasp the whole and integrate theory with practice, so as to effectively avoid the great economic losses caused by language translation errors and do a good job in translation.
Business English involves language, communication skills, business knowledge, cultural background and other factors, and has its own unique language characteristics.
Vocabulary and sentences are the basic elements of business English. Mastering the characteristics of business English vocabulary and sentence patterns and adopting appropriate translation methods can effectively standardize business English translation, improve communication efficiency, and then better promote the development of international trade and international exchange activities.
A better understanding of the language features and translation skills of business English will help us to further understand the essence and function of business English and promote its learning and practical application.
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