英文商务合同翻译分析_英语论文

An Analysis of the Translation of English Business Contracts

摘要

随着经济全球化的发展与中国进一步推进改革开放，我国对外经济交往日益频繁。英文商务合同翻译是中国对外贸易不可或缺的一部分，从某种程度上来说，英文商务合同的翻译的好坏将直接影响到贸易双方的利益。但是，因为欠缺专业知识背景以及对汉英文化之间存在的差异缺乏深入了解，目前为止，英文商务合同翻译中仍存在许多问题。英文商务合同若是翻译得不符合规范不仅会引发法律纠纷，还会造成巨大的经济损失，甚至还有可能会扰乱正常的国际市场秩序。本文以英文商务合同对于国际贸易的重要性为切入点，结合具体的英文商务合同阐述其词汇及句法特点，然后讨论了英文商务合同中适用的翻译原则及对译者给出的翻译建议。本篇论文的意义在于通过对英文商务合同的分析，使读者对英文商务合同的翻译有一个初步的认识，并了解一些基本的合同翻译原则和方法。

关键词：英文商务合同；词汇特点；句法特点；翻译原则；翻译技巧

Abstract

Due to the further growth of economic globalization and the Reform and Opening-up in China, economic exchanges between countries have become increasingly frequent. The translation of English business contracts is an indispensable part of international trade, and to some extent, translation quality of English business contracts will exert some direct influence on the interests of both parties to the contract. Nowadays, there are a number of problems with the translation of English business contracts due to the lack of professional knowledge and the superficial understanding of the difference between Chinese and English cultures. These improper translations may result in legal disputes, massive economic losses and, sometimes, even disturbance of international market order. This thesis takes as a point of penetration the importance of English business contracts to international trade, analyzes the lexical and syntactic features within based on specific English business contracts, and discusses the principles of translation and requirements for translators of English business contracts. The significance of this thesis is that through brief analysis of the translation of English business contracts, the common readers can have a preliminary understanding of the translation of English business contracts and gain some knowledge of basic principles and methods of English business contract translation.

Key words: English business contract; lexical feature; syntactic feature; translation principles;translation skills

Contents

Acknowledgements i

Abstract & Key words in English ii

Abstract & Key words in Chinese iii

Introduction 1

1. A brief introduction of English business contracts 1

1.1 The definition of English business contracts 1

1.2 The importance of English business contracts 2

1.3 Characteristics of English business contracts 2

   1.3.1 Being Professional 3

   1.3.2 Being Normative 3

   1.3.3 Being Legally binding 3

2. Lexical features of English business contracts 4

2.1 Technical legal terms and other professional terms 4

2.2 Archaic words 5

2.3 Formal words 6

2.4 Paired words 7

3. Syntactic features of English business contracts 7

3.1 Declarative sentences 7

3.2 Long sentences 8

3.3 Passive sentences 9

4. The translation of English business contracts 10

4.1 Translation principles of English business contracts 10

   4.1.1 The principle of faithfulness 10

   4.1.2 The principle of accuracy 12

   4.1.3 The principle of coherence 13

4.2 Translation advice for translators of English business contracts 14

   4.2.1 To be familiar with professional knowledge of English business 

        contracts 14

   4.2.2 To distinguish the types of English business contracts 14

   4.2.3 To use proper terms 15

   4.2.4 To use written language 15

   4.2.5 To use concise language 16  

Conclusion  16

References 18