顺应论视角下法律英语被动语态的汉译

Chinese Translation of Passive Voice in Legal English from the Perspective of Adaptation Theory

Abstract

Passive voice is widely used in legal English, but its translation is generally approached with common grammatical rules without full consideration of cultural and pragmatic contexts. The adaptation theory by Jef Verschueren (1952- ) who was a famous Belgian linguist, provides a theoretical support for the passive voice translation as he pointed out that the language use is a process of selection and adaptation, and the purpose of using language is to adapt to social and cultural environment. Based on this theory, this paper aims to find out the translation techniques and strategies of passive voice in legal English by comparing the difference of passive voice between English and Chinese languages and by analyzing the characteristics of legal English texts. 

Structurally, there are four parts included in this paper. The first part gives a brief introduction to the definition, developments and the theoretical framework of Jef Verchueren’s adaptation theory. The second part investigates the differences of passive voice in both English and Chinese languages from the perspectives of language conventions, thinking patterns and linguistic structures. In the third part, specific examples are given, underlying adaptation theory to investigate how the passive voice translation in legal English are associated with respective linguistic features and communicative contexts. Based on the previous analyses, the last part provides legal English translators with feasible techniques and strategies for Chinese translation of passive voice in legal English. 

In conclusion, through the contrastive analyses of the characteristics of legal English and their passive voice, this paper summarizes that under the guidance of the adaption theory, translators should make careful choices of translating techniques which should vary to adapt to linguistic context, communicative context and linguistic structure. These techniques include omission, amplification and non-subject sentences, and so on.

Key words: adaptation theory; legal English; passive voice; translation strategies