Abstract and Key Words

Abstract: Public signs refer to language intended to the public which offers public information for the purpose of instructing them or facilitating their lives. These signs include direction signs, road signs, billboards, warning signs etc. Public signs, especially the public signs of C-E translation, play a vital role in the life of the public. They also bring much convenience to the foreign friends. This paper focuses on the characteristic of public signs, which put in use a large number of nouns, verbs, phrases, take the form of combination of words and symbols, and some have Chinese characteristics. Based on Vermeer’s skopostheorie, public signs in public places are analyzed. Some of the public signs translated improperly are collected and classified. At the same time, some solutions are proposed.

Key words: public signs; C-E translation; skopostheorie; strategy

摘要：公示语指的是在公共场合向公众公示须知内容的语言，它包括指示牌、路牌、广告牌、警示语等。公示语尤其是汉英公示语在公众的生活中起着不可或缺的作用，为外国友人提供了便利。本文通过了解公示语的语言特点，即大量使用名词、动词、动名词、短语、文字与符号共用以及具有中国特色等，并以弗米尔的目的论为支撑，分析了公共场所随处可见的公示语，将其错误翻译收集起来，予以归类，并提出了相应正确的译本。

关键词：公示语；汉英翻译；目的论；对策

1. Introduction
Public sign is a kind of particular style, which is shown to special persons, with a purpose to reach a certain communicative goal. There are such public signs as road signs, advertisements, instructions, billboards, propaganda, tour manuals and other public signs. Public signs can also appear to the public with a form of words and graphic information, which is closely related to people’s life, production, living, environment and industry. What’s more, these public signs always play the role of bulletin, direction, warning, mark etc.
Due to the increase of economic cooperation and frequent of international communication with the whole world, China and Chinese culture are attracting more and more attention from foreign friends all over the world. In order to bring them the convenience, many cities, as well as some tourism spots, taking Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou for example, adopt the bilingual signs. Especially in the public places, bus subways, stations, airports, famous historic sites, malls, supermarkets, hotels, restaurants and other places, where we can see the existence of public signs. The public signs are vital marks to offer the directive information and leave the first impression on the foreigners who come to china. Therefore, C-E public signs not only stand for a city’s image, but also play a major role in external interaction and economic development.