Abstract

Nowadays, researches on the translation of international contracts are mostly on business contracts, which are largely linked with our increasingly growing economic power. The development of economy brings up global cooperation and conferences in various fields, in which environmental protection is one of the priorities. Kyoto Protocol is an international protocol about environmental protection with great significance.

Since most researches on the translation of contracts are on business ones and their conclusions on wording and translation methods are different. I would like to take this opportunity to do a research on the translation strategies of an authoritative Chinese translation copy of Kyoto Protocol, on the basis of its language features, in order to provide some standards and methods for practical translations.

This essay starts from the discussion on language features of contracts like Kyoto Protocol, on the basis of lexical and syntactic levels. The main discussion will focus on the applications of archaic words, formal words and modal auxiliary “shall”, including the usage and translation strategies of conditional adverbial clauses and long sentences.

This essay focuses on the analysis of translation strategies in contract English, through the general translation theories known home and abroad, especially the text type theory.

In a word, in the process of contract translation, translators should keep in mind that the translation should not only be faithful to the original text, but also smooth in its target language.

Key words: contract translation, Kyoto Protocol, language features, translation strategies