The Application Of Relevance Theory In Chinese-English Translation Of Public Signs

Relevance theory is one of the theories applied to Chinese-English Translation of Public Signs. Translation study is introduced to the relevance theory, which broadens a new horizon and leads to the solution to many complicated phenomenon greatly in translation. Relevance theory emphasizes that what translation studies on is the human cognitive structure and cognitive environment and translation is a dual ostensive-inferential linguistic communicative process, which provides the translation study with a better theoretical framework. Both Relevance theory and Translation of Public Signs aim to achieve the "best contextual effect"Based on the previous research, this dissertation is to apply Relevance theory to study the Translation of Public Signs systematically. Firstly, this dissertation explains the pragmatic failure in public signs Translation with Relevance theory and classifies the reasons for the failure.Secondly, based on the Relevance Theory, the dissertation makes a highly theoretical explanation for the process of C-E Translation of Public Signs and summarizes the following three steps:1) through the deduction, understanding the communicative intention of the text,2) assessing the target audience's cognitive environment correctly; 3) choosing a suitable translation strategy to obtain the transference of the optimal relevance between the original text and the translation.Finally, according to relevance theory and the characteristics of Chinese public signs, the author borrows the translation method of "domestication" and "foreignization" to divide the translation strategies into four types:"foreignization" of express:the interpretation of a direct translation; "domestication" of express:indirect translation; "domestication":borrowing translation; "domestication":modeling translation.