The Application Of Cognitive Pragmatics In C-E Translation Of Public Signs

Public signs are highly regarded as social indicators of a society and its people. In particular, as China continues to liberalize and reform its policies, public signs have become an imperative component of linguistics and humanities studies regarding the appeal of China's major cities as international tourist destinations. The translation of public signs has become an indispensable element in China's tourism industry. The quality of these translations directly influences the city's reputation and overall attraction, and even has the ability to affect the image of the country as a whole. Therefore, faced with such an important task concerning both academic and social realms, we examine the issue from two perspectives, theory and practicality, in order to resolve the irregularities and inconsistencies that continually emerge throughout this process. The goal is to enhance the quality of translations and furthermore, promote China's international image.This dissertation consists of five chapters with the following contents:Chapter One summarizes the existing research of public signs and sign translations. In addition, it introduces the sources of the research. Although research has already been conducted several times on this topic, it is fairly obvious that studies are still in the initial stages concerning society as a whole in the context of globalization. Currently, translation errors can be found in abundance in many places, raising the level of necessity for such a study exploring the translation theory models in an effort to strengthen the support for the role of theory in discussing such solutions.Chapter Two analyzes the definition, characteristics, classification, as well as the function of these public signs.Chapter Three includes the analysis and classification of common translation errors with the intention of deepening the understanding of the translating process. Dr. Duan Liancheng was the first Chinese National to classify the C-E translation problems that exist within the international communication sphere. In his article entitled,"A Call on Translators for Good Publicity Materials,"he classifies them into two main types. In conjunction with Jenny Thomas'"pragmatic failure"concept, the dissertation utilizes both of these interpretations to establish two of its own categories; one being on the surface level concerning errors in semantics, like spelling or grammatical mistakes, while the other references the pragmatic failure in the translations to capture the intended meaning of the sign in the target language by taking the social and cultural implications into consideration.Chapter Four addresses the role of the translator in the process. Translators must first understand the cognitive interpretation of the signs, which will in turn provide the theoretical basis that could help in avoiding translation errors; provide guidance to choose more suitable translations; and eventually impact the success of such translations. Based on the Relevance Theory, which is a highly theoretical explanation for translation methods, the dissertation summarizes the following three-step process: 1) understanding the intention of the text, 2) selecting the most optimal relevance context, and 3) choosing a suitable translation strategy.Through the analysis of specific application functions of signs and the cognitive context of the communicating parties, Chapter Five provides the general principles of the Chinese-English translation of public signs to include: borrowing translations; mastering the cultural differences; achieving efficient communication levels between the source and targeted subjects, and unneeded translation. By examining the specific application of a sign, the translator can best select a translation strategy; most utilize the"borrowing translations"principle. The cultural differences are more prominent in the translation of marketing, eulogizing, or enticing slogans, and therefore translators must possess an acute awareness of cross-cultural communication lines to effectively convey these types of messages.All in all, the Relevance Theory presents the most pragmatic and cognitive approach for translating public signs. This dissertation thoroughly examines the common errors in sign translations and analyzes the translation process, concluding with an in-depth look at the specific strategies used in the translating process—all in hopes to make a small contribution in the broadening realm of public signs and their affects on globalization.