An Investigation Into Mistranslation Of Business Terms In English Chinese Business Dictionaries

With China's accession into the WTO plus the booming economic globalization, China has closer business ties with the outside world.Business English,as a basic tool in the international business activities,abounds in business terms,so the importance of English Chinese business dictionary(in this thesis,English Chinese business dictionaries are thereafter referred to as ECBDs,which include English Chinese bilingual dictionaries and English Chinese bilingualized dictionaries) in bilingual terminological dictionaries is obvious.However,it is found that the quality of ECBDs is uneven as regards translation of business terms where mistranslation is not uncommon.In this regard,this thesis tries to probe into term mistranslations in ECBDs,analyzing the causes and thus offering countermeasures.Lexicographers deal with the word,namely,the dictionary entry,and characterize it functionally and semantically;i.e.they start from the word to the concept.By contrast,the aim of terminographers is to assign names to concepts;i.e.they start from concept to term,precisely in the opposite direction.So,conceptual analysis is the starting point of terminological work in ECBDs on which the proposed translation of selected business terms is based.Research shows that the mistranslation of terms in ECBDs caused by conceptual expression neither comprehensive nor precise enough is the result of different economic systems between China and Anglo-American countries in which the concepts of certain English and Chinese business terms are not consistent.The simple use of the method of finding absolute term equivalents can readily result in mistranslation.The present thesis applies the terminology concept theory of Eugen W(u|¨)ster and the terminology comparative analysis of Peter Sandrini to the study of mistranslation of business terms in ECBDs.By analyzing concepts underlying business terms, characteristics contained in business terms can be clearly identified and the position and function are compared between a business term and its Chinese equivalent. Relations can thus be established between the two individual terms,which are:direct relation,indirect relation,and partial relation.Based on the established theoretical framework of conceptual comparative analysis,the author conducts a descriptive study of mistranslation of business terms collected from three typical ECBDs,viz.Longman Dictionary of International Trade, English Chinese Dictionary of Economics & International Trade,Learner's Dictionary of English for International Business.The author sums up 7 major causes of mistranslation in ECBDs,which are:1) mistreatment of domain-specific words;2) conceptual miscomprehension;3) lack of conformity with the original definition;4) Chinese expressive defect;5) omission of important information;6) one-to-many equivalence;7) ignorance of culture differences,discusses the common problems in the term entries in ECBDs,suggests countermeasures in terms of conceptual comprehension and translation expression against mistranslation in ECBDs.The author also points out 5 common lexicographic problems in ECBDs and offers corresponding suggestions from lexicographic perspective.In this thesis,the study of business term mistranslation is knitted with bilingual lexicographical research,it contributes to a better understanding of the causes of mistranslation and proposes corresponding countermeasures.The findings of this study can not only provide some insights into the translation of business terms in ECBDs,but also bring certain reference values for the term standardization as well as the compilation of bilingual terminology dictionaries.