Error Analysis Of English Translation Of Chinese Public Signs

Pubic signs, which have many other names, are a special type of style aiming to obtain communicative purpose, presented to the public openly in public places. They are necessary to us in daily life and affect us in many ways. With China's entry into WTO, Olympic Games and Shanghai Expo, the speed of globalization is faster than before. As an important part of the linguistic and humanistic environment of international cities and tourist destination, the translation of public signs plays an increasing role. Any form of ambiguity, misunderstanding and abuse will lead to serious consequence. In the construction of internationalization of big cities, the bilingual signs can be seen in many places now, because of its great significance, are much convenient for foreigners coming to China for their business, tourist and study. But many errors still exist in the translation of public signs. It can not display its function of guidance, but damage our international image. Therefore, the translation of public signs has aroused many concerns, and its discussion is getting heated. The study of the C-E translation of public signs is of great importance from cultural and practical perspectives.Based on Functionalist translation theory—Skopostheorie and Functional Equivalence, the thesis is aiming at some translation strategies for improvement of public signs. After the introduction of public signs, it discusses the translation errors from linguistic and pragmatic aspects by using a large number of examples. It consists of five chapters. First of all, it introduces the research background, generalizes the public signs. Chapter two explains the two theories respectively. The third chapter is the research methodology, followed by the main body, chapter four and five, which analyzes the errors and its causes, together with the effective translation strategies. The last, it comes to the conclusion of the thesis.