Translating Public Signs: University Campuses In Xi’An As A Case

Since the 21 st century, especially the mega-events held in Beijing, public sign translation has become an important field of research both in academic study and public management. Theorists and scholars have studied public sign translation based on various theoretical supports. However, the literature review shows that few scholars and researchers pay attention to the relevant national laws and standards. This thesis attempts to examine the gap between status quo and researches on public sign translation based on a case study of public sign translations on university campuses from the perspective of relevant laws and standards. Within the framework of national standards GB17733 and Shaanxi standards DB/T510.1, all the collected data are classified into three types, institution names, public place names and public service information. Meanwhile, three major problems, linguistic problems, ab-normal translations and inconsistency various problems are detected in available public sign translations. In order to tackle the problems, this thesis emphasizes that public sign translation should refocus on accuracy, standardization and consistency, and proposes suggested translation methods for the three types of public signs.