Translation Of Proper Nouns In Sci-tech Texts From The Perspective Of Skopos Theory

Science and technology is the driving force of economic development. After the information revolution, scientific and technological innovations have become the top priority of different countries. Therefore, the exchange and communication between various countries have also been promoted in this regard. Against this background, the translation of sci-tech texts can help to clear the barrier of language. Railroads and Weather mainly discusses the effects of fog, floods, heat and hurricanes on American railroading as well as some measures taken by the railroad system to tackle these issues. Lessons which can be drawn from these weather events are also provided. As a popular science book, the target readers of Railroads and Weather comprise both professional and common readers. During the translation process,the author of this report found that only when the translation is reader-centered and translation strategies are appropriate will the translated version be accepted by different readers, thus achieving the goal of translation. According to Skopos theory, translation methods and strategies should be chosen on the basis of the function and goal of translation.Therefore, with the translation of three chapters in Railroads and Weather as the point-cut and under the guidance of Skopos theory, the report discussed different translation methods for corresponding proper nouns. This translation will help readers better understand these weather events and their effects as well as the translation of scientific proper nouns.According to their meanings, nouns can be divided into common nouns and proper nouns. During the process of sci-tech translation, the translation of proper nouns is very important, for every discipline includes a certain number of proper nouns. Therefore accuracy and consistency of these proper nouns are the prerequisites of a successful translation version.Railroads and Weather contains such proper nouns as hurricanes, cloud types, places,abbreviations, company names, engine types, and rail terms, which bring about challenges to translation. It is considered that as long as proper translation strategies are adopted to make the translation accurate and understandable, these challenges can be overcome, the translation will appeal to the target readers, and the meaning of translation will be embodied. Under the guidance of Skopos theory, this report focuses on how to use different kinds of translation methods for various proper nouns in a certain context.There are five chapters altogether in this report. The first chapter introduces the backgrounds, objects and summary of the research. The second chapter describes the translation process, including preparation before translation, translation and proofreading after translation. The third chapter makes an introduction of Skopos theory. The fourth chapter probes into the translation methods of different proper nouns on the basis of case analysis. The methods of adopting established translation, annotation, amplification, and sememe analysis are discussed at length. The fifth chapter summarizes the translation practice and points it out that using different translation strategies for different kinds of proper nouns can improve accuracy and readability of the translation. Limitations of this report are also provided in this chapter.