A Report On The English-Chinese Translation Of Complex Sentences In Survivors:British Merchant Seamen In The Second World War(Excerpt)

English documentary maritme literature serves as a branch of English for Specific Purposes.Therefore,Distinctive linguistic features and background knowledge of ESP should be taken into consideration in translation.This report is based on translation practices on complex sentences in the fifth chapter "Abandon Ship" and the sixth chapter "Face to Face with the Enemy" of the book titled Survivors:British Merchant Seamen in the Second World War.It is discovered that a number of complex sentences exist in the translated text in the translation process.The main characteristics of complex sentences are summarized in three aspects:abundant in sentence types,abundant in parataxis and supplementary elements;abundant in postpositional modifiers.In the process of studying and analyzing the translation of complex sentences,the author applies the Conceptual Structures and the theory of the two-stage translation process featuring understanding and expressing,respectively proposed by Lu Guoqiang and Liu Miqing,and takes examples to probe specific methods used in translation of complex sentences which include linear translation,embedding translation,reversing translation,splitting translation,cutting translation and voice-changing translation.These methods demonstrate in a fundamental sense the use of conceptual structures in addressing the lack of cohesion and coherence in translation caused by differences in mode of mind between English and Chinese,and also demonstrates a successful transformation of ways of thinking between English and Chinese.The translation report can be helpful to solve problems encountered in the translation of complex sentences in English maritime documentation.It is hoped that it can provide reference for professional teaching in maritime field and the translation of texts of similar kinds.