A Report On Chinese Translation Of Postmodification With Non-finite Constructions In The International Law Of The Sea

This practice report,based on Quirk et al.’s(1985)grammatical theory and under the guidance of Hans Vermeer’s Skopos Theory,focuses on the translations of postmodification with non-finite constructions in the text of the International Law of the Sea in the form of case study.Maritime law texts contain a large number of post-modifications with non-finite constructions,which feature restrictiveness,temporality and explicitness of the postmodifiying expressions on the preceding head noun.With systematic studies on the Chinese translation of post-modification with non-finite constructions in English maritime law texts,research findings have been accomplished as follows.1)Different post-modification with non-finite constructions takes different tenses,which should be distinguished to ensure the accuracy of the translation.2)Maritime law texts contain a large number of “V-ed by-AGENT” constructions and“V-ed in Article X” constructions.The agent of actions and relevant laws or regulations should be clearly expressed to achieve the explicitness of the translation.3)The active or passive voice construction should be translated differently to ensure that the translation satisfies the principle of end focus,and the principle of end weight as well.4)Modified words with infinitive constructions used as post-modification often express potential or possible wills or something unfulfilled.Therefore,in the process of translation,the meaning of the modified word should be specifically analyzed in the text and clearly represented in the translation.In conclusion,the translator has achieved an in-depth understanding of translating post-modification with non-finite construction through this translation practice.It is hoped that this report could be of possible reference for similar translation work in the future.