A Report On E-C Translation Of The OPEC Annual Report 2021(Excerpt) Under The Guidance Of Functional Equivalence Theory

This source text is excerpted from the OPEC’s 2021 Annual Report.The report analyzes economy,oil demand and supply in various regions in 2021 and oil price fluctuation,providing useful reference information for oil industry and investors.Therefore,the report is worth translating and reading.This report is an informational text,the chapter 2 World Economy and chapter 3 Global Oil Market Developments were chosen as source text.There is much real data in source text which has a predicative effect on oil developments in the future.The language of the source text is concise,objective and logical,so the language style of the target language also should be plain and concise.The translator takes functional equivalence theory as the guiding theory,the analysis of the source text,conveying of meaning and readers’ response are repeatedly considered in the whole translation process.And the translator undertakes mission to achieve closest natural equivalence and strives to realize equivalence at the lexical,syntactic and discourse levels.At the lexical level,there are many petroleum terminologies in the source text,the translator consults relevant material to translate specialized terminology;For the same words used repeatedly in different contexts,the translator determines its specific meaning in different contexts based on its original meaning and the analysis of the contexts;The usage of the metaphor is also a characteristic of the source text,for the words with implicit meanings,the translator manifests the implicit meaning based on a comprehensive understanding of their original meaning;Flexible shift of word class,necessary addition and omission are also conducive to fulfilling maximum equivalence at the lexical level.At the syntactic level,the translator converts passive voice into active voice,adjusts the sentence order,divides and reconstructs sentences according to Chinese expression habits to make sentences smooth and natural,and removes the barriers of understanding and appreciating of translation for readers.At the discourse level,lexical devices,transfer of conjunctions and logical reorganization are used to make the discourse cohesive and coherent.The translation practice confirms the great guiding value of functional equivalence theory in the translation of this source text.Equivalence is a closest equivalence because full equivalence is far from possible,but the translator should make great efforts to achieve maximum equivalence.