A Report On The C-E Translation Of Railway Technical Texts In Technical Specification For Khartoum Tram Line 1 Project(Excerpts)from The Perspective Of Iconicity Theory

Technical specification is one of the most fundamental documents for preliminary design of a railway project.It can form the general design framework,determine the basic technical parameter and boundaries,and provide valuable fundamental basis for investment,design and construction.Without any doubt,discussion upon translation of such technical documents and efforts to make better translation is of great importance for implementation of international railway projects.Many scholars have performed deep exploration and research on translation of technical texts and summarized plenty of achievements.However,researches from the approach of iconicity theory is relatively insufficient.Therefore,to study the significance of iconicity theory in translating railway technical texts,the author excerpted a part from the Technical Specification for Khartoum Tram Line 1 Project with about 10,000 characters for C-E translation,with the guidance of iconicity theory.This translation process is taken as the subject to analyze the function of iconicity theory in translation.By this study,the author tries to summarize the significance of iconicity theory in guiding translation of railway technical texts,broaden the application of the theory and provide new approaches in translating texts of science and technology.In this report,the features of Scientific and Technological texts are analyzed and applicability of iconicity theory is introduced and discussed to guide translation of such documents.Sufficient examples are taken to prove and analyze the applicability from the following three approaches: quantity iconicity shown in short forms,predictability and difference of noun expressions and verbal expressions;distance iconicity expressed in sequence of modifiers,juxtaposition structures and relation between half sentences;sequence iconicity illustrated in spatial sequence and time sequence.The example analysis focuses on enhancing understandings of construction process and technical expressions,digging out the recognition process and correspondence between texts and concepts or events,finding out proper ways to restructure information in target texts by application of iconicity theory,to make better translation effect.Generally speaking,through analysis of translation examples of this railway technical text,this report finds applicability of iconcity theory in translation of such texts and tries to provide reference to other translators and researchers.