An E-C Translation Report Of Verbs:Aspect And Causal Structure(Excerpts) Guided By Functional Equivalence Theory

The book Verbs: Aspect and Causal Structure was written by William Croft and was published by Oxford University Press in 2012.This academic discourse has explored aspect,verbal semantics and argument realization,which is meaningful for both the overseas and domestic research.Chapter 7,as the main translation material selected by the translator,discusses the interaction of aspect and causal structure in verb meaning.According to Nida’s functional equivalence theory,the following four features are of crucial importance to a good translation: conveying the information,expressing the spirit and manner of the source,having a natural and easy form of expression,and realizing the similar response.This book typically belongs to academic discourse with standardized language which appears to be abstract to comprehend.With the guidance of functional equivalence theory,this report analyzes some typical cases at lexical level,syntactic level,textual level and stylistic level.At lexical level,in order to transfer the information of the source text to the target text readers to the greatest extent,the translator adopts word-for-word translation,paraphrase and conversion of part of speech to deal with terms,abstract words and nominalization in the source.At syntactic level,the translator uses division,voice conversion,amplification and recombination for the translation of long sentences and passive voice,aiming for the equivalence of source text and the translated one.At textual level,instead of sticking to the form,addition and conversion of conjunction and substitution are applied to achieve a natural cohesion and coherence in the text.At stylistic level,to keep the concise and rigorous academic style of the source,Chinese four-character form and omission are used by the translator.In this report,the guidance of functional equivalence theory in the translation of academic discourse has been discussed.After dealing with the difficulties,the translator has summarized some specific translation methods and techniques,hoping to provide a reference for MTI students’ translation practice in this field.