A Study On Chinese Translation Of Abbreviations In Military Texts

Since the 21st century,the international military exchange and cooperation has become increasingly frequent,so the demand for military English translation is also increasing day by day.In recent years,domestic research on military English translation is gradually increasing,and the research mainly centers on the characteristics of military English,the principles of military English translation and the translation of military words(terms).Research on military abbreviations,especially research on the translation methods of abbreviations in military texts,is still relatively scarce.MCWP 3-01 Offensive and Defensive Tactics,with distinctive military text characteristics,mainly introduces the operational tactics of the U.S.Marine Corps.Abbreviations are frequently used in this book and have diversified word-formation,which is one of the difficulties of the whole translation.Therefore,taking MCWP3-01 Offensive and Defensive Tactics(chapter 2-3)as an example,this report analyzes the composition of the abbreviations and discusses the specific translation methods of them,so as to provide reference for the relevant translation in the future.Firstly,this report analyzes the word-formation of abbreviations in the translation material.It can be divided into three types of abbreviations on the basis of its word-formation,namely "word abbreviations","phrase abbreviations" and "book title abbreviations"."Word abbreviations" are all "clipping" abbreviations;"phrase abbreviations" consist of "ellipsis","initialism" and "blending" abbreviations;"book title abbreviations" are all "initialism"+number abbreviations.This report puts forward the translation methods after analyzing the word-formation of abbreviations.For example,literal translation can be applied to the translation of "word abbreviations";complementary translation,literal translation,free translation and addition translation can be applied to the translation of "phrase abbreviations";while decomposition method and zero translation can be applied to the translation of "book title abbreviations".These translation methods can comprehensively and accurately convey the contents of abbreviations,and help the target readers get the military information expressed by abbreviations.