A Report On The E-C Translation Of Translating Happiness(An Excerpt)

Language is the most important tool of human communication,but it could not meet all our needs.The continuous differentiation and evolution of languages leads to the "untranslatability" situation between two languages,that is,the corresponding words may not be found between two languages.Translating Happiness is a book about a cross-cultural lexicon of well-being written by Tim Lomas,a psychologist of lexicography project in which he illustrates how difficult for a person to use exactly corresponding words or phrases in his own language to express the meaning from another language.The author of the report,therefore,takes Translating Happiness as translation material and chooses the second chapter of this book to explore how a translator deals with and translates those difficulties which have no corresponding expression in target language.Meanwhile,to present an academic reference to language learners or language lovers is another purpose for the translator to translate Lomas’ work.This report is carried out based on the Skopos theory,describing and analyzing the Skopos rule,coherence rule,fidelity rule and their application in translation.Skopos theory holds that in a specific context,translation needs to consider the expectation and demand of the target language audience and the influence of the target language on the target language.Therefore,translators need to select appropriate translation strategies for specific purposes and receivers.Based on this,the author analyzes the specific translation strategies adopted in translation practice from lexical level and syntactic level in order to achieve the ultimate goal of translation.At lexical level,translation strategies of part of speech conversion,four-word case and amplification are adopted to make Chinese text clear,smooth and coherent.At the syntax level,the strategies of dividing,word-order change and paraphrase are employed to make the translation more in line with the reading habits of the target readers.At the same time,the author of this report shares her translation experience and the reflection in the end so as to provide a reference to young translators and translation lovers.Through this translation practice,the author finds that in the translation of highly professional texts,the translators should consult a number of background information,read enough parallel texts,be familiar with the language style,consult professional books,supplement professional basic knowledge,and look up professional dictionary to ensure the accuracy of terms,thus gaining a thorough understanding of the knowledge in these fields.In addition,the translator must choose suitable translation theories to guide the whole translation practice so as to select proper translation strategies.This translation report consists of six chapters.The first part introduces the translation task,including report background and significance as well as the description of the translation task.The second part presents the translation process,consisting of before-translation,during-translation and after-translation.The third part elaborates the theoretical framework,including the development of the Skopos theory and three rules of the Skopos theory.The fourth part analyzes translation strategies with specific examples.The author discusses in details how to solve translation problems from the lexical level and syntactic level under the guidance of the Skopos theory.The fifth part talks about the author’s achievements and experiences through working on the translation task,including the requirements of English-Chinese translation on translators,constant revision in translating,and how to solve the difficulties in translation.The sixth part makes a summary and conclusion of the translation practice.