The Translation Of The Subordinate Clauses—A Report On The Translation Of The Colonial Period Of American History (An Excerpt)

Intricate events and glamorous figures are always the soul of a historical text that engrosses the readers’ attention.However,the relation between events and the presentation of a figure’s image are usually narrated in complex sentences in English.How to transmit the original information to Chinese readers by translation is a worthy topic,for which this report specifically focuses on the translation of English subordinate clauses.The source text for this translation practice report is Chapter One of Charles M.Andrews’ The Colonial Period of American History.The functional equivalence theory is used to guide the translating practice.Eugene Nida advocates that translation should be accurate to the original meaning.Word-for-word translation is not necessary.He has put forward some methods to achieve functional equivalence.This report summarizes some practical methods of subordinate clause translation.The methods of combination,division,fusion,and conversion can be used to translate attributive clauses the methods of sequence,fronting,conversion,and division can be adopted to translate adverbial clauses,and for noun clauses,the methods of division,fusion,and omission can be used.Case study is adopted to analyze these translation methods of subordinate clauses in the source text and explain why these methods are appropriate.Twenty-four cases,including three types of subordinate clauses(attributive clauses,adverbial clauses,and noun clauses),are discussed.This report applies the theory of functional equivalence to the translation of historical text’s subordinate clauses,aiming to convey the original information of the historical texts accurately.It is expected to offer reference for successful transformation of the complex structures in English historical texts and promote effective crosscultural communication.