TheCharacerisicandTranslaionofWordsinEST_开题报告

The Literature Review

of

The Characteristic and Translation of Words in EST

Introduction

The first traces of EST (English for science and technology) dated back 50s 20th century. From 1970s, the EST translation is increasing in importance. Along with the fast development of science and technology, EST has been attached great importance to popularity in the modern world. We are now in the 21st century. Along with the procedure of the globalization of world science and economy, EST is gaining its developing momentum and being absorbed in every aspect of our society. As China is making every effort to catch up with the development of world’s advanced science and technology, an easy access to advanced science and technology is of great help in our absorbing modern technology and achieving our goals, of which translation is indispensable. 

2. Characteristics of EST Vocabulary

The speed and size of publishing in the field of science and technology are enormous, with the ever so rapid and remarkable advances in it: 2,000 pages per minutes, or 200,000 kinds of magazine on science and technology per year. And about 80% of these writing is in English. As such, EST translation into Chinese has become ever so important, and is a strong pushing force for China’s advancement of science and technology and is bringing about greater and greater economic benefits. As one of three basic elements of English, English vocabulary is expanding its quantity day by day. A considerable amount of innovative words came into being while some old words disappearing gradually from the world of English. And such appear-disappear phenomenon is obvious especially in EST words. 

The research to the words in EST flourished the academic field in the world, and there are a considerable amount of thoughts contained. But generally speaking, there are several points which concerned about the classification and word-formation of EST words were accepted by the most people. In a general sense, the outcome of EST words could be divided into there major parts: innovated technical terms, Old words with new meanings and non-technical words. Innovated technical terms refer to words that can exactly explain definite concepts in a specific field of science and technology. With the development of science and technology new terms are needed to define new phenomena and to explain new things and processes. As a result, suitable technical terms have to be invented. Old words with new meanings could be classified into two parts: common words with specific meanings and the words from literature or myth. Some words are not technical in a strict sense, but tend to occur particularly frequently in technical English. They seem to fit well into the precise, impersonal and formal English of scientists and engineers. In some cases, it is possible to argue that the "EST" word is less ambiguous than the general English word, but many of these words are really just cliches of scientific and technical writing. And we defined these words as non-technical words. 

The characteristics of EST words are closely related with the general feature of EST style. As a variety of the English language, EST is considered as an information-carrier variety. Thus more information with fewer words may be a characteristic feature, which is reflected in the word formation of EST words.  Native speakers and good English learners can very quickly understand a new word and cope with the use of different forms of that new word. This ability must derive in part from the fact that there is a lot of regularity in the word-formation processes in the language. The main word-formation methods include compounding, abbreviation, affixation, back-formation and blending. 

3. The Basic Translation Methods of Words in EST.

The translation of the EST words has been boomed in recent several years, but there is no such a set of theoretical system coped with it. The main framework of translation of the EST words is no difference with other types of translation, but it has its own special features. The meaning of a word varied in different context of EST sentences. There are two major translation methods in the E-C translation---literal translation and free translation. It is also true for the translation of the EST words. EST seldom has the business with the divergence of the cultures, so most of EST words are suitable for literal translation.

According to Newmark, literal translation is a basic translation procedure. In translation from English to Chinese, literal translation is the commonest way. Most of the compounds in English are literally translated into Chinese because most of them are composed of simple words or words which we used very often. In A Textbook of Translation, Newmark stresses that literal translation is not word for word translation, but one-to-one translation. But when comes to the translation of words, in my opinion, literal translation is also a kind of word for word translation. There are three major types of literal translation: (1) Transplantation (2) Transliteration (3) Pictographic Translation.

With the fast development of science and technology, sometimes it is difficult for our ordinary people to understand some professional terms with the scope of our common knowledge. Now more and more scientific workers and translators are inclined to apply the free translation methods to enable our ordinary people a better understanding of those professional terms. These translations have obvious meanings and are easy to understand and will be accepted easier.

The way of free translation of EST words could be also divided into three methods: (1) Deduction, (2) Extension, (3) Explanation. 

Another translation method is the combination of the literal and the free translation. This kind of words is formed by combining a half liberal translation and a morpheme which can represent the nature of the original. The morpheme offers explanatory illustration on the concept of the new word or expression. Thus it will be easier for the receptor to accept. 

4. The Problems Occurred in Translation of EST Words

When we take the translation theory into practice, we will find it is not just a piece of cake. As we all know, English majors always form the main body of translators. It is inevitable that we may be faced with some EST translation in our study and work. However, in this special field of translation, we are not capable enough of fulfilling the tasks as we have been expected in other areas. There are two major types of problems which have been always occurred in the translation of the EST words: problems in translation of common words with specific meanings and problems in translation of technical terms. Also some points will be recommended to the English major students which concerned about the translation of the EST words in this paper.

5. Conclusion

    

These centuries have witnessed the prosperous development of science and technology, which has already become an integral part of our life. With so many EST articles in various fields, there is an unprecedented broad stage for EST translators to bring their capability and wisdom into full play. The EST words' entering our life is unquestionable. So the translated words must be correctly understood to enhance the successful exchange of information. Since there are diversified methods to translate these EST words, some words may have several methods to translate: one close to the original meaning and the other using the similar pronunciation. In short, the same word or phrase could have different versions of translation. Since the formation of these EST new words conform to the needs of the development of the technology, when they are translated into Chinese, the translators should consider the factors of better communications, of convenience, and of efficiency. In addition, translation should be in accordance with common practice, following the existing official translation and convention. I hope that the methods and techniques of EST words translation discussed in this paper can be of some help for the technical translators as well as our English majors in their translation practice. 

Outlines

1. Introduction 

2. Characteristics of EST Vocabulary

2.1 The Definition of the EST and its Words

2.2 Classification of EST Vocabulary

2. 3 Word-formation of EST Vocabulary

3. The Problems Occurred in Translation of EST Words

3.1 Problems in Translation of Common Words with Specific Meanings

3.2 Problems Translation of Technical Terms

4. The Basic Translation Methods of Words in EST

4.1 Literal Translation

4.2 Free Translation

4.3 Combination of Literal and Free Translation

5. Conclusion

References

1. Ayto, John. 20th Century Words. Foreign Language Teaching and Research. Press/ Oxford University Press, 2002.

2. Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. Longman Group Ltd, 1995.

3. Newmark, Peter. A Textbook of Translation. Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 1990.

4. Valerie, Adams. An Introduction to Modern English Word-Formation. Longman Group Ltd, 1973.

5. 丁证芳. 科技词汇 ·报刊文章·翻译.

6. 杜耀文. 科技英语中略缩语的使用问题. 中国科技翻译，1996(3) .

7. 翟天利. 科技英语阅读与翻译实用教程. 北京:新时代出版社，2003.

8. 范武邱. 使用科技英语翻译讲评. 外文出版社，2001.

9. 郭著章. 英汉互实用译教程武. 汉大学出版社，2003年修订版.

10. 马清海. 试论科技翻译的标准和科技术语的翻译原则. 北京： 中国翻译， 1997.1.

11. 潘薇. 科技英语翻译技巧. 西安电子科技大学硕士学位^范文.

12. 王开铸. 计算机专业英语(第三版). 哈尔滨工业大学出版社，2002.

13. 王璐. 论计算机术语翻译. 中国科技翻译，1996 ( 3 ) 12-14.

14. 肖君石. 汉英、英汉翻译初探. 商务印书馆, 1982.