A study on the Translation of legal terms in Civil Code from the Perspective of Functional Equivalence功能对等视角下的《民法典》法律术语翻译研究开题报告

 2023-04-16 09:04

1. 研究目的与意义（文献综述包含参考文献）

1. IntroductionThis thesis aims to use functional equivalence theory to compare the translation of the provisions of different versions of the Civil Code and explore the best way of legal translation.1.1Background of the research The activity of translation has been of a long history either in the eastern countries or in the west. For example, by the retrospection of the history of translation in China, it is evidently shown that it has experienced four climaxes of large-scale translation since the earliest translation of the Buddhist Scripture from the Eastern Han Dynasty (Ma Zuyi:1998:18). And Tan Zaixi (2004: 2) has distinguished in his A Short History of Translation the West that there have been six stages of western translation activities since the third century B.C. As the interactions and communication between different peoples or different languages have been quite frequent, apart from general translations, the perception that professional openings for translators are increasingly conditioned by market trends(Enrique Alcaraz visible and striking linguistic feature of the legal language which belongs to a kind of technical languages. Since the legal language obviously involves the illustration of legal terminology, a brief introduction to legal language should be mentioned first. On the other hand, the thesis mainly involves the translation from Chinese into English where the emphasis lies in, thus the legal language being talked about in this thesis refers to legal English. As Wikipedia recorded, legal English has traditionally been the preserve of lawyers from English-speaking countries which have shared common law traditions. It is the style of English used by lawyers and other legal professionals in the course of their work, and has particular relevance when being applied to legal writing and the drafting, including legal documents such as contracts and licenses, court pleadings, summons, judgments, acts of parliament and subordinate legislation, and legal correspondence.It is obvious that legal terms can reflect some specific characteristics of different legal systems, social culture and even historical culture, thus it is quite complicated for translators to translate them from one legal system into another. However, translation activity cannot be, or is impossible to be, avoided in intercultural communication especially between two or more legal systems. And translators would never stop exploring guiding theories, i.e., trying to discuss about free translation and literal translation, or find ways to make translations as effective as original texts. Among those, the theory of Functional equivalence cannot be more familiar to every translator. Accordingly, in this thesis , it is necessary to carry out a review about legal terms and the guiding translation theory ---functional equivalence.2.1 Functional equivalence and translation of legal terms The activity of translating is normally treated as a process of communicating the foreign text by establishing a relationship of identity or analogy with it (Lawrence Venuti, 2004: 121). Through such an activity, readers can understand works written in other language systems and receive information as if they were reading the original texts. A good translator must have his own approach of translating, and Peter Fawcett points out in his Translation systems and language :Linguistic Theories Explained (2003: 2) that the approach describes a way translators can adapt texts to the needs of a different audience in the same way we all adjust our language to suit those we are communicating with. Besides, a translator also needs a guiding theory to support his translation. Lawrence Venuti (2004: 121) holds that during the decades, the controlling concept for most translation theory shall be equivalence. Undoubtedly, the theory of equivalence has unique influence on the history of translation. In translating legal terms, it also plays a leading role as a guiding theory.2.2 A brief introduction of the development of the theory of the functional equivalence Many linguists and translators have devoted themselves to solving the problem of equivalence in translating, and even spent their lifetime to this study. All the efforts they offered are to find equal meaning in another language, though the situation in practice might not be so ideal. Earlier in 1957, J. R. Firth first mentioned the word equivalence in his writings on translation, and it was in the latter fuzzy sense and as an item of the general language that the word equivalence was originally used in the English translation theory (Snell Hornby, 2001: 17). However, the first one who unleashes the concept of equivalence is Roman Jakobson, a Russian-born American linguist, in his On Linguistic Aspects of Translation. After that, meaning of the term equivalence keeps moving forward. J. C. Catford divides the concept into textual equivalence and formal correspondence. Eugene Nida then enriches the theory and develops it to the most famous theory of functional equivalence which has been influential. Werner Koller, a German translation theorist, classifies equivalence into four specific types which further develops of the theory of Eugene Nida. And the concept of semantic translation put forward by Peter Newmark is similar to the concept of equivalence. In modern China, Ma Jianzhong, the first Doctor who studies in France, puts forward the concept of good translation (善议), which may be treated as the original shape of equivalence in China. He remarks that a good translation must be the one from which readers can benefit as if from the original text (译之成文能使阅者所得之益，与观原文无异，是则为善译也已) (Ma Jianzhong, 1984: 126). But he does not take the idea into shape, which leads to the result that Chinese translators have to acknowledge the theory of equivalence until the time when Tan Zaixi firstly introduces the theory of functional equivalence inside. And this part makes a brief introduction to the major contributors of the theory of equivalence.2.3 Equivalence theories being used in translating legal terms Translation, as a self-satisfactory system in modern society since it came into being in the early 1980s, and one of the branches of applied linguistics in language society, had been mostly regarded as indispensable, especially for the earliest ways of inter-cultural or inter-lingual communication between different peoples or different linguistic systems since lingual or multi-lingual affairs became impossible or rarely possible. Besides, translation is not only a simple process of decoding, but also involves understanding of both source language and target language, particularly flexible use of two language systems. As to translation of legal terms, professional knowledge is necessary for a translator. It is always hard and complicated. As an official translator, Cappellas Espuny (1999: 2) believes that if a translator wants to find the most exact equivalence of a legal term, the problem may arise at the beginning, since there may be no comparable concept existing in another legal system, and therefore he or she may cause ambiguities, confusion and all types of miscomprehension because of the effect the term in question produces in the reader of the translated text. Now the key problem may be how to make use of general translation theories to guide legal translation in practice for inter-cultural legal communication. In summary, although translation theorists have explored guiding theories for translation, there is still few of research having done in conducting translation of legal terms in the perspective of functional equivalence, as far as the writer is concerned. Thus, it is necessary for this thesis to research into this area, especially taking three English versions of GCLA as examples for analysis.The main purpose of the study was to answer the following questions:1. Which parts of the theory of functional equivalence can be applied into legal translation, or the translation of legal terms?2. What principles can be adopted into the process of translating legal terms to achieve the closet equivalence? References[1] The singular and plural numbers of legal English and their translation strategies [J]. Zhang Falian, Zhao Yongping.. Shanghai Translator. 2020 (05)[2]Construction of the conceptual system of national translation practice[J]. Ren Dongsheng. Foreign Language Studies. 2019(04)[3] Research on the Subject Positioning of Legal English [J]. Zhang Falian. China Foreign Languages. 2019 (02)[4] Cultural Transmission in Legal Translation [J]. Zhang Falian. Chinese Translator. 2019 (02)[5] Research on the Cultivation Mechanism of Compound Talents of Legal English in the New Era[J]. Zhang Falian. Foreign Language Teaching. 2018(03)[6] A Preliminary Study of National Translation Practice [J]. Ren Dongsheng, Gao Yuxia. Foreign Languages in China. 2015(03)[7] A study on the foreign translation norms of national institutions: A case study of the English translation of Chinese literature in the "Panda Series" [J]. Geng Qiang, Shanghai Translator. 2012 (01)[8] A Probe into the Basic Principles of Legal Style Translation [J]. Zhang Falian. Chinese Translation. 2009(05)[9]A Comparative Study of Chinese and Western Legal Language and Culture[M]. Peking University Press, Zhang Falian, 2017[10] Translation project management practice [M]. China Translation and Publishing Corporation, Wang Huawei, 2012[11] "Civil Code" and high-level socialist market economy [J]. Liu Shouying, Xiong Xuefeng. Journal of Peking University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition). 2020(06)[12] What clauses in the "Civil Code" are related to market supervision[J]. Quality Cloud. China Quality Supervision. 2020(06)[13] The definition of "custom" in Article 10 of the Civil Code: A comparative analysis with reference to my country's Taiwan region [J]. Liu Zhihui. Strait Law. 2020(04)[14] The construction, understanding and application of the green clauses in the Civil Code [J]. Wang Xuguang. Application of law. 2020(23)[15] Constitutional issues in the implementation of the "Civil Code" [J]. Qin Qianhong, Zhou Hang. Law. 2020(11)[1]法律英语的单 复数及其翻译策略[J].张法连,赵永平..上海 翻译.2020(05)[2]国家翻译实践概念体系构建[J].任东升.外语研究.2019(04)[3]法律英语 学科定位研究[J].张法连.中国外语.2019(02)[4]法律翻译中 的文化传递[J].张法连.中国翻译.2019(02)[5]新时代法律英语复合型人才培养机制探究[J]. 张法连.外语教学. 2018(03)[6]国家翻译实践初探[J].任东升,高玉霞.中国外语.2015(03)[7]国家机构对外翻译规范研究一以熊猫丛书英译中国文学为例[J].耿强、上海翻译. 2012(01)[8]法律文体翻译基本原则探究[J].张法连.中国翻译.2009(05)[9]中西法律语言与文化对比研究[M].北京大学出版社，张法连，2017[10]翻译项目管理实务[M].中国对外翻译出版公司, 王华伟，2012[11]《民法典》与高水平社会主义市场经济[J]. 刘守英,熊雪锋. 北京大学学报(哲学社会科学版). 2020(06)[12]《民法典》中哪些条款与市场监管有关[J]. 质量云.中国质量监管. 2020(06)[13]《民法典》第10条中习惯的界定以我国台湾地区为参照的比较分析[J]. 刘智慧.海峡法学. 2020(04)[14]《民法典》绿色条款的规则构建与理解适用[J]. 王旭光.法律适用. 2020(23)[15]《民法典》实施中的宪法问题[J]. 秦前红,周航.法学. 2020(11)

2. 研究的基本内容、问题解决措施及方案

3. MethodIt is known to all that the activity of translation is difficult. However, among those types of translation, legal translation is probably regarded as one of the major difficulties, which is largely reflected in the translation of legal terms. That how to convey the meaning of legal terms in the source language system precisely is a big problem yet to be solved in the field of legal translation. Besides, seeking equivalence in the legal terms is viewed as one of the hot concerns of legal translators. Among tremendous amounts of translation theories, functional equivalence is deemed as one of the most efficient translation theories for the translation of legal terms. In consideration of the significant guidance of functional equivalence on legal translation, based on this theoretical framework, and by selecting the translations of major legal terms in the three English versions of the Civil Code(issued in 2020) as source materials, this thesis makes a systematical contrastive analysis of legal terms and their English expressions in the translations from the following aspects. Firstly, with the contrastive researches on both meaning and form of legal terms, this thesis concludes that it is better to resort to some translation principles in the process of legal translating in order to realize equivalent translations, especially for the translation of legal terms. Secondly, this thesis makes some adjustments of the theory to suit special characteristics of the translation of legal terms, and summarizes some principles such as the priority of contextual consistency is over verbal consistency, functional equivalence over formal equivalence, the written form over the heard form, and the forms of language over the needs of audience. Lastly, the thesis tentatively proposes some special principles for the translation of legal terms from the aspects of professional, consistency, accuracy and equivalence. As far as this thesis is concerned, legal translators have to enrich themselves with professional knowledge first and then probe into legal translation, while during the process of translating, they shall both transfer the meaning precisely and unify meaning and background legal culture, and eventually realize the closet equivalence of the source texts and the translated texts. In sum, when combined with special characteristics of the translation of legal terms, the theory of functional equivalence is of greater significance as a guiding theory. At last, this thesis is supposed to serve as a catalyst for further activity of the translation of legal terms and researches on guiding principles, in order to promote the quality of legal translation.3.1 Research designSince the birth of the theory of functional equivalence, translators and translation researchers have tried their best to use it as the guidance in translating, or to check and verify the translation. What the writer does in this part of the thesis exactly is trying to employ the theory so as to justify different translations of legal terms in Civil Code, which undoubtedly enjoys outstanding position in the system of Chinese laws, and is translated by the scholars from foreign countries. Thus, this part takes three English versions of Civil Code as examples for the analysis, with its aim at discussing the application of functional equivalence in translating legal terms. First of all, the thesis is ready to assess the three English versions, and then, verify them under the guidance of functional equivalence.This paper aims to use functional equivalence theory to compare the advantages and disadvantages of different versions of legal term translation. To feel the subtlety and characteristics of legal translation. 3.2 A brief assessment of three English vision of Civil Code The previously mentioned three English versions of Civil Code are respectively translated by different agents on the Internet.They are the official version, the artificial intelligence version and the legal agency version. However, the research in the work is done article by article, without analyzing the results from different levels, such as the levels of lexis, syntax or discourse. And the difference lies in that this thesis aims to make a specific comparison from the level of lexis or terms which of course refer to legal terms, combining parts of the results of the research in this academic work.It is universally known that translation should be regarded as a process of unifying both meaning and form of the source language to the target language. However, having looked through and compared the three English versions, readers may be confused by some inconsistencies appeared in the contexts. Thus, for the purpose of helping understanding, the writer approaches the problems arose from the translations from two aspects, form and meaning, as follows.

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