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1、On the Translation of ContractIntroductionA contract obligation is a legally binding agreement that is an agreement imposing rights on the parties of contracts, like statutes, which will be enforced by the courts. The attention to details may be due to a number of causes, including the standardizati
2、on of routine transactions, the frequent involvement of lawyers in all stages of exceptional transactions, the desire to avoid uncertainty when the law of more than one state may be involved.Business communications across the borders are substantially increasing which stimulates the demand of contra
3、ct translation as a certain result. Translation of contracts has thus drawn the interests of translators and scholars. To develop translation competence, contract translators need instruction in translation theory as well as practice. The thesis cites the theoretical aspects of translation principle
4、s. Like general translation criteria, the criteria for contract translation may be regarded as a criteria in action if it helps translators become responsible decision-makers in terms of Faithfulness, Expressiveness and Elegance or“信、达、雅”in Chinese. Chapter Two of this thesis addresses the lexical f
5、eatures of contract translation, which is to fulfill the main task by means of the analysis of words. Chapter three makes analysis on the syntactic characters of contract translation. Then Chapter four puts forward the options as strategies for the translation of contracts.Chapter 1 Criteria for the
6、 Translation of ContractsCriterion is the yardstick to assess a translated text. In China, Yan Fu first proposed three criteria for translation: faithfulness , smoothness and elegance. In 1930s, the debate between Lu Xun and Liang Shiqiu about faithfulness and smoothness accelerated the standardizat
7、ion of translation criteria. Fu Lei called for spiritual similarity instead of formal similarity. Mr Qian Zhongshu brought forth the highest criterion of perfection or transformation of souls. And Professor Liu Zhongde claims faithfulness, smoothness and closeness. However, all these criteria are ba
8、sed on the general and fuzzy impression instead of precise scientific reasoning.But the western functionalists tightly connected the criteria of translation with text types. Reisss typology is intended as a set of guidelines for translators and translation critics. That is, different criteria are ap
9、plied in different text type.According to Liu Miqing “contracts belong to legal documents which are characterized by the language of official document”1. Moreover, English of contract is fallen into practical business English. The criteria proposed in the following are defined according to its funct
10、ions and text type.1.1. Accuracy and faithfulness in Meaning1.1.1 AccuracyA combination of a formal style, an expressive language function, and the need to achieve extreme precision or avoid ambiguity as mentioned above almost certainly and unavoidably produces the need to accomplish accuracy in mea
11、ning in the translation of business contracts. Karla C. Shippey claims The more definitive the terms, the fewer the disputes.2 The principle of accuracy should be regarded as the soul of contract translation. The stylistic and linguistic features of international business contracts determine the nee
12、d of an exact wording and well-knit sentences without the least possible ambiguity, misunderstanding, discrepancy or departure in meaning. These features mark off the translation of business contracts from the translation of literature. 1.1.2 FaithfulnessOn the importance of faithfulness the transla
13、tion of technical terms is a good case in point. An exact understanding of the essence of the source language (SL) is the key to successful translating into target language (TL). Neither distortions nor alterations should be made in the process of translating. Example 1商标由买方提供。如果发生第二方指控商标侵权，买方应负责与第二
14、方交涉并承担由此引起的法律责任和经济损失。The trademark is to be supplied by the Buyer. In case a third party brings a charge of infringement, the Buyer shall be responsible for dealing with the third party and bear legal responsibilities and economic losses arising therefrom.3It seems proper to translate the statement
15、like“承担经济损失”into to bear economic losses arising therefrom, but here the losses(损失)exactly refer to the financial ones connected with money rather than the economic ones connected with trade, industry, money and others. And the responsibilities and losses are not necessarily a certainty but a kind o
16、f probability. For this reason, it would be better to change the English version into“and bear legal responsibilities and financial losses that may arise”.1.2. Expressiveness and Smoothness in FormulationThe criterion of expressiveness and smoothness comes in the second place in the business contrac
17、ts. By expressiveness and smoothness we mean that contracts should be rendered in normative and idiomatic TL in both wording and syntax. Words and expressions used should conform to the customarily recognized meanings in international business. For example, Chinese“议付”should be rendered into negotia
18、tion in international banking practices, and any substitutes may lead to confusion.The criterion of expressiveness and smoothness shows great importance in dealing with long complex sentences. Example 2买方应在收到卖方交货通知后由中国银行开出以卖方为受益人的与装运金额相同的不可撤销的即期信用证。The Buyer shall, on receipt from the Seller of the
19、shipping advice, open with the Bank of China an irrevocable letter of credit available by draft at sight in favor of the Seller for the total value of the shipment.4It is improper to translate the above Chinese sentences word by word into English. In order to make the translated version comply with
20、the idiomatic way of formulation in English, we have to make some modulations to the syntax of the Chinese version by shifting the pre-modifying elements“以卖方为受益人的”“与装运金额相同的”，“不可撤销的”“即期”to post-modifying positions.1.3. Elegance Style is the essential characteristic of a text, in which the spirit of a
21、 piece of writing lies. Theodore Savory advocates in his book. The Art of Translation that translation should reflect the original style.5 With reference to Yang Fus elegance, Zhou Xuliang has his own understanding: elegance refers to appropriateness both in content and style between the translation
22、 and the original6.So far as contract translation is concerned, elegance in style means that the translated version of a contract should be in strict compliance with the original in terms of style.Chapter 2 The Lexical Features of the Translation of ContractsAnalyzing a language on the levels of mor
23、phology, phonology and syntax, is a straightforward way to understand texts better. Therefore, to analyze the stylistic and linguistic features of contract English is of great value to understand contracts. This analysis will inevitably facilitate their translation.2.1 Archaisms in ContractsThere is
24、 a ceremonial quality of the contract language achieved by the frequent use of archaisms in both English and Chinese. Thus in C-E translation of contracts, proper use of English archaisms plays a significant role in exact wording. In rendering the Chinese archaisms like“此”、“之”、“在”、“凭”、“由”,etc.，we ma
25、y rely on the use of some English archaisms formed by a combination of such prefixes as here, there or where and some particular prepositions indicating directions, manners or reasons, for example, herewith, thereby, etc. Archaisms nearly always seem to add a touch of formality to the language in wh
26、ich they occur. And in this respect, the use of English archaisms in C-E translation doubtlessly contributes to achieving stylistic equivalence between SL and TL. The use of such archaisms also may result in an effect of stressed and clarified meaning of the text. These Old and Middle English words
27、were once in use but are rare in contemporary English especially in contemporary spoken English. But they are in frequent use in contracts. These words have their general Chinese equivalents and their usage follows their own rules as follows: A. here=this. For instance: hereby(=by means of this; by
28、reason of this特此;兹;因此)，hereinafter(=later in this contract, etc以下;在下文)，herein(=in this此中;于此)，hereof(=of this于此;在本件中)，hereto= to this对此;至此); B. there=that. For example: therein（in that在那里;在那点上)，thereto（=to that or it随附;附之),thereof(=of that; from that source由此;因此)，therewith= with that or it与此;与之),ther
29、eafter(=afterwards此后);C. where=which. Compound relative adverbs are formed by combining where with prepositions and are often used to introduce attributive clauses. For example: whereby=( by what; by which凭此条款;凭此协议);whereof(=of which关于那事),etc.These archaistic words should be used in C-E translation
30、in a correct and flexible way in accordance with the context. Example 3凡与本合同有关或因履行本合同而发生的一切争议，应由合同双方通过友好协商解决。All disputes in connection with this contract or the execution thereof shall be solved by the two parties through amicable negotiation.72.2 Translation of Loan Words and Formal Words2.2.1 Loa
31、n WordsLoan word is a feature of legal documents, whose function is to formalize the text and keep the legal flavor, but they are not as popular in Chinese as in English. In general, it is best to speak of functional equivalence in terms of a range of adequacy, since no translation is ever completel
32、y equivalent. “A number of different translations can in fact represent varying degrees of equivalence. This means that equivalence cannot be understood in its mathematical meaning of identity, but only in terms of proximity, i.e. on the basis of degrees of closeness to functional identity8. Therefo
33、re, the purpose here is to reproduce the formalness and legal sense, and legal words are used in this rendition instead of Chinese loan words. For example, remise is translated as“让渡”，instead of“让出”，action to“诉讼” instead of“行动”， demise to“遗赠”instead of“让位”，issue to“子女”，or“后嗣”instead of “问题”.2.2.2 Fo
34、rmal WordsLikewise, formal words, such as high-sounding words(大词)，are used in contracts to increase its formalness and corresponding Chinese formal words are adopted. For instance, amend is translated as“修正”or“修订”instead of“改正”，termination to“终止”instead of“结束”，modification translated as “变更”，instead
35、 of“变化”，location to“场所”，instead of“位置”.In fact, we tend to call them, both English and Chinese, legal words instead of loan words or formal words, because they are set expressions which make the text much more like a legal document.2.3 Translation of TerminologiesUsed in special register, terminolog
36、ies belong to special language. On the one hand, they are the obstacles with which translators must combat; but on the other hand, they are not difficult to get in hand. Ignorance of professional knowledge is a major problem in the translation of foreign trade contracts. Here needs accuracy and corr
37、ectness most and seeking the corresponding Chinese terminologies is the primary task.Example 450% percent by L/C and the balance by D/P“百分之五十用信用证方式，剩余部分用付款交单”9L/C and D/P concerns the payment, means“信用证”and“付款交单” respectively. And other common terminologies concerned comprise:承兑交单(D/A)，不可撤销信用证(irrev
38、ocable L/C)，可分割信用证(divisible L/C), 可转帐信用证 (transferable L/C), etc.As to the price, CFR (cost and freight) is“成本加运费价格”;CIF(cost, insurance, freight) is“到岸价格”;FOB(free on board) is“离岸价格”As to insurance, premium is“保险费”;coverage is“险别”;special risks is“特种险”;leakage is“漏损险”;breakage is“破损险”; freshwater
39、is“淡水险”and W.P.A. is“水渍险”.These are the terminologies that probably appear in the commodity, shipping and insurance clauses of every foreign trade contracts.2.4 Reduplication of synonyms, near-synonyms or relevant wordsAnother typical feature of Contract English is joining together words or phrases
40、with the conjunctions and and or. For centuries, lawyers have strung together synonyms, such as furnish and provide, fulfill or perform, transferable or assignable, null and void, in full force and effect etc.One study found that binomial expressions (a technical linguistic term for two parallel wor
41、ds joined by a conjunction, like any and all) were used five times as often in legal writing as in other prose styles.10The reduplication of synonyms, near-synonyms or relevant words in contract is definitely a style marker, which can avoid or reduce the ambiguity and it can also seek accuracy, emph
42、asis, and completion of meaning. When synonyms or near-synonyms are connected with and or or, the second part is often used toIf there is a dispute, the reduplication of synonyms or near-synonyms can help the parties to understand the precise meaning of a certain word. A different reason for conjoin
43、ed phrases and word lists is that they have a certain rhetorical value. The following paragraph is excerpted from an American property transfer contract.Example 5FOR VALUE RECEIVED, the undersigned does hereby sell, transfer, and set over to _，19Annexed _all his .right, title and interest in and to
44、a certain contract dated _and between the undersigned and, a copy of which is hereto.11From this long sentence, we can find sell, transfer, assign and set over ” and right, title and interest are two groups of synonyms or near-synonyms, while in and to a certain contract and“to and between”are two g
45、roups of relevant words.Some of the reduplication of synonyms, near-synonyms or relevant words is the fixed expression (established idioms) used in contract.Example 6This agreement is made and entered into by and between Party A and Party B.12Example 7The agreement shall be and remain in full force
46、and effect in all respects.13In these examples, made and entered into, by and between, in full force and effect, released and discharges, duties, obligations or liabilities, final and binding are the fixed expressions used in contracts.There are many more synonymous or synonymous pairs commonly used
47、 in contract: nouns: terms and conditions, import duty and tax, customs and usages, alteration, modification or substitution, compensation or damages, loss, injury, or damage, etc.; verbs: misuse or abuse, altered or amended, repair or replace, alter and change, bind and obligate, etc.; adjectives:
48、sole and exclusive, final and conclusive, etc.; prepositions: over and above, from and after, etc.The reduplication of synonyms, near-synonyms or relevant words makes the contract English be more formal, archaic and conservative.2.5 Frequent Use of Shall and Some Other Modal Verbs2.5.1 Use of Modal Verb ShallModal verb shall is frequently used in legal English to impose obligation and rights. Obligation is what the contracts instruct the relevant party to perform. The word shall is the most commonly used one with the mandatory tone. It is not unusual for leg
