Abstract

Public signs, which are mostly referred to as signs in English and have been defined in different ways, play an important part in social language and are widely used in tourist attractions and other public places. Besides, the public sign is not only a symbol of social civilization, but a window for foreigners to gain an insight into the construction of social civilization. Thus the Chinese-English translation of public signs is of great importance, as English is a universal language.
The function of the language of public signs has been assorted into four categories: directing, prompting, restricting and compelling. According to these functions, public signs can be classified into four types: directing public signs, prompting public signs, restricting public signs and compelling public signs.
    The scholars who study skopos theory put forward three rules that should be adhered to in the process of translation. They are the skopos rule, the coherence rule and the fidelity rule. Based on these rules, the author of this paper anylizes the errors of the C-E translation of public signs: spelling mistakes, grammar mistakes and cultural mistakes. And then on the basis of the analysis, the author puts forward the following strategies for translating public signs from Chinese to English: borrowing, translation plus explanation and creation.

Keywords: public signs; the Skopos theory; Chinese-English translation; translation errors; translation strategies

摘要

    公示语，又名标示语、标志语，在社会语言中扮演着至关重要的角色，广泛运用于旅游景点及其它公共场所。它不仅是社会文明的象征，更是对外展示和宣传我国社会文明的重要窗口。因此，英语作为一门通用语言，公示语汉译英至关重要。
    英语公示语具有指示性、提示性、限制性、强制性四种突出的应用功能，根据这四种应用功能，公示语可以分成以下四种类型：指示性公示语、提示性公示语、限制性公示语、强制性公示语。
    翻译目的论是一种崭新的翻译模式。翻译过程中应遵守目的论中的三大法则，即目的法则，连贯性法则和忠实性法则。目的法则是目的论的首要法则。根据目的论的原则，作者从违反目的法则、连贯性法则和忠实性法则出发，探讨了在公示语翻译过程中存在的问题：拼写错误，语法错误，文化差异引起的错误。同时，在对这些问题进行分析的基础上，提出了相应的翻译策略：套用；直译加注；创造。

关键词：公示语；目的论；汉译英；翻译错误；翻译策略