On Translations of Political Words and Phraseswith Chinese Characteristics

Abstract

Political words and phrases with Chinese characteristics adopt unique ideology of Chinese traditional culture and reflect the exceptional matters and phenomenon of development of China’s society and China’s political system. In the process of communication and cooperation with other countries， political words and phrases have been playing an indispensable role. Since our changes， developments， policies etc. need to be introduced overseas， the correctness of the translations directly influences the understanding of the progress in our socio-economic development and relevant policies. The thesis will concisely sum up and provide relevant strategies and skills on English translations of political words and phrases through a host of concrete examples.

Key Words：

political words and phrases; Chinese characteristics; chinglish; translation strategies

Introduction

With China’s rapid social development in many fields， more and more words and phrases with Chinese characteristics emerge in the political documents. As language continuously evolves with the advancement of the age， translations must reflect these changes. How to enable translations of political words and phrases with Chinese characteristics to keep the pace of time becomes a common issue people are extensively studying. Since China’s influence over other countries is expanding， Political words and phrases are inevitably used when introducing our development and policies to foreign countries. Therefore， theses translations play a significant part in our diplomatic affairs.

However， such words and phrases are featured with distinguished Chinese characteristics. Conveying Chinese traditional， customs and conventions， they are products of Chinese special state context and deliberate culture of thousands of years. To make them understood by foreigners is to some extent difficult. Hence， it is of great significance to correctly translate words and phrases with Chinese characteristics from this example.

1 Political Words and Phrases with Chinese Characteristics

With the further development of political and economic globalization， China’s communication with other countries becomes more extensive and frequent. When exchanging with the outside world or advocating our policies， we often formulate political terms in current affairs in English. Due to the immense differences in historical background， political and economic policies and cultural forms， it is impossible for us to use ready-made expressions concord with our state condition when it comes to the social phenomenon and special terms produced by our unique social mechanics. Therefore， people usually create new words and phrases featured with Chinese culture and thought through English words and morphemes， namely， the political words and phrases with Chinese characteristics. For examples， “三個代表”can be translated into “three represents”， and “一国两制” one country， two systems. These words and phrases are political ones with Chinese characteristics.

1.1The Literal Meaning and Figurative Meaning of Chinese Political Words and Phrases

Chinese places value on images， while English logic. Hence， it’s unavoidable in Chinese-English translation to convert the image. But only the translator must first understand what the source language in different expression actually refers to， can the significance of the image be translated correctly.For instance： 建立“一站式”中心，提供“一條龙”服务（Set up“One—Stop”Service Center to provide a coordinated process service.）;坚持两手抓、两手都要硬的方针（In adherence to the principle of placing equal emphasis on material progress and ethical progress，with neither aspects neglected）;发展才是硬道理（Development is the most essential criterion/the absolute principle ）;抓大放小（To manage well large enterprises and adopt flexible policy towards small ones）;人民的生活水平将上一个大的台阶（People’s living  standard  will  yield  substantial progress ）; 清理 “三角债” （To cleanup the“chain debt”）.    In the above mentioned cases， Chinese expressions“一条龙”“两手抓”“大小”“三角”“台阶” are the expression of images， if translated literally， it makes the reader puzzled and incomprehensible. This requires the translator to focus on the image of those words with Chinese characteristics， Chinese ways of expression， by converting images to enable the reader to understand its exact meaning.

With the social development and progress of civilization， a Chinese word is usually used with more than one meaning in communication， which includes its original meaning and extended meaning. In speech communication， due to different cultural background or personal experience， the different meaning of the same word will make the choice difficult to make. When translating the political terms， it is particularly important to note that we should take into consideration the terms appearing in the context， different cultural background and expressive conventions.For example：民办教师转正（Convert the status of community sponsored teachers to that of regular teacher）;街道妇女 （Housewives of the neighborhood）.The former term refers to the special occupation in China and the latter one is also a unique Chinese expression. Foreigners cannot understand the true meaning of these phrases without extra explanation.

1.2 The Significance of Translating Political Words and Phrases with Chinese Characteristics

With the increasing economic globalization and political exchange with other countries， it’s unavoidable for China to translate Chinese terms into English to make them understood. The translations will help foreigners better understand our culture and facilitate us to communicate with peoples all around the world.

Besides， it enriches expressions of English language and embodies the creativity of words and phrases. China's political vocabularies in English composition， in their own unique way， conveying a rich connotation of Chinese culture， promote the development of the English language. In terms of its form， these political words and phrases are based on standardize English and are combined according to the Chinese way of thinking， which is an innovative way; In terms of its content， these new vocabularies express the unique Chinese social and political system and its developments.

Globalization has brought another result， i.e.， the English localization， which is a regenerative process and is the product of combination of English and local culture.  Generated by this localization， the political vocabularies with Chinese characteristics absorb the English morpheme and Chinese construction method， meanwhile the content conveys Chinese culture， hence creating a new language and cultural phenomenon.

2 Chinglish： Influence of Chinese Language on Translations of Political Words and Phrases with Chinese Characteristics

Due to the difference of views of value in historical background， politics， economics， society， culture between China and English-speaking countries， Chinese English is prone to appear， just as European Chinese. Therefore， the translator is required not only to be proficient in both Chinese and English， but also familiar with the lives， way of thinking and language habits of people in English-speaking countries. We should always be concerned about the dynamics in English language， listen to foreign news agencies， read the English original works and articles， and gradually overcome the "Chinglish" to make the English translation more authentic.

2.1 The Main Reasons for the Emergence of Chinglish

Translation is not only a language conversion， but also cultural exchanges. As a translator， one should not only understand foreign cultures， but also the culture of their own nation and constantly compare the two cultures so as to reach the real equation between the target language and source language in their culture， function， scope， emotion， the impact on each other and other aspects.

However， cultural differences and different habits of expression often bring the translators unexpected difficulties. Above all， the difficulty we firstly encounter is undoubtedly the word translation. It’s no easy task to render a large number of Chinese words and concepts featured with Chinese characteristics and state condition to foreign language terms accurately and appropriately. Many Chinese political words and phrases are not fully equivalent to that in English， which is a normal phenomenon caused by cultural differences. So when choosing English words in the process of translation， we can not help but take their political connotation and value into consideration， without the slightest carelessness.

Political words and phrases with Chinese characteristics continuously emerge. Policy of reform and opening up brings in a lot of new words and the appropriate translation of them can not be found in the English language. What’s more， it takes a long time for the two languages to adapt to each other. Translation often means interpreting the source language， if can not explained， and we have to translate it word for word. Thus Chinglish probably come into being.

2.2 Major Manifestation of Chinglish

1. Improper Collocations. Due to the impact of Chinese literal meaning， we make mistakes in collocation rather than the grammar ones. For instance，“我們将……在新的世纪里不断谱写建设有中国特色的社会主义的新篇章。”is translated as“We will go on achieving fresh successes in building socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new century.” “谱写新篇章” in some context can be translated as “write a new chapter”， for example： “在中泰之间友好交往的历史中，谱写新的篇章”can be translated as “we have written a new chapter in the annals of Sino-Thai friendship”. In the last case， it can not be translated like this because “write a chapter” and “building socialism” can not match each other.

2. Duplication and Redundancy： Nouns， verbs， adjectives and adverbs are used differently between Chinese and English， so the use of repeated stress also differs. Chinese often utilize nouns repeatedly， while English were more likely to use pronouns， phrase， or omit ion to express. For example： “为了推动中美关系的发展，中国需要进一步了解美国，美国也需要进一步了解中国。”is initially translated as “To promote the development of China-US relations， China needs to know the US better and the US also needs to know China better.” Later on the translation is revised into “To promote China-US relations， China needs to know the US better and vice versa.” Redundancy is avoided in the latter translation which thus reads far more smoothly.

3. Excessive Use of Modifier. Chinese people often use adverbs of strong sense to modify verbs and adjectives， adjectives to modify nouns in order to increase the intonation. When translating， we can not render it word for word， or it tends to emphasize too much and reach the opposite effect， thus weakening the power of the original sentence. For example：“徹底粉碎”is rendered as “completely smash”. The original meaning of “smash” is to break completely， now added with “completely”， the tone is otherwise weakened. There are some similar examples， “彻底征服” is translated as “Completely conquered”，“伟大的历史性转变”as “a great historic change”， which are all wrong translations.

4. Personification. This phenomenon often appears in Chinese. Due to the influence of literal Chinese， ;English translation often tastes of Chinglish. For example， “中国社会主义建设的航船将乘风破浪地驶向现代化的光辉岸。” is translated as “The ship of China's socialist construction will brave the wind and waves and sail to the glorious destination of modernization。” We should keep in mind that ship is lifeless， so the subject of the “modernization” should be a person.

5. Lack of Attention to Morphological Changes. Chinese -English translation is sometimes not completely in accordance with the original text and need to be adjusted and converted according to the concrete context and classifies of words. For instance， “我们之间关系的发展使我们不仅成为亲密的朋友而且成为兄弟。” is translated as ：a. The development of our relations has made us not only close friends but also brothers. ;b. Our relations have so grown that they bind us not only as close friends but also as brothers.Translation b grasps the essence of the original text by conversion and thus is more authentic.

2.3 Ways of Overcoming Chinglish

First of all， we must comprehend the deeper meaning of the original Chinese text， get rid of the shackles of the Chinese literal meaning， and restructure the sentence to clearly express the original meaning of the text from the perspective of English readers according to English customs of expression.

Secondly， record consciously the translation of common saying and difficult cases at work. Listen to foreign news agencies， read the original English text in large numbers， especially the article on China. Notice how foreigners express on the same word， the same thing， and idioms too. After a comparative study， choose the better and more appropriate one. However， we must pay attention to their political tendencies and different context when using these borrowed words and expressions.

Thirdly， when reading English-Chinese articles， pay attention to collecting common used words， phrases and sentences， think about how to access to the original English expression by using reverse or back translation approach and  accumulating authentic English vocabularies and sentence patterns. This process can be also called English – Chinese - English.

Fourth， where there is a will， there is a way. As long as you have developed a strong interest in language learning， you can learn from the English-speaking people anywhere at any time.

3 Strategies of Translating Political Words and Phrases with Chinese Characteristics

3.1 Literal Translation

Literal translation： The source language （SL） grammatical construction is converted to their nearest target language （TL） equivalently but the lexical words are again translated singly out of context. --Peter Newmark. This citation offers the literal translation， provided that the SL and TL can be found in almost equal expression， or the meaning of this expression is of not that big difference in each other’s cultures.

In terms of the form， these words are standardized English; in terms of the contents， there is some discrepancy between their meaning and the English original meaning， because the expression is something unique to China. We can look at the following examples：無产阶级政权： dictatorship of the proletariat， 行政村： administrative village， 民主党派：democratic parties， 港人治港： Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong. Since literal translation retains vivid culture and Chinese way of thinking of the original language， Chinese readers can easily understand its meaning. Since their semantic and syntactic structures are consistent with English， it will not be difficult in understanding for foreign readers. At the same time， the literal translations of our political vocabulary convey accurately the political situation， principles and policies in different stages， embodying the distinctive characteristics of Chinese English.

3.2 Free Translation

It’s difficult to find ready-made equivalents of many political words and phrases with Chinese characteristics in the original English dictionary. The translators are required to utilize their intelligence to express the exact meaning of the original idea correctly as well as make the expression understood by the international community. Hence， free translation comes into being. Translation is not only a continuous process of improvement， but also of creativity. As the translator's sense of innovation is concerned， as translators， we must have the spirit of keeping abreast of the times， thoroughly understand the emerging words， and give initiative full play， convey the information contained in the original language through the target language， and strive to achieve the goal of integrating both the image and meaning.

Literal translation is not restricted to the translation of the original word and phrases.  Through understanding of the deeper meaning of the original words， it is reproduced by translations. Free translation is actually a paraphrase of meaning， which pursues similarity in spirit rather than in image. For example： 十五计划： the Tenth Five-year Plan以人为本： People oriented 建设社会主义新农：building a socialist new countryside党的作风建设 the improvement of the Party's work style继往开来： carry forward our cause into the future.

As for the expression of unique matters and phenomenon in Chinese society，  the best way is to recur the original meaning through free translation on the basis of accurate understanding of the text， since it is difficult to harmonize the original content and the form of the target language.

3.3 Free Translations with Annotation

Political words and phrases with Chinese characteristics contain many acronyms， particularly new words with numbers， such as Three Represents， Four Cardinal Principles and so on. This kind of words are expressed concisely， vividly and enjoyed by readers. However， because of strong sense of politics， the target translations can not arbitrarily change the wording. It’s difficult to achieve the desired goal alone through literal or free translation. In order to both accurately convey information and retain the features of Chinese， it is best to add a comment by literal approach. For instance：四项基本原则： the Four Cardinal Principles （the principles of adherence to the socialist road， the people's democratic dictatorship， the leadership of the Communist Party of China， and Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought） 三個代表：Three Represents（The Communist Party of China must always represent the trend of China's advanced productive powers， the orientation of China's advanced culture and the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese People） Literal Translation annotated is mainly used for the firstly-appeared vocabulary in some newspapers and political magazines. As some English translations are gradually being accepted by some Western readers， the annotation can be omitted. As above mentioned， Three Represents， and the Four Cardinal Principles are known without annotations.

Conclusion

The field of translation is a colorful world. Translation of political words and phrases with Chinese characteristics is merely one aspect of Chinese-English translations. Strategies and skills of translation mentioned in this thesis do not cover all， exactly to say， only a small part of English translation. In most cases， different translators have different translations of the same text when conveying the same information. But as a translator， we particularly need to make practice of translation rooted in the theory of translation when translating this kind of words and phrases， especially the theory suitable for China's state condition.

China's comprehensive national strength has been notably increasing and its international position is also rising. Introducing China to the world and let the world know more about China is our due responsibility of contemporary translators. We should study and work seriously and meticulously to make the cause of our Chinese to English translation continuously flourished so that China's state condition in politics， economic and even society and culture are understood by people in the world.

Bibliography

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作者简介：

葛路阳，女，汉族，1986--，籍贯河南，四川外国语大学毕业，2013级翻译硕士研究生，研究方向为英语口译，持有CATTI二级笔译证书。现任职于广东酒店管理职业技术学院，为应用英语系专任教师。

（作者单位：广东酒店管理职业技术学院）