福建省光泽第一中学2017高中英语教师论文 从直译和意译看中国旅游景点名称的英译
论文题目: 从直译和意译看中国旅游景点名称的英译English Title: On Literal Translation and Free Translation in the English Translation of the Chinese Tourist Attractions’ Nam
摘要
本文旨在探究直译与意译在中国旅游景点名称英译中的应用。
它首先根据直译与意译的定义来比较这两种基本翻译的方法。接着,本文讨论当前中国旅游景点英译中存在的四大问题:第一，同一个景点有好个翻译版本;第二；随意使用甚至误用翻译方法;第三，译者未能意识到中英两种语言和文化间的区别。第四，译者忽略了景点名称背后的文化信息。然后笔者提出自己总结出的翻译方法: 音译法、、、、
音译；狭义的直译；意译；旅游景点名称翻译
Abstract
This thesis is intended to explore the application of literal translation and free translation in the C-E translation of Chinese tourist attractions’ names.
It first compares the two basic translation methods, literal translation and free translation according to the differences of their definitions. Then, it discusses the problems present at C-E translation of Chinese tourist attractions’ names. There are mainly four aspects：several translations for a single scenic spot, freewill use or even misuse of translation methods, the translators’ failing to recognize the differences between the two languages and the two cultures, and the translators’ neglect of the cultural information behind the names of the tourist attractions. Furthermore, the thesis put forward the concluded translation methods. There are: transliteration, strict literal translation，free translation, transliteration plus strict literal translation, transliteration plus free translation.
Finally, it makes conclusions on how to adopt appropriate translations. It shows that neither of the two methods is superior to the other. And a successful translation is often the combination of them.
Key Words:
transliteration; strict literal translation; free translation; translation of tourist attractions’ names
Contents
Introduction 1
1. Definition of Literal Translation and Free Translation 1
1.1 The Debate on Literal Translation and Free Translation 2
1.2 Debate in China 2
1.3 Debate in the Western World 3
1.4 Lu Xun’s Contribution to the Use of Literal Translation 3
1.5 Eugene A.Nida’s Suggestion on Free Translation 4
1.6 Summary 4
2. Present Condition Analysis in the Translation of Tourist Attractions’ Names 5
3. Tourism and C-E Translation 7
3.1 General Translation Standard 7
3.2 Peter Newmark’s Semantic and Communicative Translation 8
3.3 Overview of the Similarities and Differences between English and Chinese 9
3.4 The Features and Functions of Tourism English 4
3.5 Requirements and Functions of C-E Tourism Translation 4
3.6 The Relationship between Tourism and Translation 4
4. How to Choose Appropriate Translation Methods 4
4.1 Scholars' Opinions on the Translation of Tourist Attractions’ Names 4
4.2 Strict Literal Translation 4
4.3 Transliteration 4
4.4 Free Translation 4
4.5 Transliteration plus Literal Translation 4
4.6 Transliteration plus Free Translation 4
4.7 The Requirements for the Translators 4
Conclusion 16
Introduction
With regard to the definition of literal translation and free translation, a majority of the scholars (Novalis, 1798; Humboldt, 1816; Nietzsche, 1882; Benedetto Crorec, 1922; Ortegary Gasett, 1937; Qiao Zengrui，2000; Jianren Zhou，1959) offered their own opinions. One of them is Qiao Zengrui (2000): Literal translation is the way of pursuing truth sedulously and maintaining the content and style of the original articles through reserving their turn of expression while free translation means maintaining the original content even if the form of the original may disappear.
Moreover，in the field of translation, whether literal translation or free translation is a better choice is a hot issue. Scholars from home and abroad put forward their viewpoints one after another.
With China’s international status increasingly rising, more and more foreign travelers come to visit China. And the translation of tourist attractions’ names is an important window for the foreigners to understand China. However, there are a number of problems in the field of Chinese-English(C-E) translation of tourist attractions’ names, thus it is essential to bring about more relevant studies of C-E tourism translation strategies to C-E tourism translation practice.
This thesis aims to analyze the problems existing in the C-E translation of Chinese tourist attractions’ names through integrating the application of diverse ways in the translation of them, and emphasize the application of literal and free translation, and finally, find out the suitable ways used in the field.
1. Definition of Literal Translation and Free Translation
As to the definition of literal translation and free translation, many scholars (Novalis, 1798; Humboldt, 1816; Nietzsche, 1882; Benedetto Crorec, 1922;
Ortegary Gasett, 1937; Qiao Zengrui，2000; Jianren Zhou，1959) offered their own opinion. One of them is Qiao Zengrui’s (2000): Literal translation is the way of pursuing truth sedulously and maintaining the content and style of the original articles through reserving their turn of expression while free translation means maintaining the original content in various ways even if the form of the original may disappear.
1.1 The Debate on Literal Translation and Free Translation
In the field of translation, whether literal translation or free translation is a better choice is a hot issue. Scholars at home and abroad put forward their viewpoints one after another.
1.2 Debate in China
In China, the argument on the terms of “literal translation” and “free translation” has been for thousands of years.
In the first stage, the monks in East Han dynasty who were translating Buddhist scriptures adopted the way of mechanical translation. Therefore the translations were usually difficult to understand. In the Three Kingdoms Period, Zhi Qian, a famous translator of Buddhist scriptures, advocated the “free style” translation, emphasizing luxuriant expression. In other words, this style paid attention to translate in pure Chinese in order to get rid of the features of foreign languages (Cao Wanjun, 1999). The second stage is during May Fourth Movement. The representative of free translation school is Lin Shu who tended to make additions and deletions to the original. On the contrary, Lun Xun was in favor of literal translation, insisting that translators should not translate at random and misrepresent the originals. The third stage comes after the founding of New China. During this time, the translation undertaking and theoretical research of our country were rapidly improved, the argument of literal translation and free translation was no longer the dominating dispute in the translation fields as the scholars started to integrate literal and free translation (Cao Wanjun, 1999). Xu Yuanchong pointed out a good translation should stick to the content of the original instead of the form of it. But when possible, it is better to be close to the original form. And when it comes to the translation with the same form of the original, literal translation is a wise choice; otherwise free translation should be chosen (Wang Jin, 2000).
1.3 Debate in the Western World
The debate has also been existing for a long time in the western world. And a great many scholars put forward their own opinions. Novalis (1798), Goethe (1813, 1814), Humboldt (1816), Nietzsche (1882), Schopenhauer (1851) are in favor of literal translation. А. С. Бархударов in the 1970s pointed out that we should grasp the discretion when translating and could resort to different ways of translation according to different types of literature. Afterwards, E. A. Nida, an American translation theorist, carried out more intensive research on literal and free translation. He basically held on free translation. And he thought: it is necessary to change the form of expression in order to the content of the original. Moreover, it is also significant to adjust the features of the sentence’s structure and reorganize the translation so as to acquire the best effect. Peter Newmark, however, owned the different idea. He considered: it is difficult to express something the source language has especially if we don’t translate literally.
1.4 Lu Xun’s Contribution to the Use of Literal Translation
Lu Xun, a famous Chinese writer advocated positively literal translation, against the way of adding to or taking some part from the original work optionally. He believed that literal translation has two benefits: One is obviously that the translation made by this method is easy to understand: the other is that it reserves the charm of the original. However, the literal translation he supported is not mechanical translation but “We should have our own criticism.” Moreover, he thought literal translation could help introduce new rules of grammar, syntax and morphology when a new content was inputted.
1.5 Eugene A.Nida’s Suggestion on Free Translation
Eugene A.Nida is a distinguished American translation theorist as well as a linguist. His translation theory has exerted a tremendous influence on the western translation circle and he is regarded as the most influential one among all contemporary translation theorists. Nida’s influence upon Chinese translation studies is greater than that upon western translation studies. Before his theory was introduced into China in the 1980s, people mainly focused on traditional Chinese translation theories, especially Yan Fu’s three-character principle of translation, i.e. faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance. In the book Language, Culture and Translation, Nida further divides “functional equivalence” into categories on two levels: the minimal level and the maximal level. The minimal level of “functional equivalence” is defined as “The readers of a translated text should be able to comprehend it to the point that they can conceive of how original readers of the text must have understood and appreciated it”. The maximal level is stated as “The readers of a translated text should be able to understand and appreciate it in essentially the same manner as original readers did” (Nida, 1993). The minimal level is realistic, which suggests that Nida was in favor of free translation, but anything less than this degree of equivalence should be unacceptable. The maximal level is ideal and can rarely, if ever, be achieved. Therefore, according to Nida, good translations always lie somewhere between the two levels (Nida, 1995). That is, in general it is best to speak of “functional equivalence” in terms of a range of adequacy, since no translation is ever completely 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 closeness to
Therefore, there is no superior between the two. And an excellent translation should be the integration of them.
2. Present Condition Analysis in the Translation of Tourist Attractions’ Names
The translation of Chinese tourism, especially in tourist attractions’ names, is confronting a variety of problems due to lacking standard.
Firstly，there are likely to be several translations for a single scenic spot，which is caused by the different translation methods the translators adopt (Lin Yuhua，2008) . For example, 黄山 is translated into both Huangshan Mountain and Yellow Mountain. 西湖has two translations, The West Lake and Xizi Lake. It will confuse the foreign visitors: whether the various names are referred to the same tourist attraction or not, which will have a bad influence on not only the effect of tourist publicity but also the image of the scenic zone. Therefore, it’s imperative to unify and standardize the translation of tourists’ names, improving the image of scenic zones in order to magnetize more tourists.
Secondly，freewill use or even misuse of translation methods can also lead to improper translations. Transliteration is a common way of the translation of tourist attractions’ names. However, it will result in the obscurity of tourists’ names for the foreign visitors when this method is overused. It can be often found that the names of the tourist attractions are translated directly into Chinese Pinyin since the connotation of some tourist attractions is difficult to grasp and literal or free translation doesn’t work. When confronting those Pinyins, foreign visitors will undoubtedly get a confusing look on his face. Although some expressions in Chinese are indeed impossible to translate owing to the differences between the two languages, excessive transliteration will effect the conveying of the information behind the names. That will make it impossible for the foreign visitors to comprehend the connotation of the tourist attractions’ names, reducing information content of the translations and lowering their readability. Hence, translators should choose the translation methods with careful consideration.
Thirdly, mistranslation also results from translators’ failing to recognize the differences between the two languages and the two cultures. 清明上河园in Kaifeng city of He’Nan province is a theme park where people relax themselves and have entertainment. It was once translated into Park up the River in the Qingming Festival. However, up the river is a slang, meaning being in jail, which may possibly lead to the foreign visitors’ misunderstanding and negative image of the park. In my opinion it is better that it be translated into Park in the Qingming Festival by the Riverside in order to avoid misunderstanding. Another example is包公祠, which is translated into The Memorial Temple of Lord Bao. Though Lord Bao reads smoothly, it is still a hard task for the foreign visitors to understand its connotation. 包公(Bao Zheng) is a historical figure whose image stands for impartiality and honesty, enjoying great reputation in the heart of Chinese people both home and abroad. However, lord can hardly express this symbolization. In short, this English version fails to show the cultural connotation of the tourist attractions’ Chinese names (Lin Yuhua, 2008). As far as I am concerned, 包公may as well be translated into lord Bao(symbolization of impartiality and honesty ) so as to convey the cultural connotation behind its name.
Finally, mistranslation may happen when the translator neglects the cultural Information behind the name of the tourist attraction, which will be discussed most specifically. If the translator doesn’t repeatedly look into the source of the tourist attraction’s name or the cultural connotation but translate literally, mistranslation will often take place. For instance, 寒山寺in Suzhou was once mistranslated into Cold Mountain Temple. This mistake occurs as the translator ignores the cultural message behind the name of the temple. In fact, there is no Mountain at all in the area around the temple. The temple that is located in Feng Qiao town in the east of Suzhou city was founded in the Liang Dynasty(502～557 A.D.) after the name of the abbot of it called Hanshan in the Tang Dynasty(618—907A.D.). Now that 寒山is actually the name of a monk, cold mountain is undoubtedly a mistranslation. Obviously, Hanshan Temple is a better translation. 断桥残雪 is one of the ten tourist attractions around West Lake in Hangzhou City of Zhejiang province. There are a number of translations of it, such as Snow on the Broken Bridge, Snow Scene on the Broken Bridge, Last Snow on the Broken Bridge, Melting Snow on the Broken Bridge, Melted Snow on the Broken Bridge, Melting Snow Hanging over the Broken Bridge. 断桥 in these transactions is without exception considered as a broken bridge. In fact, the bridge is not broken; it is only an end of the Bai Causeway. In other words, it is the Bai Causeway that is broken, not the bridge, while seen from a certain angle, the bridge looks broken with reflection of snow remaining on the old bridge. In my opinion, Chinese pinyin, Duan Qiao Bridge is wiser choice here. 香山 in Beijing is translated as Xiangshan Mountain or Fragrant Mountain. Actually, the mountain whose original name is 香炉山 gains its name from the shape of the two stones on the top of the mountain, which look like an incense burner. Therefore, the name has nothing to do with the smell of the mountain. And The Incense Burner Mountain might be a more appropriate translation. 姻缘石 is the name of a scenic spot in Hong Kong, which was translated as Lovers’ Rock. Lovers’ Rock, if back-translated, equals 情人石 in Chinese. The Chinese phrase 姻缘 (pronounced yinyuan), is of typical Chinese characteristics deriving from Buddhism, meaning that the marriage is predetermined. The translation, Lovers' Rock cannot convey such a connotation while the alternative, Yinyuan (Lover's) Rock is more acceptable.
3. Tourism and C-E Translation
Nowadays, translation is an inseparable part in the ever-growing Chinese tourist industry as a means of promoting further development of it.
3.1 General Translation Standard
Since the translation of tourist attractions’ names belongs to translation category, it is natural that it should follow general translation standard.
In the field of translation in China, people are often subject to the translation theory of “faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance” presented by Yan Fu, which can be summarized as honest and smooth. Honest here means being faithful to the original text’s content and style that consists of national, writing and linguistic styles, just like Lu Xun’s opinion: translation must maintain the form of the original work. So-called smooth refers to being clear and coherent, in other words, the main requirement of translation is to make it easy for the readers to comprehend. Honest and smooth are complementary to each other. Readers are not able to get the idea if the translation is not smooth while the translation will be just a mistranslation if it is out of the original’s content and style.
In Western countries, the “three laws of translation” were formulated by Alexander Fraser Tytler, an English theoretician. In his article Essay on the Principles of Translation(邱愚如， 2000), he puts forward three laws of translation: (1) the translation should give a complete transcript of the ideas of the original work, (2) the style and manner of writing should be of the same character with that of the original, (3) the translation should have the ease of the original composition. What he focuses on is still faithfulness. As far as faithfulness is concerned, there are three levels of faithfulness in terms of content, form and style. The perfect translation is to reach the three levels of faithfulness at the same time. But in most cases, it is difficult even impossible to do so. And sometimes we have to sacrifice the faithfulness in form or style to ensure the faithfulness of content. But by faithfulness, we don't mean to translate word for word to reach absolute faithfulness. In fact, the mechanical use of faithfulness, on the contrast, will lead to clumsy translation. On some occasions, we should make some adjustments in order to realize the genuine faithfulness.
3.2 Peter Newmark’s Semantic and Communicative Translation
Peter Newmark puts forward two modes of translation, which are known as communicative translation and semantic translation，in order to narrow the disparity between literal translation and free translation. The former combines the advantages of adaptation, free translation, and idiomatic translation, while the latter contains the merits of word for word translation, literary translation, and faithful translation. According to communicative translation theory, translation is a process of communication which requires the translator to do his best to transfer the source language culture into target language culture. In the process of transplanting a passage on another cultural background, great effort should be made to get the target reader understand and share the same thinking world of the original author. Generally, a communicative translation is likely to be smoother, simpler, clearer, more direct, more conventional, conforming to a particular register of language, tending to undertranslate, i.e. to use more generic, hold-all terms in difficult passages. However, semantic translation attempts to render the semantic and syntactic structures of the second language as closely as possible, which allows the reader to understand the exact contextual meaning of the original. A semantic translation tends to be more complex, more awkward, more detailed, more concentrated, and pursues the thought-processes rather than the intention of the transmitter. It tends to overtranslate, to be more specific than the original, to include more meanings in its search for one nuance of meaning.
This theory serves as an important guideline to the translation of tourist attractions’ names.
3.3 Overview of the Similarities and Differences between English and Chinese
English and Chinese are two different languages, each of which has its own independent and trenchant system with great differences in both syntax and morphology. Moreover, Chinese culture and English culture are two completely distinct cultures and there are enormous differences in mindset, aesthetic perception and social customs of the two cultures’ people so that the C-E translation of Chinese tourist attractions’ names will inevitably come up against difficulties. However, there are also some similarities between the two languages, such as the sequence of subject and predicate or that of verb and object. It is because of both the differences and similarities between the two languages that we shouldn’t use just one method following the same pattern in the practice of translation.
3.4 The Features and Functions of Tourism English
Tourism English is a major branch of English for Specific Purpose, and it has its own language features and functions. Only with the well-designed wording can tourism materials attract readers, the potential visitors. All the pragmatic texts share some common traits such as the information conveyed and the definite purpose. As for tourism English, it is of no exception. Its distinctive features can be summarized into three major ones: informative, attractive and persuasive (Li Yinan, 2005).
3.5 Requirements and Functions of C-E Tourism Translation
In the essay The Translation Turn in Cultural Studies, Bassnett argues that it is time for cultural studies and translation studies to collaborate. In her opinion, the study of translation has moved from its formalistic phase to the broader issue of context, history and convention. She calls for the change to the cultural turn in translation studies. She also argues that there needs to be more investigations of the acculturation process that takes place between cultures. These words point out the importance of culture studies in translation. Travel can increase opportunities of making cultural exchange. China is famous for its oriental civilization and becomes an attractive destination country in the tourism market. Most readers of the target text are potential tourists who plan to make a trip to China for the purpose of viewing picturesque scenery and comprehending Chinese unique culture. So we should keep it in mind that the translator’s task is to introduce Chinese culture as much as possible to readers in his/her translation. From this viewpoint, we can safely say that translation also facilitates cultural exchange and the translator works as cultural envoy. Comparatively speaking, the translation is much longer than the source sentence because it is not merely translated literally but also loaded with its cultural implications. It is convinced that the target reader can get a full understanding of the source sentence and Chinese culture as well after reading the translation. In a word, we can not merely translate the literal meaning of the source text during translation. What is more important is that we should transmit the information hiding under the surface of words-culture. Only by doing this can a translator be called the cultural envoy.
3.6 The Relationship between Tourism and Translation
On the one hand, translation promotes tourism. As is known, tourism includes domestic and transnational ones. It is, however, the transnational tourism that calls for the full flourishing of translation. As mentioned above, the purpose of tourists is to experience cultural otherness out of their curiosity and desire for understanding culture in the tourist destinations. However, it is impossible for a vast majority of tourists to learn to know language of the target culture. Consequently, touring activity of experiencing cultural otherness, to a decisive extent, depends on the work of translators. Translation is indispensable in the publicity of tourist destinations and services. Translated materials are expected to properly transfer the unique Chinese cultural flavor, which is in nature inviting to the tourists from different cultural backgrounds. And equally importantly, translation acts as the helper for tourists from other cultural backgrounds to understand the real cultural connotations implied in the names of scenic spots, which is essential to meet their curiosity of experiencing and understanding the Chinese culture.
On the other hand, tourism promotes translation theory and practice. Traveling has existed for long in human history. Translation for travelers might accompany the history of traveling. However, translation study related to tourism has not been paid attention to in a large scale for long. To our delight, however, in recent years, in responding to publicity through tourist materials, the translation of them and the research on tourism and tourist material translation develop with the booming of the tourist industry. And lots of the research has been done in this field. Though the translation of tourist materials and the research on it designed to assist growth of tourism have produced considerable achievements, challenges still pose serious subjects before us. The translated materials are inadequate in quality to meet the needs of development of tourism owing to various factors. Though theories such as cultural theory, communication theory, cross-cultural communication theory, have been adopted in the research on this field, it has not reached to a higher theoretical level. The context of culture that has strong interpreting power in guiding the translation and research of translation of tourist materials has not been given due attention. What's more, more new nouns are invented. This change also presents difficulty for translation. Hence, the unsatisfactory current situation in this field presents more serious problems challenging translators and scholars, which has expanded the scope of translation studies（Liu Dejun, 2006）.
4. How to Choose Appropriate Translation Methods
The translation of tourist attractions’ name differs from general text translations, for it usually embodies its own characteristics and functions with plentiful historical and cultural knowledge. Therefore, translators should not only be equipped with intercultural knowledge, but also grasp some fundamental translation methods and skills in order to do better translations. The basic translation methods in the translation of tourist attractions’ names are transliteration, strict literal translation，free translation, transliteration plus strict literal translation, transliteration plus free translation. And what should be concerned here is that literal translation in tourist text translation includes both strict literal translation and transliteration.
4.1 Scholars' Opinions on the Translation of Tourist Attractions’ Names
Many scholars offer their own proposals for the methods on the translation of tourist attractions’ names, which includes literal translation and free translation. What should be emphasized here is that literal translation in tourist text translation includes both strict literal translation and transliteration. At home Lin Yuhua(2008) raised three ways of translation: First, transliteration, namely, using words of the target language, whose voices are similar to those of source language. Second, free translation. We need only express the main idea of the original rather than pay attention to the details and the form of the original. Third, transliteration plus free translation. We ought to grasp the differences of the two languages in structure, wording and grammar, and adopt various kinds of translation skills to make the target languages similar to the source language in function (Chang Liang, WangZhijiang, 2008). Sun Jin (2008) indicates that simple scenery spots should be translated literally so that ethnic culture of the source language will be retained. However, owing to the tremendous differences between English and Chinese, when it comes to the profound classic attractions, free translation is inevitable. Therefore, the choice of ways of translation ought to be made according to the reality. And the two ways of translation may be combined to achieve pleasant effect of translation (Cao Ruiming, 2001).
In the western world, Susan Bassnett and Andre Lefevere (1990) suggest the turn of Culturology in translation, which symbolizes the rise of the study on culture. In line with the theory, translators should take as many ways of translation as possible, using both literal and free translation, so as to transmit cultural information maximally and avoid cultural absence and culture shock. In other words, as a result of special cultural connotation behind the names of scenery spots, translators should not only own profound language foundation but also master the appropriate methods of translation in order to refrain from mistranslation.
4.2 Strict Literal Translation
Strict literal translation is taken when the translations of some attractions’ general names are well-accepted and easy to understand. For example, Three Pools Mirroring the Moon (三潭印月), Autumn Moon on Calm Lake(平湖秋月), Yellow Crane Tower(黄鹤楼), Bell Tower(钟楼), Drum Tower(鼓楼).
The strongest point of strict literal translation is that it is faithful in the original.
4.3 Transliteration
Transliteration can be adopted in the translation of the names of some scenic zones with specific concept and those of the tourist attractions named after people or places. They are often translated directly into Chinese Pinyins. For example, Dayu for 大禹and Li Shutong for 李叔同, Hangzhou for杭州, Pingyao for平遥, Zhangjiajie for 张家界.
Transliteration enables the foreign visitors to get a good knowledge of real Chinese pronunciation, strengthening their curiosity about the culture.
4.4 Free Translation
Quite a few names of the tourist attractions are rich in cultural connotation, while literal translation is incapable of displaying it. In the translation of these names, it is better that translators carry out free translation whose characteristic is to eliminate cultural differences by emphasizing the implications or legends behind them so that foreign visitors manage to comprehend and memorize. For instance, Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses（兵马俑），Summer Palace（颐和园），the Imperial Palace（故宫), Ming Tombs（十三陵).
Free translation can help the foreigners understand the cultural connotation of tourist attraction’s names.
4.5 Transliteration plus Literal Translation
When it comes to certain tourist attractions which contains not only the part named after people or places but also widely-used general names, transliteration plus strict literal translation is an excellent choice. For instance, Hemudu Museum(河姆渡博物馆), Shaolin Temple(少林寺), Dufu Cottage(杜甫草堂). Besides, when the proper name of the tourist attraction is a single character, it is better that the general name after the proper name be transliterated, the English translation of which ought to be added too (Lin Yuhua). Cases in point are Changjiang River(长江), Taihu River(太湖), Taishan Mountain(泰山), and Shenyuan Garden(沈园).
Transliteration plus Literal Translation integrates the advantages of the two methods, providing visitors with faithful translation with authentic Chinese pronunciation.
4.6 Transliteration plus Free Translation
In view of that the names of some tourist attractions are often just a proper name without special meanings, it is unnecessary that the translation be done word for word. Thereby, we may as well handle the names with Chinese pinyin and then explain it in English, namely transliteration plus free translation, in order that foreigners can realize the literal meaning or cultural connotation behind it. This method which is emerging recently is recommended by the scholars. For example, Shi San Ling (The Ming Tombs) for十三陵, San Xia（The Three Changjiang River Gorges）for三峡,
Duan Qiao （The Broken Bridge）for断桥, and Jin Luan Dian（ Emperor's Audience Hall）for金銮殿.
Though transliteration is weak in informative function, it enables the foreign visitors to get a good knowledge of authentic Chinese pronunciation, enhancing their curiosity and freshness. Furthermore, free translation can help the foreigners understand the literal meaning and cultural connotation of tourist attraction’s names, making up for transliteration’s weak point in expression and strengthening informative function so that Chinese culture can be spread more smoothly. Hence, the integration of transliteration and free translation is proposed by many translation specialists.
4.7 The Requirements for the Translators
The most important rule that translators ought to keep in mind is the duty of expanding Chinese culture. To reach the goal, it is essential that they acquire the ability of selecting suitable translation strategies in order to express the cultural connotation behind the names of the tourist attractions to the greatest extent.
China is a very unique nation with five thousand years’ history and splendid culture. How can we make readers understand the information conveyed by the translations of tourist attractions’ names and then call upon them to act, think or feel the magic beauty of the place and finally accept Chinese culture? That is the question that the translator must think over time and again. In my view, whatever translation method the translator chooses, he should bear two principles in his mind while translating, namely, the principle of being honest and smooth. The two principles can guide the translator to produce satisfying translation not only meeting the demands of target readers but also publicizing Chinese unique culture.
Besides, since the translation of tourist attractions’ names is a part of that of tourist publicity materials, which is a practice-based research, the translator is required to be equipped with adequate experience in tourism.
Conclusion
The names of tourist attractions are just the advertisement of them. It is of importance to get a good name in order to raise awareness, magnetize more visitors, and boost the growth of tourism. However, there are a variety of problems existing in the translation of Chinese tourist attractions’ names, which do great harm to the image of them and the development of Chinese tourism. Therefore, the study of the translation of tourist attractions’ names is very urgent and vital.
The difference between Chinese culture and English culture leads to cultural barriers in C-E translation of scenery spots’ names. Literal translation and free translation are the two main strategies of handling the cultural elements in translation.
Literal translation is fluent and easy to understand by target language readers. It is used when the word has the meaning according to both English and Chinese culture. A lot of tourist attractions’ names involve the language features and cultural custom, and their language form and cultural background are not acknowledged by the target language readers. In such case, free translation will be adopted.
This thesis is to analyze the problems existing in the C-E translation of Chinese tourist attractions’ names, through integrating the application of diverse ways in the translation of them, and emphasize the application of literal and free translation, finally, find out the suitable ways used in the field. It shows that neither of the two methods is superior to the other. And a successful translation is often the combination of them.
The translation of tourist attractions’ names, as part of tourist text translation, aims to draw foreign visitors’ interest in tourist attractions through the translation of tourist information. Hence, it is imperative that translators retain the functions of tourist attractions’ names in both knowledge and aesthetics through conveying the cultural information behind the names so that more tourists, especially those from abroad are attracted and the advent of Chinese tourism is accelerated.