On the Translation Problems of Tourist Texts in Huaqing Hot Springs

Abstract：Huaqing Hot Springs is famous both home and abroad；however， there are a lot of mistakes in the translation of tourist texts in this famous scenic-spot， such as the missing of information， the improper use of preposition， etc. Although these mistakes seem to be insignificant， they confuse the foreigners. So these mistakes are in urgent need of correction.

Key Words: Huaqing Hot Springs Nida Functional Equivalence Theory

I. Introduction

Huaqing Hot Springs is famous for its dainty spring scenery， and the romantic love story of Emperor Xuanzong and his favorite wife Yang Guifei， however， various problems are still prevalent in formal and informal tourist materials and the translation quality of Huaqing Hot Springs needs to be improved urgently.

Ⅱ. Problems in the Translation of Tourist Texts in Huaqing Hot Springs

2.1 Lexical Problems

The first problem is the lexical problem. In the source text， there are a lot of words which are not easy to translate.

2.1.1 The Translation of Names of Places in Huaqing Hot Springs

The first type is the names of places. They are all typical places in Huaqing Hot Springs， and English-speaking readers have no idea of where they are and what they are for. The translation of these names won’t help the readers to understand Chinese history and culture.

Example 1:

Chinese：華清池

Translation 1：HuaQing palace

Translation 2：Huaqing chi

Translation 3：Huaqing Hot Springs

Example 2:

Chinese：飛霜殿

Translation 1：Feishuang Hall

Translation 2：Frost-flying Hall

These different translation versions may confuse foreigners; they may think that each English translation of names of places stands for a different place.

2.1.2 The Translation of Names of Famous Persons

The second type is the names of famous persons

Example 3:

Chinese：楊貴妃

Translation 1：Yang Guifei

Translation 2：Yang Yuhuan

2.2 Translation Problems in Sentence Structure

Chinese and English grammars are of great difference. The first difference is the difference between their subjects. In English sentences， there must always be a subject， while in Chinese sentences， the subject is not essential and there can be more than one subject. Besides， the subject in English sentences must be a noun or a noun structure， while in Chinese sentences the subject can be a noun， a verb， an adjective or any such structures. Therefore， not all the subjects in Chinese sentences can be translated into English directly， and it brings some difficulties to the translation. Some structure problems appear in the translation of tourist texts in Huaqing Hot Springs.

Example 4:

Chinese：長生殿，又名集靈臺，唐華清宮著名宮殿，重建于2005年，現為唐華清宮展覽館。

Translation：Changsheng Hall，another name for Jiling Platform. A famous hall in the Huaqing Palace， it now used as the museum of the palace.

Here， the sentence “it now used as the museum of the palace” has no auxiliary word “is”.

2.3 Cultural Conflicts

As we know， because of the different way of education and the different history， it’s impossible for people coming from different countries have the same opinion on the same thing， especially for people in west countries and east countries. This is culture conflicts. There are also some examples of this kind in the translation. If the translator just translates them from our Chinese people’s point of view， the target readers may feel very strange and can not understand them.

Example 5:

Chinese：九龍湖

Translation ：Nine-dragon Lake.

Dragon is (in stories) a large fierce animal with wings and a long tail， which can breathe out fire. For Chinese people， of course they know that九龍湖is just a name of a lake in Huaqing Hot Springs， but for foreigners， they may feel very confused. Maybe they think that in this lake， there are nine dragons.

2.4 The Mistakes of the Prepositions

Example 6:

Chinese：溫泉宮在驪山腳下

Translation ：…the Hot Spring Palace under the foot of Mount Lishan

“under” should be replaced by “at”.

Ⅲ. Ways to deal with the problems

The concept of equivalence in Nida’s theory is equivalence on varying degrees which gives practical significance to functional translation. Nida does not insist that complete equivalence is achievable， “Absolute correspondence between languages is not always possible.” (Nida， 1964: 185) In his view， translating was not to get something completely identical， but to reproduce “closest natural equivalent to the source language message” in the receptor language. (Nida， 1969: 12) What he wants to get is equivalence on different degrees， or practical equivalence， which is reasonable and practical. If functional equivalence is taken as the goal of the translation， the following methods can be used to solve the translation problems of tourist text in Huaqing Hot Springs.

3.1 Lexical Problems

3.1.1 The joint use of transliteration and literal translation

The name of the places is the production of history; it plays an important role in the society. Using pinyin to spell names of places is not only the uniform standard of China， but also the standard of the world.

Example 1:

Chinese：華清池

Suggested translation：Huaqing Hot Springs

Example 2:

Chinese：飛霜殿

Suggested translation：Feishuang Hall

3.1.2 The joint use of transliteration and explanation

When translating the names of Chinese persons， we commonly use transliteration， and sometimes， we add explanation.

Example 3:

Chinese：楊玉環

Suggested translation：YangYuhuan (717-765， Emperor Xuanzong’s favorite wife)

3.1.3 The joint use of transliteration and explanation to deal with Chinese Culture-specific Terms

Sometimes， it’s hard for us to find an equivalent word of Chinese culture-specific term， so we often translate it by using Pinyin， adding explanation.

Example 4:

Chinese：闕（闕門）

Suggested translation：Que，also called QueMen， is the watchtower on either side of a palace gate.

“闕” have no equivalences in English， if the translator simply translates their literary meaning， the target readers may not understand them easily.

3.2 Sentence Structure

When visiting Huaqing Hot Springs， the author found that when some sentences were translated into English， some information was missed.

Example 5:

Chinese：長生殿，又名集靈臺，唐華清宮著名宮殿，重建于2005年，現為唐華清宮展覽館。

Translation：Changsheng Hall，another name for Jiling Platform. A famous hall in the Huaqing Palace， it now used as the museum of the palace.

Here “重建于2005年” is missed。

Suggested translation：Changsheng Hall， which was also called Jiling Platform and rebuilt in 2005， is a famous hall in Huaqing Palace. It’s now used as the museum of the palace.

Ⅳ．Conclusion

With more and more foreign tourists visiting the scenic-spots in China， tourist texts in scenic-spot introductions have been translated into English to serve them. However， the translation is far from satisfactory due to countless spelling mistakes grammar mistakes and cultural misinterpretations， etc. therefore， the study on the English translation of tourist texts in Chinese scenic-spots is extremely necessary.

In translating the introduction to tourist attractions in places of historical interests like Huaqing Hot Springs， much attention should be paid to the accuracy of the translation so that the rich and splendid Chinese history and culture can be properly spread.

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