Application of Domestication and Foreignization in Business English Translation

【Abstract】：Armed with theories relevant to domestication and foreignization，this thesis investigate some phenomena in business English translation combined with its concept and principles. At last， this thesis asserts that in business translation in China， domestication should be the major strategy with foreignization as a supplement.

【Key Words】：business translation，domestication，foreignization

1. General View on Domestication and Foreignization

Domestication translation and foreignizing translation， the concepts first used by Lawrence Venuti，an American translation theorist，are two terms applied in translation to describe two different translation strategies. Domestication is TL-oriented translation methods，while foreiguization is SL-oriented translation methods.

3.1 Application of Domestication in Business English Translation

3.1.1 Lexical Level

In business translation，many English words have their equivalents in Chinese，in which case domesticating translation is a perfect way for a translator.Through domesticating translation the Chinese readers can understand the original meaning easily.

For example：At Discount：貼水 At Premium：升水

“Discount” and “Premium” are Chinese customary terms and have nothing to do with water（水） Such domesticating translation is in line with Chinese expressions and the Chinese readers can understand easily.

3.1.2 Syntactic Level

There are many differences between English and Chinese sentence patterns，of which the biggest one is the grammar. Generally speaking，English is hypotaxis language while Chinese is parataxis language. In Chinese sentences，clauses are coherent in meaning with fewer varieties in form and conjunction is not used so often as in English.

For example：

The trouble was not serious， and the vessel is now on her way.

First translation：故障并不嚴重，并且該船現已在路上，

Second translation ：故障并不嚴重。該船現已在路上，

There were so many defaults of the product that we couldn’t accept them.

First translation：產品瑕疵如此之多.以至于我們無法接受。

Second translation：產品瑕疵過多. 我方無法接受。

In the above examples，conjunctions are preserved in the first translations，while in the second translations they ale omitted.Obviously， the second version of each sentence is more natural and grammatically correct in Chinese.

English sentences are usually longer and the structures are more complicated than those of Chinese.

For example：

Consider Border Inc.，which found itself with a hodgepodge of snack-food brands and overlapping sales forces after a series of acquisitions.

讓我們來看看博德公司吧，這個公司經過一系列并購之后，自己的快餐食品品牌五花八門，推銷隊伍也有交叉現象。

In the above example，one English sentence is broken up into several running-on sentences，which is one of the syntactic features of Chinese language.

Compared with Chinese，English tends to use passive voice more often. When translating passive sentences，the translator must pay more attention to Chinese customary usage since passive voice may be expressed in different ways in Chinese.In English，passive voice is in the form of“verb+ed”，while in Chinese there are several forms such as“加以”、“由”、“被”、“讓”to show passive voice.

For example：

The terms of payment will be touched upon during the coming talk.

Translation：付款條件將在下次談判中加以談論。

This Contract is made by and between the buyers and the sellers.

Translation：本合同由買賣雙方訂立。

The application of domestication in business translation mainly involves three levels：lexical，syntactic and textual level. It can reduce the obstacles and win the favor of target readers.That is why domesticating translation is the major strategy in business translation.

3.2 Application of Foreignization in Business English Translation

3.2.1 Lexical Level

The lexical level is the most important one in the three levels at which foreignization is applied.Lexical gaps make application of foreignization possible and make it an effective way of translation.Means of foreignization in lexis are mainly as follows：

a.Borrowing foreign words directly

For example：

L/C：信用證 " " " " " HR：人力資源

b.Transliteration

Transliteration means the translated words are not natural Chinese ones but the pronunciation of English words presented in Chinese. Transliteration is a common method of "translation，which is a good way to express a new thing.

For example：

Card：卡 " " " Show：秀

c. Literal translation

Literal translation is a word-for-word translation method，which is an effective way for some new foreign concepts.

For example：

Bear market：熊市 " " " " " Bull market：牛市

Supermarket：超市 " " " " " Hot spot：熱點

3.2.2 Syntactic Level

The application of foreignization at syntactic level refers to the new Chinese sentence structures coming from English patterns.The widely used sentence structures are：

a.“…one of the most… 最…之一…”

For example：

This is one of the most important documents.

這是最重要的文件之一。

This sentence means “there are several documents.all of which are important，and this one is one of them”.There is no such sentence pattern in Chinese.In order to express the original information，the sentence pattern is borrowed from English and has been accepted by Chinese readers.

Chinese language has its own systematic and grammatical norms，so application of foreignization in business translation is limited or restrained.

Conclusion

Domestication and foreignization as two translation strategies have been discussed over the years.Generally speaking，business text is to offer information，in which the truth and correctness is put at the first place and domesticating translation can meet the requirements.So domestication is a major strategy to be adopted in business translation.But sometimes foreignization is a dominant strategy applied in lexical translation or some special syntactic structures.

Reference：

[1] 譚載喜 《西方翻譯簡史》（增訂版） 商務印書館

[2] 李明 《商務英語翻譯》（第二版）高等教育出版社

[3] 袁洪 《商務翻譯實物》 對外經濟貿易大學出版社

[4] 李明清 《商務翻譯標準多元化》 湖南人民出版社