At present, China’s economy is gradually getting into line with the economy of the world and people from all over the world are coming to China for its great attraction。 At the same time, English plays a more and more important part as an international language in cross-cultural communication。 Therefore, the C-E translation of public signs should be paid more attention。 There is no doubt that accurate and normalized translation of public signs is a standard of measuring the quality service provided by a city and an important factor influencing cultural exchange。 As a significant component of context culture, the public signs translation reflects the whole society’s civilization to some extent。论文网

    The C-E translating of public signs is a kind of activity that involves two different languages。 Accordingly, researches on translation have much to do with contrastive analyses between the two related languages。 And in the process of translation, certain methods will be applied to keep a balance in style between the Chinese original words and English target version。 Thus, how to strengthen the C-E translating of public signs and improve the quality of translation is becoming a pressing task before us。

II。 An Overview of Public Signs

2。1 Language Features and Functions of Public Signs

    It’s a communication activity with specific intention so as to provide convenient and comfortable experiences for people。 It is well known that different functions need different language forms to convey and each language style possesses its special features。 Public signs belong to functional variety and have some unique characteristics。

2。1。1 Language Features of Public Signs

1。 Directness and conciseness。 Public signs will be used for transferring information at the right time, to the right target audience, with the right contents by using the most effective and efficient means。 For example, there is a signboard in front of the door which says “Open,” so we know at a glimpse that the store is open and we can go shopping in it。 While we haven’t seen a signboard saying “Now we are open”, it doesn’t show the characters of concise and effective expressions。 The words in a roundabout way will leave the reader in a high state of uncertainty about what the signboard says。 As far as possible translators use less obscure characters in order to avoid producing ambiguity or cause misunderstanding and even embarrassment。 For one of the general principles in language use is the Economy Principle, which means that fewer words should be used to express more information so as to be concise and succinct, such as “Emergency Exit紧急出口”, “No Photos禁止拍照”, “Keep Clean保持清洁”。

2。 Imperative sentences and present tense。 It is determined by the public signs which have clear objectives to attract public attention and increase the policy effectiveness and government executive ability, such as“Hold the Hand Rail抓紧扶手”, “KEEP OUT（危险）远离”, “Watch Your Head 小心碰头”。 If public signs consist of sentences, present tense can be most frequently seen。 For example, “Register is required for all visitors所有访客必须登记”, “If this lift is out of order, please call 1234567 for assistant, we apologize for any inconvenience caused。如电梯出现故障，请拨打1234567寻求帮助，很抱歉给您带来不便”。

3。 Combination of words and symbols or pictures。 Public signs are a bonding of pictures and languages of written information, which makes the expression concise, vivid and interesting。 Considering people who are not well educated may have difficulties in understanding public signs, the simple images can be a very important tool for assisting instructions。

4。 Static and dynamic features。 According to the survey, marked or indicative public signs are most likely to bear a static feature。 They do not command readers to do or not to do something。 One distinct characteristic of these public signs is the wide use of nouns。 Such as, “Smoking Area吸烟区”, “Tea Room茶水间”, “First-aid Station急救站”。 The dynamic indication emphasizes its prompting, restricting and compelling functions。 Such signs require people to comply with the rules, such as“Please DO NOT put other types of plastics in the bin请勿将其他种类的塑料投入此垃圾桶”, “No Cigarette Disposal禁止乱扔烟头”, “Please mind the step小心台阶”。文献综述