On Chinese translation of Inanimate Subjects in Business English Contracts

Shi Yang

Abstract： Based on the background of modern business English translation， this paper analyzes the linguistic differences between Chinese and English and the stylistic features of business English contracts， and finds that inanimate subjects are widely and flexibly used in business contracts. Then it illustrates the origin of inanimate subject and its classification， and explores the use of inanimate subjects in English translation as well as its function （including function and pragmatic style） by applying some examples of inanimate subjects in business English contracts. This paper divides the inanimate subject sentences in business English contracts into three categories： namely inanimate subject sentences with concrete things or proper nouns， inanimate subject sentences with passive voice and impersonal pronoun "it/there" as inanimate subject sentences， and analyzes the active meaning and translation skills of various kinds of inanimate subject sentences. Finally， it analyzes the translation of inanimate subjects in business English contracts and puts forward some suggestions， that is， based on the style of the original text， dividing shifting perspectives should be adopted to achieve flexible translation and translation in line with Chinese expression habits.

Key words： Business English Contracts; Inanimate Subject; Analysis of Chinese Translation

1. Introduction

With the increasingly close ties between countries in the world and the rapid development of international economic integration， English， as the most widely used language in the world today， plays an increasingly important role in international trade. And it derives business English that is applicable to the business field. Business English translation is more complicated than general communicative English. This is because different ethnic groups come from different geographical environments， their countries have different social consciousness， customs， ideologies and cognitive styles. As we all know， language is the carrier of thinking and cognition. That is to say， when differences in language are reflected in the expression of business English， language habits， sentence expressions， vocabulary usage or nuances of individual words may arise.

Therefore， when translating contracts， there will be improper conversion between passive and active， resulting in passive sentence processing. Improper. And the practice of Chinese-English translation tells us that the Chinese translation of English subjects is the difficulty of English-Chinese translation. Because Chinese and Western thinking are different， there are also differences in Chinese and English expressions.

2. Classification and translation in contracts

English hypotaxis uses forms such as inflections and cohesion between sentences to group the language from loose vocabulary into phrases， sentences and even chapters. It is based on the subject-predicate structure， so English is the language of subject saliency. On the other hand， Chinese pays more attention to parataxis， relying on meaning and logically combining vocabulary phrases into sentences. It puts more emphasis on the cohesion and coherence of sentences before and after sentences， so Chinese is a topic-saliency language. When translating between Chinese and English， it is necessary to uphold the principle that the translated language must conform to its language expression and habits. Therefore， when translating from Chinese to English， the content of the topic should be placed in a suitable position （not directly used as the subject of English， etc.）. In fact， inanimate subject sentences are mostly composed of inanimate subjects and smart verbs. Most of the inanimate subjects in business English contracts are specific things with specific meanings， trade terms （or professional terms in various fields） and some company names， brand names， and so on. E.g.

①The arbitral award is final and binding upon both parties.

Translation：

仲裁裁決是终局的，对双方均有约束力。（Source： the contract example 1）

②The first hot blank comes out at the first week of March， 2013 on site of Buyer.

Translation：

第一件热钢板将在买方工厂于2013年3月的第一周内加工出来。（Source： the contract example

3. Problems and suggestions

Business English contracts are used for business activities between countries， so they are more objective and formal in style than general communicative English. It uses a lot of inanimate subject sentences. As shown above， there are inanimate subject sentences with specific things or proper nouns as inanimate subjects， inanimate sentences with passive voice and non-personal pronouns “it/there” as inanimate subjects. The inanimate subject sentence and so on. Among them， the translation of long and difficult sentences related to the inanimate subject and the improper handling of passive sentences have become the most difficult points in the English translation of business English contracts. Here are some examples.

3.1. The “disassembly method”

In business English contracts， in order to strictly limit and describe the main body of the sentence， a large number of attributives， participle phrases and parentheses， etc. will be produced. Therefore， when the formal subject is used as it/there as the formal subject， it will bring readers difficulties in contract recognition.

①It is agreed that any information relating to the goods and their use shall not take effect as terms of the Contract unless expressly referred to in the Contract.

Translation：

雙方同意，除非在本合同中注明，卖方或制造商所做的有关货物及其使用的描述不被认为是合同的有效条款。

Suggestion： For the translation of long and difficult sentences， based on the language sense and understanding of the original text， the sentence structure should be analyzed by decomposing， flexibly segmenting the original text， and appropriately changing the subject component （verbs to attributives to modify nouns， etc.） so as to conform to the Chinese expression habit.

3.2 The “shift perspective”

Because the passive voice is mostly used in English， Zhongwen uses the active voice more， and business English contracts are used as a formal style， and tends to emphasize objective reality and avoid subjective emotions， so more use passive voiceless subject sentences. When the translator translates it into Chinese， there will be a problem of switching between the active and passive voices， which makes the Chinese translation more awkward.

①Disputes settlement： All disputes arising out of the contract or in connection with the contract， shall be submitted to the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission for arbitration in accordance with its Rules of Arbitration in ShenZhen， China.

Translation：

争议之解决方式：任何因本合同而发生或与本合同有关的争议，应提交中国国际经济贸易仲裁委员会，按该会的仲裁规则进行仲裁，仲裁地点在中国深圳。

"争议提交" in Chinese should be the personal subject， but it is not clear in the English contract. Therefore， you can directly omit the personal subject and directly adopt the active form， and change the literal translation “...的争议应当被提交”to “...的争议，应提交”.

Suggestion： For passive sentences， you can use methods such as "converting perspectives" to convert passive sentences into active sentences that conform to Chinese habits， and consider whether to omit the perpetrator according to the context， so as to achieve the sense of language that conforms to the original business English contract and conforms to Chinese Translation of expression habits.

4. Summary

The inanimate subject in English mainly expresses abstract concepts， psychological feelings， names of things， time and place， etc.， making them more objective， fair and authoritative. According to this， inanimate subjects in business English contracts can be divided into three categories： specific things or proper nouns as the subject， passive voice as the subject， and non-personal pronouns “it/there” as the subject. Among them， the long and difficult sentences related to “it/there” and the improper handling of passive sentences have become the most difficult points in the English translation of business English contracts， and the use of “disassembly method” and “shift perspective” can better translate into Chinese expression habits. Translation. The classification and Chinese translation methods of inanimate subject sentences in business English contracts summarized from the analysis and summary of this article are all extracted from the same examples of two business contracts. I hope that this article can be useful and helpful for future contract translation and inanimate subject translation.

References

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