1、摘 要 随着我国市场经济的不断发展和改革开放的不断深入，市场竞争机制得到进一步完善，对外经济贸易往来日益频繁，企业涉外经营的规模逐步扩大，与外商合作的机会越来越多，起草、谈判、签订商务合同成为必不可少的环节,其中起桥梁作用的当数翻译了。而在国际经济贸易活动，合同又是中外当事人开展业务和维护权益最为重要的一种法律文件依据，因此对合同翻译就提出了很高的要求，因为合同翻译的质量对于双方当事人的权利和义务、合同本身的履行及合同争议的解决常常会带来极大的影响。因此从探究国际商务合同的准确性入手，首先阐述了国际商务合同的定义、语言特点、一般合同经常包含的条款以及研究合同翻译准确性意义的重要性，接着分析了中
2、英两种国际商务合同在词汇，句法，篇章的语言相似性和区别性，并对词汇，句法，篇章三个层次的翻译策略进行了研究。其次，采用韩礼德的语域理论，分析了它在提高国际商务合同翻译准确性的作用和意义。最后，文章实例分析了国际商务合同翻译中其它的常见翻译失真，并总结了一名合格译者应该具备的素质。关键词：国际商务合同; 汉英翻译; 准确性 ContentsIntroduction1. About International Business Contract1.1. Definition of Contract1.2 General Provisions and Legal Elements of Contra
3、ct1.3 The Significance of Studying Contract Translation Accuracy 2. Accuracy of Contract Language2.1. Language Comparison between English and Chinese Contract 2.1.1. Lexical Level.2.1.2. Syntactic Level2.1.3. Textual Level2.2. Translation Techniques to Accuracy Improvement of C-E Translation2.2.1. L
4、exical Translation Techniques 2.2.2. Syntactic Translation Techniques2.2.3. Textual Translation Techniques 3. Accuracy of Contract Register 3.1 Halliday: The Notion of Register3.2 Application of Register Theory in Accuracy Improvement3.2.1 Helping Identify the Contract Register 3.2.2 Helping Realize
5、 the Register Equivalence in the C-E Contract Translation 4. Analysis of Other Common Inaccuracies 4.1 Grammatical Inaccuracies 4.2 Mechanical Translation Inaccuracies 4.3 Laymen Inaccuracies5. Requirements for a Good Translator5.1 Strong Sense of Responsibility5.2 Bilingual Proficiency.5.3 Essentia
6、l Professional Knowledge ConclusionNotesBibliographyAcknowledgments With the trend of globalization and Chinas entry into the WTO, Chinese business has been undergoing ever-frequent exchanges with the outside world. Contract document translation, as a form of practical translation once was neglected
7、 by Chinese translators in their translation studies, has been paid more and more attention to since the last decade. A well-translated, especially an exactly translated contract document conduces to the smooth performance of a business, while a poor one may results in costly failure. Carrying on st
8、udies in this field can lead to peoples recognition of the importance of contract document translation and thus help to improve the competitiveness of Chinese products in international market.Through the search in the western translation circles, it is found that the famous English translator, Alexa
9、nder Fraser Tytler, had three principles of translation in his Essays on the Principles of Translation published in 1790. These three principles on translation are as follows:a） The translation should give a complete transcript of the ideas of the original work;b） The style and manner of writing sho
10、uld be of the same character as that of the original; andc） The translation should have the same ease as the original composition. 1In these three principles, “a complete transcript”, “the same character” and “the same ease” are all the description of accuracy in translation.In China, There may be a
11、bundant fruits in translation studies, such as （信、达、雅）faithfulness, expressiveness, and elegance, which is put forward by Yan Fu; Rather to be faithful than to be smooth （宁信而不顺）, which is advanced by Lu Xuns, etc. Yan Fu put forward these three principles in the preface of his translation-Ethics and
12、 Evolution（天演论）. He gave expression to his theory that translation involves three requirements difficult to fulfill: Faithfulness, Expressiveness, and Elegance.（“译事三难: 信、达、雅。”） In their theories, the study of accuracy is also obvious and prominent, such as the principle of faithfulness.However, all
13、of these principles are originally the standards for literary translation; there are no real criteria for business contract translation. The present situation of business translation is characterized by “a mass of uncoordinated statements and did not go beyond the limits of empirical deliberation or
14、 essayistic aphorisms”. 2 Basing on the above development and considering the frequency and range of the application of contract documents, it is considered as an urgent task to conduct a further research on the business translation accuracy of contract documents, and great hope of probing the accur
15、acy of business contract translation into a higher level and demonstrating the possibility of putting the translation into the fullest extent. So the brief knowledge of business contract will be introduced, the English business contract language will be compared with the Chinese business contract la
16、nguage, then the translation techniques is well chosen for the accuracy improvement in business contract translation. Next, through the adaptation of Hallidays register theory, its application is also probed for the accuracy study. Finally, other common inaccuracies are illustrated and suggestions a
17、re given for more exact business contract translation.It is self-evident that contract is very important in foreign trade and business. Therefore the translation of contract is vital in business activities. The definition of contract will be firstly discussed. 1.1 Definition of ContractA contract or
18、dinarily means an agreement between two or more persons-not merely a shared belief, but a common understanding as to something that is to be done in the future by one, both or all of them. Contracts are essentially promises; or groups of promises, to do something in the future. If the promises have
19、certain characteristics defined by law, then the promises give rise to rights that will be protected by law and the breach of the promises will give rise to enforced remedies. Contracts can be oral or written. In fact, contracts, in a broad sense, are so much a part of living in a society that you a
20、re probably unaware of how many contracts you make every day: two people exchanging wedding vows enter into a contract of marriage; a person who has a child is bound to nurture and support that child; shoppers selecting food in a supermarket is bound to purchase the goods for a stated amount. 1999 C
21、hinese Contract Law defines contract as follows: A contract in this Law refers to an agreement establishing, modifying and terminating the civil rights and obligations between subjects of equal footing, that is, between natural persons, legal persons or other organizations. L.B Curzon gives in his A
22、 Dictionary of Law contract tile following definition: contract is a legally binding agreement. 3 A sales contract needs to be signed by and between the seller and the buyer after both parties have arrived at an agreement so that the transaction may come to an end to satisfy both parties. By doing s
23、o, both parties are bound by the contract which is based on the related law. In this way, if one party breaches the contract, the other party is entitled to take legal action against him. Once established, an international business contract has similar utility to a contract used in a domestic transa
24、ction. A contract is a promise, or a set of promises, for breach of which the law gives a remedy, or performance of which the law in some way recognizes as a duty. No matter whether it is international law or domestic law, sellers have both rights and obligations stipulated in the contract and so do
25、 buyers.1.2 General Provisions and Legal ElementsL.B Curzon in his A Dictionary of Law says: contract generally involves: （1） offer and absolute and unqualified acceptance; （2） meeting of minds;（3） intention to create legal relations; （4） genuineness of consent; （5） contractual capacity of the parti
26、es; （6） legality of object; （7） possibility of performance; （8） certainty of terms; （9） valuable consideration. 3The 1999 Chinese Contract Law defines the following general provisions （1） title or name and domicile of the parties; （2） contract object; （3） quantity; （4） quality; （5） price or remunera
27、tion; （6） time limit, place and method of performance; （7） liability for breach of contract; （8） methods to settle disputes.In accordance with General Principles of the Civil Law of the Peoples Republic of China, and the Contract Law of the Peoples Republic of China, a business contract shall be in compliance with the following legal elements:（1） contractual capacity of the parties; （2） equal legal status of the parties; （3） genuineness of consent; （4） free will; （5） honesty
