Tiananmen, for example, as the imperial palace front door, there is a strong political in its name , who take the meaning of “rule by the grace of God and manage state affairs ” .It has two meanings: the first is the divine right of kings, that royal power is given by the God; the second shows the rulers` wishes to achieve enduring peace and stability. So attention should focus on the political of this scenic spot.
2.3 Which can embody the local cultural characteristics
For example, some scenic spot name can show some unique cultural landscape of China, such as taboo. The north gate of the Imperial Palace is called Xuanwu Gate at the old time, named after the Northern Xuanwu Emperor. While, in order to avoid as taboo, the name of "Xuanwu Gate" was renamed “Shenwu Gate” after the Kangxi Emperor acceded the throne because of the similar name which called "Xuanye". In the process of translation, for this kind of change in the name, you need to pay more attention.
3. The translation methods of scenic spots names
From the analysis on its grammatical structure, the Chinese name of the scenic spots can be expressed as subordinate phrases like "distinguished name + general name(type name)".Therefore, translation of scenic spots name has the following methods.
3.1 The translation of scenic spots general name
The general name of scenic spots commonly use English translation directly. “植物园”is translated into “Botanical Garden”; “某机构的博物馆”is translated into “XXXX Museum of XXXX”;“大钟寺古钟博物馆” is translated into “Ancient Bell Museum of Great Bell Temple”.
3.2 Free translation and transliteration
The free translation is not generally free translation which is In relation to transliteration. In here ,free translation is refer to the translation pursue semantic on certain level pointing. Such as“迎客松” (Greeting Pine),“狮子峰” (the Lion Peak),“慈光阁”(the Mercy Light Temple),“天都峰”(the Heavenly Capital Peak)。While,the transliteration is refer to representing a kind of language speech in another language with the same or similar pronunciation. In the scenic spot name translation, transliteration is refers to directly using pinyin to tag. For example, “楚天台”(Chu tian tai),“兰风薰露”(Lan feng hui lu)..
3.3 Combine transliteration with free translation
Combining transliteration with free translation means to use Chinese pinyin with English translation together. To use transliteration to translate the distinguished name and use free translation to translate the general name (type name).Such as " Guangxiao Temple "(光孝寺), " Nengren Temple " (能仁寺), " Wuxianguan Temple " (五仙观), " West Lake in Huizhou " (惠州西湖).
4. The translation skills of scenic spots name
4.1 Make appropriate adaptations
It brings a lot of trouble that some translations of the content of scenic spot often refer to some classical sentence and couplets. For example, in the translation of “the sleeping Buddha in Leshan“, the eight words “心中有佛,佛在心中” are worth pondering. Looking from the meaning, each statement conditions the other or is the other’s essential prerequisites." Namely, “因为心中佛,所以佛在心中”或“所以心中有佛,是因为佛在我心”,so it can be translated as "My heart clings to Buddha, Buddha is in My heart".
4.2 make the complex sentences simple
When translating the content of scenic spots , the translation should be concise and easy to understand accurately.As much as possible to make the lengthy clauses into simple sentences, which is so simple and easy to understand, and will not cause the confusion for visitors. For example,“彩楼林立,彩灯高悬,旌旗飘摇,呈现出一派喜气洋洋的节日场面。千姿百态的各式彩龙在江面上游弋,舒展着优美的身姿,有的摇头摆尾,风采奕奕;有的喷火吐水,威风八面。”can be translated into” High-rise buildings ornamented with colored lanterns.And bright banners stand out along the river banks, On the river itself, gaily decorated dragon-shaped boats await their challenge,displaying their individual charms to their hearts` content. One boat wags its head and tail; another spits fire and sprays water.”
4.3 Use the method of explanation or contrast
For instance, a piece of writing introduces the Chinese cloisonné like this:"It was developed during the reign of Emperor Chingtai of Ming dynasty," Foreigners are not familiar with Chinese dynasties, so adding the explaination " displaying their individual charms to their hearts` content" will let visitors understand more.Such as: “故宫耗时14年,整个工程于1420年结束。”(The Construction of the Forbidden City took 14 years and was finished in1420, 72 years before Christopher Columbus discovered the New World.)By comparing , foreign visitors can understand more from the translation.
4.4 Distinguish the trunk and highlight the key
When introduce the content of some scenic spots, the location, the history, the population, and the area. often need to be showed. In general, English sentence has more master-slave relationship and , extremely clear level, whose secondary components often expressed by participle phrase or prepositional phrase. Such as “重庆位于中国西南部,面积8.24万平方公里,人口3107万,是国内旅游胜地之一”, can be translated as: Located in the southwest of China, Chongqing is one of the famous scenic spots both at home and abroad, with an area of 82,400 square kilometers and a populations of 3,107 million people.
5.Conclusion
Scenic spots translation often contains abundant knowledge of history and culture, who has its own characteristics and function. Therefore, the translator should not only have rich intercultural knowledge, but also master some basic translation methods and techniques at the time of translation. The goal of scenic spots translation is to make foreign tourists interested in scenic spots, so as to attract more tourists, promote the development of tourism industry, especially international tourism, to achieve the ultimate goal of translation.
References
[1].Dongxu.“A Study on English Translation of the Names of Scenic Spots from the Perspective of Relevance Theory”.
[2].Lefevere,Andre. Translation, History and Culture. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press 2010.
[3].Newmark, Peter. A Textbook of translation. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2004.
[4].Nida, Eugene A. Language. Culture and Translation. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2004.