Non—literary Translation techniques

【Abstract】： There are many difficulties and techniques in Non-literary translation and necessary practice and summary are indispensable.

【Key words】： techniques;non-literary translation;practice;summary

Non-literary translation is an important part of translation. There are many difficulties and techniques in non-literary translation. What translators need to do is to practice and summarize， only in this way can progress be made constantly.

Compared with English-Chinese translation， Chinese-English translation is much harder for most translators. Some typical Chinese-English examples will be listed first and then some English-Chinese ones. They can be divided into some types according to specific conditions. Firstly， in Chinese—English translation， when some Chinese history， culture， characters and others are mentioned translators need to make some annotation. Because it is difficult for a foreigner to understand what we are talking about if he knows nothing about Chinese culture. For example， “古代有神荼和郁壘執鬼飼虎的傳說。” “An ancient legend goes that Shentu and Yulei， two brother gods， fed tigers with ghosts.” In this example， if no annotation is given like “Shentu and Yulei， two brother gods”， readers will not know what are Shentu or Yulei. Therefore， proper annotation is indispensable.

Secondly， during the process of translation， we usually meet some Chinese nouns or phrases that can’t be translated into English directly. Then it is much easier to use transliteration to deal with them instead of some long English words without real meaning. "For example， “白族民居多合院式，三房一照壁是主院的常見形式，院門開在照壁一側。” “Bai-style houses are mostly courtyard houses， the major form of which is sanfangyizhaobi.” In these examples， “wamao” “chiwen” “fengshui” “sanfangyizhaobi” are examples of transliteration.

The second part is about English—Chinese translation. Firstly， in English—Chinese translation， when names， places and brands are referred， Translators usually adopt transliteration. Under this condition， Translators had better annotate their original names after the transliteration in brackets. Just like the following transliteration example. “Energy drinks—chock of sugar and caffeine and with names like Monster， No Fear and Gorilla Juice---first appeared six years ago in dance clubs in New York City and Los Angeles.” “六年前，能量飲料首次出現在紐約市和洛杉磯的舞廳，這些飲料充滿了糖和咖啡因，名字各異。有的叫怪物（Monster），有的叫無畏（No Fear），還有的叫壯男汁（Gorilla Juice）” Just as what we can see in these examples， “自助”（DIY）， "“怪物”（Monster），“無畏” （No Fear） and “壯男汁”（Gorilla Juice）， the transliteration is not as direct as ordinary translation in meaning. Therefore， making annotation is much clearer and more understandable for readers.

Secondly， in order to make the readers understand easily， when foreign units of measurement are referred， translators need to transform them into Chinese ones. Just like what the following examples indicate “The US Food and Drug Administration recommend that beverages contain less than 65 milligrams of caffeine per 12 ounces of liquid.” 美國食品藥品管理局建議每12盎司（約340克）的飲料中所含的咖啡因應少于65毫克. For most of us Chinese people， “盎司” is an unfamiliar unit of measurement and people have no concept about how much they refer to. Therefore， transforming “盎司”into “克” is necessary. Translators need to convey the meaning of the original text to readers correctly.

To sum up， there are many techniques in non-literary translation. Practice and summary are necessary.

Bibliography

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