OnCulturalFactorsinLegalEnglishTranslation

【Abstract】This thesis aims to discuss the significance of cultural factors in the practice of legal translation， for enlightening translators and interpreters to capture and detect the cultural significance behind the legal texts.

【Key words】Legal English； Translation； Cultural Factor

【作者簡介】陳芳（1995- ），女，漢族，天津人，天津農學院人文學院英語專業2014屆本科在讀，研究方向：法律英語翻譯。

I. Introduction

Law is culture-embodied. When translators try to covey in accurate meaning of law terms， they must take into consideration a large bunch of legal terms which is culture-embodied and represent the distinctive countrys characteristics. In legal English translation， cultural loss often occurs. The cultural difference between eastern legal system and western legal law has always been a big problem in legal English translation. Because of the difference of history， geography， social system， ideology， values and other factors， and it is difficult to achieve the same understanding of the essence of language and culture， so in the practice legal English translation， cultural factors have a significant influence on translation activities.

II. Characteristics of Legal English

1.Accurate legal terms

This characteristic is particularly apparent in prepositions of legal English. Different prepositions express different meanings and prepositions cannot be used freely in regular English， otherwise legal disputes may be caused.

2.The usage of formal words

The legal English expression should be formal so that it could demonstrate its authority and equality. For example， the expression of “prior” is more proper than “before”， and the use of “advise” is recommended to replace the expression of “tell”.

3.Different meanings of common words

The meanings of some common words are totally different in legal English. For example， action （litigation）， avoid （cancel）， consideration （price） etc.

4.The usage of Old English and Middle English

In legal English， there are a variety of expressions which come from Old English and Middle English. This is mainly reflected in the extensive use of words synthesized by “here”， “there”， “where” and prepositions， such as “hereafter”， “herein”， “hereunder” etc.

5.The usage of legal terminology and jargon

As a legal English translator， one must make sure the grasping of legal terminology and legal jargon， such as “burden of proof”（舉證責任） cause of action （案由）， letters patent （專利證書） etc.

III. The Cultural Factors in Legal English

1.Characteristics of legal culture

①Materiality-oriented attribute。“The living condition of the society does not depend on the will of individual， it is the realistic foundation of legal culture that has come into existence and development. But legal culture exists because of peoples will， while it is restricted by objective social relations” （Gong Pixiang 3）.

②Political function。Different types of legal culture embody the political and economic conditions governed by ruling class， which reflects the will of the ruling class， catering to the needs of ruling class. A basic political function of the legal culture is to realize social control and to maintain a political order and social order.

③Universal applicability。Legal system could be understood as a series of norms， providing for all the members of a set of universally applicable norms standards and codes of conduct， and content of organic composition to build a society in legal order. It will gradually overcome its decentralized state in the long development process， and ultimately result in uniformity， coherence and universality as the characteristics of modern legal culture.

④Practicality。The legal norms stay not only in the legal documents， but also in the countrys political life， economic life and cultural life activities. Legal organizations and legal facilities are generated for social practice， and they play an important role in social practice. Thus， law can regulate the social， political， economic and cultural life.

⑤Cultural continuity。Legal culture is not a spiritual wealth for a generation， but a process of continuous accumulation of culture in the course of the development of human history. Legal culture must be based on valuable legal culture heritage accumulated in time-honored history in a critical manner and develop the legal culture suitable for contemporary society.

2.Translation barriers due to cultural difference

Legal culture is influenced by nations different social backgrounds， material foundation and values， and it seems different in different countries and regions during times （Zhang Falian 49）.Firstly， cultural difference related to different values such as behavioral patterns， community relationships and rituals. One of the greatest differences in value between English-speaking countries and China is individualism and collectivism.Secondly， religion is another important aspect which leads to cultural difference. Most of English speakers take Christianity as belief， so it undoubtedly reflects the value of Christianity. There are lots of expressions of “God” in regular English speaking as well as literary works. And in document of contracts， we can also find an expression as “acts of God” which have the same meaning of force majeure.

Thirdly， different peoples have different ways of thinking. English speakers always lay emphasis on the competence in abstract thinking that is rational and logical. By contrast， Chinese usually prefer the thinking patterns abounds in romantic and intuitive imagination. The native English speakers express things in a direct and immediate manner but Chinese people tend to express details in the beginning and then show the key point at the end of sentences.

IV. The Strategies of Legal English Translation

1.Domestication and foreignization

Domestication and foreignization are two kinds of strategies in translation legal English translation. Domestication is a strategy to make text closely conform to the cultural features of the source text， which may cause the loss of information. And foreignization is the strategy to keep the original features of source text， with broken conventions of target language to transfer its original meaning deliberately.Only by focusing on different cultural factors as well as flexible usage of different techniques， can translators reach the equivalence of the receptor response in legal English translation （Zhu Xuelin 88）.

2.Techniques for l translation of cultural factors in legal English

①Omission。It means the way of omitting some untranslatable words with cultural connotations. By using technique of omission， the fundamental information and cultural factors should not be influenced， especially for the words or expressions which are rich in cultural connotations seemingly but actually obsolete （Sun Yifeng 29）. The formation of this Contract， its validity， interpretation， execution and settlement of disputes in connection herewith shall be governed by the laws of the Peoples Republic of China （“PRC”）， but in the event that there is no published and publicly available law in the PRC governing a particular matter relating to this Contract， reference shall be made to general international commercial practices.“Publicly available” is redundant because the law is available after being promulgated， thus， the text can be translated into Chinese like this： 本合同的訂立、效力、解釋、執行及合同爭議的解決，均受中華人民共和國（“中國”）法律管轄。中國頒布的法律對本合同相關的某一事項未作規定參照國際商業慣例。

②Substitution。Because there are no exactly the same expressions in legal language concerning cultural elements， translators could not find counterpart in one culture equivalent to another culture all the time. “Acts of God” usually be translated into“不可抗力”in Chinese， because translators consider that the acts conducted by God could not be avoided.

3.Explanation

The technique of explanation is often adopted by translators when ancient Chinese laws be translated， such as in The Tang Codes， “五刑”which includes“答、杖、徒、流、死”. So by adopting the strategy of explanation， “五刑”could be translated into “the five crimes as canning， heavy-stick punishment， imprisonment， banishment and death penalty”.

4.Transliteration

Transliteration in legal English translation is a technique to transform some words or legal terms into alphabetic items of another language. By usage of transliteration， the effect of translation could not be influenced by the target language and the essence of culture in source test could be retained. “Brown v. State” could be translated into“布朗訴州政府一案”，the word Brown could be translated by borrowing its pronunciation.

V. Conclusion

The element of culture in legal English translation is of significant importance， because it could help translator fully understand the implied meaning of the legal text， and then convey the equivalent meaning to readers. Language reflects culture and is restricted by culture. To do well in legal translation， we should always concern the culture factors behind languages and use different translation techniques in flexible manner. Thus， source text needs to be translated to suit the receptors linguistic and cultural expectation， and the differences in source text from targeted one should be minimized.

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