Abstract Public signs, which are considered as the face of a city, have been generally associated with and reflecting everyone daily lives. As international exchanges become more frequent, bilingual public signs have been the window, through which the foreigners travelling in China can learn about the society and the environments of our cities. Therefore, the translation of public signs should follow a certain standard to convey the correct and precise information to the public.59915

By collecting and investigating sufficient information and data from relevant publications, the thesis analyzes the current situation of public signs based on a large number of examples to explore the necessity and the use of the functional equivalence in the translation of public signs. The study of the thesis work suggests that the translation of public signs should not only or over emphasize the “one word for one word” rule, but it should achieve the expected communicative function according to the cultural context of the target language.

Key words: Public signs; Functional Equivalence; Translation principles

摘要在日常生活中，我们发现公示语随处可见，已逐渐与我们的生活息息相关。公示语被称作城市的面孔，随着我国的国际交往日益频繁，双语公示语应经成为外国友人了解城市，熟悉环境的“窗口”。因此，公示语应遵循一定的准则，将有用的信息准确无误的传达给公众。

在查阅了相关资料后，本文将例举大量的实例进行分析，尝试着探讨了公示语翻译中使用功能翻译对等理论的必要性，其不仅仅简单的强调所谓的“对等”，而是根据译语文化语境，实现预期达到的交际功能。

 关键词：公示语；功能对等理论；翻译原则

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 1

2.1 Introduction of Eugene A.Nida 3

2.2 Dynamic Equivalence and Formal Equivalence 3

2.3 The Functional Equivalence Theory 4

3. Features of Public Signs 4

3.1 Definition of Public signs 4

3.2 Classification of Public Signs 5

3.3 Language Features of Public Signs 7

4.Translation Problems in Chinese-English Public Signs 8

4.1 Negative Transfer of Mother Tongue 8

4.2 The Misuse of Words 8

5. Application of Function Theory into the C-E Translation of Public Signs 9

5.1 The Principle of Simplicity 10

5.2 The Principle of Acceptance 10

6.Conclusion 12

Works Cited 13

1. Introduction

     The development of Chinese translation theories has been experienced for many years. In Tang Dynasty, the first translator Xuanzang’s theory is “accurate and easy to understand”. With the reform and opening policy, Yanfu has proposed the new theory as “faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance”, which is widely available for future generations. All of these theories has provided valuable reference to our translation work. Since twenty century, many western translation theories has introduced to China.Among these theories, the most famous is Nida’s Functional Equivalence. To a certain extent, Nida’s theory has made a great contribution to Chinese translation theory.