As a result, these differences often lead to the failure of trade negotiations or economic contracts, which will cause economic losses and hinder the development of science and technology. So, cultural differences really have a profound influence on the translation of computer terms. This thesis analyzes the translation differences of computer terms between Taiwan and Mainland China from the cultural perspective. It reveals the influence of culture on the translation of computer terms through the study of cultural differences between Taiwan and Mainland China.

2. Literature Review

2.1 Relevant Study

Since reform and opening-up, science and technology has developed by leaps and bounds in China. The translation of scientific and technological terms has been paid more attention by science and technical professionals and the people in the translation circle.

Wu Zhongxian pointed out the characteristics of technical term translation and the difficulties in translating resulting from these characteristics. “English is a language used by many countries. Over the long history, it absorbed a lot of foreign words and used daily expressions in technical terms, which brought great difficulties in translating technical terms.” (Wu Zhongxian, 1981:26)

Yang Zhendan proposed that translation of technical terms should be unified in our country. “Different from the ordinary words, a technical term usually represents only one concept. Therefore, making technical terms standardized is necessary. Only in this way will we spread scientific and technological knowledge and promote the development of science and technology.” (Yang Zhendan, 1986:53)

Wu Fengming reviewed the inheritance of technical terms and the history of its translation in China. He believes that “the standardization of technical term translation has a very close relationship with its history of formation. Only when translators understand the meaning of terms can they get exact translation.” (Wu Fengming, 1991:31)

Besides, in the book Informationization in Science and Technology Translation, it is mentioned that in his letter to Zhou Guangzhao, the president of the Chinese Academy of Science, Xu Tong, professor from National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan complained that the experts from Taiwan and Mainland China had to communicate with each other in Taiwan Mandarin, Mainland China Mandarin and English language at a symposium on cross-strait science and technology. (Qiu Juliang, 2005:126-127) It shows that it is really difficult for the experts to communicate because of the different expressions in science and technology, so they have to use the source language of these terms—English to explain the concepts and confirm what the others expressed. This reflects the influences caused by different translations of the same term.文献综述

These researches mainly discussed the translation of terms from macroscopic view, which usually covers a wide range of technical terms. However, there are few researches conducted on the translation of technical terms in a specific subject from the cultural perspective, and actually this kind of researches has more realistic significance. Therefore, different from other researches, this thesis further analyzes the translation differences of computer terms between Taiwan and Mainland China from the perspective of culture on the basis of the predecessors’ achievements.