[英语学习]Lexical Features of English Financial Terminology And the Corresponding Strategies of Translation.doc

本科生毕业论文（设计）中文题目 英文题目 学生姓名 班级 学号 学 院 专 业 指导教师 职称 Bachelors Degree Thesis On the Lexical Features of English Financial Terminology and the Corresponding Strategies of TranslationMajor: English Language and LiteratureAuthor: Hu JipengSupervisor: Professor Liu HaicunCollege of Foreign LanguagesJilin UniversityMay 2011摘要 改革开放30年来，中国经济建设取得了举世瞩目的成就。金融业在国民经济的发展过程中发挥着越来越重要的作用。随着经济全球化的不断深入，金融活动中的涉外事项不断增加，使作为国际交流“官方”语言的英语得到越来越多的重视,不少高校开设了金融英语课程。金融英语较强的专业性对语言学习使用提出了较高的要求。通过在本科学习阶段对金融知识的学习以及目前在投资公司的工作经历，笔者积累了金融，金融英语等方面的知识，为金融英语的研究做了一些铺垫。本文以金融英语术语作为研究对象，对其词汇特点从构词特征和语义特征两方面进行了探究，并针对其主要特点进一步提出了相应的翻译策略。第一章探讨了本课题的可行性，目的以及意义并阐述了本文的研究方法。第二章首先对研究相关的概念给出了定义，对研究范围做了界定。在对金融英语术语的总体构词特征进行分析后，通过列举具有代表性的实例，对金融英语术语的构词特征进行了详细的探讨。并从词义变迁，词义的单一性，一词多义和词义的对义性等方面对金融英语术语的语义特征进行了论述。第三章在第二章所探讨的构词特征和语义特征的基础上，针对词义单一性，一次多义，复合词及缩略词等金融英语术语主要特点尝试提出了相应的翻译策略。文章最后提出了本文的局限性以及在学习工作中的应用性。关键词：金融英语术语；构词特征；语义特征；翻译策略AbstractChina has achieved great achievements in the construction of its economy in the last three decades since the opening up and reform policy was carried out in 1978. Finance is becoming more and more important in the development of the nations economy. Globalization makes financial activities involve more and more foreign affairs. As “standard” language used in international communication, English is arousing greater attention of the public. Many universities and colleges have opened the course of Financial English. The specialization of Financial English sets high requirements for the learners. After self-learned finance in the university and worked in an investment company for more than half a year, the author has mastered certain knowledge of finance and financial English which paves the way for carrying out the study.The study regards English financial terms as its study subject. The study explores the formation features and semantic features of English financial terminology on which basis the translating strategies of English financial terminology are given. The first chapter discusses the feasibility, purpose, significance and method of the study. The second chapter firstly defines the related concepts and makes clear the scope of the study. After analyzing the general features of English financial terminology, the study explores the formation features of English financial terminology in detail by providing typical examples. Then the semantic features of English financial terminology are studied from the angle of meaning change, terms with one meaning, polysemy and antonym. According to the formation features and semantic features analyzed, the third chapter tentatively raises some strategies of how to translate English terminology into Chinese which specifically covers the four main lexical features of English financial terminology: terms with single meaning, polysemy, compounds and acronyms. The limitations and implications of the study are discussed at the end of the study.Key words：English Financial Terminology; Formation Features; Semantic Features; Strategies of TranslationContentsChapter 1 Introduction11.1 The Feasibility of the Study.11.2 The Purpose and Significance of the Study.31.3 The Method of the Study.4Chapter 2 Lexical Features of English Financial Terminology .6 2.1 Definition .6 2.1.1 English Financial Terminology.6 2.1.2 Word vs. Term.7 2.2 The Formation Features of English Financial Terminology.8 2.2.1 General Formation Features.8 2.2.2 Specific Analysis.11 2.3 The Semantic Features of English Financial Terminology .20 2.3.1 Meaning Change of English Financial Terminology.20 2.3.1.1 Extension of Meaning.21 2.3.1.2 Narrowing of Meaning.23 2.3.1.3 Shift of Meaning.25 2.3.2 Other Semantic Features.28 2.3.2.1 Single meaning.28 2.3.2.2 Mutiple Meaning29 2.3.2.3 Antonym.30Chapter 3 Corresponding Strategies in Translating English Financial Terminology.323.1 The Translating of Terms with Single Meaning 323.2 The Translating of Terms with Multiple Meaning.343.3 The Translating of Compounds.363.4 The Translating of Acronyms.38Chapter 4 Conclusion.40 4.1 Conclusion.40 4.2 The Limitations of the Study.41Notes.42References.43Acknowledgements45v吉林大学学士学位论文Chapter 1 Introduction1.1 The Feasibility of the StudyIt is self-evident that if a person wants to carry out an academic study, he, firstly, must be well acquainted with the areas related to the study. As English major, I have systemically learned the basic theories of translation and linguistics in the past three years. I have also self-studied Finance and Economics by reading the relevant books and taking classes of the Department of Economics. In 2009, I successfully got the Certificate of Securities. And since Sept. 2010, I have worked as intern in an investment company to study the skills of financial management and risk investment which helps greatly to improve the authors understanding of finance and the financial market.Based on the above knowledge, I try to do some study that combines the two branches, a study on financial English.Words are the most fundamental element of a language. “Without grammar, very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed.” (Wilkins, 1977:109) To master a language, one has to memorize the vocabulary first which is usually a monotonous and boring task. After checking the material and studies of financial English, I find the English financial terminology is still worth further study. Due to the length of the thesis and in order to elaborate the viewpoint of the author much better, this study is trying to focus on the lexical features of English financial terminology and try to find some simple strategy advices based on the analyses of the lexical features of English financial terminology.1.2 The Purpose and Significance of the StudyThe study intends to explore the underlying rules of formation and semantic characteristics of English financial terminology and, furthermore, explore some basic corresponding translating advices, hoping to be helpful to the learners of financial English or the majors of finance who wants to better themselves in specialized English. The study may also be helpful to the translators in related areas.With the fast growing economy in the last three decades in China, the financial system has also been developing very quickly. The two stock exchanges on the mainland of China founded in the early 1990s had only 8 listed companies. By the time of May 2, 2011, the total market value of the two exchanges has been more than 26 trillion RMB, becoming one of the largest stock exchanges in the world. In 2005, the non-tradable share reform greatly improved the functions of the exchange. Margin trading was introduced to the stock exchanges on March 31, 2010. Stock index futures were introduced to the stock exchanges on April 16, 2010. All those events marked the fast growth of the financial markets of China. However, the financial markets of China are far from being maturity compared with the financial markets in some developed countries. There are still much to learn for us.As China joined the WTO in 2001, the accelerated globalization brought both opportunities and challenges to Chinas financial markets. New products and markets were introduced to China such as all kinds of futures and derivatives and foreign exchange markets. More and more foreign capital that has always been looking for the highest profits entered Chinas banking, securities and insurance system. As the main language used in international communication, English plays a vital role in the process of internationalization of the financial markets in China, which has aroused great enthusiasm of people to learn financial English.However, in the process of doing the research, I found that only a few materials that related to the study of financial English are available. With humble effort, I want to fill a bit gap by doing the study.Knowing the formation features and semantic features and some basic translation skills will definitely benefit all the learners and translators, help them understand the terms much better and thus remember those terms relatively easily. In the process of translating, the translator can take the corresponding strategies to improve the efficiency and correctness of the translation.1.3 The Method of the StudyThrough the analysis of the processes of formation and semantic characteristics of English financial terms, the study tries to explore the lexical features of English financial terminology. Based on the statistics gathered from the relevant materials, the general formation features of English financial terminology are analyzed. The study then discusses the specific formation processes of English financial terminology by providing typical examples accordingly. All the terms used in the study are selected from International Dictionary of Finance edited by Bonnock Graham and Manser William.The study discussed the semantic features of English financial terminology in meaning change, terms with single meaning, polysemy and antonym. The three ways of meaning change, extension of meaning, narrowing of meaning and shift of meaning are elaborated with examples I met in reading. In the third chapter, some strategies of translating are given according to the features of formation and semantic features of English terminology summarized in the previous chapter.Chapter 2 Lexical Features of English Financial TerminologyThe relevant concepts are defined in the first place to make clear the scope and the subject of the study. The features of formation of English terminology are analyzed in the second part. The semantic features are explored in the third part.2.1 Definition 2.1.1 English Financial Terminology To study English financial terminology, it is necessary to define the term in order to be clear about the subject and the scope of the study. To define English financial terminology, finance should be the point where I began the discussion.In a broad sense, “finance is the study of how people allocate scarce resources over time. Two features that distinguish financial decisions from other resource allocation decisions are that the costs and benefits of financial decisions are (1) spread out over time and (2) usually not known with certainty in advance by either the decision makers or anybody else.” ( Bodie and Merton,2002:2) In a narrow sense, finance is “the science that describes the management of money, banking, credit, investment and assets.”(Bonnock and Manser, 2003:500) Simply, finance deals with matters related to money and the markets. In this study, the latter sense is much more proper to be used. And consequently English financial terminology refers to those specialized terms used in the fields of banking, securities, insurance and investment.2.1.2 Word vs. TermThe definition of word is still under controversy. “A word, then, is a free form which does not consist entirely of (two or more) lesser free forms; in brief, a word is a minimum free form” (Bloomfield 1933: 178) Bloomfields statement is a classical linguistic definition. But it does not take meaning into consideration which is a crucial aspect of a word. A more popular definition given by Zhang Yunfei is“In brief, a word may be defined as a fundamental unit of speech and a minimum free form; with a unity of sound and meaning (both lexical and grammatical meaning), capable of performing a given syntactic function.”(Zhang Yunfei, 2004:2)“From the point view of semantics, a word is an entity of sound, meaning and grammatical features.”(Lyons, 2000:1) This definition does not mention “minimum free form” which reflects that in semantics “form” is not an important aspect of word. Actually, in semantics, as long as the entity has the properties of sound, meaning and grammatical features, it is regarded as one word no matter it is a free form or phrase Terminology refers to technical terms of a particular subject. And a term, as the Collins Advanced Dictionary defines, “is a word or expression with a specific meaning, especially one which is used in relation to a particular subject.” Classical linguists think a term can be a word or more than a word. And in semantics, a term can be regarded as a word. In this study all the English financial terms are regarded as English financial words.2.2 The Formation Features of English Financial Terminology Compared with general English words, English financial terminology has its own features of formation which mainly reflects in the differences in frequency of different formation processes.2.2.1 General Formation Features General English words are formed in certain ways. In Zhang Yunfeis book, An Introduction to Modern English Lexicology, 11 processes of word formation were introduced of which 3 are the major processes and 8 are minor ones. The 11 processes of word formation introduced are: compounding，derivation, conversion, acronym, clipping, blending, back-formation, words from proper nouns, reduplication, neoclassical formation and miscellaneous. The first 3 ones are the major processes of word formation and the rest are the minor ones. The percentage of firmly establish new words coined by the above processes(except borrowing) since World War is studied by Geoffery Leech as is shown by the follow chart:Figure 4.1 Percentage of English word formation process frequency (made by the author according to the original statistics) The chart clearly shows that the 3 major formation processes (besides borrowing) are responsible for most of the new words that coined after the WW. Compounding is the most productive formation processes. Borrowing words from other languages also contributes quite a lot to the current English vocabulary. As for English financial te