A Public Signs Translation Assessment to Binzhou City of China From the Perspective of Dynamic Equivalence

Abstract

Public signs are mainly used to convey certain information, attract the attention of tourists, and provide convenience for tourists. English translations of public signs in Binzhou City (mainly in Weji Ancient Village)  reflect the cultural connotation and the level of internationalization of Binzhou city. However, the investigation report shows that there are quite a few problems in English translations of public signs in Binzhou, such as the lack of translation, redundant translation, improperly expressed and ambiguous words, and the lack of aesthetic feeling, which will mislead foreign visitors. English translations of the public signs in Binzhou should adopt correct translation principles, strategies and methods to improve the quality of English translations of public signs to help Binzhou city establish a fine city image and achieve the purpose of enhancing the competitiveness of Binzhou city. This paper takes Eugene Nida’s “dynamic equivalence” translation theory as the principle and collects public signs in Binzhou city as the research object, aiming to find out the existing problems of English translations of public signs in tourist attractions in Binzhou city. The paper is based on the principles of “formal equivalence”, “meaning equivalence” and “style equivalence” in Eugene Nida’s dynamic equivalence theory and proposes corresponding solutions so as to improve the quality of English translations of public signs and provide references for tourist attractions, which will improve internationalization of Binzhou city and make reference to the international image of China.