术语的翻译

术语是科学文化的产物，科学文化越发达，术语越丰富。术语具有约定俗成、无替代性的特点，因此必须做到准确无误，切不可望文生义或仅照字面翻译。在经贸翻译实践中，首先要对所涉及术语的概念有所了解，还必须知道中英文对该术语是如何表述的，否则就会出现外行话，贻笑大方。例如，将negotiating documents (议付单据）翻译为“谈判文件”就令人啼笑皆非。在 When the seller gets the accepted draft, he can either hold it to maturity or discount it with the negotiating bank.一句中，就涉及到“已承兑汇票”、“贴现”等术语，没有相关的外贸知识，又不知道中文表述，便谈不上翻译。下面再给一些常见术语的中英文说法。trade barrier贸易壁垒， mergers and acquisition（M&A）并购， franchising 特许经营权，trade balance 贸易差额，portfolio investment 证券投资， capital equipment 资本设备，foreign exchange reserves 外汇储备，Generalized System of Preferences(GSP)普惠制。

专有名词的翻译

经贸翻译经常涉及机构、厂家、商标、产品、文件、协议等名称的翻译。多数情况下，这些名称的译法已经确立，因而不能另寻新译，否则读者便不知所云。侧如，WorldCom要翻译为“世通公司”，GATT译为《关贸总协定》，IMF译为“国际货币基金组织”。有些汉语专有名词的英译也已确立，因而也不能创造新的译法，例如“国有企业” 一定要翻译为state-owned enterprises 或SOEs。另外，如果将本来由英语翻译而来的“世通公司”译成英语，则必须还其本来面目 WorldCom。按照这样的思路，如果我们将“宝洁公司”译成英语，也必须还其本来面目，将其译 成Procter and Gamble,这即是我们通常所说的“回译”。实际上，英译汉时也有个“回译”问题。

除以上所谈几点之外，经贸翻译中常常会遇到表达“数字、增长、下跌”等情况，这就需要译者熟知英汉两种语言的表达习惯，特别是英语的表达习惯，下面谈一些这方面的情况。

1.英语中表示上升、增长、增长百分之多少等意思时，可用increase, rise, grow以及up等词表示。 例如：

1)      Food prices increased in 2000.

2)      Oil prices increased from the second quarter of 2000 through to November but then eased, partly because of the global slowdown.

3)      The country’s deficit in visible trade increased 40% between 1998 and 2000.

4)      Orders in January increased by 19.9%.

5)      The city’s job losses increased much more rapidly between 2000 and 2001 than they did between 1998 and 1999.

6)      World trade volumes rose sharply in 2000，particularly early in the year.

7)      Zhejiang province’s exports of irons rose 73% in the first 10 months of the year.

8)      Exports rose by 7% over the first nine months of the year.

9)      The global economy in 2000 grew at its fastest pace in over a decade and a half.

10)   Exports grew 3.2% in January and 1.5% in February.

11)   China’s GDP grew by 8% in 2000 and by 8.1% for the first quarter of 2001.

12)   Total sales in December 2001 were up by 10.8%, with a like for like increase of 5.3%.

13)   Imports totaled 4 trillion in March, up 11.5% from a year earlier.

2.      jump, leap, soar，shoot up和skyrocket等词表示迅速、大幅度增加或上升，其中soar, shoot up 和skyrocket与jump和leap相比程度上更强。例如：

1)      The country’s urban retail sales leapt nearly 12%.

2)      Revenues grew by $10 billion from 1998 to 1999，and then jumped by another $60 billion to $100 billion in 2000.

3)      While exports grew 9.1% in March, imports soared 19.5%.

4)      Actual foreign direct investment rose by 24.2% to $4.58 billion in the first two months of this year while contracted FDT shot up by 47.1% in the same period.

5)      In recent years, the number of Internet hosts has skyrocketed from 5,000 in 1986 to more than 30 million now.

3.      stand at和remain at表示保持在某种特定的水平或程度上；而hover around则表示保持在某种水平或程度上下。例如：

1)      China’s public debt to GDP ratio stood at 14.6 per cent — a comparatively low figure by international standards.

2)      The unemployment rate remained at 4.8% in January.

3)      GDP growth in the first half of this year was 7.9 per cent — among the highest in the world­— and is forecast to remain at 7.5 per cent for the whole year.

4)      The province’s export growth rates hovered around 9% throughout 2000.

4.      英语中表示减少、下降或下降百分之多少时，可以用decrease，fall,   reduce, down, drop, slide, slip, shrink以及dip等词。例如：

1)      In April, the wholesale price index decreased 0.7% from a year earlier.

2)      The consumer prices in March fell 0.4%.

3)      The monthly trade surplus fell 14.8% from a year earlier.

4)      At the global level, profits are estimated to have fallen by 12 per cent over the year.

5)      The export growth is forecast to fall to 10% or less in dollar terms this year from 27.8% last year.

6)      Overall retail sales in Japan fell by 3.5% in August.

7)      Actual investment during January-October was reduced to 3%.

8)      Output in the January-March quarter was down 3.7% from the previous three months for the first drop in seven quarters.

9)      The household spending in March dropped 4.3% from a year earlier, to $3,000.

10)   Third-quarter US GDP data showed that profits had dropped to 4.1 per cent of GDP,

11)   Nationwide consumer prices fell for the 23rd month in a row，dropping by 0.9% in August compared with the year before.

12)   Growth in property sales slid 13% in October from 37% in the first three quarters of 2001.

13)   The retail-price index slipped 2.9% in 1999 from the previous year.

14)   The trade surplus shrank 27.4% to $816.1 billion.

15)   Japan’s economy is expected to shrink by 0.5% this year.

16)   The International Monetary Fund predicts that the country’s GDP growth will dip back below 8% in 2001.