Abstract:Chinese language convention is a means to create a fluent translation and was once widely used in Chinese history of translation. However, ever since the late 1980s Chinese language convention has been disparaged and sparingly used in translation. In the light of this background the paper is to make a tentative study of Chinese language convention in English-Chinese translation by describing the nature of Chinese language convention, investigating its drawbacks and discussing its use in translation from the perspective of functionalism. The paper aims to argue that there is much room for its application if it is handled properly on condition that the principle of translation is  abided by. The paper mainly consists of four parts. Part one investigates diachronically the state of Chinese language convention in translation and reviews some scholars’ standpoints concerned. In part two we roughly define Chinese language convention based on Qu Qiubai’s（瞿秋白）classification of Chinese, then closely examine and highlight its nature against English structure. In part three, drawbacks of Chinese convention in translation are fully explained. Part four takes as theoretical base Nida’s functional equivalence and some propositions of foreign scholars concerned and argues for the role of Chinese language convention in translation through illustration of essay style and some other text types. 

Key Words:  E-C translation; Chinese language convention; drawbacks; study of its applicability

CONTENTS

Abstract

中文摘要

1. Introduction1

2. Literature Review..2

3. Chinese Language Convention Investigated 6  

4. Drawbacks of Chinese Language Convention in Translation Investigated9

4.1 Increase and Decrease of Meaning 

4.2 Chinese Image

4.3 Fancy language. 

5. Application of Chinese Language Convention Explored 11                      

5.1 Theoretical Base Concerned

5.2 Illustration of Chinese Language Convention in Translation  

6. Conclusion18

Bibliography.20

Acknowledgments..21