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Abstract： Translating is a complex process that involves much more than a simple switching of languages and no translators could fail to take this into consideration before deploying a translating task. Meanwhile， there exist certain factors which may influence a translator’s choice of relevant translating approaches and techniques. As one of these determining and influential factors， text function is seen as a significant element that constitutes a translator’s translating strategy framework. Surrounding the relation between text function and translating， the discussion that follows will focus on Karl Buhler and Peter Newmark’s definition and classification of text function to exemplify the choice between “domestication” and “foreignization” as two major approaches in cross-cultural translating.
Keywords： text function translating relation domestication foreignization
It is known that the process of translating involves a variety of influential factors rather than a simple “transformation” of language forms. Producing a reasonable and readable translation does engage a translator’s various efforts in analyzing various factors that involved in the whole process. As Nida claims， “the adequacy of a translation depends on a great many different factors： the reliability of the text itself， the discourse type （from lyric poetry to grocery lists）， the intended audience， the manner in which the translated text is to be used （e.g. read in the quiet of one’s study or acted on the stage）， and the purpose for which the translation has been made， e.g. to inform， to change behavior， to amuse， or to sell a product.”
However， as various texts all have certain functional effects on the readers， text type and its function helps a translator in deciding the strategy on how to create reasonable equivalence between source language text （SLT） and target language text （TLT）， and between their relevant cultures as well. Theoretically， according to the German linguist Karl Buhler， language can be divided into three broad categories in terms of its functions： the expressive， the informative （representation） and the vocative （appeal） functions which are the main purposes of using language. Furthermore， Peter Newmark， professor of translation at the University of Surrey， latterly proposed a further definition of text type and function by applying Buhler’s functional theory of language as a theoretic basis.
Based on Buhler and Newmark’s concise classification of text type and function， an analysis on the three types of text function may provide the translator a reference for the choice between the two major cross-cultural translating approaches- domestication and foreignization. I. Expressive text
As Newmark explained， expressive text consists of serious imaginative literature， authoritative statements， autobiography， essays， personal correspondence and so forth. According to his opinion， “the core of the expressive function is the mind of the speaker， the writer， the originator of the utterance. He uses the utterance to express his feelings irrespective of any response.” From this point， expressive texts frequently consist of rich cultural ingredients and personal attitudes toward certain things or phenomena of the world. If the translation is going to be an expressive text in the target language （TL）， preserving the expressive function of the original text will become a basic purpose of the translating. Such being the case， whether the approach of domestication or foreignization is employed in the translating， one of the major purposes of the translation will be the faithful representation of the ideological features of the SLT. Below are two popular versions of the poetry “好了歌” from Chapter 2 of the Chinese novel “红楼梦”.
SLT：
好了歌
世人都晓神仙好，唯有功名忘不了！
古今将相在何方？荒冢一堆草没了。
世人都晓神仙好，只有金银忘不了！
终朝只恨聚无多，及到多时眼闭了。
世人都晓神仙好，只有娇妻忘不了！
君生日日说恩情，君死又随人去了。
世人都晓神仙好，只有儿孙忘不了！
痴心父母古来多，孝顺子孙谁见了？
TLT：
Version 1： translated by Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang
All Good Things Must End
All men long to be immortals
Yet to riches and rank each aspires；
The great ones of old， where are they now？
Their graves are a mass of briars.
All men long to be immortals，
Yet silver and gold they prize
And grub for money all their lives
Till death seals up their eyes.
All men long to be immortals
Yet dote on the wives they’ve wed，
Who swear to love their husband evermore
But remarry as soon as he’s dead.
All men long to be immortals
Yet with getting sons won’t have done.
Although fond parents are legion，
Who ever saw a really filial son？
Version 2： translated by David Hawkes
Won-Done Song
Men all know that salvation should be won，
But with ambition won’t have done， have done.
Where are the famous ones of days gone by？
In grassy graves they lie now， every one.
Men all know that salvation should be won，
But with their riches won’t have done， have done.
Each day they grumble they’ve not made enough. When an informative text is culture-related， on one hand， the translator has to convey the “cultural truth” of the SLT. On the other hand， maybe more importantly， the “cultural truth” needs to be rendered in a way which could be understood by the TLT readers. Hence， if the function of the source language （SL） and the text type are to be reserved， then the translating may be conducted in terms of the conventions and norms of the TL. Otherwise， the translation may fail to achieve the language function concerning informative texts. From this angle， a domesticating approach will be workable in the translating. This can be exemplified by the following excerpt of a bilingual introduction to the Water Pass Great Wall which is a section of the Great Wall of China.
SLT：
水关长城地势险要，苍龙起伏于崇山峻岭之间，穿行于悬崖峭壁之上，城堡相连，烽燧向望，双面箭垛，拒敌万千。水关长城东起“川字一号”，西至京张铁路，全长6.8公里，以奇、险、陡、坚著称。八达岭水关长城地处关沟中部，七十二景似明珠般散落于长城四周，弹琴峡、金鱼池、石佛寺、骆驼石等诸多景点散落于方圆25000平方米空间，为游客提供丰富的旅游资源。长城四季美如画，春看山花烂漫，夏览草木蓊郁，秋观漫山红叶，冬游苍龙卧雪，这里山清水秀长城壮美，人杰地灵古寺清幽。到了春天看长城两侧山花烂漫，远处长城悠远入云烟，你将充分体会到中华民族的伟大。
TLT：
The Great Wall section is of great strategic importance. It rises and falls along with the mountains， exactly like a huge dragon. It traverses upon precipices， connecting castles， beacon sites and arrow battlements against all enemies. The Water Pass Great Wall， 6.8 kilometers long， sets out with the Chuan Zi Yi Hao tower in the east and ends with the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway， known for fanciful， dangerous， precipitous and solid shape. Badaling Water Pass Great Wall， located in the central part of Guangou， boasts 72 scenic spots that scatter around like shining pearls. The Tanqin Gorge， Goldfish Pond， Stone Buddha Temple， and Camel Stone sites are found in an area of about 25，000 square meters， ideal for tourists to go sightseeing. The Great Wall is beautiful as pictures in all seasons. People may enjoy bright mountain flowers in full bloom in spring， lush growth of trees and grasses in summer， red leaves all over mountains in autumn， and white snow in winter. The scenery here has great charms， making it a remarkable place. You will be overcome with the greatness of the Chinese nation when observing blossoming mountain flowers fading along the Great Wall in spring.
In terms of language function， both the SLT and TLT bear the given function of informative text. The Chinese version is conveyed compatibly with the Chinese culture and language conventions. Similarly， the English version delivers to the TLT readers a general vision of the historical attraction as well. However， for the purpose of rendering a fluent and easily readable English text to the TL readers， the translation needs to be adapted to the conventions and norms of the English language， sacrificing some cultural elements on the lexical as well as semantic level due to the discrepancy in the two cultures. The following provides a brief analysis on some details of the SLT and TLT. 1. In the TLT of “苍龙起伏于崇山峻岭之间，穿行于悬崖峭壁之上……”， there is a transferring from metaphor to simile. This is because that “苍龙”（grey dragon） in the SLT has no effect on the TLT readers’ metaphoric association with the image that the Great Wall extends kilometers on the tops of the mountains. The translator then transferred this metaphor into a simile as “exactly like a huge dragon” in order to clearly remind the readers of the image of the Great Wall.
2. For the proper nouns “弹琴峡”“金鱼池”“石佛寺” and “骆驼石” in the SLT， although the materialized names of these attractions are exclusive to the Chinese material culture， the TLT readers are familiar with the material symbols of the names. Thus， the names are conveyed into the TLT directly， impacting the English TL readers with the same idea that the Chinese text readers have. However， a foreignizing approach， which delivers a literal translation of “弹琴峡” as “Music-playing Gorge”， may not be appreciated by the TL readers since there is no such an association between music and a gorge as they have in Chinese. Therefore， the name is transliterated as “Tanqin Gorge” （Note： Immortals in Chinese myths often playing Guzheng， a traditional Chinese stringed musical instrument， in the gorges）.
3. The SLT sentence “春看山花烂漫，夏览草木蓊郁，秋观漫山红叶，冬游苍龙卧雪……” is organized with typical Chinese four-character phrase. First of all， the ornate phrases represent the lingual aesthetics of Chinese and fairly show the Chinese readers specific sceneries of the Great Wall and its surrounding environment in different seasons. But this may not have the same aesthetic effect to the logic oriented English language readers and it is nearly impossible to reveal the four-character style in the TLT since the two languages have different conventions. In addition， “看（look）”“览（view）”“观（watch）” and “游（sight-see）” in the sentence all have the same meaning in the Chinese text， they are just used to avoid repetition of a same term， hence， the translator replaced the four words with “enjoy” in the TLT， breaking the Chinese sentential structure to suit that of English language.
4. There is a ideological discrepancy reflected in the sentence， “山清水秀 （clear waters and beautiful mountains）”“长城壮美 （the magnificent Great Wall）”“人杰地灵 （great men and propitious places）” and “古寺清幽 （a peaceful and quiet ancient temple）” are actually another example of Chinese four-character， the actual intention of the author is to present the Chinese readers a charming cultural picture of the Great Wall and its surrounding environment. However， the TLT readers may get lost in the logic of a foreignized version of the Chinese text because Chinese ideology often describes a general vision by a series of scattered idea points. Concerning the informative function of the text， it is better to render the TLT readers the essential meaning of the sentence： “The scenery here has great charms， making it a remarkable place.” 5. As for the sentence segment “到了春天看长城两侧山花烂漫，远处长城悠远入云烟……”， there contains two parts of the image of the Great Wall in spring， one is “长城两侧山花烂漫 （there are blooming flowers along the two sides of the Great Wall ）” and “远处长城悠远入云烟 （the Great Wall in the far distance is extending into the clouds and fogs.）” But a translation with the same structure may be loose in the logic according to the convention of English， and the TLT may not get the correct information about the image from the TLT. A modification of the structure and a sacrifice of the cultural content “入云烟” are engaged in the translating.
In general， the core of an informative text is to deliver the “external situation”“the facts of a topic” and “reality outside language”， namely， the fundamental function of informative text is to provide certain information about things. It is demonstrated in the above example that if the same informative function of the SLT is to be implemented in the TLT， the translating needs to focus more on the substantial meaning or information that are contained in the SLT， rather than simply rendering all the contents of the SLT. Thus， for the TL readers’ best understanding of the information given by the SLT， the translator may need to apply the techniques such as paraphrasing， summarizing and free translating， which could be categorized as the specific methods of domestication. From the example cited， it can be said that the approach of domestication will be a more favorable approach to the translating of informative texts.
III. Vocative Text
Newmark has put forward that “the core of the vocative function of language is the readership， the addressee. I use the term Vocative in the sense of 'calling upon' the readership to act， think or feel， in fact to 'react' in the way intended by the text （the vocative is the case used for addressing your reader in some inflected languages）. This function of language has been given many other names， including 'conative' （denoting effort）， 'instrumental， 'operative' and 'pragmatic' （in the sense of used to produce a certain effect on the readership）.” Newmark claims that vocative texts often deal with a readership rather than a reader， and concerning the purposes of translation， notices， instructions， publicity， propaganda， persuasive writing and possibly popular fiction are usually counted as typical vocative texts， “whose purpose is to sell the book/entertain the reader”. As Newmark sees， one of the factors in all vocative texts is that “these texts must be written in a language that is immediately comprehensible to the readership.” Therefore， it is necessary to have an examination on both the linguistic and cultural level of the SLT before it is given a “pragmatic impact”. Since these texts are often endowed with strong and specific purposes， the equivalent （or at least the similar） effect must be achieved by the TLT to a large extent when rendering the SLT into another language. In this sense， when cultural discrepancies occur in the translating of the vocative texts， a domesticating approach may be adopted， so that the TL readers could react with an immediate comprehension.
Among the vocative texts， commercial advertisement is a typical example in demonstrating the function of vocative language， as it is a means of presenting the relative product or service to the customers for the purpose of impressing and attracting potential consumers， that is， the function of advertisement is not only to deliver the information and features of the product or service， but also to appeal to the potential customers. To achieve this end， the advertisement has to be readily acceptable to the TL readers， and it should adapt to the cultural background of the customers， otherwise the advertisement will fail to realize its function. See the following examples.
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While there are no crucial cultural discrepancies in the above examples， a foreignized version of the examples such as literal translation is faithful enough to convey the literal meaning into the TLT， but the TLT needs to be somewhat rhetoric in terms of the TL culture for the purpose of impressing the consumers， which is the core function of these vocative texts. Therefore， the advertisements in the TL have been deliberately modified to reach a rhetorical style appealing to the TL readers.
Advertisement one could be regarded as a typical example of a domesticating approach： firstly， the trade mark “Coca Cola” has been “translated” as “可口可乐” - an alluding phrase which means “tasty （可口） and happiness （可乐）”. Secondly， “things go better” has been translated into a conventional Chinese saying “万事如意 （everything goes as you hope）” and the TLT readers could immediately react to the advertisement since such sayings always contain good wishes and are popular in the Chinese culture and tradition.
In the same way， “black and white” in advertisement two could be literally translated as “黑白的”， and “is always colour” could be translated as “有色彩的”，basically， the translation could be “对于我，过去是黑白的，但是未来是有色彩的。” But the vocative function of the SLT is not adequately realized by this translation. That is， it doesn’t sound attractive to the TLT readers in terms of style. Hence， the translator has elaborated “black and white” and “is always colour” with the two Chinese four-character phrases “平淡无奇” and “绚烂缤纷”， thus to achieve an antithetic structure and style commonly used in the TL and present to the TL readers a strong impression and arouse their curiosity towards the Whiskey products. This domesticating phenomenon also occurs in the translating of example 3 and 4. You never actually own…常伴身旁 （always be with you）
…look after it for next generation： 传家风范 （a precious heirloom）
Intelligence： 智慧演绎 （intelligence evolves）
everywhere： 无处不在 （in every place/everywhere）
As for examples 5 and 6， they both impress the SLT readers with a concise expression that is well suited to the TL convention and culture. Example 5 “good to the last drop” is an advertising slogan of Maxwell House Coffee， implicating that the marvelous flavor lasts till the last drop of the coffee. However， the literal translation “好到最后一滴” could not arouse the TLT readers imagination of the aroma-filled coffee， since the literal TLT is too flat to be impressive and attractive. Thus， it is translated with two parallel four-character phrases which is a popular style of traditional Chinese language： “滴滴香浓，意犹未尽 （every drop is aroma-filled and great， the fascinating flavour lasts long）”. The same technique is applied in the translating of example 6 “钻石恒久远 （diamond means forever） ，一颗永流传 （one diamond will be passed on forever）”. In this translation， the original sentence actually has been repeated twice in different expressions， depicting the core annotation of the advertisement.
It is demonstrated by the above examples that since language is a carrier of culture， the issues of cultural discrepancies and voids are inevitably involved in cross-cultural translating， and different text functions may lead to different translating strategies and techniques. To address relative cultural discrepancies and voids， translators frequently turn to two different translating orientations： TL culture-oriented domestication and SL culture-oriented foreignization， depending on the text function of the SLT.
Nevertheless， Newmark has explained in particular that “Few texts are purely expressive， informative or vocative： most include all three functions， with an emphasis on one of the three.”9 Hence， it is necessary for a translator to be aware that a feasible translating strategy will be a combination of various approaches and techniques， since each of them may be specified in dealing with particular issues and text type（s） of the translating.
Ⅳ.Conclusion
On the whole， text function may pose a significant influence over the translator’s decision-making on the choice of the translating approaches and strategies， it is necessary for a translator to be aware that a feasible translating strategy is a comprehensive application of various approaches and techniques. Since language is definitely a significant carrier of culture， translating could be regarded as an inter-cultural communication with the translator as a mediator. When encountering with cultural discrepancies in the process of translating， the translator frequently faces a choice of whether to convey the cultural ingredients to the TL readers or replace them with similar ones in the target language. Presuming that the function of the SLT is to be maintained in the TLT， then different text function of the SLT may lead to different choice of the translating strategies. However， domestication and foreignization are not poles apart from each other， as the two approaches could be complementary to each other in an integrating translating strategy in cross-cultural translating in accordance with different situations. The feasibility of the two approaches should be considered based on all the related factors， including text function， that are involved in the translating. Bibliography：
[1]Eugene A. Nida. Language and Culture- Contexts in Translating[M]. Shanghai： Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. 2001.
[2]Eugene A. Nida. Toward a Science of Translating[M]. Shanghai： Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. 2004.
[3]Edward Burnett Tylor. Primitive Cultures[M]. New York： J.P. Putnam’s Sons. 1871.
[4]http：//en.wikipedia.org.
[5]Katan.Translating Cultures： An Introduction for Translators， Interpreters and Mediator[M]. London： St. Jerome Publishing. 1999.
[6]Peter Newmark. A Textbook of Translation[M]. Shanghai： Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. 2002.
[7]Richards， I. A.. Toward a Theory of Translating， in Studies in Chinese Thought[J]. American Anthropological Association， vol. 55， memoir 75. Chicago： Chicago University Press. 1953.
[8]Venuti Lawrence. The Translator's Invisibility[M]. London and New York： Routledge. 1995.
作者简介：
彭杰，红河学院外国语学院讲师，英语口笔译硕士，研究方向：英语口笔译理论与实践。
（责编 张亚欣）
Keywords： text function translating relation domestication foreignization
It is known that the process of translating involves a variety of influential factors rather than a simple “transformation” of language forms. Producing a reasonable and readable translation does engage a translator’s various efforts in analyzing various factors that involved in the whole process. As Nida claims， “the adequacy of a translation depends on a great many different factors： the reliability of the text itself， the discourse type （from lyric poetry to grocery lists）， the intended audience， the manner in which the translated text is to be used （e.g. read in the quiet of one’s study or acted on the stage）， and the purpose for which the translation has been made， e.g. to inform， to change behavior， to amuse， or to sell a product.”
However， as various texts all have certain functional effects on the readers， text type and its function helps a translator in deciding the strategy on how to create reasonable equivalence between source language text （SLT） and target language text （TLT）， and between their relevant cultures as well. Theoretically， according to the German linguist Karl Buhler， language can be divided into three broad categories in terms of its functions： the expressive， the informative （representation） and the vocative （appeal） functions which are the main purposes of using language. Furthermore， Peter Newmark， professor of translation at the University of Surrey， latterly proposed a further definition of text type and function by applying Buhler’s functional theory of language as a theoretic basis.
Based on Buhler and Newmark’s concise classification of text type and function， an analysis on the three types of text function may provide the translator a reference for the choice between the two major cross-cultural translating approaches- domestication and foreignization. I. Expressive text
As Newmark explained， expressive text consists of serious imaginative literature， authoritative statements， autobiography， essays， personal correspondence and so forth. According to his opinion， “the core of the expressive function is the mind of the speaker， the writer， the originator of the utterance. He uses the utterance to express his feelings irrespective of any response.” From this point， expressive texts frequently consist of rich cultural ingredients and personal attitudes toward certain things or phenomena of the world. If the translation is going to be an expressive text in the target language （TL）， preserving the expressive function of the original text will become a basic purpose of the translating. Such being the case， whether the approach of domestication or foreignization is employed in the translating， one of the major purposes of the translation will be the faithful representation of the ideological features of the SLT. Below are two popular versions of the poetry “好了歌” from Chapter 2 of the Chinese novel “红楼梦”.
SLT：
好了歌
世人都晓神仙好，唯有功名忘不了！
古今将相在何方？荒冢一堆草没了。
世人都晓神仙好，只有金银忘不了！
终朝只恨聚无多，及到多时眼闭了。
世人都晓神仙好，只有娇妻忘不了！
君生日日说恩情，君死又随人去了。
世人都晓神仙好，只有儿孙忘不了！
痴心父母古来多，孝顺子孙谁见了？
TLT：
Version 1： translated by Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang
All Good Things Must End
All men long to be immortals
Yet to riches and rank each aspires；
The great ones of old， where are they now？
Their graves are a mass of briars.
All men long to be immortals，
Yet silver and gold they prize
And grub for money all their lives
Till death seals up their eyes.
All men long to be immortals
Yet dote on the wives they’ve wed，
Who swear to love their husband evermore
But remarry as soon as he’s dead.
All men long to be immortals
Yet with getting sons won’t have done.
Although fond parents are legion，
Who ever saw a really filial son？
Version 2： translated by David Hawkes
Won-Done Song
Men all know that salvation should be won，
But with ambition won’t have done， have done.
Where are the famous ones of days gone by？
In grassy graves they lie now， every one.
Men all know that salvation should be won，
But with their riches won’t have done， have done.
Each day they grumble they’ve not made enough. When an informative text is culture-related， on one hand， the translator has to convey the “cultural truth” of the SLT. On the other hand， maybe more importantly， the “cultural truth” needs to be rendered in a way which could be understood by the TLT readers. Hence， if the function of the source language （SL） and the text type are to be reserved， then the translating may be conducted in terms of the conventions and norms of the TL. Otherwise， the translation may fail to achieve the language function concerning informative texts. From this angle， a domesticating approach will be workable in the translating. This can be exemplified by the following excerpt of a bilingual introduction to the Water Pass Great Wall which is a section of the Great Wall of China.
SLT：
水关长城地势险要，苍龙起伏于崇山峻岭之间，穿行于悬崖峭壁之上，城堡相连，烽燧向望，双面箭垛，拒敌万千。水关长城东起“川字一号”，西至京张铁路，全长6.8公里，以奇、险、陡、坚著称。八达岭水关长城地处关沟中部，七十二景似明珠般散落于长城四周，弹琴峡、金鱼池、石佛寺、骆驼石等诸多景点散落于方圆25000平方米空间，为游客提供丰富的旅游资源。长城四季美如画，春看山花烂漫，夏览草木蓊郁，秋观漫山红叶，冬游苍龙卧雪，这里山清水秀长城壮美，人杰地灵古寺清幽。到了春天看长城两侧山花烂漫，远处长城悠远入云烟，你将充分体会到中华民族的伟大。
TLT：
The Great Wall section is of great strategic importance. It rises and falls along with the mountains， exactly like a huge dragon. It traverses upon precipices， connecting castles， beacon sites and arrow battlements against all enemies. The Water Pass Great Wall， 6.8 kilometers long， sets out with the Chuan Zi Yi Hao tower in the east and ends with the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway， known for fanciful， dangerous， precipitous and solid shape. Badaling Water Pass Great Wall， located in the central part of Guangou， boasts 72 scenic spots that scatter around like shining pearls. The Tanqin Gorge， Goldfish Pond， Stone Buddha Temple， and Camel Stone sites are found in an area of about 25，000 square meters， ideal for tourists to go sightseeing. The Great Wall is beautiful as pictures in all seasons. People may enjoy bright mountain flowers in full bloom in spring， lush growth of trees and grasses in summer， red leaves all over mountains in autumn， and white snow in winter. The scenery here has great charms， making it a remarkable place. You will be overcome with the greatness of the Chinese nation when observing blossoming mountain flowers fading along the Great Wall in spring.
In terms of language function， both the SLT and TLT bear the given function of informative text. The Chinese version is conveyed compatibly with the Chinese culture and language conventions. Similarly， the English version delivers to the TLT readers a general vision of the historical attraction as well. However， for the purpose of rendering a fluent and easily readable English text to the TL readers， the translation needs to be adapted to the conventions and norms of the English language， sacrificing some cultural elements on the lexical as well as semantic level due to the discrepancy in the two cultures. The following provides a brief analysis on some details of the SLT and TLT. 1. In the TLT of “苍龙起伏于崇山峻岭之间，穿行于悬崖峭壁之上……”， there is a transferring from metaphor to simile. This is because that “苍龙”（grey dragon） in the SLT has no effect on the TLT readers’ metaphoric association with the image that the Great Wall extends kilometers on the tops of the mountains. The translator then transferred this metaphor into a simile as “exactly like a huge dragon” in order to clearly remind the readers of the image of the Great Wall.
2. For the proper nouns “弹琴峡”“金鱼池”“石佛寺” and “骆驼石” in the SLT， although the materialized names of these attractions are exclusive to the Chinese material culture， the TLT readers are familiar with the material symbols of the names. Thus， the names are conveyed into the TLT directly， impacting the English TL readers with the same idea that the Chinese text readers have. However， a foreignizing approach， which delivers a literal translation of “弹琴峡” as “Music-playing Gorge”， may not be appreciated by the TL readers since there is no such an association between music and a gorge as they have in Chinese. Therefore， the name is transliterated as “Tanqin Gorge” （Note： Immortals in Chinese myths often playing Guzheng， a traditional Chinese stringed musical instrument， in the gorges）.
3. The SLT sentence “春看山花烂漫，夏览草木蓊郁，秋观漫山红叶，冬游苍龙卧雪……” is organized with typical Chinese four-character phrase. First of all， the ornate phrases represent the lingual aesthetics of Chinese and fairly show the Chinese readers specific sceneries of the Great Wall and its surrounding environment in different seasons. But this may not have the same aesthetic effect to the logic oriented English language readers and it is nearly impossible to reveal the four-character style in the TLT since the two languages have different conventions. In addition， “看（look）”“览（view）”“观（watch）” and “游（sight-see）” in the sentence all have the same meaning in the Chinese text， they are just used to avoid repetition of a same term， hence， the translator replaced the four words with “enjoy” in the TLT， breaking the Chinese sentential structure to suit that of English language.
4. There is a ideological discrepancy reflected in the sentence， “山清水秀 （clear waters and beautiful mountains）”“长城壮美 （the magnificent Great Wall）”“人杰地灵 （great men and propitious places）” and “古寺清幽 （a peaceful and quiet ancient temple）” are actually another example of Chinese four-character， the actual intention of the author is to present the Chinese readers a charming cultural picture of the Great Wall and its surrounding environment. However， the TLT readers may get lost in the logic of a foreignized version of the Chinese text because Chinese ideology often describes a general vision by a series of scattered idea points. Concerning the informative function of the text， it is better to render the TLT readers the essential meaning of the sentence： “The scenery here has great charms， making it a remarkable place.” 5. As for the sentence segment “到了春天看长城两侧山花烂漫，远处长城悠远入云烟……”， there contains two parts of the image of the Great Wall in spring， one is “长城两侧山花烂漫 （there are blooming flowers along the two sides of the Great Wall ）” and “远处长城悠远入云烟 （the Great Wall in the far distance is extending into the clouds and fogs.）” But a translation with the same structure may be loose in the logic according to the convention of English， and the TLT may not get the correct information about the image from the TLT. A modification of the structure and a sacrifice of the cultural content “入云烟” are engaged in the translating.
In general， the core of an informative text is to deliver the “external situation”“the facts of a topic” and “reality outside language”， namely， the fundamental function of informative text is to provide certain information about things. It is demonstrated in the above example that if the same informative function of the SLT is to be implemented in the TLT， the translating needs to focus more on the substantial meaning or information that are contained in the SLT， rather than simply rendering all the contents of the SLT. Thus， for the TL readers’ best understanding of the information given by the SLT， the translator may need to apply the techniques such as paraphrasing， summarizing and free translating， which could be categorized as the specific methods of domestication. From the example cited， it can be said that the approach of domestication will be a more favorable approach to the translating of informative texts.
III. Vocative Text
Newmark has put forward that “the core of the vocative function of language is the readership， the addressee. I use the term Vocative in the sense of 'calling upon' the readership to act， think or feel， in fact to 'react' in the way intended by the text （the vocative is the case used for addressing your reader in some inflected languages）. This function of language has been given many other names， including 'conative' （denoting effort）， 'instrumental， 'operative' and 'pragmatic' （in the sense of used to produce a certain effect on the readership）.” Newmark claims that vocative texts often deal with a readership rather than a reader， and concerning the purposes of translation， notices， instructions， publicity， propaganda， persuasive writing and possibly popular fiction are usually counted as typical vocative texts， “whose purpose is to sell the book/entertain the reader”. As Newmark sees， one of the factors in all vocative texts is that “these texts must be written in a language that is immediately comprehensible to the readership.” Therefore， it is necessary to have an examination on both the linguistic and cultural level of the SLT before it is given a “pragmatic impact”. Since these texts are often endowed with strong and specific purposes， the equivalent （or at least the similar） effect must be achieved by the TLT to a large extent when rendering the SLT into another language. In this sense， when cultural discrepancies occur in the translating of the vocative texts， a domesticating approach may be adopted， so that the TL readers could react with an immediate comprehension.
Among the vocative texts， commercial advertisement is a typical example in demonstrating the function of vocative language， as it is a means of presenting the relative product or service to the customers for the purpose of impressing and attracting potential consumers， that is， the function of advertisement is not only to deliver the information and features of the product or service， but also to appeal to the potential customers. To achieve this end， the advertisement has to be readily acceptable to the TL readers， and it should adapt to the cultural background of the customers， otherwise the advertisement will fail to realize its function. See the following examples.
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While there are no crucial cultural discrepancies in the above examples， a foreignized version of the examples such as literal translation is faithful enough to convey the literal meaning into the TLT， but the TLT needs to be somewhat rhetoric in terms of the TL culture for the purpose of impressing the consumers， which is the core function of these vocative texts. Therefore， the advertisements in the TL have been deliberately modified to reach a rhetorical style appealing to the TL readers.
Advertisement one could be regarded as a typical example of a domesticating approach： firstly， the trade mark “Coca Cola” has been “translated” as “可口可乐” - an alluding phrase which means “tasty （可口） and happiness （可乐）”. Secondly， “things go better” has been translated into a conventional Chinese saying “万事如意 （everything goes as you hope）” and the TLT readers could immediately react to the advertisement since such sayings always contain good wishes and are popular in the Chinese culture and tradition.
In the same way， “black and white” in advertisement two could be literally translated as “黑白的”， and “is always colour” could be translated as “有色彩的”，basically， the translation could be “对于我，过去是黑白的，但是未来是有色彩的。” But the vocative function of the SLT is not adequately realized by this translation. That is， it doesn’t sound attractive to the TLT readers in terms of style. Hence， the translator has elaborated “black and white” and “is always colour” with the two Chinese four-character phrases “平淡无奇” and “绚烂缤纷”， thus to achieve an antithetic structure and style commonly used in the TL and present to the TL readers a strong impression and arouse their curiosity towards the Whiskey products. This domesticating phenomenon also occurs in the translating of example 3 and 4. You never actually own…常伴身旁 （always be with you）
…look after it for next generation： 传家风范 （a precious heirloom）
Intelligence： 智慧演绎 （intelligence evolves）
everywhere： 无处不在 （in every place/everywhere）
As for examples 5 and 6， they both impress the SLT readers with a concise expression that is well suited to the TL convention and culture. Example 5 “good to the last drop” is an advertising slogan of Maxwell House Coffee， implicating that the marvelous flavor lasts till the last drop of the coffee. However， the literal translation “好到最后一滴” could not arouse the TLT readers imagination of the aroma-filled coffee， since the literal TLT is too flat to be impressive and attractive. Thus， it is translated with two parallel four-character phrases which is a popular style of traditional Chinese language： “滴滴香浓，意犹未尽 （every drop is aroma-filled and great， the fascinating flavour lasts long）”. The same technique is applied in the translating of example 6 “钻石恒久远 （diamond means forever） ，一颗永流传 （one diamond will be passed on forever）”. In this translation， the original sentence actually has been repeated twice in different expressions， depicting the core annotation of the advertisement.
It is demonstrated by the above examples that since language is a carrier of culture， the issues of cultural discrepancies and voids are inevitably involved in cross-cultural translating， and different text functions may lead to different translating strategies and techniques. To address relative cultural discrepancies and voids， translators frequently turn to two different translating orientations： TL culture-oriented domestication and SL culture-oriented foreignization， depending on the text function of the SLT.
Nevertheless， Newmark has explained in particular that “Few texts are purely expressive， informative or vocative： most include all three functions， with an emphasis on one of the three.”9 Hence， it is necessary for a translator to be aware that a feasible translating strategy will be a combination of various approaches and techniques， since each of them may be specified in dealing with particular issues and text type（s） of the translating.
Ⅳ.Conclusion
On the whole， text function may pose a significant influence over the translator’s decision-making on the choice of the translating approaches and strategies， it is necessary for a translator to be aware that a feasible translating strategy is a comprehensive application of various approaches and techniques. Since language is definitely a significant carrier of culture， translating could be regarded as an inter-cultural communication with the translator as a mediator. When encountering with cultural discrepancies in the process of translating， the translator frequently faces a choice of whether to convey the cultural ingredients to the TL readers or replace them with similar ones in the target language. Presuming that the function of the SLT is to be maintained in the TLT， then different text function of the SLT may lead to different choice of the translating strategies. However， domestication and foreignization are not poles apart from each other， as the two approaches could be complementary to each other in an integrating translating strategy in cross-cultural translating in accordance with different situations. The feasibility of the two approaches should be considered based on all the related factors， including text function， that are involved in the translating. Bibliography：
[1]Eugene A. Nida. Language and Culture- Contexts in Translating[M]. Shanghai： Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. 2001.
[2]Eugene A. Nida. Toward a Science of Translating[M]. Shanghai： Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. 2004.
[3]Edward Burnett Tylor. Primitive Cultures[M]. New York： J.P. Putnam’s Sons. 1871.
[4]http：//en.wikipedia.org.
[5]Katan.Translating Cultures： An Introduction for Translators， Interpreters and Mediator[M]. London： St. Jerome Publishing. 1999.
[6]Peter Newmark. A Textbook of Translation[M]. Shanghai： Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. 2002.
[7]Richards， I. A.. Toward a Theory of Translating， in Studies in Chinese Thought[J]. American Anthropological Association， vol. 55， memoir 75. Chicago： Chicago University Press. 1953.
[8]Venuti Lawrence. The Translator's Invisibility[M]. London and New York： Routledge. 1995.
作者简介：
彭杰，红河学院外国语学院讲师，英语口笔译硕士，研究方向：英语口笔译理论与实践。
（责编 张亚欣）