目的论视角下《1995年商船法》中定语从句的英汉翻译方法研究

A Study on E-C Translation Methods of Attributive Clauses in the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 from the Perspective of Skopos Theory

摘要: 随着经济全球化的发展，中国对外贸易规模迅速扩大，而跨境海运是国际贸易的重要支撑。作为规范商业航运领域法律关系的核心立法，《1995年商船法》在保障航运安全、效率与可持续发展方面具有重要作用。本文以该法为研究对象，在汉斯·弗米尔目的论的指导下，探讨其中定语从句的汉译方法。鉴于定语从句在法律条款中承担重要的修饰和限定功能，其准确译出对法律意义的传达至关重要。本研究从目的论视角分析三类主要译法：前置译法、译成状语法和拆分译法。研究发现：前置译法适用于结构简短、关系明确的限制性定语从句；语义上承担条件、时间等逻辑作用的定语从句更宜译为状语从句；结构复杂、层层嵌套的长定语从句则适合采用拆分译法，以提升条文的清晰度与可读性。三类方法在不同语境下体现了目的论中“目的–连贯–忠实”原则的动态平衡。本研究对海事立法文本的翻译实践及法律语篇中定语从句的研究具有一定参考价值，但本研究的局限在于语料范围有限、方法偏重质性分析，未来可扩大语料、加强跨文体与跨法系比较，并通过实证方式进一步检验译法的有效性。

Abstract: With the rapid expansion of China’s foreign trade under economic globalization, cross-border maritime shipping has become essential to international commerce. As a key statute regulating commercial shipping, the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 is crucial for ensuring maritime safety, efficiency, and compliance. Guided by Hans Vermeer’s Skopos Theory, this study examines the Chinese translation of attributive clauses in the Act, given their central role in defining legal scope and meaning. From a Skopos-based perspective, the study focuses on three translation methods: pre-positioning, translating attributive clauses into adverbial meaning, and breaking down and translating sentences. The findings show that pre-positioning works well for short, clear restrictive clauses; translating attributive clauses into adverbial meaning better reflects implicit logical relations; and breaking down and translating sentences improves the clarity of long, complex structures. These strategies demonstrate the balance between purpose, coherence, and fidelity required in legal translation. This research provides reference for translating maritime legislation and handling attributive clauses in legal discourse. However, the study is limited by its narrow corpus and qualita-tive approach. Future research may expand the corpus, strengthen the comparison across text types and legal systems, and empirically verify the effectiveness of the translation methods.