Foreword: Want to write a fascinating article? We have specially arranged the model articles of agricultural scientific papers in scientific English for you, hoping to bring you inspiration and reference. Please read them.
1、 Agriculture science and technology English Features of
1. Language standards. In order to deliver information accurately, Agricultural science and technology English requires the author to pay attention to the judgment of objective description, fact or logical definition, and avoid using vague and meaningless words to explain facts. This is different from the literary language that seeks to be elegant in style or to vent personal emotions or the author's inclination.
2. Objective and rigorous. English for agricultural science and technology is used to explain facts, concepts and principles, and explain natural phenomena. It has a strong logic and objectivity, and is generally used to describe the process and characteristics of science, the principles of things' development, new discoveries and new achievements of scientific research. Such a language is the structure needed for scientific reasoning and calculation.
2、 Difficulties in Translation of Agricultural Science and Technology English
These characteristics of agricultural science and technology English have brought many difficulties to its translation, resulting in the phenomenon of ambiguity and even errors. The previous research on its translation mostly focused on the translation of sentences and terms, believing that the translation can be accurate as long as the terms are understood, rather than digging deep reasons, which makes many people think that the translation of agricultural science and technology English is a headache. The main reasons are as follows:
（1） Translator's knowledge structure
In the process of agricultural science and technology English translation, the most difficult part is science and technology terminology. Although the proportion of terminology in the whole literature is usually only about 5% - 10%, the translation of these terms often affects the quality of the whole translation. Therefore, understanding the original documents can help the translator save time and avoid misunderstanding due to vague language. This requires that translators should have both good language skills and comprehensive professional knowledge, and such translators are still in short supply. Therefore, the following problems may occur during translation. For example, environmental friendly agriculture is translated as "environmentally friendly agriculture", while its actual meaning is "ecological agriculture".
（2） Multiple meanings of words
A typical feature of English vocabulary is polysemy, which has different meanings from one environment to another or context specific terms. However, the meaning of many words in the technical text of agricultural science and technology English is often different from that of ordinary words. For example, the word "container" usually means "box, bottle, etc., some of which are reserved, etc.", which can be translated as "container". When transporting goods, it is translated as "container", which causes difficulties in translation.
（3） Lexical vacancy
Vocabulary is the basic element of language, and language reflects culture. Nowadays, with the continuous development of society, many new words have appeared. Many words with strong Chinese characteristics are used in agricultural production. Some Chinese words with unique national characteristics cannot be found in other languages. For example, the "three rural issues" of agriculture, farmers and rural issues. These feature words are difficult to find suitable English words. Therefore, in the process of translation, this is a vocabulary gap that is easy to appear, which increases the difficulty of agricultural science and technology English translation.
3、 Translation Skills of Agricultural Science and Technology English
Agricultural science and technology English mainly focuses on describing a process or phenomenon, clarifying the principle, or transmitting information. In addition, nonverbal expressions, such as graphics, symbols and formulas, are often used to make up for the lack of language expression. (Zhang Yingmei, 2011) Therefore, according to these characteristics of agricultural science and technology English, the following translation techniques are proposed.
（1） Use a lot of passive sentences
It is a tradition to use the passive voice in agricultural science and technology English writing. Passive sentences are usually shorter and more concise than active sentences. Because scientists are more interested in actions and facts than in the originators of actions, the originators of actions are mostly ignored. Use the passive voice to ensure clearer meaning and simpler structure. The passive voice tends to convey objective information, which can be introduced in a passive way at the beginning. Therefore, based on the differences between Chinese and English, there are usually several ways to translate.
（2） Nominalization
Nominalization is one of the characteristics of agricultural science and technology English. Nominalization refers to the conversion of non noun words such as adjectives and verbs into nouns, but they express the same meaning. The nominalized words can not only play the role of nouns, but also express the content that the original predicate verbs or adjectives want to express, so as to make the expression more objective; More importantly, after nominalization, attributive modifier can be added before or after the noun, which can enrich the information expressed. Therefore, in the text of agricultural science and technology English, the phenomenon of nominalization is widespread. As a noun phrase contains the meaning of many words, it is very complicated to translate, and should not only stay on the surface structure.
（3） Widely used
The general present tense is different from the language of literary works. The text of agricultural science and technology English usually describes scientific discoveries, objective facts, principles or objective laws of the development of things, which does not need to be expressed in multiple tenses, but in the general present tense. The present facts and existing problems are expressed in the simple present tense, while the past events can be expressed in the simple past tense without using other tenses. This is more objective and does not contain feelings.
4、 Conclusion
With the rapid development of agricultural science and technology and the increase of communication, people will pay more and more attention to the translation of agricultural science and technology English, and at the same time, there will be more and more problems. This paper starts with the characteristics of agricultural science and technology English, analyzes its characteristics, causes of translation difficulties, and puts forward corresponding translation skills, hoping to provide some reference for readers engaged in this field. However, these are far from enough to solve the problems in the translation of agricultural science and technology English. It is hoped that more and more language and science and technology workers can combine language and agricultural knowledge and study them carefully, so as to promote the development of this field and serve the motherland and people.
Author: Liu Wei Unit: Jilin Agricultural University
