English Translations of Chinese Pharmaceutical Company Profiles from the Perspective of Functionalist Approach

Abstract

This study aims to compare and analyze English pharmaceutical company profiles (EPCP) and Chinese pharmaceutical company profiles (CPCP) from the perspective of a functionalist approach with the guideline of translation-oriented text analysis. A corpus will be used in the research. There are various differences in intratextual elements between the two profiles. From the corpus data, explicitly appellative functions are characterized by the high-frequency words in English whereas Chinese pharmaceutical company profiles weigh heavily in informative functions to sustain the authority. On sentence structure, it is observed that there are wide varieties of imperative sentences in native profiles whereas declarative sentences are in Chinese profiles. Another strategy for text functions in the native profile is the use of block language. In English profiles, rhetoric plays an important role in appealing; rhetorical person pronouns, metaphors, alliteration, repetition, and parallelism are common devices used to draw empathy for the company or products, and can also stir motivation for purchase action. Results would serve to formulate a model for English translations of Chinese pharmaceutical company profiles.