【正文】 spects: lexical equivalence, syntactic equivalence, textual equivalence and stylistic equivalence. In these four aspects, Nida put meaning in the first place, and form the second, as the form is likely to hide the cultural meaning in the source language and impede cultural munication. To this point, Nida once indicated as follows: The translator must strive for equivalence rather than identity. In a sense this is just another way of emphasizing the reproducing of the message rather than the conservation of the form of the utterance. [4] . 請 勿 踐 踏 草 地Please keep off the grass. 向 右 急 轉 彎Abrupt Turn Right . 注意安全DangerThe examples above are exact interpretation of this principle. Thus, according to Nida39。s theory, translation should be based on the four aspects of functional equivalence principle to accurately reproduce the cultural connotation of the source language. Situational Coherence The research of discourse must be connected to their context, because in real life, discourse usually es after context. Context and discourse are interdependent。 a specific context requires a specific text, and a specific discourse can create a specific context.In the course of translation, the translators try their best to produce the target texts exactly as meaningful as the source texts. However, the target texts should be acceptable in the target language situation. That is to say, the target texts must be meaningful and be understood by the target readers. In this way, the target texts meet the standard of “intratextual coherence”. A municative interaction may be seen as satisfactory only if the target readers consider it as being very coherent with the target language environment. So in the field of prompting public signs translation, only when the translation versions are well understandable can the target readers reach the expected intentions and effect of the prompting public signs. . 非緊急情況止步Original Version: No Entry on PeacetimeRevised Version: EMERGENCY EXIT ONLYActually, the intention of the above source text is to indicate that “this is an exit, and you can go to the outside through it only when you are in emergency”. And the revised version is more accordance with the English habitual expression. It not only points out that the exit can be used in emergency, but also hints that on peacetime no exit is admitted through it. Thus, we may conclude that on some specific occasions, it is better to use the conventional form of the target language during translation. Conformity in Emotional EvocationDifferent language rules govern the way of expression on different occasions. Just like Chinese, the same meaning in English can have a variety of expressions. The distinction among different modes of expressions often depends on the tone and emotion, while the choice of tone and emotion in turn relies on the specific environment. So the correct translation is only the first step and the translation of prompting signs must consider the given situations and audience, the psychological and emotional state of the target readers. Only when the prompting public signs meet the social and psychological need of the public, can they be popularly accepted. These nonlinguistic factors play a very important role in translation. In china, the sign “閑人免進” is mon to be seen on the door of many offices. The literal translation of the above sign is “Admittance denied to idlers”. For our natives, “閑人” is acceptable and regarded as a neutral word in the sign. However, its equal expression “idlers” may be received as a negative and impolite word by the foreigners. They may feel the Chinese people are bossy and unfriendly. In fact, “staff only” is a universally accepted version of this prompting public sign, for it attaches no personal prejudice and subjective color. Here is another example. . 請當心不要讓熱飲燙著手Caution! Please take care with hot drinks!This is quite a humanizing instance of prompting public sign translation. It does not follow the typical suit of the objective and impersonal model “Caution: Hot drinks!” The use of the gentle phrase “please take care” enables the audience to feel the caring and kind concern for them. Thus, this version has a better interpersonal and municative effect on the readers. Generally speaking, translation is a flexible process of conveying the source information in a target language. The five principles mentioned above are some general guidelines for correct and appropriate English versions of prompting public signs. Chapter 4Strategies for CE Translation of Prompting Public SignsWhether a work of translation is good or bad, readable or not has nothing to do with translation itself。 rather, it depends on the artistic level and strategies of the translator. Strategies of translation are usually proposed to accord with the demands of principles of translation. The following strategies are more municative than semantic according to the abovementioned principles. In the practice of translation, various concrete techniques can be employed, such as borrowing translation, negation translation, and omission translation, etc. It depends on the different contexts to adopt different strategies, so the author will put forward some basic techniques for translating prompting public signs. Borrowing The translation of prompting public signs should adhere to the principle of “borrowing” as much as possible. Dai Zongxian once pointed that signs that identical at home and abroad could absolutely be absorbed as the versions.In fact, many Chinese prompting public signs have their exactly fixed versions in English. Under such a condition, the translation of this kind of prompting signs should apply the conventional forms of the identical expressions. It is a wrong concept that