Abstract: The paper overviews briefly the development of the public signs translation research and its function. The research is conducted on the basis of some first-hand data collected from the on-the-spot survey. The results of this investigation show that the general situation of the translation of public signs in Nanjing Metro is optimistic. However, there still remain some problems which need to be solved. Ways of improvement and some translation techniques are proposed from the functionalist approaches as a theoretical framework for this paper. It is hoped that this paper will provide some effective improvement measures for the C-E translation of the public signs in Nanjing Metro.

Key words: public signs translation; investigation of the public signs translation in Nanjing Metro; functionalist approaches; effective improvement measures

摘要：本文首先对公示语的研究状况及其发展作了简要回顾，然后通过实地调查获取了相关第一手资料，并借此对南京地铁公示语英译状况进行了全面的分析和研究。文章指出了现存问题，客观报告了南京地铁公示语英译的现状和总体水平。文章还以德国功能翻译理论为指导，对实地调研所得第一手资料中发现的问题，即部分具体英译实例，进行了深入探讨，提出了相应的改译方法，旨在探索提高南京地铁公示语英译水平的有效途径。

关键词：公示语翻译；南京地铁公示语翻译调查；功能翻译理论；有效改进措施