译者在翻译时应时刻保持语境意识。本文把Hatim和Mason提出语境三个层面理论作为理论基础,指导肢体语言的翻译。表面上非言语交际描述的翻译是文本间的翻译,而实质上是两个不同非言语系统之间的转换。本文全面阐述了非言语交际的定义,特征,研究状况并探究了肢体语言翻译中存在的问题：一是缺乏对非言语交际中文化信息的意识;二是忽视了上下文中非言语交际描述的功能。因此,如何提高译者翻译肢体语言时的语境意识是本文的核心。

听人问价，摊主抹了抹睡眼，伸出两个手指摆成八字形。(毛炳甫，《剥皮香蕉》)

Hearing the question, the owner rubbed his eyes and stretched out two fingers to indicate

the number 8. (Translated by Xia Yihu)

In this example, if we only turn this body language description“伸出两个手指摆成八字

形”literally into “stretch out two fingers to indicate the number 8”, the reader of the target language may get confused. They may wonder how to use two fingers to indicate “8”. Therefore, the maxim of quantity requires the translators to add explanation to the translation of this body language, and the original sentence may be rendered into “stretch out two fingers to indicate the Chinese character eight.”

(2) The Maxim of Quality

The maxim of quality requires the speaker not to say what is not true or what cannot be

proved. Since most body languages are heavily culture-bounded, in the translation process of culture-specific signs, cultural equivalence is a very significant criterion to judge the quality of the translation. For example:

“谁认便骂谁！”他站起来,两手叉在腰间说。(鲁迅，《阿Q正传》)

“The one who answers me is the one to be reviled!” cried Ah Q with his arms akimbo. (Translated by Feng Qinghua)

In the example, the cultural kinetic description “两手叉在腰间” is substituted by its

equivalent kinetic description “with his arms akimbo” in the target language. The information in the source text is conveyed successfully so that the target language reader can have almost the same information as what is obtained from the source text by the source text reader, which accords with the requirement of the maxim of quality

(3) The Maxim of Relevance

The maxim of relevance requires the speaker to say what is relevant to the present

communication. In translation, it requires the translation to be coherent and relevant to the communication context to the extreme extent. For example,

“小李，什么时候请吃糖?”王奶奶笑着问道。

“还没定呢。”她脸一红。

Version 1: “Xiao Li,” Granny Wang smiled, “When can I eat your candy?”

“I don't know.” She blushed with shyness.