Abstract The author holds that Nida’s functional equivalence is suitable for the translation of Chinese two-part allegorical sayings, and that there is not a fixed way to translate Chinese two-part allegorical sayings. At the end of this paper the author puts forward several useful methods for the translation on Chinese two-part allegorical sayings on the basis of functional equivalence theory. According to different types and features of Chinese two-part allegorical sayings, these ways should be applied flexibly and jointly to achieve the equivalence.53107
Keywords: two-part allegorical saying; functional equivalence; translation methods
摘要本文认为奈达的功能对等论适用于指导汉语歇后语的英译。在对功能对等理论进行分析的基础上,本文认为没有一个固定和唯一的翻译歇后语方法,在对等论的指导下提出几种有用的翻译技巧。根据不同类型和特点的歇后语,要灵活地运用不同的翻译策略,以求得两种语言进行转换时译文与原文读者感受效果之间的对等。
毕业论文关键词:歇后语;功能对等;翻译策略
Contents
1. Introduction 1
2. An Overview of Chinese Two-part Allegorical Sayings 3
2.1 Origin of Chinese Two-part Allegorical Sayings 3
2.2 Definition of Chinese Two-part Allegorical Sayings 4
2.3 Classification of Chinese Two-part Allegorical Sayings 5
3. Nida’s Functional Equivalence 7
3.1 Nida’s Formal Equivalence and Dynamic Equivalence 7
3.2 Functional Equivalence—the Development of Dynamic Equivalence 8
4. Translation Methods of Chinese Two-part Allegorical Sayings 8
4.1 Retaining Original Images 9
4.2 Changing Original Images 10
4.3 Abandoning Original Images 11
5. Conclusion 12
Works Cited 13
1. Introduction
Chinese two-part allegorical sayings are very important in Chinese, and it has been ignored in the field of translation. Researchers did not pay attention to them until the foundation of the Ballad Seminar in Peking University in 1920. In the 1930s, different aspects of Chinese two-part allegorical sayings were discussed, which are helpful for further studies in this field during the 20th century. However, Chinese two-part allegorical sayings still gain much less attention than other forms of idioms.
Because Chinese two-part allegorical sayings did not belong to a separate category in early times, researchers, in quite a long time, have seldom studied specifically on the translation of Chinese two-part allegorical sayings. They just mentioned the translation of two-part allegorical sayings when discussing the translation of idioms. A typical example is Professor Zhang Peiji’s study on the translation of Chinese idioms (1979: 34). In his book, Zhang Peiji mentioned the translation of Chinese two-part allegorical sayings while researching on Chinese idioms. He put forward twelve approaches to translate Chinese idioms. Among those approaches, seven ones can be used to translate Chinese two-part allegorical sayings. The results of Zhang’s study provide helpful advice and guidance for the translation of Chinese two-part allegorical sayings. However his fails to take literary factors into consideration in literary translation. In his mind, Chinese two-part allegorical sayings belong to a kind of vulgarism. He held that rude languages should not be used in translation.