7
3.3.1 Problems Caused by Cultural Awareness 7
3.3.2 Problems Caused by Lack of equivalence 7
4. Theories of Translation Equivalence 8
4.1 Baker's Approach 8
4.2 Nida’s Formal and Functional Equivalence 8
5. Euphemism Translation in Modern Family from the Perspective of Functional Equivalence 10
5.1 A brief introduction to Modern Family 10
5.2 Strategies Applied in the Translation Process 10
5.2.1 Literal Translation 10
5.2.2 Free Translation 12
5.2.3 Addition 13
5.2.4 Domestication 14
5.3 Summary 15
6. Conclusion 16
References 17
1. Introduction
1.1 Significance of the Study
In daily communication, it is inevitable that some topics may cause embarrassment, fear and discomfort. People need to convey their ideas in an indirect way—euphemism. English and Chinese belong to different culture. Each culture has its own taboos; even the same tabooed subjects have different euphemistic expressions because of the cultural and linguistic gaps between the two languages. Different euphemistic expressions have different meanings and functions, which will affect the accurate understanding as well as the translation of euphemism in cross-cultural communication with no doubt.
Under the context of globalization, along with the advancement of technology and the popularity of mess media, Western TV series have been flooding into Chinese market through the Internet and becoming a bridge for Chinese people to feel exotic culture, especially for the young generation.
American situation comedies with their true-to-life stories, well-designed humor and rich culture have won a huge group of fans in China. Thus, it becomes a good material for Chinese audience to taste American culture.
The fact is that just a few hours after being broadcast in America, TV series can be shown on domestic websites. Therefore, translation plays a crucial part in appreciating the sitcoms by the target language audience and has profound impact on understanding the western culture.
Modern Family, a sitcom premiered on ABC channel on September 23, 2009, has generally received positive reviews from critics. It’s a show about three families and their stories which relatively present the life of upper-middle Americans. Most importantly, Modern Family can provide plenty of materials of euphemistic expressions.
Way back to as early as the 11st century when many elegant Latin words were borrowed to replace somehow vulgar Anglo-Saxon language, English euphemism gradually emerged and was used frequently in different demands and situations.
1.2 Literature Review of Euphemism both at Home and Abroad
1.2.1 General definition of “Euphemism”
In early 1580s, British writer George Blunt was the first one to coin the word “euphemism”. It is originated from the Greek word emphemismos. “eu” means “well or sounds good”; “phem” means “speak or say good things”.
“The Wikipedia” defines that “Euphemism is the use of a word or phrase to replace another one that one thinks to be too offensive or vulgar; to obscure the identity of the subject of a conversation from potential eavesdroppers. Some are intended to be humorous.” 从功能对等理论看《摩登家庭》中委婉语翻译的研究(2):http://www.751com.cn/yingyu/lunwen_51060.html