从奈达的功能对等理论看网络流行语英译研究

陈竞喆

摘 要：網络流行语最近几年十分流行。它反映了当代中国社会中有趣并流行的事物。它跟随了时代的发展，并且以生动形象的方式展示了中国社会一些特殊的现象。在中国改革开放近三十年以来，又有很多流行语出现。功能对等理论是一种经典的翻译理论。用功能对等理论指导网络流行语翻译是与外国友人交流和传递中国文化的很好的理论工具。

关键词：网络流行语；功能对等理论；翻译

中图分类号：H315.9 文献标识码：A 文章编号：1671-2064（2018）01-0225-05

Chapter 1 Introduction

In recent years， the buzzwords have developed in a rapid way. Buzzwords could reflect the phenomenon of the Chinese culture， society and people's lifestyles. Therefore， the buzzwords have become one of the most important parts of the popular Chinese culture.What's more， the translation is the connection between Chinese culture and western culture. Buzzwords could help foreigners know better about Chinese in all the different views. The functional equivalence is one of the most classic theories in the aspect of translation theories. It helps to apply the theory into practice. It is one of the useful theories among the translation theories. Therefore， it is really available for people to translate the Chinese buzzwords into English by using the functional equivalence theory.

1.1 Research Background

The predecessor of the translator named Zhang Xia has published an article which firstly indicated the problems of the Chinese buzzwords. After his research， more and more scholars have begun to focus on this topic. With the development of the Internet， the communication among countries has spread much faster than before. So does the buzzwords. Therefore， there are more and more people notice the importance of the study on the buzzwords of Chinese. Anyway， with the development of the buzzwords， the academic field needs theories to indicate the translation of the buzzwords. Therefore， this dissertation focuses on how to translate the Chinese buzzwords into English due to the functional equivalency theory.

1.2 Purpose of the research

In the phase of the research， I decide to choose the following problems as my research purposes：

（1）To study the translation strategies for the development of the future

The study will provide the strategies， the data， and the method of analyzing the phenomenon of the buzz words to provide material for the people for their future studies. The data will update from time to time. Therefore， it is necessary for people to keep on updating the data in the field. It will also give some suggestions for the translation in translating the Chinese vogue words.

（2）To reflect the most significant phenomenon in current society of Chinaendprint

China has witnessed the development track of society， listen attentively to the changes of beat of people's life， and expresses special meanings through vivid. In China， great quantity of new things and new thoughts emerge with social development in the past thirty years which are mirrored by Chinese vogue expressions. Therefore， the study of the Chinese vogue expressions could reflect the interest， the process of the society of China.

1.3 Originality

There are two main points of the originality. Firstly， though some of the researchers have focused on the study on buzzwords， few of them focused on the functional equivalence theory. Furthermore， the research on the buzzwords translation begins much later than the other researchers in domestic. This paper mainly focuses on the translation conducted by functional equivalence theory. Secondly， the online buzzwords are emerging in a great amount of numbers. They update from time to time. There are also many words need to be translated into Chinese. The paper focuses on the latest morpheme. Therefore， it is necessary for people to update them for practical reasons.

Chapter 2 Literature review

2.1 Previous Study of the Functional Equivalence

The famous translation theorist， linguist Eugene Nida put forward the most famous "dynamic equivalence" in translation， according to the nature of translation theory. It has developed into 4 stages. The first stage is to pay attention to the original meaning， which means whether the translated version is related to the original meaning. Besides that， it also focuses not only the lexical equivalence， but also includes semantics， style and stylistic equivalence[1-2].

Dynamic equivalence is based on Nida's Effect Principle which means the meaning of the information between the new receiver and the new sender should be equal. The relations between the subjects and the messages remain fairly consistent. In 1969， in the passage of "translation theory and practice"， Nida again makes a definition of the "dynamic equivalence"which supplements his former theory. Dynamic translation focuses on the receptor's response， and it can be described as "the original version has the equal meaning to the source-language message"[3-4].

In functional equivalence theory， meaning and style are the most important part in the translation. Furthermore， the meaning of the word is the most important part in the article， therefore， meaning is much more important than the style.（Li Wenge，2004： 112-130）. "In Language and Culture-Context in translating， he shows that "functional equivalence" maintains all kinds of adequacy from minimal to maximal equivalence". Therefore， the core thinking of his theory is that the meaning of the term is in the first place， and form is in the second place. To sum up， the translator should make the translated one be equivalent to the original version which means that formal equivalence should give way to meaning equivalence[5].endprint

All in all， it is difficult to find a complete and the same meaning peer words or sentences to express. Therefore， for readers are much likely to accept the translation easier. It means to explain directly to the day for language in the corresponding direct vocabulary description， interpretation of the original. In this way the translation network spreads to people. What's more， the function equivalency theory is one of the most authoritative theories. It has been considered as the highest level of the translation. It has been adapted to translate many books successfully， such as Bible. All in all， I chose the function equivalence theory to translate the Chinese buzzwords[6].

2.2 The principle of the translation conducted by the equivalence theory

The dynamic theory has three principles. The first one is about equal meaning in the source， language and message. The second one is about the natural which relates to the target language. It means that translated version should convey the deeper meaning of the translated version. When the translator translates the buzzwords， he should know about the culture and the connotation of the original version. The third one is about the format. If the format of the original version could not be equal to the translated one both in format and the meaning， the translator should abandon the format and reveal the meaning of the original ones at the largest extent. Nida's functional equivalence could indicate and reveal the phenomenon of the English translation due to the three principles. Because of the huge difference between the two cultures， it is difficult for people to find the exactly translated version equal to the original version both in the meaning and in the format. Therefore， in the way of explaining the original version could make the translation much more accessible. The way of it could also be used in the buzzwords. In a word， the format of the buzzwords of the translated version doesn't have to be equal to the original version only if they are functional equivalence to each other[7].

Chapter 3 Chinese buzzwords

3.1 Definition of Chinese buzzword

Chinese buzzword， as kinds of language phenomena， reflects the hottest topics of the society， the widespread concerns and affairs in the region or the country. Some of the buzzwords came from the communication of people on the Internet， such as “斑竹”，“菜鳥”and so on. Others came out from the reality and peoples daily lives， such as social phenomenon， social affairs， and TV program. Catchwords are kinds of language prevailing in a certain period of time and meanwhile reflecting properties of society， culture， customs and human feelings of that time. [6]The buzzwords develop in different period and they reflect the changes of the society. Therefore， it is also a social-cultural phenomenon.endprint

3.2 The characteristics of the Chinese buzzwords

The buzzwords are epidemic， ironical and interesting. The vogue expressions are epidemic which means they are timely. The buzzwords are in a dynamic trend. They all experience a process from emergence to popularity. Then they may turn from the flourish to the disappearance. Due to the history， value， reality and culture， most of the buzzwords dont last for a long time. For example， the buzzword like “又红又专” has been little used today. They may not exist on the list of the catchwords any longer. However， not all the vogue expressions will disappear forever， such as “没戏” from the Beijing dialect. They are still used by people nowadays. All in all， the catchwords are unstable factors and they show different fields in vocabularies[8].

The vogue expressions always could be a way to express the emotion. It is not only the communication tool but also the way to express the feelings， such as dissatisfaction， disappointment， happiness and son on. For example： the local tyrants. This Chinese expression means who is a millionaire but few of knowledge. It is an ironic way to express the attitude to the group of people.

Good-looks club refers to those people who prefer appearance of the person rather than other materials. All of those are the emotions of people which reflect the society， the lives and so on.

The third features of the buzzwords are interesting. Some of the buzzwords show the meaning of the word in an interesting way. Some of those are very funny. For example is the "3l" which is the abrasive of the "luxury， large and level up." It comes from the TV programs and the film in Feng Xiaogang's movie. It describes the things that are valuable and priceless. However， it is also used in the ironic ways. The phrase is rhyming and interesting.

3.3 Reasons for buzzwords emergence

The emergence of buzzwords comes from the new events. The buzzwords are appearing with the new things or the new phenomenon. For example the word “負翁”， which indicates the people who turn from a millionaire to a poor because of the stock reasons. Finally， it develops gradually and indicates people whose account is minus. Another example is “灌水”， it used to refer to water or irrigation， and now because of the Internet， the word refers to people who upload their meaningless comments to the BBS[9].

The next reason the buzzwords ‘showing up is that the homophonic or the word's pattern. The most outstanding example is the word “囧”. This character looks like the person's facial expression which expresses the sad feelings. Therefore， these buzzwords now represent the embarrassing feelings of a person. The next example is “槑”. We could guess the meaning from its pattern. It describes the people who are stupid. Now the word is used to describe people who are nave， stupid and innocent.endprint

Chapter 4 Buzzwords Translation Based on the Functional Equivalence

4.1 Existing Problems in Translation of Chinese Buzzwords

4.1.1 Chinglish

Chinese English refers to the diversity of English that is used for describing the phenomena particular to some fields such as the politics， economy， culture and society in China， according to Standard English or established by some popular usage. Besides， it is intelligible and acceptable to educative native English speakers. When we translate the buzzwords online， sometimes the translated version is not original ones. It may be influenced by the translator's own culture. Then the circumstance of Chinglish missing happens. Hybrid language that is neither English nor Chinese and Joan Pinkham described it as "English with Chinese characteristics". It is necessary for the translators to make a theoretical study of the nature and sources of Chinglish. And the main sources of Chinglish are listed， such as the differences of linguistic， cultural elements， thought patterns. In fact， Chinglish easily shown up in Chinese -English translation， which requires the translators not only to transcript between Chinese and English， but also to master the use of these languages， thought patterns and life background of the people of English-speaking countries. It is also necessary to listen to more English conversation or songs from radio and read more original English works， in order to avoid Chinglish gradually and produce idiomatic English translation[10].

4.1.2 Ignorance of cultural difference

The next factor is about the culture shock. The most famous British anthropologist Edward Tyler in his book Primitive Culture， culture was defined as ： "Culture or civilization， taken in its wide ethnological sense， is that complex whole which includes knowledge， belief， art， morals， law， custom， and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man." Different countries have different languages. Therefore， translation will be much difficult due to the culture shocks. Language possesses all the features of the culture and it is a tool for human communication. It reflects the social cultures. Language possesses all the features of culture. It acquired and shared by the whole society. As we all know that language mirrors other parts of the culture， supports them， spreads them and helps to develop others. Language is influenced and molded by culture； on the other hand， it also can reflect culture. Therefore， when we translate something， we should take the culture factor into account. For examples， “福娃” is the symbolize as the Olympic mascot. They are translated into friend-lies at the first hand. The facial meaning of that means people who are friendly. But it also has pun due to different cultures. In English speaking country， this translation could also mean "friend-less" or the friend lies which shows the opposite meaning of the original ones. Therefore， this kind of translated version disobeyed the theory of the equivalence.endprint

4.2 Strategies to translate buzzwords conducted by Functional Theory

Just as the functional equivalence theory maintains the idea that meaning and style are the most important part in the translation. Therefore， the paper focuses on the stylistic equivalence and the semantic equivalence to set examples.

4.2.1 Stylistic Equivalence

As one of the typical characteristics of online buzzwords， most of them are brief and concise. Therefore， in order to realize stylistic equivalence， it is better to choose simple words instead of some "big words" or compounds during the process of translation. Besides， stylistic equivalence not only includes the usage of words， but also the sentence structure， namely， syntax. With the stylistic equivalence， people could avoid the phrases misunderstanding and meanwhile keep the characteristic of Chinese version. It is easier and effective for people to know better about the original version. For example the online buzzwords： “胶囊公寓。” It has been translated into the capsule apartment， which shows the apartment is very tiny. It describes the apartment in a vivid way； meanwhile， it expresses the exact meaning of the original words by using the stylistic equivalence.

Example：

The first example is “神马都是浮云”

a.Everything is nothing

b.Everything is but a floating cloud.

Buzzwords on line are a particular style which the function focuses on the appealing function. It aims to call on the other people to know the feeling of the author and to give response， to react to the author. From the ancient time， people compared their lives to the dew： A man's life is short， just like the passing clouds and morning dew. Though a and b seems to convey the basic meaning of the original version， b is much more loyal to the translated one with the way of stylistic equivalence.

This is a very typical example of buzzwords translation under the functional equivalence. The first sentence （a） of translation obeyed the principle of stylistic equivalence. Both the English version and the Chinese version are the construction of the "Subject+be+ predicative"， which means A is B. The literal meaning of the word “神馬” means a special kind of house in Chinese. However， in this typical situation， “神马” means everything， because it replaced the word “什么” in this place. These two Chinese words are similar in pronunciation. The word “浮云” in Chinese means floating clouds originally， but it means nonsense or nothing in this place. This is mainly due to the word itself has an extension meaning. “浮云” in Chinese usually refers to something very light or unimportant. Hence， the second sentence of translation （b.） chooses the original meaning of the word “浮云” instead of its extension meaning， which falls to transmit the meaning of the Chinese version. Based on the functional equivalence of Nida's， the a version is accepted.endprint

4.2.2 Semantic Equivalence

The semantic translation based on the meaning of the original version， but it doesn't ask for the strict format of the phrases or the sentences. When the two languages have the differences due to the culture differences， translator could just pay attention to the basic meaning and ignore the format of the original version.

The first example is“皇上萬福金安”

a：Hope you 10000 lucky and safe with gold.

b：Good morning， your majesty.

This sentence's basic meaning is saying hello to the majesty. In Chinese， the sentence expresses the respect to the majesty with full of emotions. The first expression is colloquial and not official. Furthermore， it is very chinglish and very wordy. It seems to obey the format of the original one， but the sentence is actually incomprehensible. It only focuses on the original meaning and it doesn't take care about the receiver to see whether they could understand the original version or not. Therefore， it violates the functional equivalence. The second one expresses the basic meaning of the original version in a clear way. It considers whether the reader could understand the meaning of the sentence or not. The verison b obeys the semantic equivalence.

The second example is “赏你一丈红”

a：Give you a 3.33333 metersred.

b：Enjoy your slow torture to death.

The 3.33 metersred is a punishment due to Chinese culture. Chinese version conveys the speaker's cruel attitude. This sentence came from the background of women intrigue against each other. The first one is stylistic equivalence. Though the stylistic equivalence is very clear in the view of format， it has some limitations， such as it doesn't convey the exact meaning. In this situation， a version is shallow because it doesn't give the concrete meaning of the sentence. Finally， the foreigners couldn't understand the first version's translation. And it doesn't transmit the culture. Furthermore， the function of the sentence fails to deliver. Therefore， the first version could not be accepted. Anyway， the translator considers the deeper meaning of the sentence. The "Legend of Concubine Zhen Huan" tells the story of women who plot other people in secret. Therefore， the translated version could show the speaker's attitude ----Please torture me to death. And the word "enjoy" shows the ironic attitude of the speaker towards people who will accept the punishment. This second English translation reflects the correct attitude towards the original one which wants to convey. The second version is in accordance with the original one both in meaning and the attitude. The second version is in keeping with the functional equivalence theory[11-14].endprint

5 Conclusions

This paper gives a brief introduction about functional equivalence theory at first. Then， it analyzes the translation of buzzwords （word， syntax and text） from the perspective of functional equivalence theory with typical examples.

The paper summarizes two conclusions：

（1）The translated version needs to be loyal to the original version. The original version shouldn't be distorted which violated the functional equivalence theory. Otherwise， the communication would be failed.

（2）The second conclusion is the translated version should be loyal to the reader. Readers may have different views to the same things due to the culture， the background and any other factors. Therefore， the translator needs to focus on not only the original version， but also the reader due to the functional equivalence theory.

With the development of the informative， buzzwords has become more and more important in our reality. Buzzwords are humorous， fast and individual. They reflect the culture and daily lives in many views. Translator is like a bridge of communication between the author and foreign readers. Therefore， a good translator should know the connections and differences of different cultures， which can help them decrease mistakes in translation as many as possible and could make the equivalence between the version and original text. According to the analysis of translation on buzzwords， we can find that the functional equivalence theory which was put forward by Nida has great effect on the translation of buzzwords document. What's more， functional equivalence could indicate the translation of buzzwords. In this way， the translation of the buzzwords could be loyal to the originated one.

In addition， there are also some limitations of the theory. Because of the culture， people in different countries have different understanding of the same affair. For example， the familiar old saying goes： Rome was not built in a day.In Chinese， there are familiar expression：冰凍三尺非一日之寒. However， in English version， it shows Rome's supremacy and wealthiness. But in Chinese version， the old saying came from people's daily life. Though they have conveyed the same meaning， the background is different because of the cultural factor. Furthermore， there are thousands of the Chinese online buzzwords， as a result， there are existing many ways to translate the buzzwords. Many buzzwords could not be translated into Chinese in the field of functional equivalence theory or could not be translated conducted by the theory in 100% because there are so many different situations that we could imagine. There are still many other things that we should give further discuss.endprint

References

[1]Nida，E.A and Jin，D. On translation[M].Beijing：Beijing Foreign Translation Company.1984.

[2]Nida，E.A .From One Language to another[M].Leiden：E.J.Brill，1986.

[3]Nida，E.A.，Toward A Science of Translation[M].Leiden：E.J.Brill，1986.

[4]Nida，E.A.Language，Culture，and translation[M].Shanghai：ShanghaiForeign Language Education Press，1993.

[5]Nida Eugene. A and Charles R. Taber， The Theory and Practice of Translation. [M]. Leiden： E.J. Brill， 1969.

[6]Xiong Ni，Chinglish in Chinese-English Translation[M].The economic technique college in Shanxi，5（2011）.

[7]Song， Y.W. Study on Chinesevogue expression translation[J].Journal of Foreign Language China，2009，33（7）：89-92.

[8]Chen， L.F.Translation problems appearin Foreign Language[M]. Beijing： Xinhua Press，2009.

[9]Zhang，Y.M.The relationship between cultureand Foreign Languagetranslation[M]. Changsha： Hunan Education Press，2001.

[10]Chen， A. D. Comparison and translation between English and Chinese[M]. Beijing： China Translation & Publishing Corporation，1998.

[11]Dai， Y.G.， &Huang， M. Analysis ofbasic English translation[J]. Journal of Bingtuan Education Institute，2005，（4）：58-61.

[12]Li， J.R. The Chinese vogue translation translation[M]. Shanghai： Shanghai Translation Press，1988.

[13]Wang， M.F.， & Zhan， C.H. The analysis of functional language[M]. Shanghai： Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press，2011.

[14]Gu， J.Z.， & Lu， Y. Language and Culture[M]. Shanghai： Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press，1990.endprint