A Tentative Analysis on Dynamic Equivalence of Nida

Abstract： The translation theory of Nida， especially his principle of dynamic equivalence has tremendous impact on translation circles. And it is wildly accepted by the public. This paper shows some points of view on analysis of dynamic equivalence.

Key words： Nida； Dynamic equivalence； readers responses

Eugene A. Nida is one of the most distinguished and influential contemporary translation theorists in the west. His theory of translation developed from his own practical work of translating and organizing the Bible.

1. The definition of dynamic equivalence

Dynamic equivalence theory was first put forward in 1964. Before defining what is dynamic equivalence， Nida presents a new concept about translating. Translating consists in reproducing the closest natural equivalent of the source-language message. （Nida， 2004）

2. The nature of Nidas dynamic equivalence

Nida believes that translation is communication， and he thinks the word functional can be considered as a means of communication. Consequently， the receptors can understand and appreciate the translating text as the same manner as the receptors in the source text.

（1） Abandoning traditional grammar and adopting lexical category to interpret semantic relation of words

In traditional grammar， the description of words depend more on parts of speech， such as nouns， verbs， adjectives， etc. If translators are limited in linguistic form of the texts， the translation will sound as unnatural. For instance， the sentence of “She was reliably informed ” is translated as “她被很可靠地告知”. Nida reclassify words as object， event， abstract， and relation instead of parts of speech. Accordingly， the example above can be translated as “我得到的信息很可靠”。

（2） Considering kernel sentences to overcome those obstacles caused by syntactic structure

Nida adopted the so called concept of “kernels” which is coined in transformational grammar to lead translators to achieving a closest natural translation. For example， the sentence “John ran quickly so that he hit Bill who was ill” can be separated as three kernels：“John ran quickly”， “Bill was ill”， “John hit Bill”. This principle can help translator depart the constraints caused by texts.

Dynamic equivalence theory of Nida was tentatively analyzed above， concluding its definition， practice and limitations. This theory is the most famous and influential theory about translation of Nida. It provides a new way of looking at translating and it is those limitations that offer us a new point to further study translation.

References：

[1]Newmark， Peter. A Text Book of Translating . New York： Prentice Hall.1988.

[2]劉苾庆.《中西翻译思想比较研究》， 北京： 中国对外翻译出版公司， 2005.

[3]耐达. 《翻译理论与实践》， 上海： 上海外语教育出版社， 2004.

[4]耐达. 《翻译科学探索》， 上海： 上海外语教育出版社， 1964.

作者简介：郑羽茜（1994.2-），女，辽宁盘锦，陕西师范大学，2017级硕士，英语笔译。