Dispute on Translating New Terms

翻譯新事物時遇到的爭議

Abstract: The 29th Olympic Games held in Beijing were the pride of every Chinese. Many memorable scenes were remembered in the Olympic Games， while the English translation of the mascot \"Fuwa\" caused wide controversy. What should we do when we encounter new things in translating? This article will explore it.

摘 要：在北京舉辦的29屆奧林匹克運動會是每一個中國人的驕傲。在難忘奧運賽事一幕幕精彩瞬間的同時，奧運會的吉祥物“福娃”的英文譯名卻引起了社會各界不小的爭論。在翻譯中遇到這樣的新事物到底應該怎樣處理？本文將對此進行探討。

Keywords: Olympic Games， Fuwa， English translation， new things

關鍵詞：奧林匹克運動會、福娃、英文譯名、新事物

1. Introduction

Traditionally， the host city had to launch the \"mascot\" before the Olympics. November 11， 2005， Beijing Olympic mascot was officially released to the world. Mascots consists of five typical Chinese dolls—creativity came from carp， the panda， the Olympic Flame， Tibetan Antelope， the Swallow; the main color of the head and limbs was corresponded with the formation of the Olympic rings colors， with strong visibility and Affinity. These five Chinese Fuwa are affectionately called \"Babe， \"\"Jingjing， \"\"Huanhuan， \"\"Yingying \"and \"Nini\"， homophonic to \"Welcome to Beijing \"and indicating Beijing's blessing to all over the world.

2. People from all sectors of society questioned the translation of “Fuwa” and the Translation was changed “quietly”

However， the most serious dispute is caused by the English translation of \"Fuwa\".

For the general translation of the name of the five mascots， experts had put forward other options， such as the use of Pinyin \"Fuwa\"， or the translated meaning \"Happy Dolls\". At last， \"Friendlies\" was chosen on the basis of the word \"Friendly\". At the same time， due to sports Friendly (Friendly) statement， so the name is very easy to lead to the think of the Olympic Games -- \"Fuwa\" warmly invite athletes and spectators from around the world to Beijing to participate in the event of friendship.Nevertheless， unexpected results were far beyond Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee， the English translation of Chinese Olympic mascots “Fuwa” quickly sparked a major controversy in the history of translation of contemporary China.

PhD LEE from Lanzhou University raised an objection to this translation from three aspects -- sound， form and meaning. In his view， first of all， the sense of the word \"Friendly\" is generally only used as an adjective， meaning \"friendship\"; \"Weber's Dictionary\" online web page indicates that \"Friendly\" as the term has two meanings， one is \"friendly people \"， the other is \"friendly\". In the mean time that the two generally used in the \"British English\" in the plural as \"Friendlies\"; second， according to the pronunciation， \"Friendlies\" is the same with \"Friendless\" (no friends). It sounds easy to cause confusion and embarrassment; Third， the word form of \"Friendlies\" looks like a compound word consisted of \"Friend + Lies\" (friend + lie). it could have ill associations.Therefore， he believed that it would be very inappropriate to translate \"Fuwa\" into \"Friendlies\". He suggested that you can use Forworld (the world)， Forward (go ahead)， Forwards (courage + dialect \"Fu Wazi\") as an international translation for the new-born term “Fuwa”.

Zhang Enrong， a student from Little Lake Primary School in Nanjing raised a question about the translation of the Beijing Olympic mascots \"Fuwa\" in English class. Zhang Enrong thought that \"Friendly\" is an adjective， not a noun， moreover， the plural \"Friendlies\" is used during informal occasions. Should the \"Friendlines\" (Friends League) or \"Friendliness\" (Friendship Foundation) be better choices?

A female professor named Aber Lynn who taught American Culture in Jiangsu

Institute of Education held the opinion that it was not a big problem to thanslate

\"Fuwa\" into \"Friendlies\". In addition， the foreign expert appreciates the suggestion

put forwad by Dr. LEE from Lanzhou University. She thought \"Forworlds\" and

\"Forwards\" are more creative according to the meaning in dictionaries.

However， the once-controversial international translation of 2008 Olympic mascot \"Fuwa\" (\"Friendlies\") was officially changed into the new English translation -- Hanyu Pinyin \"Fuwa\" eventually.

3. Analyzing Advantages and disadvantages of various translations of “Fuwa”:

From discussion about how to translate “Fuwa” into English， we come to find some clues for the problems about how to translate a new item into different languages. Here， I just summarize them in the following five categories:

3.1 Transliteration: using pinyin if we translate it into “Fuwa”. And we still have some other examples using this method to translate， such as “kongfu”， “toufu”， “putonghua”， and so on.

3.2 The use of English word formation: both maintaining homophonic pronunciation and creating a new word if we translate it into “Friendlies” or “Forworld”. However， it arose #8203;#8203;Dr. Lee and some others’ criticism that it would bring confusions and embarrassment which even for American readers and listeners. People will misunderstand the meaning of “Fuwa” and it is really a strange \"new words. \"

3.3 The use of an existing English word by changing part of speech， such as translate it into \"Friendlies\"—an adjective into a count noun: Although Foreigners can accept it， they still cannot acknowledge the implied meaning of Chinese characters “Fu” and “Wa” correctly， for in Chinese language， “Fu” does not contain the meaning “friendly” or \"friendship \"， but means “good luck”. In addition， the Chinese people also do not necessarily accept the English translation.

3.4 The use of giving a new meaning to an existing English word if we translate it into “Forwards”， “Forward”， etc.. “Forward” is rarely used as a noun. It serves as a noun， only when it means “(soccer) striker”; usually， “ Forwards” is only used as an adverb instead of a noun. Besides， the meaning of the word “Forwards” is far from what “Fuwa” wants to express to the world.

3.5 Translating according to its meaning: the use of correspondent similar meaning of “Fuwa” in English language， such as “Luckybabies” to fulfill a direct translation. To some extent， this method is appropriate. And most of time， when we encounter a new term， we often translate it in this way. Nevertheless， it is not so easy to make a conclusion， for there are still some problems: First of all， in the word “Fuwa”， “Fu” means “many”， “fortunate”， “lucky”， “blessing”， “happy” and so on; while “Wa” corresponds to English words “Baby”， “doll”， “kid” and so on. What does “Fuwa” together mean? We can not simply summarize these prosperous meanings just into “Luckybabeis”. Second， When we translate new terms， we’d better consider the sound or pronunciation accepted by people. Here， both translated into “Luckybaby” and “Happy baby” are not inconsistent with Chinese pronunciation.

4. Conclusion

The dispute of the translation of \"Fuwa\" was subsided， but the translation of new things is endless. By this dispute， the author aims to arose readers’ consideration: how to translate new terms into other languages. Hope this thesis could give readers some reference.

Reference:

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