The Analysis of News Translation under the Theory of “Functional Equivalence”

【Abstract】： The importance of news translation in today’s society is much more greater than before， and the problem of how to make a translation version an understandable and acceptable one still remains an issue to be debated in news translation. This paper， by giving a good number of examples， aims to discuss how to translating news under the theory of “Functional equivalence” of Nida and the things should be noted.

【Key words 】：Functional equivalence， news translation

1. The Theory of “Functional equivalence”

Nida believes that， “Translating consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source language message， first in terms of meaning and second in terms of style.” In other words， the translators must ensure the translation can be fully understood by target readers without any cultural background information needed.

However， there is no absolute equivalence in translation. According to Nida， “Dynamic equivalence is therefore to be defined in the terms of the degree to which the receptor language of messages in the receptor language respond to it in substantially the same manner as the receptors in the source language.” Therefore， the response of the readers should thus act as a criterion of judging a translation is a good one or not. As soon as the translation could get the same response from the target readers， the translator can modify the words， sentences， metaphors， etc. in order to meet the requirement of the theory of “Functional equivalence”.

2. Overview of News

2.1 Characteristics of the Language of News

The three essential attributes of news—authenticity， promptness and openness—have determined the characteristics of the language of news， which are accuracy， prompt and concise. No matter what kind of news it is—Chinese news or English ones—the language all has the above three characteristics.

3. The Criteria of News Translation

3.1.1 Faithfulness

“Faithfulness” means the translation should be accuracy in meaning in terms of words’ translation.

Since news translation is usually political-oriented， unfavorable political repercussions would be aroused because of non-exactly translation. Therefore， exact translation is badly needed when it comes to political news.

Example： The word “scenario” is a frequently-used vocabulary in English news， and the original meaning of it is “an outline or synopsis of a play （or， by extension， of a literary work）”， however， with the development of the times， its meaning has been changed into “a postulated sequence of possible events”. Hence， we can come to the conclusion that misunderstanding or even contradictions would be aroused if news translators do not translate the vocabulary on the basis of the context but only content with the superficial understanding of those typical words that have totally different meanings.

3.1.2 Expressiveness

“Expressiveness” means the translation should be clear and understandable in terms of words’ translation.

News translators must bear cultural awareness in mind， bridge the languages’ gap， and perfectly handle the western and eastern cultural differences at last because of the existing cultural differences.

Example： The foreign readers would become confused if the phrase“吃大鍋飯” is just literally translated as “eat rice from the same big pot” without giving any necessary interpretation—“get an equal share regardless of the work done”. Therefore， it is necessary for the news translators to have an accuracy and fully understanding towards the original and thus give the hidden and extensive meanings of those words when it comes to that situation.

Thus， amplification and deletion are sometimes necessary when translating news with obvious cultural differences or metaphors that are unreadable or difficult to understand for the target readers. When the above are reached， the translated news must be a clear and understandable one， and thus comply with Nida’s “Functional equivalence”.

3.2 Translation Strategies about News Translation

3.2.1 Translation Strategies： Amplification and Deletion

The criterion to judge a translation is a good one or not is whether the translation is “equivalent” with the original in the functional theories of translation. “Equivalence” means that the translation version should meet the requirements of translation. In other words， when it comes to news translation， the translation version should fulfill its communicative function in the cultural background of the target language. However， we all know it is impossible that there are no differences between different cultures and languages， let alone “equivalence”. Therefore， it’s also impossible to find a totally equivalent expression with the original language in the target one. Hence， amplification and deletion are sometimes necessary when translating news with obvious cultural differences or metaphors that are unreadable or difficult to understand for target readers.

3.2.3 Cultural differences

Translator is doing cross-cultural communications when he or she translating the source text into target language. Hence， the problem of both languages and cultures would be cropped up during translation process. Having no cultural equivalents in the English-speaking country， the translation of Chinese culture-loaded words requires a keen cultural awareness of translators and use of appropriate methods in order to accomplish a satisfactory and accurate translation. As a consequence， domestication is often used in news translation under this criterion in order to meet the requirement of the theory of “Functional equivalence” of Nida， with an aim to highlight the more important information and avoid relatively insignificant ones.

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