《翻译理论与实践》课程讲义6.doc

《翻译理论与实践》课程讲义 Lecture one The introduction of translation and the choice and use of dictionaries 　　1. What is translation? 　　What do we mean by translation? What we can first do is to refer to the authoritative dictionaries at hand. Now let’s look at some definitions given by some dictionaries. To turn from one language into another the oxford English dictionary， to turn into one’s own or another language webster’s third new international dictionary of the English language to change ( speech or writing) from one language into another Longman dictionary of contemporary English 　　These definitions strictly speaking seem to be too simple and superficial. They do not tell readers clearly what will be turned into one’s own or another language in translation. Can you give me the answer to this question? Ok in Nida’s definition of translation we can get the answer. Nida is a famous translator and theorist of translation studies in America. He defined translation as “translating consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source-language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style.” 所谓翻译，是指在译语中用最切近而又自然的对等语再现原语的信息，首先在语义上，其次是在文体上。Nida tells us clearly in our translation we should transfer the original message into another language. The message includes the meaning and the style of the original text. 　　Because in a translation messages are transferred, we can say translation is a means of communication. A proper and dexterous translation helps to promote mutual understanding between peoples of different cultural and social backgrounds, whereas a misunderstanding or improper rendering of words or expressions may lead to confusion. Here is an example of awkward translation. A popular Chinese lipstick with the trademark 芳芳when transliterated into English as fangfang, creates a hideous image – the English word fang happens to have two disagreeable definition: a. a long, sharp tooth of a dog; b. a snake’s poisonous