Interpreting Strategies for Chinese-specific Expressions: A Functional Equivalence Theory Perspective

By

Shi Yiqian

In partial fulfillment of the requirement

For the B. A. degree

Department of English

School of Languages and Cultures

Nanjing University of Information Science amp; Technology

May, 2016

Acknowledgements

I am indebted first and foremost to my supervisor professor Lu Huaguo, for his serious scientific attitude, rigorous academic spirit, and continuous improvement of work style, which have helped me through all the stages of writing of this thesis.

My cordial thanks meanwhile extent to the faculty who has taught me during my university life. Without their help, I could not have mastered so much professional knowledge.

Last but not least, I want to thank my classmates and family members. Their company and courage motive me to overcome the hardships and obstacles during the period of academic thesis writing.

Interpreting Strategies for Chinese-specific Expressions: A Functional Equivalence Theory Perspective

Shi Yiqian

Department of English

School of Languages and Cultures

Nanjing University of Information Science amp; Technology

Abstract: With the accelerating pace of economic globalization, China is playing an increasingly leading role in international affairs. Therefore, the interpretation of Chinese-specific expressions has become an increasingly popular topic both at home and abroad. The thesis aims to analyze the interpretation of some Chinese-specific expressions in President Xi’s 2015 Boao Forum speech and explore some interpreting skills and strategies so as to help interpreters produce better interpreting works and make the target readers better understand the connotation of the vocabulary in other cultural backgrounds. Research findings showed that interpreters should obey the principles of Nida’s functional equivalence standard and pay more attention to the daily accumulation of knowledge of different cultural backgrounds. Overall, this study supports the previous claim that the interpretation of Chinese-specific expressions is of great significance to international communication and interpreters should employ appropriate interpreting skills and strategies to achieve functional equivalence.

Key Words: functional equivalence; Chinese-specific expressions; interpreting strategies; 2015 Boao Forum speech

摘 要：随着经济全球化的脚步不断加快，中国在国际事务中日渐发挥主导作用，因此翻译中国特色词汇在国内外成为了一个越来越热门的话题。本文旨在分析习近平2015年博鳌论坛演讲中的一些中国特色词汇的口译,探索一些口译的技巧和策略来帮助口译人员创作出更好的口译作品并且让目的语读者更好地理解另一种文化背景下词汇的内涵。研究表明口译人员应该遵循奈达功能对等理论的原则并且更加注重日常对不同文化知识的积累。总而言之，本研究支持了先前的观点，那就是，翻译中国特色词汇对跨文化交际十分重要，口译人员应该采用合适的口译技巧和策略来实现功能对等。

关键词：功能对等；中国特色词汇；口译技巧；2015年博鳌论坛演讲

Contents

1. Introduction 1

1.1 Research Background 1

1.2 Literature Review 2

1.3 Research Significance 3

1.4 Thesis Structure 3

2.An Introduction to Nida’s Functional Equivalence Theory 4

3. A Brief Analysis of the Interpretation of Chinese-specific Expressions in President Xi’s Speech 7

3.1 Chinese-specific Expressions Related to Numbers 7

3.2 Chinese-specific Expressions Related to Idioms and Proverbs 8

3.3 Chinese-specific Expressions Related to Four-character Structure 11

4. Exploration of Criteria for Interpreting Chinese-specific Expressions 13

4.1 Fidelity 13

4.2 Intelligibility 14

4.3 Naturalness 14

5. Conclusion 15

5.1 Major Findings 15

5.2 Limitations 16

5.3 Suggestions for Interpreters 16

References 17

Introduction

1.1 Research Background

Last year’s Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference was held in Hainan on March 28^th. Chinese President Xi delivered a keynote speech at the opening ceremony. The speech highlighted the significance of peace and development of Asia and beyond. Due to my personal interest to the current affairs speeches and cultural Chinese-specific expressions interpretations, the President Xi Jinping’s 2015 Boao Forum keynote speech is chosen as the project of my paper. During the conference, President Xi pointed out that the current international situation continues to undergo profound and complicated changes. The significant development in multipolarization and economic globalization continue to promote cultural diversity and IT application in pace with the phenomenon that readjustment is accelerating in international landscape and order. Thence, the noble cause of peace and development remains a long and burdensome journey for human beings. (President Xi, 2015) China reaffirms its commitment to the path of peaceful development, and to promoting cooperation and common development in the Asia-Pacific. China will be unswerving in its determination to resolve all its policies that will be designed to achieve such a purpose.

Since the new collective leadership came into power, the language style has dramatically changed. Especially President Xi’s speech is outstanding not only in telling stories and using vernacular, but also in using excellent culture of ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign elements in many respects. A great number of Chinese-specific expressions are great materials to interpreters. Taking appropriate strategies and methods in interpretation is the key to dealing with Chinese idioms in practice. This thesis, based on the study of English translation of the President Xi Jinping’s 2015 Boao Forum keynote speech, attempts to exploit western translation theory, especially Nida’s functional equivalence, to study interpretation of Boao Forum keynote speech with the aim of providing some insights to interpretation of speeches at international conferences.

1.2Literature Review

There are a great number of researches on interpreting skills, which demonstrates people’s great attention to the accumulation of practical experience and the improvement of the quality of interpretation. In addition, a large number of scholars have studied the comprehensive interpretation technique. First of all, Hu Gengshen systematically discusses the skills for the conjunction of repeated words. He proposes four solutions, that is, variable translation, simplified translation, omitted translation and correspondent translation. (胡庚申，1990) Zhong Shukong lays emphasis on the problems of interpreters’ comprehensive ability, language and knowledge. (钟述孔，1984)

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