Preliminary Study on Chinese Translation of English Songs’Titles (Published)
With the rapid development of economic cooperation and cultural exchanges among countries and regions, especially the proposal of “a human community with a shared future”, the world has become one family. The English songs, an integral part of foreign culture, has been introduced into the Chinese market and can boost communication and exchanges. But over a long time, researchers in the translation field have ignored the Chinese translation of English songs’ titles, which not only hinders further understanding of foreign culture but also blocks the cross-cultural exchanges. Therefore, it is of great urgency to conduct some research in this field. In actual cross-cultural communication, it is very easy to find failures in exchanges caused by misunderstandings due to differences in language and culture. As a result, culture is a crucial element in Chinese translation of English songs’ titles. This paper is written under the guidance of Eugene. A.Nida’s Functional Equivalence Theory (FET), aiming to analyze some basic techniques in translating English songs’ titles. According to Nida, both meaning and form should be taken into consideration in translation. This paper uses examples and comparisons to analyze and study the Chinese translation of the English songs’ titles so as to help people better understand, accept and transmit foreign culture. Based on the connotation of functional equivalence theory, the application of this theory in title translation is concretely analyzed, and the relevant main principles are also summarized. With this theory, the quality of translation in the songs’ titles will be, hopefully, effectively enhanced. Some translation methods like literal translation, free translation, transliteration, domesticating translation and expanding translation are also included.
Keywords: Chinese translation, English songs’ titles, functional equivalence theory