On The Translation Of Harry Potter Spells From The Perspective Of Functional Equivalence

Written by British writer J.K.Rowling,Harry Potter is one of the most famous fantasy literature works in modern times.As an impressive and indivisible image,spell is no doubt one of the most significant elements in the series.However,in the studies related to its translation,there are certain limitations in both quantity and quality.The text corpus of this paper is collected from the original English version and two official Chinese versions of Harry Potter.Based on the theory of Functional Equivalence proposed by Eugene A.Nida,this paper analyzes the categories,functions and language features of the spells systematically,trying to find out appropriate ways to translate them into Chinese.First of all,the number of spells in Harry Potter is considerable.Despite certain similarities,they are different from religious or folk spells.The spells,created by the author herself,are short in form and cover different functions.Secondly,four translation strategies have been used in spell translation in the two Chinese versions:literal translation,free translation,transliteration and semantic transliteration.As the spells create a magical atmosphere and push the stories forward,the delivery of meaning should be put in the first place,which makes free translation and semantic transliteration the most proper strategies.However,literal translation and transliteration are also available under special circumstances.Thirdly,both four-character and three-character words are suitable language forms for spell translation.The language should be smooth and fluent.And the target text should match the context.Last but not least,translation skills,such as rhetorical devices,creation of images and annotation,can make the translation even better.The findings of this paper shed light on the studies related to the English-Chinese translation of spells in Harry Potter,hoping to provide a boost to the studies of spells in other literature works as well.