On The Translation Of Tone From English To Chinese: From The Viewpoint Of Theory Of Functional Equivalence

Tone is an important tool for authors to express their points of view or thoughts. One of the causes for a vivid translation to come into being is very often that the translator is sensitive to hints of tone of the source text and is capable of conveying it appropriately in the target language. However, for all the importance of the translation of tone, related research so far is rather limited.In the light of the theory of "functional equivalence" proposed by Eugene A. Nida, this thesis makes a comprehensive and systematic study of the English-Chinese translation of tone. It starts with the analysis of various kinds of tone indicators on aspects of diction, syntax, and figures of speech in search of corresponding translating skills, and argues that, due to linguistic and cultural differences between English and Chinese, such elements as style, register and context should be taken into consideration in translation so as not to cause the distortion of tone. Furthermore, the thesis probes into the literary genres of novel, prose, poem and drama, and illustrates tone-conveying strategies in detail with reference to the four translating processes proposed by Nida, namely, the analysis of the source text, the transference from the source language to the target language, restructuring in the target text and the testing of the translated text. This research is done with the purpose of achieving a higher degree of fidelity in translation by handling with one of the most important linguistic subtleties:tone. And to represent the excellence of English originals to Chinese reader entails not only the fidelity of contents, but also the tone and the essence. The development of our cause of translation still calls for concerted effort of scholars.