The "Functional Equivalence" In English Idioms Translation And Comprehension Of Cultural Phenomena

On the basis of Functional Equivalence Theory, this dissertation mainly probes into the translation of English idiom.Starting with the divergence in the definitions of English idiom, the dissertation introduces the characteristics and the origins of English idioms. Idiom is a special kind of expressing way of language, or a kind of art of human language. The dissertation reveals five types of characteristics of English idioms. The first, as well as most important feature of idiom is that it is a mirror of culture. The second is that English idioms are rich in figures, which have plentiful varied expressing styles, and idiom itself is a kind of figure too. The semantic unity and structural stability are the third and forth features of English idioms; the final one is long-lasting vitality.Idioms are very close with culture, which can be testified by its origins. Some idioms are originated from people's lives, customs and environment while other idioms are originated from religious belief, history, allegoric and mythical story, or literal works. Still others originated from the foreign borrowing.From the origins of English idioms, we know idiom, the culture-specific item, would like to challenge the translator's proficiency. Owing to the rich cultural connotation of idiom, there are always some difficulties to make a sensible translation. After reading numerous translation works of English idiom, the dissertation goes deep into the different translation versions of English idioms, and explores the problems occurring in the existing translation works. Idiom's meaning is not a simple combination of that of each constituent word. Some idioms are not logical grammatically, cannot be understood by common sense. In the application or translation of English idioms, some people take the superficial meaning of words or phrases and translate it literally, or render it with the Chinese counterparts incorrectly. Some people even interpret idioms word by word, so that the idiom loses its original flavor.Translation is a process of transplanting one culture into another. The dissertation puts forward three principles, which a translator should follow. They are foreignization, domestication and functional equivalency. As to the translation strategies, owing to the cultural connotation of English idioms, one should give first priority to literal translation. Then substitution and free translation should follow. Finally is the combination of literal and free translation. With the guidance of functional equivalency theory, and the above-mentioned translation methods, atranslator can provide a satisfactory translation product definitely.As a medium of cross-cultural communication, translation of English idioms becomes more and more important, the study on the translation of English idioms is of great significance. This dissertation can help the translators to pay close attention to the culture of source language in idiom translation, and help to enhance the effectiveness of cross-cultural communication.