Strategic Study Of Translating Chinese Neologisms From The Perspective Of Functional Equivalence－ Based On The Neologisms After The Reform And Opening-up

Language is an open system, which is constantly changing with the development of society. Language is also a barometer of social changes. Among the elements of a language which is continuously changing, vocabulary is the most active and sensitive element. Since the implementation of the reform and opening-up policy, China has undergone dramatic changes in all aspects such as politics, economy, ideology, culture and social life. The Chinese language, as the demonstration and symbol of China's political, economic, ideological, cultural and social development, has also experienced great changes. Such changes especially reflect in the increase of Chinese neologisms. In the face of the appearance of these neologisms, as foreign language researchers, we have the responsibilities to translate them or some of them into correct and idiomatic English, so that get more foreign readers know the national situations and development status of today's China.However, due to the lack of enough theories and there are only a few books and articles related to the study of English translation of Chinese neologisms. Moreover, those dictionaries or works only list many Chinese neologisms and their English versions without making a systematic explanation on the definition, classification and features of these neologisms or offering some guiding translation strategies. Therefore, many problems exist in English translation of Chinese neologisms. The causes for the mistranslations of Chinese neologisms can be explained by many factors among which two of them desire our attention. One of them is the difficulty caused by the features of neologisms. Another factor is that there is no standard translation principle to follow, which led to the different versions of one word. Therefore, we think that it is necessary to have a thorough study on English translation of Chinese neologisms in order to do better in the external exchanges. This thesis focuses on the strategies of translating Chinese neologisms from the perspective of functional equivalence, based on the neologisms after the reform and opening-up. Firstly, the author gives a general review of functional equivalence theory guiding the translation of Chinese neologisms, including the overview of the concept of equivalence, Nida's functional equivalence theory and principles to follow in achieving functional equivalence. Secondly, the author gives the definition of Chinese neologism, then classifies the Chinese neologisms systematically in an all-round way and summarizes the features of Chinese neologisms. Moreover, the author analyses the causes of mistranslations. In order to avoid mistranslations, the author takes Nida's functional equivalence theory as the theoretical basis in the translation of Chinese neologisms, proposed two basic translation strategies, namely foreignization and domestication. At the same time, the author points out that the translators should apply these two translation strategies flexibly according to the different purposes and different translation situations. Under the guidance of the two basic translation strategies, the author also comes up with several practical and feasible translation techniques, including literal translation, transliteration, literal translation plus explanation, free translation and substitution.