A Study Of Example Translations In English-Chinese Bilingual Dictionaries Within The Framework Of Functional Equivalence Theory

English-Chinese Bilingual Dictionary (hereinafter ECBD for short) is one of theindispensable tools for Chinese learners to learn English in the process of Englishlearning and translation. As a key component inside a dictionary, examples togetherwith their translations play the same important role in ECBDs. Examples can facilitatedictionary users to comprehend headword meanings and learn to command thespecific usages, and therefore they are regarded as the principal part and soul ofECBDs; correspondingly, example translations can not only present the content of theexamples at the utmost, but also be in comply with the original patterns, and thus theycan be taken as the yardstick of any quality of ECBDs.The present thesis integrates the content of lexicography into the study oftranslation, aiming to explore example translations within the theoretical frameworkof Functional Equivalence Theory as proposed by Nida (1986). The cases in the thesisare selected from the author’s first-hand experience and material, cited from EncartaEnglish-Chinese Bilingual Dictionary that the author participated in the process oftranslation and proofreading, and in couple with two other current authoritative andpopular ECBDs in the analyses part. The other two dictionaries are Oxford AdvancedLearner’s English-Chinese Dictionary and Longman Advanced English-ChineseBilingual Dictionary. Based on the current research, the thesis attempts to explore theequivalence types and criteria that example translations achieve in accordance to theprinciples in Functional Equivalence Theory. Example translations bear specificfeatures that are different from those of other types of translations, for instance, thefeatures such as context inadequacy, exemplification and objectivity; therefore it isespecially in striking contrast with literary translation. Through the contrastiveanalyses of the discrepancies in translation contexts, expressive method andapplication between example translations in ECBDs and translations in literary works,the thesis tentatively summarizes the general principles of example translations.Through the detailed analyses of example translations selected from the threeauthoritative ECBDs, the thesis finds that example translations can not only achieve the pattern equivalence on structural, stylistic and rhetorical levels, but also fulfill thecontent equivalence on semantic, cultural and pragmatic levels. In order to achieve thefunctional equivalence of content and pattern, preserving the original meanings andretaining the original patterns have thus become the significant criteria that exampletranslations must adhere to.The thesis makes an elaboration of Functional Equivalence Theory and detailedanalyses of example translations, probing into the equivalence types and tactics ofexample translations in ECBDs, in the hope of attracting more attention to the study ofexample translations and being conducive to future studies.