tionofGovernmentWorkReportfromthePerspectiveofFunctionalEquivalence本科毕业论文

iiChapterOneIntroduction1.1BackgroundoftheStudyUnderthebackgroundofglobalization,theexchangesamongcountriesinpolitics,trade,economy,cultureandotherfieldsareincreasingdaybyday.Languagebarrierhasbecomeoneoftheproblemsthatneedtobesolvedurgently,whichmakestheuseanddemandoftranslationgraduallyincrease.Inordertocatchupwiththeworld,Chinabegantoimplementthereformandopeninguppolicymorethanthreedecadesago.Today,thecountryhasmadeamazingachievementsinvariousfields,whichshockedmostcountriesintheworld.TheimprovementofChina'sstatusandnationalinfluencehasbroughtmanybenefitstothepeople.AllofthesemaketheoutsideworldwanttoknowmoreaboutChina,notonlyitstraditionalculture,butalsoitseconomicandpoliticaldevelopment.GovernmentWorkReportisaformofofficialdocumentoftheChinesegovernment,whichhasdistinctpoliticalcomplexionandChinesecharacteristics.Receivingmoreattentionfromtherestoftheworld,GovernmentWorkReporthasbecomeoneofthemostauthoritativesourcebywhichforeignersgettounderstandtheworksperformedbytheChinesegovernment.Thusthetranslationofthistextneedstobehighlyrigorous,consistentandaccurate.OnlyinthiswaycanGovernmentWorkReportplaytheroleofdisplayingtheimageoftheChinesegovernment.Functionalequivalencetheory,putforwardbyEugeneA.Nida,containsformalequivalenceandcontentequivalence.AlthoughNidaclaimsthatcontentisfirstandformissecond,thisdoesnotsignifythatcontentequivalenceisvaluedwhileformalequivalenceisignored.Realizingthedualequivalenceofcontentandformistheforemostperfectsituation,butifcontentandformdoubleequivalencecannotbeaccomplishedatthesametime,contentequivalenceoughttobeconsideredfirst.FromNida'spointofview,translationcanbecomemorefluentthroughthefunctionalequivalence.Theadventoffunctionalequivalencetheorynotonlyprovidesanewperspectivefortranslationstudies,butalsoaddressesthelong-standingcontroversybetweenliteraltranslationandfreetranslation,andfindstheequilibriumbetweendomesticationandforeignization.ThetranslationofGovernmentWorkReportshouldattaintheequivalenceofform,content,andmoreoverthestylesothatforeignerswillexactlyapprehendChina'spolitical,cultural,historicalandsocialdevelopment.Asaconsequence,theutilizationoffunctionalequivalencetheoryisreasonable,whichissuitableforthetranslationpracticeandresearchoftheGovernmentWorkReport.Withtheusageofthistheory,theform,contentandstylebetweenthetargettextandtheoriginaltextwillbecomemoreidentical.Also,thefluenttranslationcanpresenttheoriginalinformationconveyedbytheauthortothetargetreaderscompletely.1.2TheoverallstructureofthestudyThisthesisiscomposedoffivechapters,whichareintroduction,literaturereview,theoreticalframework,mainresearchandconclusion.Thebackgroundandthewholestructureofthispaperareintroducedinthefirstchapter.Thesecondchapterdescribesthepreviousstudiesonfunctionalequivalencetheoryandgovernmentworkreport,andthenintroducesthestylisticcharacteristicsofgovernmentworkreport.Thethirdchapterintroducesthedefinitionanddevelopmentprocessoffunctionalequivalencetheory.Thefourthchapteristhemainbodyofthearticle,connectingtheorywithpractice.OnthebasisofNida’sfunctionalequivalencetheory,theauthordiscussesthetranslationofgovernmentworkreportsatlexical,syntacticandtextuallevelrespectively.Inthelastsection,theconclusionisdrawn,andthelimitationsofthepresentstudyandsuggestionsforfuturestudyareputforward.

ChapterTwoLiteratureReview2.1PreviousStudiesofFunctionalEquivalenceThefunctionalequivalencetheorywassetforthbyEugeneA.Nida,oneofthemostcelebratedtranslationtheoristandlinguistintheworld.Nidaheldthattranslationisnottheequivalenceoflanguage,buttheequivalenceoflanguagefunctionandtheequivalenceofreaders'psychologicalresponse.Inthiskindoftranslation,theresponseoftherecipientofthetargettextisbasicallythesameasthatoftherecipientoftheoriginaltext.Thatistosay,anequivalenttranslationshouldbeproducedinlinewiththeprocessofanalysis,transferandrestructuringsothatitsoundsmorenatural.Inthelate19thcentury,thefar-reachingtranslationtripleprincipleof"faithfulness,expressivenessandelegance"wasfirstpropoundedbyYanFu,afar-famedtranslatorinChina.Thisprincipleisverysimilartothewesterntheoryoffunctionalequivalence.Later,FuLeiputforwardthetheoryof“spiritalikeness”,whichemphasizedresemblanceinspiritinsteadofresemblanceinform(傅雷，1951).Additionally,QianZhongshumentionedthetheoryof“sublimity”,believingthatthehighestleveloftranslationistopreservethestyleoftheoriginaltextandatthesametimemakethelanguageofthetranslationnatural,withoutanytracesoftranslation(钱钟书，1964).TherearenumeroussimilaritiesbetweenthesetwotheoriesandNida'sfunctionalequivalencetheory.Inspiteofthefactthatthefunctionalequivalencetheoryhasbeenarguedaboutalotwithinthewesterntranslationfieldatthebeginningofthepresentation,ithasinitiatedanewagefortranslationtheoryresearch.Uptothepresentmoment,ithasdevelopedintothemostdebated,influentialandappliedtheory.2.2PreviousStudiesoftheTranslationofGovernmentWorkReportThedegreeofacountry'sdiplomaticexchangesandtheconstructionofitsculturalenvironmentcanbemanifestedthroughthepoliticalpropagandatranslation.Toalargeextent,peopleintheworldgettoknowChinabythewayofthetranslationofthesepoliticaltexts.ThetranslationofGovernmentWorkReportisapartofthis,whichiscompletedbythetranslationassociationcomposedofhigh-levelexpertsandscholars.Translatorsaresupposedtohavesophisticatedprofessionalismaswellaspoliticalawareness,foranymistakeintranslationmaycauseseriousconsequence.Inthe21stcentury,withtheenhancementofChina'sinternationalprestigeandstanding,thetranslationstudiesofgovernmentdocumentshavebeguntogaininpopularity.JiaYuling(2003)whoisadeptattranslatingattheCompilationandTranslationBureauoftheCentralCommitteeoftheCommunistPartyofChina,systematicallyanalyzedthecausesoftheoccurrenceofChinglish,baseduponthetranslationofGovernmentWorkReport.ChengZhenqiu(2003),ontheotherhand,discussedthepracticeandresearchofpoliticaldocumenttranslationfromvariousperspectives.Fromtheaspectsofculture,languageandstyle,theprincipleoffaithfulnessinpoliticaltranslationhasbeenmootedinhisownwork.Theproblemofmigrationredundancyexistinginthetranslationof2010governmentworkreportanditsmatchingexplicationshavebeenthoughtthroughbyWuGuangjun(2010)intheregardsofsentenceanddiscourse.2.3ABriefIntroductionofGovernmentWorkReport2.3.1FormationofGovernmentWorkReportAdraftingpanelofGovernmentWorkReport,whichcomposesofmembersworkingattheResearchOfficeoftheStateCouncil,isfoundedbytheStateCouncilattheendofeveryyear.Meanwhile,relatedgovernmentorgan,localauthorities,specialistsandscholarswillalsobeencouragedtoparticipateinthedraftingofgovernmentworkreports.Inordertocarryouttheresearchinvariousmanners,thedraftingpanelwilllearnthespiritoftheCentralCommitteeandclarifytherequirementsoftheprimeminister,heartheviewsofallsidesandformthefirstdraftofthereport.Notonlydoesthegovernmentworkreportretrospectandoutlinethegovernmentworkintheyearbefore,butitalsoproposesthegovernment'sworkplansandgoalsforthenextyear.Thegovernmentworkreportemphasizesworkstepsandworkschedulesintermsofgovernmentfunctions,democraticrights,administrationinaccordancewithlaw,andworkstyledevelopment.InadditiontocoveringChina'sworkplansinvariousfields,thereisalsothecontentofdiplomaticandinternationalaffairs,sendingoutthevoiceoftheChinesegovernmenttothepublicathomeandabroad.2.3.2LinguisticCharacteristicsofGovernmentWorkReportThewordsusedintheGovernmentWorkReportarestandardizedandaccurate,focusingonthesubtledifferencesbetweensimilarwords,soastoreflectthestandardizationoftheGovernmentWorkReport,andfaithfullydemonstratetheintentionofthegovernmentorgantoissuethedocument.SincethelanguagefeaturesoftheGovernmentWorkReportareboundupwiththepolitical,economicandsocialdevelopment,thereareagreatdealofwordswithrichconnotationsandwithlocalcharacteristicsinthereport.Moreover,thereportalsolikestousefour-characteridioms.InGovernmentWorkReport,alongandcomplexsentenceisbrokenintoseveralpartsbythewayofcomma.Everyindependentparthasitsownmeaning.Besides,mostsentencesareactive.Finally,mostofthesentencesarewithoutsubjectinthereport.GovernmentWorkReport,withrigorousstructureandformalstyle,hasdistinctivefeaturesindiscourse.Paragraphdivisionismainlyonthegroundsofthecontentandfunction.Therearenoconspicuouscohesivewordsinthecohesionofthetext.ChapterThreeTheoreticalFramework3.1TheDefinitionofFunctionalEquivalenceIn1986,EugeneA.Nida,whohasinitiatedthemoderndisciplineoftranslationstudieswithotherlinguists,broughtforwardfunctionalequivalencetheory.AccordingtoNida,thetargetlanguageitemisselectednotbecauseitissimilarinformtothesourcelanguageitem,butbecauseitenablesthetargetreadertounderstandthecontextualmeaningoftheoriginaltextmoreclearly.Inotherwords,translationdoesnotquestforthesimpleandplaincorrespondenceonthesurfaceofthetext,butachievestheequivalencebetweenthetwolanguages.Heexpectedthattheterm“function”and“functional”haveafirmerfoundationforarguingabouttranslationasamannerofcommunication,becausecenteroftranslationliesinitsfunctionorperformance.Nidagaveprioritytocontentoverform.Hedeemsthat“thetranslatorshallmakesomechangestothetranslation,oraddfootnotestomakeexplanationifformsarerequiredtoberetained”(1964).Thetranslatorshouldalterthetranslationcorrespondinglyaccordingtothereadertobefaithfultotheoriginaltext.Thistheoryalsosuggeststhatanidealtranslationshouldbeabletoproducefunctionalequivalence,informationequivalence,andresponseequivalencetothetargetandtheoriginalrecipient.3.2TheDevelopmentofFunctionalEquivalenceDefinedbyNidaasoneof“twodifferenttypesofequivalence”,formalequivalenceattachesimportancetothemessageitself,containingbothformandcontent.Itrepresentsatendencythattheformalfeaturesoftheoriginaltextaremechanicallytranslatedinthereceptorlanguage.DynamicequivalencewasintroducedinNida’sbookTowardaScienceofTranslatingin1964,whichisareceptor-orientedtheoryfocusingonreader’sresponse.Itmeans“theclosestnaturalequivalenttothesource-languagemessage”(1964).Later,NidastartedtousefunctionalequivalenceinhisbookFromOneLanguagetoAnother(1986),aimingforahighdegreeofdynamicequivalence.Functionalequivalencehasarousedwidespreadconcernandchangedpeople'sviewsontranslationstandardsinthepast.ChapterFourTranslationStrategiesofGovernmentWorkReportfromthePerspectiveofFunctionalEquivalenceTheory4.1FunctionalEquivalenceatLexicalLevelInfunctionalequivalence,lexicalequivalenceisinthemostelementaryposition,anditisalsothepremiseofsyntacticequivalenceandtextualequivalence.Itrequiresthatthetranslatedvocabularybeconsistentwiththeoriginalvocabularyinconnotationandstyle.Toachievelexicalequivalence,thefollowingthreetechniquesareusedinthetranslationofthe2019GovernmentWorkReport.4.1.1AmplificationDuetothedifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglishculturalbackgroundsandlanguagehabits,itisalsonecessarytoaddpropervocabularyintheprocessofChinese-EnglishtranslationtohelpthetargetreadersunderstandthedeepmeaningofsomeChinesecharacteristicexpressions.Atthelexicallevel,Amplificationistoaddnecessarywordsaccordingtothesemanticorsyntacticrequirementsoftheoriginaltext,soastoachievedoubleequivalencebetweenthesourcetextandthetargettextintermsofcontentandculture.Example1:“双随机、一公开”监管全面实施Translation:Oversightconductedthroughtherandomselectionofbothinspectorsandinspectiontargetsandthepromptreleaseofresultswereimplementednationwide.ManypoliciesorsocialphenomenainChineseareusuallysummedupinafewwords,whichareconciseandeasytospread.Ifonlytheliteralmeaningofthesewordsistranslated,thetargetreaderswillnotunderstandthedeepmeaningofthepolicybecausetheydonotunderstandtheculturalbackgroundandpoliticalpoliciesofChina.Therefore,inordertoachievesemanticequivalence,itisnecessarytoaddtheomittedwordsintheoriginaltextandexpresstheirimpliedcomponentstomakethetranslationclear.Onlyinthiswaycanwenotonlyrevealitsconnotation,butalsoavoidmisunderstandingofthetargetreaders.4.1.2OmissionOmissionalludestothefactthatsomewordsintheprimitivetextcanbeleftoutinthetranslationratherthanbetranslated.Inspiteofnoexactlycorrespondingwordinthetranslatedtext,thetranslationstillobviouslyindicatestheoriginalauthor’sintention.Thegoalofomissionistomakethetranslationsmootherandmoreconsistentwiththehabitoftranslation.Example2:解忧纾困Translation:overcomeproblemsandconcernsExample3:减税降费Translation:cuttaxesandfeesTheoriginalChinesetextsometimesuseshighlyrepetitivewordsforemphasis.Inthiscase,thosewordscanbeomittedduringtranslation.Chineseverbsareusedmorefrequently,butEnglishhashigherrequirementsforpredicateverbsinsentences,sosomeverbscanbeomittedappropriatelyinthetranslation.4.1.3ConversionConversionreferstochangingthepart-of-speechofcertainwordsintheoriginaltextwhilekeepingtheoriginalcontentunchangedduringtranslation,inordertoachievefunctionalequivalence.Example4:绝不允许增加新的拖欠Translation:newarrearsareimpermissibleChinesesentencesliketouseverbs,whileEnglishsentencestendtouseotherpartsofspeech.Sometimesfortheneedsofexpression,ChineseverbscanbeconvertedintoEnglishadjectives,makingthetranslationmorevividandconcise.4.2FunctionalEquivalenceatSyntacticLevelSyntacticequivalenceisbasedonfunctionalequivalenceatthesyntacticlevel,whichisbasedonlexicalequivalence.Itnotonlyrequirestheequivalenceofmeaningstylebetweentheoriginaltextandthetargettext,butalsorequirestheequivalenceofsentencestructure.4.2.1TranslationofZero-subjectSentencesThereareagreatnumberofzero-subjectsentencesinthe2019GovernmentWorkReport.InChineseexpression,sentenceswithoutsubjectaremorecommon,butinEnglish,sentenceswithoutsubjectareincomplete,sotheyneedtobeprocessedinthetranslation.Example5:防范化解重大风险Translation:Weforestalledanddefusedmajorrisks.Inmanycases,wecanselectthegeneralpersonalpronounssuchaswe,one,andyouasthesubjectofthezero-subjectsentencefortranslation.Sometimeswecanalsoaddorchooseapropernounsubjectaccordingtothespecificsituation.Example6:取消一批行政许可事项Translation:Anumberofgovernmentpermitswereabolished.Inthesixthexample,theactivesentenceofChineseistransformedintothepassivesentenceofEnglishfortheconvenienceofreaders.SincepassivesentencesareuniversalinEnglish,theactive-passivetranslationmethodisusedtotransformsentencepatterns.TheuseofpassivesentencescanmakethelanguageofGovernmentWorkReportmoreimpersonalandofficial,andaccomplishfunctionalequivalenceinstyle.4.2.2TranslationofLongandComplicatedSentencesChineselongsentencesaresentenceswithmanywords,complicatedstructures,andmultiplelevelsofsemantics.Sincethetwolanguagesareverydifferentinsentencestructure,whentranslatingalongChinesesentence,wemustfirstanalyzethewholesentence,determinethesubjectandpredicate,adjustthewordorder,andreproducetherelationshipsinthesentenceaccordingtotheEnglishexpression.Example7:政府工作存在不足，一些改革发展举措落实不到位，形式主义、官僚主义仍然突出，督查检查考核过多过频、重留痕轻实绩，加重基层负担。Translation:Thereisroomforimprovementintheworkofgovernment.Somemeasuresandpoliciesforreformanddevelopmenthavenotbeenfullyimplemented.Westillhaveaseriousproblemwithpointlessformalitiesandbureaucratism.Excessiveandover-frequentinspectionsandevaluationsandafocusonthesuperficialtotheneglectofthesubstantivehaveincreasedtheburdenonofficialsworkingattheprimarylevel.ThestructureoftheinitialChinesesentenceisrelativelyloose,andthelogicalrelationshipinthesentenceisnotobvious.Intranslation,onesentenceoftheoriginaltextcanbetranslatedintotwoormoresentences,soastoconformtothehabitsofthetargetlanguageandfacilitatethereaders'understanding.Example8:经济全球化遭遇波折，多边主义受到冲击，国际金融市场震荡，特别是中美经贸摩擦给一些企业生产经营、市场预期带来不利影响。Translation:Setbacksineconomicglobalization,challengestomultilateralism,shocksintheinternationalfinancialmarket,andespeciallytheChina-USeconomicandtradefrictions,hadanadverseeffectontheproductionandbusinessoperationsofsomecompaniesandonmarketexpectations.TherearenotmanyconjunctionsinChinesesentences,butinEnglish,thesentencestructureisrigorous,thelogicalrelationshipisstrict,andthesentencetrunkisclear.IntheprocessofChinese-Englishtranslation,severalChinesesentencescanbeappropriatelycombinedintoonelongEnglishsentence.4.3FunctionalEquivalenceatTextualLevelText,asemanticunit,expressescompletemeaninginaspecificcontextbutisnotconstrictedbysentencegrammar.Inordertoachievecommunicativepurposes,somemeaning-relatedsentenceswillusediscoursecohesiontoformthetext.Forbetterunderstandingofreaders,thetranslatorneedstodealwiththecohesionskillsofthetext,sothatachievetheequivalenceintheformofthetext,andthenachievetheequivalenceinthestyleofthewholetext.4.3.1ReferencesAccordingtoHalliday,“Aparticipantintroducedatoneplaceinthetextcanbetakenasareferencepointforsomethingthatfollows.Inthesimplestcase,itmeansthatthesamethingcomesagain.”(Halliday,1994：309)Example9:政府要坚决把不该管的事项交给市场，最大限度减少对资源的直接配置，审批事项应减尽减，确需审批的要简化流程和环节，让企业多用时间跑市场、少费功夫跑审批。Translation:Thegovernmentmustactwithresolvetohandmattersitshouldn’tmanageovertothemarket,andmakemaximumreductionstoitsdirectallocationofresources.Everyrequirementforgovernmentapprovalthatshouldbecanceledwillbecanceled.Whenapprovalisrequired,theproceduresandstepsinvolvedwillbesimplified.Thiswillleavecompaniestospendmoretimedoingbusinessandlesstimechasingapprovals.ThelengthysentencesinthepremierChinesetexthaveintricatesemanticrelationships.InthetargetEnglishtext,thetranslatordividestheoriginalsentenceintoseveralsentencestotranslate.Forthesakeofnoduplication,thecohesiveword"This"isexertedinthetranslation.Bymeansoftheutilizationofword"This",theassociationbetweensentencesismoredefined,soastofulfillcontentequivalenceinfunctionalequivalenceatthediscourselevel.4.3.1ConjunctionsConjunction,byitsdefinition,isanuninflectedlinguisticformwhichcombinessentences,clauses,phrasesorwords.Theapplicationofconjunctionscannotonlymakereadersbeevidentlyawareofthesemanticrelationshipbetweensentences,butalsoimplementtheformalequivalencebetweenthetranslatedtextandtheoriginaltext.Example10:充分发挥消费的基础作用、投资的关键作用，稳定国内有效需求，为经济平稳运行提供有力支撑。Translation:Wewillfullyleveragethebasicroleofconsumptionandthekeyroleofinvestment,ensuresteadyeffectivedomesticdemand,andthusbooststableeconomicperformance.Thetenthexampledescribesmeasurestounleashthepotentialofdomesticdemand,followedbytheexpectedresults.Theparallelrelationshipbetweensentences,withtheadditionoftheconjunction“thus”,becomesmoreobvious.ChapterFiveConclusion5.1SummaryofFiningsThetranslationoftheGovernmentWorkReportplaysapositiveroleinspreadingabouttheChinesegovernment’spoliticaldecision-makingandlettingtheworldbettercatchontoChina.Notonlyshouldthetranslatorspreciselytransmitthesubstance,formandstyleofthesourcetext,buttheyshouldmoreoverpossessasharppoliticalawareness.Asaconsequence,thetranslatorshouldtaketheprincipleoffaithfulnessasthefundamentalcriterionintheprocessoftranslation,soastoensurethatthetranslationtextaccuratelyretainstheoriginalmeaning.Thisthesis,inlightofNida’sfunctionalequivalence,scrutinizest