Advantages of Functional Equivalence

n Sociopragmatic Equivalence Effect in Translation

Mengyuan Fu[*Mengyuan Fu (1963- ), female, associate professor of English at Jinggangshan Normal College, Jiangxi P.R. China. The author focuses her study on translation theory and practice, etc; Tel: 0796-8100498; Postcode: 343009; E-mail: mengyuan63@163.com]* Jinggangshan Normal College

Abstract: The culture-specific expressions, which produce in different culture backgrounds, carry different cultures. The equivalent effect of sociopragmatics in translation usually occurs when the translator holds a correct conception of the different social institutions or cultural backgrounds between the source language and the target language, and adequately represents one for the other.

Based on Nida's "Dynamic Equivalence" theory, some approaches are put forward to get sociopragmatic equivalence effect in translation.

Key words: the culture-specific expressions Dynamic Equivalence sociopragmatic equivalence

Currently the dominant evaluation concept in translation is that of "equivalence": the quality of a translated text is assessed in terms of its equivalence to the original text. Since no translation is ever completely equivalent, a number of different translations can in fact represent varying degrees of equivalence. This means that "equivalence", instead of being understood in its mathematical meaning of identity, should be understood in terms of proximity. It is called as "Dynamic Equivalence" by Nida and Taber (1969).

Leech (1983, 11) classified general pragmatics into pragmalinguistics and sociopragmatic, and said, "…we do need detailed pragmatics into pragmalinguistics studies which are language-specific, and detailed socio-pragmatic studies which are culture-specific. The author of this thesis will only discuss the problem of sociopragmatic equivalent effect. The standard of dynamic equivalent will be adopted to evaluate the effect of translation."

Ziran He (1992)?claims that sociopragmatic equivalent effect refers to this consideration which depends on the translator's beliefs as well as his/her social and cross-cultural knowledge. It can be achieved when a translator holds a correct conception of the different social institutions or cultural backgrounds between the source text (ST) and the target text (TT), and adequately represents one for the other.

The words or expressions with culture-specific are produced by different culture. How can we get sociopragmatic equivalent effect when we translate such kinds of them? In this article, the approaches will be presented from the three aspects of employing synonyms and adaptation of culture-specific words or expressions.

I. Employing Synonyms of Culture-specific Words or Expressions

In order to get sociopragmatic equivalent effect in translation, some culture-specific expressions can be rendered into a synonymous one accepted by the reader of the TT. It can retain an equivalent effect of the same message in the TL. The following are the examples of successful translation:

(SL): "?????????????????????????‘????????????'"

?????????

(TL): "My fellow student then told him a well-spiced version of my story which irritated me. ‘I lose my parents,' I said, ‘and for you it's just a food story.'" ( W. J. F. Jenner )

The sociopragmatic equivalent effect of the version of translation can be evaluated according to the translator's belief and understanding of cultural differences and the acceptance of TT readers. Jeer's rendition is intended for western readers, so in this version, "????" is translated into "well-spiced". In English, spice means something that adds zest or relish, and the phrase "????", in Chinese means adding highly colored details to something, rather than its literal meaning. Then, "well-specific" can be regarded as the synonym of the Chinese culture-specific expression "????". Thus, the equivalent effect of the source message is kept in the TL.

( SL ): "Thou shall not seethe a kid in his mother's milk" . ???·?????

( TL.1 ): "????????????"

( TL.2 ): "???????????"

The first version is translated literally. Chinese readers will feel strange and difficult to understand. According to Nida's dynamic equivalence, if the English version is rendered by a synonym