Vogue Expressions Translation in the The Big Bang Theory From the Perspective of Functional Equivalence Theory

【Abstract】With the deepening of globalization， more and more foreign comedies come into the vision of Chinese people. The problem of subtitle translation is how to make Chinese people understand these classic sitcoms and the exotic culture. This paper applied Nida’s functional equivalence theory to make a tentative study of the equivalence and translation of linguistic and cultural phenomena in the subtitles of American sitcoms The Big Bang Theory. Equivalent treatment is intended to preserve as many the humor elements as in the original TV play， to properly handle the language and cultural translations in a particular context.

【Key words】Functional equivalence； subtitle translation； The Big Bang Theory； translation strategy

【作者簡介】羅坤（1990.12.27- ），男，四川綿陽人，成都理工大學(xué)外國語學(xué)院，碩士研究生在讀，研究方向：英語翻譯。

Eugene A. Nida is one of the most famous American translators. In 1964， Toward a Science of Translating was published. In this book， Nida first proposed “dynamic equivalence”， that is， “content first， form second”， and then “dynamic equivalence” was developed into “functional equivalence”. Many domestic scholars have also used Nida’s translation concept to carry on the multi-directional research on different translation topics， such as Liao Liling’s latest network buzzword translation， Wang Jing and Liu Huijun’s English film title translation And so on， at the same time some scholars use this theory to make a tentative study on the US drama The Big Bang Theory， but rarely the use of Nida’s theory to the subtitle translation of this US drama.

I. Translation standards for functional equivalence theory

What is the standard for assessing the function of equivalence？ To solve this problem， Nida established the theory of “isomorphism”， that is， “functional isomorphism”. From the linguistic point of view， it further pointed out that the new isomorphic structure was the key to achieve functional equivalence. Linguistic isomorphism refers to the meaning of the source language in the translation of the source language. The information conveyed by translation has both literal meaning and underlying cultural meaning. Functional isomorphism can be obtained from language， culture and other aspects to explain.

II. The application of functional equivalence theory in the subtitle translation of The Big Bang Theory

The Big Bang Theory is an American television sitcom between four young scientists and a poorly-educated waitress.The language humor of four scientists and a high IQ waitress with cultural and sub-cultural connotation accounted for the vast majority in the drama， showing the conflict between mainstream and non-mainstream culture. Then we’ll analyze the subtitle translation in The Big Bang Theory based on functional equivalence from aspects of language and culture.

1. Equivalence of language function

The translation of humor elements is the most important thing in the translation of sitcoms. The primary task for the translator is to bring the source punchlines to the target ones as much as possible. This requires literal translation， paraphrase， etc， in different context through lexical， sentence， style and other external isomorphisms to achieve the equivalence of translation.

（1） Lexical Isomorphisms. Look at the following two forms of translation， you can experience a different humor effect.

Example

Leonard： I’ll do the talking. 我來說話。

Sheldon： Good thinking. I’ll just be the muscle. 想的不錯，我來當(dāng)打手。（我來秀肌肉。）

（2）Sentence Isomorphisms. In the subtitle translation， it is difficult for translators to find the complete equivalence between the source language and the target language. The problems that appear are complicated and sometimes require the translator to use the translation principles according to the target language.

Example

Sheldon： Pick a card. Put it back and prepared to be amazed.

抽一張牌，然后放回去。接下來就是見證奇跡的時刻。

As in the example， it’s correct to translate as “準(zhǔn)備接受驚喜”， but it’s more suitable in the context and recognized by readers when translated as “接下來就是見證奇跡的時刻”. Although the language form is completely different from the English sentence， it actually realized the function equivalence.

2. Equivalence of culture function

The language of The Big Bang Theory will inevitably involve some Western cultural phenomena and conventions. This requires the translator to understand the cultural connotations of the source language expressions， combined with the different characteristics of the two cultures， to interpret the context effect of the original drama to the full extent.

Idiom Isomorphisms. There are many idioms and phrases that bear the same meaning in Chinese and English. Although the language form is different， the meaning is the same. The most ideal translation is to find nearly identical Chinese in meaning.

Example

Sheldon： I’m a physicist with a Nobel in chemistry. Everyone laughs at the circus freak.

我將是獲得諾貝爾化學(xué)獎的物理學(xué)家，大家快來笑我這個奇葩吧。

其實(shí)這根本沒什么可尷尬的，知道嗎？在美國誰家都會有個親戚干點(diǎn)偷雞摸狗的事。上述兩例雖為意譯，但卻通過各自文化所獨(dú)有的習(xí)語表達(dá)了相同的語言場景。

In the example， “Circus freak” means “馬戲團(tuán)怪胎”. If translated like this， Chinese readers may not understand what’s the freaks in the circus？ This is a cultural difference where the Westerners think the circus is a symbol of absurd and freak. So if translated as “奇葩”， that will make sense to Chinese readers.

（2） Synecdoche Isomorphisms. In some translations， it is difficult to find equivalent expression to the source language from the target language， and it cannot use lots of annotations to solve this problem. This requires the translator to find as much as possible the language expressions that are accepted in the Chinese traditional culture， which can promote the audience’s awareness and acceptance.

Example

There’s no quid pro quo here.

你不愿意獻(xiàn)身，我也給你贊助費(fèi)。

In the example， the Quid pro quo is a Latin meaning exchange of equivalence. It means that whether Leonard will or not have sex with her， she will give him sponsorship fees.

III. Conclusion

In this paper， Nida’s functional equivalence theory is used to study the subtitle translation of The Big Bang Theory and try to find the appropriate translation strategies to achieve well translation function effect. The most basic principles that should be followed in the translation of subtitles are： the literal translation should be used to reduce the loss of the drama effect when we translate. Once the literal translation causes misunderstanding， the translator should consider free translation， to maximize the translation effect of the highly functional equivalence， this point on the cultural function of the translation is particularly important. But if the information passed can not be obtained through the free translation， then the annotation and isomorphisms become an essential translation remedial strategy.

參考文獻(xiàn)：

[1]Nida，Eugene A.Toward a Science of Translating：with special reference to principles and procedures involved in Bible translating[M].Leiden：E.J.Brill，1964：159-163.

[2]Waard，Jan de and E.A.Nida.From One Language to Another：Functional Equivalence in Bible Translating[M].Nashville：Thomas Nelson，1986：viii.

[3]廖麗玲.功能對等理論下試譯最新網(wǎng)絡(luò)流行語[J].北京城市學(xué)院學(xué)報，2010，（4）：79-82.

[4]王菁，劉慧君.從功能對等的角度析英語電影片名的漢譯[J].河北理工大學(xué)學(xué)報：社會科學(xué)版，2007，7（4）：164-167.

[5]溫彬.從“功能對等”角度看外文影視作品的字幕翻譯[J].河南工業(yè)大學(xué)學(xué)報：社會科學(xué)版，2013，9（2）：131-134.

[6]尤金·奈達(dá).語言文化與翻譯[M].嚴(yán)久生，譯.呼和浩特：內(nèi)蒙古大學(xué)出版社，1998：113-116.