Journal of East China Normal University (Philosoph ›› 2018, Vol. 50 ›› Issue (6): 72-80.doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5579.2018.06.009

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Six Important Concepts for Cross-cultural Translation

HUANG Ji   

  • Online:2018-11-15 Published:2018-11-26

Abstract: When introducing China's thoughts, concepts and situations, it is unavoidable to involve the translation of many Chinese culture-loaded words. If the translation is inaccurate, it will lead to misunderstanding, even produce the opposite effect, and bring negative impact on China's national image. By investigating a large number of cross-cultural translation cases, the study concludes that some new concepts should be established in translating cultural-loaded words:1. The translation should be judged from the perspective of foreigners(native speakers of the target language). 2. The meaning of a foreign word should not be understood only from the dictionaries, but also from their actual use; 3. "No translation" does not mean "no interpretation", "zero translation" is not equal to "zero interpretation"; transliteration is only the first step. Interpreting the new words in foreign languages is more important second step. 4. Online dictionaries should follow the "lower limit principle" and try to incorporate any new words translated from Chinese. 5. The economic laws should be considered in translation; foreigners tend to use more concise transliteration and abandon the complicated free translation. 6. Transliteration of Chinese culture-loaded words can be based on Chinese Pinyin system, but it should be fine-tuned according to the actual situation.

Key words: national image, cross-cultural translation, culture-loaded words, loong, dragon