Стратегии перевода национально-ориентированных единиц с русского языка на китайский (на примере фильма "Он - дракон")

Further, we meet this lexical unit in the phrase “старая дева” (old maid) when the younger sister speaks about the older one. The translator here used a descriptive translation, choosing the Chinese equivalent of  嫁不出去的老姑娘. In order to explain the meaning of this unit to a Chinese viewer, the translator added a verb with a compliment of probability 嫁不出去 with the meaning “cannot get married”. In the English translation we see the variant “old maid”, which can be characterized as a semantic loan-translation with a meaning synonymous to the Russian unit “старая дева” (old maid).

For the translation of the word “богатырь” (hero-knight) a functional analogue in the Chinese language 勇士 was chosen, meaning “a brave warrior”, a man of valor and honor. And in the English translation it was rendered through the lexeme “man”, which does not fully reflect the meaning of the word “богатырь” (hero). Since there is no equivalent of this word in English, the method of rough translation or generalization was used, which can also be interpreted as a generic substitution.

To translate socio-political realities, such as "princess" 公主 and "princess" 公爵夫人, a functional analogue was used, respectively, because the hierarchical system of the ruling classes in China and in the West is different. It should be noted that such equivalents are often used in Chinese also to convey the meaning of titles of high society in European countries, where 公爵夫人 means "duchess" and 公主 "princess".

The selection of lexical analogues in English here is rather interesting. When a father addresses his daughter, saying the words of parting and support before marriage and emphasizes that she will soon become “княгиня” (prince’s wife), the word is translated as “duchess”. Further, one of the soldiers, addressing Miroslava, the youngest Prince’s daughter, calls her “княжна” (prince’s daughter), while the word is again rendered as “duchess”. Here the translator similarly selected a functional analogue, in spite of the fact, that “княжна” is the unmarried daughter of the Prince. Therefore, in our opinion, the translation closest to the original would be “princess”, which is more in line with the social status of the heroine Miroslava.

Separately, I would like to investigate and analyze the translation case related to the concept of “dragon” and the specifics of its interpretation in three languages. Thus, an evil dragon, which the narrator also calls “змей” (serpent), is mentioned several times in the legend. This is the name that these creatures often bear in Russian legends. For example, “Змей Горыныч”, the well-known image of a dragon in Russian culture ) (8, p.189). In order to adapt this concept for the Chinese viewer, the translator avoided using a literal, verbatim or descriptive translation, but turned to a functional analogue in Chinese, rendering it with "龙", because the original version can confuse the viewer due to a different worldview picture. Moreover, in this case, it would not be enough just to use the unit 龙, since a dragon in Chinese mythology does not have a negative connotation, being a symbol of imperial power, wisdom and strength. For this reason the epithet “evil” has been added.

The English version of the word “змей” translation is rendered through the word “dragon”, which is similar to the Chinese version 龙, but the reason for choosing this lexeme is fundamentally different from the Chinese cultural tradition. Thus, the image of the dragon in Europe has always inspired awe and fear, being, on the one hand, the personification of great power, and, on the other, of a great evil. Calvert Watkins declares that the heroes in the indigenous European peoples’ epics kill the monster because “the dragon symbolizes Chaos” ) (9, p.299), sows fear, brings devastation and grief. In this case, “dragon” is an adequate translation of the Russian word “змей”.