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

In one of the episodes, Miroslava sings a lullaby to Arman, it begins with the phrase “баю бай” (bye-bye), a traditional phrase familiar to the Russian people. Words common to all of us from childhood are in fact the interjections formed from the verb “баять” meaning to tell fairy tales. In the Chinese version of the translation, the translator used the phonetic transcription 摇啊摇啊摇, selecting appropriate hieroglyphs similar in sounds flow. This phrase was translated into English through the contextual translation “Sleep, sweet child...”, where the Russian culture- specific `word` disappears and is replaced by a phrase more familiar to a native English speaker.

The following diagrams are presented for the clearer understanding and obtaining a qualitative as well as a quantitative insight into the unique application of translation methods for Chinese and English languages translation on a specific language material. We analyzed in `total` about 20 examples in Chinese and English.

As we see in the first diagram, the most common method selected for translating Russian culture-specific concepts into Chinese is the functional analogue, which can be explained by the translator’s wish to translate the source text as briefly and concisely as possible. The main principle is to adapt the translation to the nationally biased units of Chinese culture so that the words and text of the film could sound natural and be perceived in accordance with the norms of the native language for the viewers.

The second most common type of translation is descriptive. The reason for its application by the translator is the ability to reveal in volume and detail the meaning of the culture-specific vocabulary of the source language. However, it may also make the text cumbersome, heavy, and therefore it is inferior to translation through the functional analogue.

Transcription is invoked in the case of onomatopoeia and proper names translation, helping to preserve the national bias. However, in some cases this method can lead to serious inconsistencies and distortions of meaning, as is the case with the translation of the `word` “helmsman”, for example.

The following diagram represents the frequency of translation methods application for English translation. We can see that the proportion of certain translation methods has something in common, in particular, such a method as functional analogue. But, it is there, where all the similarities and intersections terminate: even within the framework of this translation method, there are differences in the approaches of translators. Whereas in translation into Chinese the main tool is concretization, then generalization prevails in English. The preference for this particular translation method is explained by the presence of cultural values common to our and the Western world, as a result of which it is rather easy to find a functional analogue.

Here we can see a complete lack of transcription method, which happens due to the peculiarities of audiovisual translation. The picture on the screen is already enough for the viewer to understand the meaning of certain culture-specific words of the Russian language. In such a situation, the translator rather prefers contextual translation, which is applicable for complex cases of functional analogues missing in the `target` language and the translator’s intention to make the translation as clear as possible to the recipient.