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Student ID: 200913001311 Word Count: 506

What are the criteria in judging translations?

Since different principles apply to different types translations, it is not easy to judge the relative merits of two or more translations. We must first understand what translation is if we want to judge which translation work is better. There are a great many definitions of translation, but no written rules to clearly define it.

Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Translation is a tool in modern information transfer. So, the criteria in judging translations should be focus on both the sources and the targets. Different ways help to determine the relative merit of particular translations. To achieve an accurate translation from source texts to target texts should base on the source language, and meet the adaption to the target culture and readers.

The criteria in judging translations can divide in two aspects. The first one is Source-oriented. Source-oriented reveal as much of the form and content of the original message. A good translation work should respect to the original work and maintain the centre information. A good translation should keep Formal Equivalence, which means the comprehension of intent must be judged essentially in terms of the context in the communication. In some menu translation cases, they use literal translation to translate the dish names directly with ordinary words and knowledge in cuisine field which was shared by both Chinese and westerns. For examples:“杏仁鸡丁” is translated into “Chicken Cubes with Almond”; “松仁香菇” is translated into “Black Mushroom with Pine Nuts”; “葱油鸡” is translated into “Chicken in Scallion Oil”. The adequacy can be achieved because all the source ingredients’ names are retained in the translation version.

The second one is Target-oriented. Target-oriented base on “Principle of equivalent effect”. A good translation work should not only preserve the source but also the target. A good translation should also keep Dynamic Equivalence, which means complete naturalness of expressions and relate the receptor to modes of behavior relevant within the context of its own culture. In a Dynamic Equivalence translation the intent of the sources must be understood in terms of the receptor culture. In some Chinese idioms, for example, “爱屋及乌” can translate as “Love me, love my dog”; “混水摸鱼” can translate as “fish in troubled water”; “倾盆大雨” can translate as “to rain cats and dogs”. Actually, one cannot speak of \from comprehension by the receptor. The importance of receptors’ role in translating is determined whether a translation is good or not. A good translation version should make the receptors understand what the exact meaning of the original texts.

Formal Equivalence and Dynamic Equivalence are the criteria in judging translations whether it is good or not, but not the only way. A good translation should pay more attention to the sources or the targets and could be achieved only a practical situation is taken into account.

References

[1] Eugene A. Nida，Toward a Science of Translating [M] ，Adler's Foreign Books Inc，1964，

182.

[2]宋锦波，从目的论视角看菜单翻译[D] ， 硕士论文，金华: 浙江师范大学, 2006. [3] 谢天振，（主编），《当代国外翻译理论导读》[C]，南开大学出版社，2008，

136-137.