Abstract: Chinese university mottos not only embody the Chinese traditional culture, but also are the highly generalization and concentration of a university’s spirit. With the rapid development of our higher education globalization, it has been a strategic component for universities to translate their Chinese university mottos into foreign languages. According to the characteristics in both language and content of Chinese university mottos, this dissertation is an attempt to explore the translation principles and techniques in Chinese-English translation of Chinese university mottos from a perspective of Nida’s functional equivalence on translation theory.

Key words: Chinese university mottos; Chinese-English translation; functional equivalence theory

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction-1

1.1 Research Significance-1

1.2 Previous Studies-2

2. Theoretical Framework-3

2.1 Definition of Functional Equivalence Theory-3

2.2 Development of Functional Equivalence Theory-4

2.3-Principles of Functional Equivalence Theory-5

3. Features of Chinese University Mottos-6

3.1 Source-6

3.2 Linguistic Form-6

3.3 Content-7

4. Translation of Chinese University Mottos-8

4.1 Principles for the Translation of Chinese University Mottos-8

4.1.1 Faithfulness-8

4.1.2 Simplicity-9

4.1.3 Conformity-9

4.2 Functional Equivalence in Chinese-English Translation of Chinese University Mottos-10

4.2.1 Lexical Equivalence-10

4.2.1.1 Verbal Consistency-11

4.2.1.2 Correspondence of the Classes-12

4.2.1.3 Semantic Equivalence-13

4.2.2 Syntactic Equivalence-14

4.2.3 Contextual Equivalence-15

4.2.4 Stylistic Equivalence-16

4.2.5 Cultural Equivalence-17

5. Conclusion-19

References