Abstract and Key Words

Abstract: Chinese and western countries form different food cultures due to the differences in their living environments, customs, value concepts that have shaped for a long time. The delicious Chinese food is very famous all over the world. As a result Chinese food culture naturally becomes the window, from which many foreign friends can know traditional Chinese culture. The English translation of Chinese dish names should convey clearly the raw materials, the taste, even the special cultural connotation of dishes. This paper attempts to make some analysis on the naming methods of Chinese dishes and three translation methods, namely literal translation, free translation, and transliteration adopted in translating the Chinese dish names into English,. The paper aims at a further understanding of Chinese food, and an exploration of the strategies of translation.

Key words: Chinese dish names; naming methods; translation methods

摘要：中西方由于长期以来形成的生活环境、风俗习惯、价值观念的不同，形成了各自饮食文化上的差异。中国美食享誉世界，而中国饮食文化也就自然成了很多中外友人了解中国传统恩华的窗口。中餐菜名的英译应当能清楚传递菜肴的原料、味道甚至其所蕴藏的文化内涵。本文从中餐菜名的命名方式和直译、意译以及音译这几种翻译方法对中国菜名的英译做了一些讨论,旨在更进一步的了解中国饮食文化和翻译策略。

关键词：中餐菜名; 命名方式; 翻译方法    

                                                                                                          
1.    Introduction
1.1 A Brief Introduction to Chinese Dishes
Recently, with the further deepening of the reform and opening-up, China and other countries have accelerated exchanges and contacts. There’re more and more foreigners that come to China to invest and visit. In their spare time, all of them would like to taste the unique flavor of Chinese cuisine, which makes our food culture further spread. As a result, how to translate Chinese dishes properly has been placed in a prominent position. Dish names translation is introduced as an  external dissemination of an important part of food culture. Chinese dish names, as a means of information transmission and cultural communication, is of great importance in food culture communication.
Chinese food, rich and colorful, has a long history. Its naming, both realistic approach and freehand style, not only contains a wealth of historical and cultural background, but full of interesting folk and local flavor. Some dishes are no longer simply a name, but an art of imagination triggered by name, and some dishes even have interesting stories. Translating Chinese dish names into English accurately can give foreigners a better understanding of Chinese dishes in the culinary arts and cultural connotations while they taste delicious Chinese dishes.