摘 要

功能对等理论是奈达翻译理论的核心，他指出意义贴切最重要，形式其次。1960年，奈达最初提出的是动态对等理论，后来在1986年出版的《从一种语言到另一种语言》一书中将其修订为功能对等理论。功能对等追求的是语体和语用层次上的信息对等。伴随着全球化和科学技术的发展，中国以越来越快的速度引进英语电影。英语电影作为西方文化的产物，有利于我们了解西方文化。但由于历史原因、文化差异、社会原因等因素，同一部电影在中国的两岸三地有着不用的译名，很难达到统一，给观众的理解带来了不便和困惑。本文根据功能对等理论，从片名翻译常用的三种方法：音译法、直译法和意译法出发，分析比较三地的电影名翻译，希望能找到较好的片名翻译途径，实现源语和目的语之间的功能对等。
 
关键词：功能对等；英语片名翻译；翻译方法
 
Abstract

The key to Nida’s translation theory is the theory of functional equivalence. Nida put forward the famous translation theory of dynamic equivalence in 1960s, which was revised as functional equivalence in From One Language to Another published in 1986. Nida thinks that meaning is the most important factor and form is the second. Functional equivalence means reappear information of the source language in the point of semantics and style in the most appropriate, natural and equivalent language. With the development of science and globalization, more and more English movies are introduced into China. English movie is a product of western culture. By watching English movies, the audience in China knows more about western culture. However, there are many differences in translated titles because of the historical reasons, cultural diversities, education level, and knowledge level. As to the same title, it often has several different translations. Versions in the Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan can hardly achieve unity in most cases, which makes confusion and inconvenience for the audience. From the point of the theory of functional equivalence, the differences in the translation of English movie title between the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan are discussed in the article. Transliteration, literal translation, and free translation are three techniques often employed in the translation of English movie titles, what we should do is to explore the best way to translate English movie titles.

Keywords: functional equivalence; translation of English movies; translation techniques
 
Chapter 1 Introduction
The theory of functional equivalence was first put forward by Eugene Nida, a famous American linguist, translator and translation theorist, which brought a brand-new enlightenment to the study of translation. There are four aspects of the theory: (1) equivalence in words; (2) equivalence in syntax; (3) equivalence in context; (4) equivalence in style. In the four aspects, Nida thinks that meaning is the most important. He sets forth the differences in translation, as he would account for it, within three basic factors: (1) The nature of the message: in some messages the content is of primary consideration, and in others the form must be given a higher priority. (2) The purpose of the author and of the translator: to give information on both form and content; to aim at full intelligibility of the reader so he/she may understand the full implications of the message; for imperative purposes that aim at not just understanding the translation but also at ensuring no misunderstanding of the translation. (3) The type of audience: prospective audiences differ both in decoding ability and in potential interest.