Abstract:

As the saying goes, “People regard food as their prime want”. Chinese cuisine culture has a long history and a profundity for its variety. With the development of globalization, Chinese dishes have found their way to the people across the world. Therefore, it is very important to translate the names of Chinese dishes in a proper way. However, there are many differences between Chinese dining culture and western dining culture. Unlike western cookery focusing on the nutrition and raw materials, the Chinese cookery places great emphasis on the color, aroma and flavor of the dishes. Besides, the Chinese dishes have a much wider variety of cooking methods. The Chinese people spare no efforts to label the Chinese dishes with proper names. Most of the names tend to be elegant and have good connotations. But the names of western dishes tend to be simple and straightforward. The great differences between Chinese dining culture and western dining culture give much difficulty to the translation of the names of Chinese dishes. However, Nida’s translation theory of dynamic equivalence offers a scientific and operable guideline for the translators to follow. There are many translation methods including literal translation, transliteration, free translation and cultural supplement. The translators need to consider many factors and choose the proper method to achieve dynamic equivalence. The successful translation of the names of Chinese dishes is an efficient means of cross-cultural communication, doing much to promote Chinese dining culture to the world.

Keywords: the names of Chinese dishes; translation; dynamic equivalence; translation methods; culture transmission

摘  要：

“民以食为天”，中国的饮食文化源远流长，博大精深。如今，随着全球化的发展，中华民族的饮食文化也逐步走出国门,并且受到各国人的欢迎。因此，如何翻译好中国菜的名称变得尤为重要。中国菜不但讲究色香味具全，烹饪方式也多种多样，和西方的各式饮食在观念制作方式等方面有着显著的不同。中国菜的命名本身很有特色，菜名通常很文雅，有美好的寓意；同时菜名还会体现出菜的制作原料和制作方式等；西方的菜名命名相对比较直接和写实。所以我们要贴切的翻译成英文的时候会有一定的难度。奈达的翻译理论用现代语言学的理论对翻译中涉及到的各个方面的问题进行了全面和系统的研究，其动态对等理论为包括中国菜名的英译在内的翻译实践提供了科学的理论指导。菜名翻译的方法包括直译，音译，意译和加注释等各种方法。译者应该根据很多因素来选择合适的翻译方法来翻译中国菜的名称。成功的菜名翻译也是一种有效的文化传播的途径，对中国菜名进行正确合理的翻译对于中国饮食文化传播有着很大的作用。
 
关键词：中国菜名；翻译；动态对等；翻译方法；文化传播