ABSTRACT

 As it is known to all, the proverb is the treasure a nation. Especially the lifestyle proverbs reveal the life habit and thinking habit of a nation.  So understand a nation’s proverb has a great significance on the way of promoting production and transferring culture. On the progress of translation research, the functional equivalence theory proposed by America translator and linguist Eugene A. Nida is widely used home and abroad and obtains a good effect. There are obvious differences between two nations’ expressions and cultural connotation through discussing and analyzing 50 Chinese translations of lifestyle proverbs under the guidance of the functional equivalence theory. So many translation methods are adopted on the progress of translation to reach the effect of liberal translation to transfer the cultural connotation of proverb accurately. This is accord with the translation principle proposed by functional equivalence theory.

Key words: English proverbs    Functional equivalence theory translation method

摘  要

众所周知，谚语是人类文明的宝库更是一个国家、一个民族的文化的精髓。其中生活类谚语更是像我们揭示了一个国家或民族的生活习俗与思维习惯，所以清楚的解读一国、一个民族的谚语对促进生产交流与文化交流都具备重大意义。在翻译研究中，美国翻译家兼语言学家尤金.奈达所提出的功能对等理论已经被国内外所熟知并广泛应用于各种题材的翻译中并取得良好成效。本文拟以功能对等理论为指导分析并总结具体的英文类谚语汉译的翻译方法。通过分析50条英文生活类谚语的中文译文，文章发现英汉两种语言在谚语的表现形式和文化内涵方面存在明显的差异，因而在翻译实践中普遍采用多种翻译方法达到意译的效果，从而力图准确传递谚语这一语言形式的文化内涵。这符合功能对等理论所提倡的翻译标准。

关键词：谚语翻译   功能对等理论   翻译方法

Chapter One    Introduction
Proverb comes from life and it is the high enrichment and concentrated reflection of a nation’s language and culture. The conciseness and depth of proverb reflects a nation’s wisdom and life experience which obtained from hundreds even thousands years life. It’s the summary of ancestors’ advises and warning. It not only reveals the truth of life but also possesses great value for descendants to study the lifestyle and ideology of the whole nation. The famous English writer and philosopher Francis Bacon (1561-1626) once said “The genius, wit and spirit of a nation are discovered in its proverbs.”(qtd in Peng Xiaohong, 2005) Thus to a foreigner who wants to know a nation’s culture more deeply and naturally, it could be seen as an advisable shortcut to study its proverbs.