With the increasing contacts and exchanges between China and Spanish-speaking countries, the Spanish translation of Chinese dishes should also be paid attention to. As a part of China's diet, Chinese dim sum is a characteristic achievement of long-term practice of working people in China. This paper will mainly analyze the Spanish translation skills of Chinese dim sum names. We take 17 Chinese dim sum names and their Spanish translations as our analysis objects, combining quantitative and qualitative methods. The main purpose of this paper is not to evaluate or popularize these 17 translations, but to provide some enlightenment for the Spanish translation of Chinese dim sum names in the future by analyzing the translation skills used in these translations.
I. Definition and classification of translation skills
In translation studies, the three concepts of "translation strategy", "translation method" and "translation skills" are often confused, and many Chinese and foreign scholars have tried to sort them out and define them. Among them, Xiong Bing's research has fully and systematically explained the relationship between these three concepts and their respective classifications. He believes that "translation skill" is "the technology, skill or skill required by a certain translation method in translation activities", which is a more specific category under "translation strategy" and "translation method". After reviewing other scholars' definitions and classifications of translation skills, Molina and Hurtado put forward 18 classifications of translation skills, namely, adaptation, addition, borrowing, imitation, supplement, description, creative translation, equivalent expression translation, generalization, language expansion, language compression, literal translation, adaptation, concretization, reduction, substitution, replacement and variation. This classification is more detailed and comprehensive. This paper will analyze the skills used in the translation of Chinese dim sum names in the Chinese-Western Classified Dictionary according to the classification of these two scholars.
second, analysis of translation skills of Chinese dim sum names
naming and translation difficulties of Chinese dim sum
most Chinese dim sum names are relatively simple, mainly highlighting their ingredients and types, such as "millet and red bean porridge" and "fried pancakes". So what are the difficulties in its translation? We think there are three main points: first, some production methods or snack varieties do not exist in the western diet. τ φ module? For example, "selling" and "being blunt"; Secondly, many snacks are indirectly named according to the characteristics of their ingredients, shapes or colors, such as "eight-treasure porridge" and "shrimp crisp box". Finally, "dim sum" means "a little heart", and we often use various rhetoric to "make it beautiful", such as "a hundred flowers money box".
Identification and statistics of translation skills
There are 17 entries about Chinese dim sum in the Chinese-Western Classified Dictionary. We analyze the translation of these 17 Chinese dim sum dishes one by one, and make statistics on the translation techniques used. The statistical results are as follows:
We will analyze these seven translation techniques one by one.
Analysis of translation skills
1. Literal translation
Literal translation refers to literal translation according to the content and form of the original text, which is the most frequently used translation skill in the translation of these 17 Chinese dim sum names. Because most Chinese dim sum names are straightforward, foreigners can understand this dim sum through literal translation. For example, the three elements "vegetables", "shrimp" and "steamed stuffed bun" in the "vegetable and shrimp bag" all have corresponding Spanish words: verduras”“camarones”“empanada empanada, and the literal translation of these three words is enough for the target audience to understand this snack, so it can be literally translated as empanadadecamaronesyverduras. Some literal translations will make foreigners who don't know China's diet feel at a loss, such as literally translating "Babao" in "Babao Rice" into "ochotesoros". Of course, dictionary translation has its limitations, and it can be supplemented appropriately after literal translation according to the specific situation in actual translation. In addition, in this dictionary, the translation of "Wuren" in "Wuren Tangyuan" is described as "nuecessurtidas", which makes the translation easier to understand. Therefore, we can also translate "Babel" into "cerealespersos".
2. Adaptation
Adaptation refers to the translation adjustment made to adapt to the social culture of the target readers and the expression habits of the target language, and replaces the cultural elements expressed in the source language with similar cultural elements in the target language. Since many Chinese snacks do not exist in western diets, in order to make the target audience better understand what these snacks are like, the translator will find some similar concepts to replace them in the target language, so the adaptation method is also frequently used in the translation of Chinese dim sum names, second only to literal translation. For example, the traditional steamed stuffed bun in China is not found in the diet of Spanish-speaking countries, so a complete corresponding word cannot be found, but the word "empanada" in Spanish means "masadepanrellenadecarne, pescado, verdura, etc., cocidaenelhorno". In addition, as mentioned earlier, China people are very particular about naming, and they often use metaphors and other rhetoric to beautify these snacks. In this case, if simple literal translation or finding a similar concept can't solve the problem, descriptive method can be used. For example, in the translation of "Hundred Flowers Money Box", in order to let the target audience know what this dim sum is really like, we can only describe the "true face" of this dim sum by means of explanation. In fact, "Hundred Flowers Money Box" refers to a dim sum fried with pork and shrimp. Because it looks like a box and is golden yellow after frying, it is named "Hundred Flowers Money Box". Its translation "Friturade CarnedPurecoycamaró n" can make the target audience understand this dim sum well through the translation techniques described, but the good meaning of its original name cannot be obtained in the translation.
4. Addition translation
Addition translation refers to adding some details that are not mentioned in the original text but are helpful for the target readers to understand the translation. In Chinese style, information that is common sense to China people does not need to be reflected in the naming. For example, the "steamed buns" mentioned above: the conventional practice of "steamed buns" in China is not necessary, so it is not necessary to name them "steamed buns", but foreign countries are not used to this practice, so it is necessary to add the modifier "steamed buns" in translation. Another example is the dessert "rock sugar pineapple". If it is literally translated as "azúcarcandeypia", foreigners will not understand what kind of snack it is. This dictionary translates it into "compotadepiaenazúcarcande", which is actually translated with two additions: compota and en. The reason why these two ingredients are added is that ordinary people in China can immediately think that this is a dessert with sugar water when they hear the name "rock sugar pineapple", so it is not necessary to point out in its name that this is a "sugar water" and how rock sugar and pineapple are combined, but foreigners may not know about China sugar water, so it is necessary to reflect the relevant details in translation.
5. Subtranslation
Subtranslation refers to omitting some unnecessary translated information in the original text, or deliberately omitting some information in order not to make the translation appear complicated and cumbersome. For example, in the translation of "shrimp dumplings with dried noodles", the component of "dried noodles" was omitted and simply translated as "raviolesdecamarón". "Chengmian" refers to a kind of processed gluten-free flour. In fact, people who don't have in-depth research on food should not know the concept of gluten-free flour, so why not? When the target audience becomes more confused, the translator ignores the component of "clear face". Another example is the translation of "Dandan Noodles": Dandan Noodles is one of the representative snacks in Sichuan, and it was named because it was originally the porters who carried the burden to sell noodles. However, if we want to translate and explain this component of "Dan Dan" to foreigners, the translation will be complicated and not concise. Therefore, the translator ignores "Dan Dan", but increases its origin and translates it into "tallarinesalasichuanesa", thus better reflecting that it is a snack with local characteristics.
6. parody
parody refers to imitating the lexical combination and word formation structure in the source language. For example, "supermarket" is a parody of "supermarket" in English, and "shame" and "loseface" also use parody translation techniques. On the surface, parody is somewhat similar to literal translation, both of which are word-for-word translations, but there are differences between them: parody emphasizes the lexical combination or word-formation structure of the imitated source language, which does not exist, has no meaning or has other meanings in the target language. For example, "Longan" and "Spring Roll" appeared in these Chinese dim sum names, and the dictionary translator translated them as "ojodedragón" and "rollodeprimavera" respectively. These two expressions were originally meaningless in Spanish or their meanings were different from those described in Chinese, so they belonged to parody translation. However, it is worth mentioning that not all parody can be accepted and spread. According to our online search results, the parody of "rollodeprimavera" of "Spring Roll" has indeed spread, but the parody of "ojodedragón" of "Longan" is not well accepted. The more common translation of "longan" is "Longan", which belongs to the borrowing translation method to be discussed below.
7. Borrowing translation
Borrowing translation refers to the direct application of words in the source language to the target language. Because the writing systems of Chinese and Spanish are completely different, Spanish loanwords from Chinese are generally translated through transliteration. For example, "longan" mentioned above. There is only one transliteration in these Chinese-style dots: transliteration of "zongzi" as "zongzi". Other examples of Spanish loan translation from Chinese are: "wonton" is translated into "wantán" or "Wonton", and "shaomai" is translated into "Shao mai" or "shuimai". Whether parody and loan translation can be accepted and spread depends first on whether the translated things are well-known and spread enough.
III. Conclusion
This paper simply analyzes 17 Chinese dim sum names and their translations in the Chinese-Western Classified Dictionary, and tries to summarize the common translation skills in the western translation of Chinese dim sum names, and explains and analyzes some examples. However, it is worth re-emphasizing that the dim sum translation mentioned in this paper is not the only translation method, nor can it be said to be the most correct. In practice, we should also consider specific translation scenarios and translation purposes.