Unlike many theories before, functional equivalence no longer paid attention to the original text and the translation but to the readers。 It tried to make the relationship between the readers of translation and the original text to be consistent with the relationship between with the readers of the original works and the the text。 According to the theory of functional equivalence, translation should give priority to the meaning of the work。 It can achieve the ideal translation effect after making some big changes on the structure。 This shares similarities with our country’s traditional theory “Resemblance in spirit rather than resemblance in form”。

2。2 The current situation of Chinese menu translation

2。2。1 Common problems论文网

In recent years, although quite a few scholars have set foot in the studies of Chinese food recipes translation, this field is still in its infancy, The English translation of Chinese menu still doesn’t have high standard。 Dish names are special because they can convey Chinese images and transmit Chinese people’s hospitality and passion to the world。 However,  there are many dished do not have a best translate persions to describe their names。 As a result, Chinese culture which behind these dishes can not be well understood by our foreign guests。 There are several problems that exist in the current situations。

The good and bad translators are intermingled in this aspect。 There are both the professional translators and the restaurant staff that only know a little English。 Some  restaurants are using the online translation tools to convert the text。 The professional interpreters are well trained, they should not only consider the factor of language, but also the factors of culture。 However, it is still hard to avoid making mistakes。 The status quo of Chinese menu translation is not that optimistic。

Many restaurants translate the Chinese food recipes word by word for the sake of brevity, thus made many ridiculous mistakes。 For instance, A restaurant translated “宫爆鸡丁” into “government abuse chicken ”。 This translation not only surprises foreign guests, but also many Chinese guests。 Many restaurant use pinyin to replace the recipe’s English translation which make the foreigners confused。 They can’t grasp the containing meaning that buried in the dishes。 This kind of translation could not convey the Chinese local characteristics and cultural background to foreign guests。

Influenced by traditional culture, most of Chinese dishes have an elegant name and if named after this standard, neither can we know the raw material nor the cooking methods。 For example, many restaurants translate 全家福 into “Happy family”。 Although this translation can transmit the traditional culture of the Chinese diet, it can not show the complete information of this dish which confuses a lot of foreign guests。

As is known to all, due to the differences of Chinese and western cultures, many words that symbolize good luck are taboo words。 This also applies to the translation of menu。 For example, some Chinese restaurants translate the famous dish “龙凤配” into “Dragon and Phoenix” literally which is a taboo question。 In western culture, dragon contains the meaning of evil, while Phoenix only appears in Chinese mythology。

Thus it can be seen that the translation of the menu is actually a kind of cross-cultural communication job。 We should not only consider the differences between different cultures, religions, the concepts of morality and taboo and many other problems, but also try our best to carry forward the Chinese long splendid Food Culture。

2。3 Components of Chinese Menu 

Chinese menus conclude food that made of flour and rice, clod dishes, hot dishes, and some special dishes like hot pot。 These dishes could be pided into five categories: appetizer, soup, main dish, dessert and beverage。 China is a vast land with abundant resources, so it is not surprising for us to find some particular dishes which only exist in China like hot pot and casserole。 In Chinese, casserole has a meaning of vessel。It also has a meaning of cooking method。 Rice, noodles, and local snacks are integral part of Chinese menu which includes cakes, gruel and other dishes。 Different from western recipes, Chinese menu has a great persity of food which makes it special。 In western countries,the main dish usually includes meat, fish, fowl and other things while in China only hot dishes have abundant food materials, let alone cold dishes。 These materials includes mutton, chicken, the flesh of meat, eggs, bean products, vegetables and fruits。 The chef could cook those ingredients inpidually or together in perse ways。  奈达的功能对等视角下的中餐菜谱英译(3):http://www.chuibin.com/yingyu/lunwen_200274.html