Vogue Expressions Translation in the The Big Bang Theory From the Perspective of Functional Equivalence Theory

【Abstract】With the deepening of globalization， more and more foreign comedies come into the vision of Chinese people. The problem of subtitle translation is how to make Chinese people understand these classic sitcoms and the exotic culture. This paper applied Nida’s functional equivalence theory to make a tentative study of the equivalence and translation of linguistic and cultural phenomena in the subtitles of American sitcoms The Big Bang Theory. Equivalent treatment is intended to preserve as many the humor elements as in the original TV play， to properly handle the language and cultural translations in a particular context.

【Key words】Functional equivalence； subtitle translation； The Big Bang Theory； translation strategy

【作者簡介】罗坤（1990.12.27- ），男，四川绵阳人，成都理工大学外国语学院，硕士研究生在读，研究方向：英语翻译。

Eugene A. Nida is one of the most famous American translators. In 1964， Toward a Science of Translating was published. In this book， Nida first proposed “dynamic equivalence”， that is， “content first， form second”， and then “dynamic equivalence” was developed into “functional equivalence”. Many domestic scholars have also used Nida’s translation concept to carry on the multi-directional research on different translation topics， such as Liao Liling’s latest network buzzword translation， Wang Jing and Liu Huijun’s English film title translation And so on， at the same time some scholars use this theory to make a tentative study on the US drama The Big Bang Theory， but rarely the use of Nida’s theory to the subtitle translation of this US drama.

I. Translation standards for functional equivalence theory

What is the standard for assessing the function of equivalence？ To solve this problem， Nida established the theory of “isomorphism”， that is， “functional isomorphism”. From the linguistic point of view， it further pointed out that the new isomorphic structure was the key to achieve functional equivalence. Linguistic isomorphism refers to the meaning of the source language in the translation of the source language. The information conveyed by translation has both literal meaning and underlying cultural meaning. Functional isomorphism can be obtained from language， culture and other aspects to explain.

II. The application of functional equivalence theory in the subtitle translation of The Big Bang Theory

The Big Bang Theory is an American television sitcom between four young scientists and a poorly-educated waitress.The language humor of four scientists and a high IQ waitress with cultural and sub-cultural connotation accounted for the vast majority in the drama， showing the conflict between mainstream and non-mainstream culture. Then we’ll analyze the subtitle translation in The Big Bang Theory based on functional equivalence from aspects of language and culture.

1. Equivalence of language function

The translation of humor elements is the most important thing in the translation of sitcoms. The primary task for the translator is to bring the source punchlines to the target ones as much as possible. This requires literal translation， paraphrase， etc， in different context through lexical， sentence， style and other external isomorphisms to achieve the equivalence of translation.

（1） Lexical Isomorphisms. Look at the following two forms of translation， you can experience a different humor effect.

Example

Leonard： I’ll do the talking. 我来说话。

Sheldon： Good thinking. I’ll just be the muscle. 想的不错，我来当打手。（我来秀肌肉。）

（2）Sentence Isomorphisms. In the subtitle translation， it is difficult for translators to find the complete equivalence between the source language and the target language. The problems that appear are complicated and sometimes require the translator to use the translation principles according to the target language.

Example

Sheldon： Pick a card. Put it back and prepared to be amazed.

抽一張牌，然后放回去。接下来就是见证奇迹的时刻。

As in the example， it’s correct to translate as “准备接受惊喜”， but it’s more suitable in the context and recognized by readers when translated as “接下来就是见证奇迹的时刻”. Although the language form is completely different from the English sentence， it actually realized the function equivalence.

2. Equivalence of culture function

The language of The Big Bang Theory will inevitably involve some Western cultural phenomena and conventions. This requires the translator to understand the cultural connotations of the source language expressions， combined with the different characteristics of the two cultures， to interpret the context effect of the original drama to the full extent.

Idiom Isomorphisms. There are many idioms and phrases that bear the same meaning in Chinese and English. Although the language form is different， the meaning is the same. The most ideal translation is to find nearly identical Chinese in meaning.

Example

Sheldon： I’m a physicist with a Nobel in chemistry. Everyone laughs at the circus freak.

我将是获得诺贝尔化学奖的物理学家，大家快来笑我这个奇葩吧。

其实这根本没什么可尴尬的，知道吗？在美国谁家都会有个亲戚干点偷鸡摸狗的事。上述两例虽为意译，但却通过各自文化所独有的习语表达了相同的语言场景。

In the example， “Circus freak” means “马戏团怪胎”. If translated like this， Chinese readers may not understand what’s the freaks in the circus？ This is a cultural difference where the Westerners think the circus is a symbol of absurd and freak. So if translated as “奇葩”， that will make sense to Chinese readers.

（2） Synecdoche Isomorphisms. In some translations， it is difficult to find equivalent expression to the source language from the target language， and it cannot use lots of annotations to solve this problem. This requires the translator to find as much as possible the language expressions that are accepted in the Chinese traditional culture， which can promote the audience’s awareness and acceptance.

Example

There’s no quid pro quo here.

你不愿意献身，我也给你赞助费。

In the example， the Quid pro quo is a Latin meaning exchange of equivalence. It means that whether Leonard will or not have sex with her， she will give him sponsorship fees.

III. Conclusion

In this paper， Nida’s functional equivalence theory is used to study the subtitle translation of The Big Bang Theory and try to find the appropriate translation strategies to achieve well translation function effect. The most basic principles that should be followed in the translation of subtitles are： the literal translation should be used to reduce the loss of the drama effect when we translate. Once the literal translation causes misunderstanding， the translator should consider free translation， to maximize the translation effect of the highly functional equivalence， this point on the cultural function of the translation is particularly important. But if the information passed can not be obtained through the free translation， then the annotation and isomorphisms become an essential translation remedial strategy.

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