Abstract: Eugene Nida once mentioned the need for translation equivalence. Equivalence is just an ideal state we are in pursuit of in translation practice, which could hardly be achieved in the reality. The non-equivalence translation is an important part to improve the translation skill. However, the study of the non-equivalence translation has not achieved great in the micro perspective. In this paper, the author chooses two micro perspectives to study it: word order and tenor. Word order is the embodiment of language differences while tenor mainly reflects the cultural differences. The two cause many of the non-equivalence problems in English-Chinese translation from language level and cultural level respectively. The comparison between English and Chinese word order can help language users build a deeper understanding of their languages’ nature, and it has a great help to the cross-cultural communication between English and Chinese, especially in translation. tenor study can help translators to understand source text from the relationship and the purpose in the discourse, to find out better translation strategies and improve the quality of translation. 

Key words: English-Chinese translation; non-equivalence; word order; tenor

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

1. Introduction-1

2. Literature Review-2

2.1 Literature Review of Studies on Word Order-2

2.1.1 Word Order Research in the West-3

2.1.2 Word Order Research in China-4

2.2 Literature Review of Studies on Tenor-5

2.2.1 Tenor Study in the West-6

2.2.2 Tenor Study in China-7

3. The Non-equivalence of Word Order in English and Chinese Translation-9

3.1 Word Order of Chinese-9

3.2 The Non-equivalence on English and Chinese Word Order Structures-11

3.3 Implications for Topic-Subject Translation-13

4. The Non-equivalence of Tenor in English and Chinese Translation-15

4.1 Tenor Non-equivalence in Social Status-16

4.2 Tenor Non-equivalence in Contact-17

4.3 Tenor Non-equivalence in Affect-19

4.4 The Implications of Tenor Non-equivalence for English and Chinese Translation-20

5. Conclusion-21

References-23