Shallow releasing translation skills of dish name Of Chinese catering culture

Abstract: Human beings' catering culture penetrates every aspect of human beings， which includes catering culture， words of food， goods of food， and so on. As an old country having a five-thousand- year history， Chinese catering culture is also extensive and profound. As we all know， culture and food have go hand in glove， and Chinese dish name's translation also has unique Cultural connotations and features.

Key words: culture；dish name；translation

摘要：人類的飲食文化滲透于人類的方方面面，它包括飲食文化，飲食文字，飲食成品等。作為擁有五千年悠久歷史的中華名族來說，飲食文化也同樣博大精深。正如大家所知，文化和飲食是密不可分的，菜名的翻譯在中國也有著獨(dú)特的文化內(nèi)涵與特色。關(guān)鍵詞：文化 菜名 翻譯

1. Introduction

With more and more foreign friends having come China for a visit. Having been regarded as transfer zone of different cultures， menu has become a stepping of knowing Chinese culture and tasting Chinese food for foreigners.

\"Food is for many the most sensitive and important expression of national culture

\"(Newmark， 2001: 97). Culture may sometimes be defined as a way of life. So how to translate menu well has become an important research project of cross-culture communication and translation field. However， china haven't have unified translation principles to dish name. The phenomenons of mistranslation and using many ways to translate one dish can be found everywhere. For example，\" 紅燒獅子頭 \"， a ordinary dish in China， is translated into \"braised meat balls in brown sauce\" in some menus. On the contrary， other menus translate it into \"burning large meatball\". The other one dish \"虎皮尖椒\" has been translated into\" the peeper covered with tiger skin\". Moreover， the best known \"狗不理包子\" has been translated into\" the dog can 't come within close it\". In this paper， I will shallow release translation skills of dish name of Chinese catering culture from these aspects: Chinese catering culture， Chinese dish name and principles for translation of Chinese dish name and Practical principles.

2. Chinese catering culture and Chinese dish name

2.1 Culture

2.1.1. Definition of culture

Culture (from the Latin cultural stemming from colure， meaning \"to cultivate\") is a term that has different meanings. For example， in 1952， Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of \"culture\" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions. However， the word \"culture\" is most commonly used in three basic senses: (1).excellence of taste in the fine arts and humanities， also known as high culture; (2) an integrated pattern of human knowledge， belief， and behavior that depends upon the capacity for symbolic thought and social learning; (3)the set of shared attitudes， values， goals， and practices that

Characterizes an institution， organization or group.

2.1.2 Characteristics of culture

Culture， which includes a people’s beliefs， rules of behaviors， language， rituals， art technologic， styles of dress， ways of producing and cooking food， religion， and political and economic systems， distinguishes humans from other animals. Though social scientists and anthropologists have been having controversy on the definitions of what is consisted in culture， culture itself has some features that we all agree on. First and foremost， culture is symbolic. That is to say， culture is based on symbols which consist of abstract ways of referring to and understanding ideas， objects， feelings， or behaviors and it is also based on the ability to communicate with symbols using language. Sec only， it is shared. A certain ground of people would probably share the same or similar kind of culture because they live together in the same area and therefore share the resembling belief or methodology of doing or viewing certain things. What is more， culture is learned， in other words， people are not born with culture. They have to learn to speak a language， produce a kind of goods or construct shelters. Last but not least， culture is adaptative. People use culture to flexibly and quickly adjust to the changes in the world around them. As time passes， culture evolves in certain ways because the world is changing and people have to adopt different kind of culture in order to purveyance successfully. If culture is unchangeable， we would not have the civilization we have today. These are the distinguishing characteristics of culture. Only when we know them well can we bring it to a high level in this Modernism world.

2.3 Chinese catering culture

The seriousness with which we regard eating can be shown in many ways. Anyone who opens the pages of the Red Chamber Dream or any Chinese novel will be struck by the detailed and constant descriptions of the entire menu of what Daimyo had for breakfast what Bayou had at midnight.

The Chinese accept food as they accept life in general. No great English poet or writer would condescend to write a Cook book， which they regard as belonging outside the realms of literature and worthy of the efforts of Aunt Susan only.

There is a belief in a balance that governs all of life and nature--the yin and yang. Originally， yang meat the sunny side of a hill and yin the shady side. Yang is the bright， dry， warm aspect of the cosmos. Males have more yang quality. Yin is the dark， moist， cool aspect. Female have more yin quality.

The Chinese case is distinctive for its underlying principles. The bodily functions， in the Chinese view， follow the basic yin-yang principles. Many foods are also classifiable into those that posses the yin quality and those of yang quality. Oily and fired foods， pepper-hot flavoring， fatty meat， and oil=rich food like peanut are yang foods. Most water plants， crustaceans， and certain beans are cooling yin foods. When yin and yang forces in the body are not balanced， problem result. Proper amounts of food of one kind or the other may then be administered to counterbalance the yin and yang disequilibrium. If the body was normal， overeating of one kind of food would result in an excess of that force in the body， causing diseases.

Chinese people emphasize the aesthetic aspect of cooking and eating. They think that a proper dish should appeal to the eye as well as to the palate. For example， intricately carved vegetables are common decoration.

Mixing of flavors air another principle of Chinese food culture. We eat food for its texture， the elastic or crisp effect it has on our teeth， as well as for fragrance， flavor and color. The matching of nutrition does not exist in the traditional view of Chinese culinary culture; only keep in good health exquisitely. It is just the yin-yang principle. Chinese regard diet as a kind of art， enjoying them with the romantic spirit.

2.4 Features and functions of Chinese dish name

As a mirror if the Chinese catering culture， some of the Chinese dish names also calycanthemy change while others remain unchanged， all relating to various aspects of people's lives. During the period of the Aim and Han dynast all the dished were named after their major ingredients and cooking methods. During the southern and northern dynasties， some dishes began receiving fancy names. Today， there are countless Chinese dishes with self-descriptive names as well as fancy names that difficult to translate without a clear analysis of their features and functions in advance.

Chapter3. Principles for translation of Chinese dish name

3.1 The classification of Chinese dish names.

Chinese dish names need to be translated in accordance with the classification of Chinese dish according to Glossary's classification of translation and unique style of Chinese dish names， the translation of Chinese dish names can fall into perfect translation and adequate translation. Firstly， perfect translation is a kind of translation of just sending message. The generation of language also tells us that we can arrange phrase sentences of language permission within the pale of principals. For example， \"辣子雞丁\" can be translated into \"stir-fried diced chicken with green peppers\". In the translation of this dish， we can see the main ingredients， accessories， knife method and production methods. Besides， \"西紅柿炒雞蛋\" can be translated into \"stir-fried egg and tomato\". Secondly， adequate translation isn't a stick for

Forms and the readers of dish names' translation are mass groups， that the contents of dish names fit dish are good. In Chinese dish names， there are many traditional catering cultural of metaphors， historical culture， legend and special local characteristics. And these gaps in language which cannot be filled in translating constitute the difficulties of translation (Liao I， '2007:46). To this problem， Ai Ad’s opinion is that we just keep contents at the expense of form (Ai I， 2007; 46). If we literal translation， foreigners don’t know what is said. For example， the official site of Beijing international news center : \"螞蟻上樹\" is translated into \"ants climb tree\": \"童子雞\" is translated into \"chicken without sexual life\"(2008). On the contrary， free translation sometimes ignores the real meanings of some dish names. So classification translation need consider related questions.

3.2 The important effects of the awareness of cross-culture

The training of awareness of cross-culture has double effects to translator. Firstly， knowing catering culture and the expression of English countries has a very important effect to a translator， and the objects of translation are them. So we need improve the understanding and perceptivity in the communications of cross-culture. Besides， a mature translator must has relatively understanding and ardently love. Then a translator can translate Chinese dish names having Chinese characteristics. What's more， translator need blend in Chinese culture in the works so that the works is different from other countries' dish. For example， \"女兒紅\"and\"狀元紅\"， both of them are Chinese traditional rice wine ， free translation and transliteration can't send the real meanings of the name clearly. Transliteration:” Daughter Red and Number One Scholar Red \"， the readers can't know the meaning; free translation: \"Famous Chinese Alcohol\". When foreigners see this translation， they will feel that it Doenitz have distinct with other Chinese wine. How do they real know cultural connotation? First， these two kinds of wines are full with beautiful blessing. But there are many corresponding words of “酒”in the English: wine， alcohol， liquor， spirit (Wei Dong yaw， 1998:643). We need use cross-cultural knowledge to choose word. Among them， in the English culture， wine is in contact unbeautiful things including \"rose， wedding” and so on. So \"Daughter's Wine” and \"Scholar's Wine “become appropriate. (Chen Gang， 2006:329).

In addition， in the English menu， some dish names have significances of reference to the translation of Chinese dish names. For example， \"Cucumber Salad， French Fries， Black Forest Cake and pork chop a la France\"， the messages of these dishes can't only be under roof by the people of non-English， but also can't be understood by some English people. By contrast， major translation of Chinese dishes is very wordy. These characteristics of English dish name need be considered by translator in the process of translation.

4. Conclusion

Chinese dish name has all kinds of meanings， and it also express Chinese traditional culture. The English translation of Chinese dish names provides a good way to know Chinese historical culture for foreigners. Therefore， it is very important to translate Chinese dish name for foreigners， and it is necessary to do it. However， because of different principles of translation and the complexity of Chinese dishes， we need consider the color， taste， knife methods， production methods and many other things. The translation of Chinese dish names becomes very difficult. So we need improve our understanding to Chinese traditional culture， custom and social culture. Moore， we also need train awareness of cross-culture