Translation Strategies of Sports News From the Perspective of Functional Equivalence Theory: A Case Study on Chinese-English Translation of BWF Website News Report

Within academic circles, sports news translation remains an obscure area with limited scholarly attention. Few researchers have ventured into this domain, opting instead to focus on more mainstream sports disciplines. Consequently, there is an evident scarcity of studies dedicated to translating news related to sports, particularly concerning badminton. This discrepancy emphasizes a void in the literature and underscores the necessity for further exploration into the translation dynamics within the realm of sports journalism. This inquiry is structured around the functional equivalence translation theory, utilizing news articles culled from the Badminton World Federation’s (BWF) official World Tour news portal, the BWF World Tour, as the corpus for the investigation into badminton news translation strategies. The objective of this study is to analyze translation strategies employed in lexical, syntactic, and textual equivalence respectively. The findings of the present study reveal that translator secures lexical equivalence through the alteration of parts of speech, the integration of four-character phrases, and the application of rhetorical strategies; syntactic equivalence is attained through the technique of split translation; textual equivalence is upheld through means of appropriate additions or deletions. 

Albir, A. H. (2001). Traducción y Traductología—Introducción a la Traductología. Madrid: Ediciones Cátedra.  

Au, A. T. L. (2006). Revisiting Nida’s functional equivalence: An analysis of its applicability in the context of English-Chinese bilingual dictionaries. Applied Linguistics, 27(3), 433-455.

Catford, J. C. (1965). A linguistic theory of translation: An analysis of the process. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Chen, Y. F., & Liu, W. W. (2023). Discussing the translation of sports news from the perspective of Newmark’s communication translation—Taking NBA news as an example. In Sichuan West Literature Compilation and Research Center (Eds.), Research and innovation in foreign language education and translation development (Vol. 13, pp. 38-41).

China Sporting Goods Industry Federation. (2020). 2020 annual report on mass fitness behaviors and consumption.

Duan, W. P., & Cao, G. (2018). Research on translation strategies of sports news under the theory of communication. Overseas English, 19(8), 114-116.

Guo, J. (2000). Contemporary American translation theory. Wuhan: Hubei Education Press.

Jiang, X. (2004). Study of online news editing. Beijing: Higher Education Press.

Li, D. (2023). Adaptation and selection—A study on the translation of badminton terminology (Master’s thesis, Chengdu Sports University). Retrieved from https://kns.cnki.net/kcms2/article/abstract?v=Y_ITemen1J6mwDRe1hdHB4bdhJqOIPxiBksssmqNPg83ct-sNbNZxgVhV9z0PzxkSqNZIYs9FKoxb3FnNIXQqyoS81jxN3qCCulTx-QP3Ofl2_klDvqUx9tNVFmClEOziFkvMgWsb2w=&uniplatform=NZKPT&language=CHS

Li, H. Q. (2015). On English translation skills of scientific and technical English-Chinese translation. English Square, 5(4), 33-34.

Li, Y. C. (2019). Report on the development of sports industry of. Beijing: Social Science Literature Press.

Liu, Y. K. (1997). On the negative effects of Nida’s “reader-response” theory in China. Shanghai Science and Technology Translation, 12(1), 2-7.

Lin, S. W. (1981). An introduction to Nida’s translation theory. Foreign Language Studies, 20(2), 1-7+14.

Liyanage, H. D. (2012). Testing the validity of Nida’s functional equivalence in the translation of Chinese advertisements. Journal of Translation, Interpreting and Applied Linguistics, 4(2), 89-102.

Ma, J. L., & Ou, L. C. (2020). Language characteristics and translation strategies of slang in English animated films: A case study of the Best English Animated Feature Films at the Oscars from 2002 to 2019. Contemporary Cinema, 37(2), 158-163.

Marta, G. G. (2017). A review of the concept of “functional equivalent” in translation: Business entity types in Spain and in the United States. Perspectives, 25(3), 378-396, DOI: 10.1080/0907676X.2017.1287207

Nida, E. A. (1964). Towards a science of translation. Leiden: E. J. Brill.

Nida, E., & Taber, C. (2004). The theory and practice of translation. Shanghai: Foreign Language Education Press.

Wang, H. Y. (2008). A study on discourse functional equivalence in translation. Chinese Translators Journal, 30(3), 55-59+96.

Wu, Y. (2009). Characteristics of sports news language style in China. Journalism Lover, 24(18), 162-163.

Yi, H. L. (2023). Analysis of interpreting strategies for sports events based on functional equivalence theory—Taking the 18th Chengdu World Police and Fire Games Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Competition as an example. Industrial & Science Tribune, 22(18), 173-174.

Zhang, P. (2007). English translation of Chinese modern essays. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.

Zhang, L. N. (2021). Analysis of chemical English translation strategies based on Nida’s equivalence theory. China Surfactant Detergent & Cosmetics, 51(7), 699-700.