Chinese Movie Title Translation

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A Comparative Study of Movie Title Translation between Hong Kong and China Shum Ho Ching, Lo Kam Tim October 3rd, 2017 City University of Hong Kong LT1101 Amazing Things about Language Instructed by Mr. Kenneth Au Abstract The aim of this study is to compare the translation of the non-Chinese movie titles between Hong Kong and China as a means to contrast the culture of language use of the said regions. This article looks at the differences between the translation of non-Chinese movie titles from Hong Kong and China as a gateway to Introduction Hong Kong and China both adopt Chinese as their official language, however it is observed that the pattern and culture of the Chinese language use between the two vary…show more content…
The phrase ‘鋼鐵’ corresponds directly to ‘iron’, whereas the word ‘俠’ translates to hero. On the other hand, the movie title translation from Hong Kong, 鐵甲奇俠, approaches to translate the title in more of a context-based manner. ‘鐵甲’ translates to ‘iron armour’ or ‘iron plate’, which is in accordance to the context of the movie since the protagonist, Iron Man or Tony Stark, wears a suit made of iron plates. ‘奇俠’ roughly translates to ‘marvelous hero’, which is also well-suited since the movie was adopted from Marvel Comics’ same-named character’s…show more content…
The following table shows the respective translations of drama movies from Hong Kong and China. Movie title Translation from China Translation from Hong Kong Mr. & Mrs. Smith 史密斯夫婦 史密夫決戰史蜜妻 Fast and Furious 速度與激情 狂野時速 The Nice Guys 耐撕神探 黐筋雙响炮 The China version of movie title for Mr. & Mrs. Smith is ‘史密斯夫婦’, with ‘史密斯’ being a transliteration of Smith and ‘夫婦’ meaning husband and wife. It is obvious that this is a word-for-word translation. The Hong Kong version of the title of the movie is ‘史密夫決戰史蜜妻’. The following table shows the respective translations of comedy movies from Hong Kong and China. Movie title Translation from China Translation from Hong Kong Johnny English 憨豆特工 特務戇J The Interview 採訪 刺殺金正恩 Ted 泰迪熊 賤熊30 Discussion Works Cited Nida, Eugene A., and Charles R. Taber. (1969). The Theory and Practice of Translation, With Special Reference to Bible Translating, 200. Leiden:
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