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Actually, Nida’s functional equivalence theory has another name, that is, the dynamic equivalence theory. Translators should try their best to get close to the original text. That is to say, they should attempt to achieve the correspondence in function rather than literal meaning. Functional equivalence theory deals with many problems in translating Chinese idioms from literal sense and keeps certain special meaning and emotion alive, which makes great contribution to the translation of Chinese idioms.
II. Theoretical Framewok: Functional Equivalence Theory
This part mainly introduces the theoretical framework of this paper and explains functional equivalence theory to readers in detail, including the features, principles and so on. The author of this paper will ensure that readers will have a better understanding of functional equivalence theory.
When it comes to functional equivalence theory, it is inevitable that we will introduce another term, Skopostheorie. Just like Nida’s functional equivalence theory, Skopostheorie is also an influential translation theory that gives translators lots of instructions about translation. “Skopos” is Greek which means “objective” in English. It ususlly refers to the objective of translation. The core concept of Skopostheorie is that translators should regard the objective of translation as the key point in the process of translating. According to Skopostheorie, one of the most important factors is target readers. Just like functional equivalence theory, it also puts much emphasis on the response of readers. They are in various level of acceptance, for they have different cultural backgrounds and education levels.
As for the discrepancy between functional equivalence theory and Skopostheorie, the most important thing is that they put different emphases on translation. That is, Nida’s functional equivalence theory pays more attentions to “equivalence”，both in form and meaning. Skopostheorie, however, holds that translators should get rid of the restrictions of forms of a text, and translate in the view of objective. In a word, as pratical and effective translation theories, both of them supply great theoretical instructions to translators.
2.1 Overview of Functional Equivalence Theory
In the late 1960s, Eugene A. Nida, together with his co-author Charles Taber, clearly put forward the concept “functional equivalence” in The Theory and Practice of Translation, which claimed the birth of functional equivalence theory. However, it has been improved for several times.