Chinese-English Translation of Chinese Dish Names From the Perspective of Cultural Differences

Abstract

As an important aspect of international cultural exchange, the exchange of food and cuisine culture between China and the West is related to people’s ordinary life. The wonderful Chinese cuisine has been attracting more and more foreigners, so as the names of dishes which reflect Chinese cuisine culture. There are still some serious problems according to the previous studies at present. The author first summarized the definitions of language, culture, translation, and the interrelation between them. Next, the author made a detailed comparison between Chinese and Western dietary culture, then classified the Chinese dish names into descriptive dish names, image-telling dish names and newly-invented dish names according to their naming styles. The author hopes that through the study of this paper, more and more attention will be paid to the Chinese and Western cultural differences and the translation of Chinese dish names, to make an effort to standardize and unify the English translation of Chinese dish names and to spread Chinese dietetic culture throughout the world in a better way.