Communications in Humanities Research ISSN: 2753-7072
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Research Article

Translation Strategies for Culturally-Loaded Words: A Case Study of Chinese and Western Festival Terms

Qijing PiaoShanghai JiaDing AnTing Senior High School*

* Corresponding author: [email protected]

Abstract

In the context of globalization, festivals serve as vital carriers of cultural transmission. Festival-related vocabulary often contains profound cultural connotations, but its translation faces challenges due to historical, religious, and social differences between Chinese and Western cultures. Although previous studies have examined the translation of culturally loaded terms, few have systematically compared Chinese and Western festival terms, leaving a noticeable gap in research. To address this gap, this paper investigates four representative festivals—Spring Festival and Qingming Festival from China, and Thanksgiving and Christmas from the West. By analyzing typical culturally loaded terms and their English-Chinese translations, the study applies the translation strategies of domestication, foreignization, and functional equivalence. It also considers the role of cultural context and translation purpose in strategy choice. The results show that literal translation alone often fails to convey cultural depth, while over-adaptation risks cultural distortion. A balanced approach – integrating transliteration, annotation and functional equivalence – has been proven most effective in protecting cultural identity and enhancing target readers’ understanding. This study highlights the importance of translating culture-specific terminology for festivals, providing insights to improve translation quality, to help protect cross-cultural heritage, to promote mutual understanding.

Keywords: Chinese and Western festivals; culturally-loaded words; translation strategies
Published: October 14, 2025
DOI: 10.54254/2753-7064/2025.HT28441
Volume: CHR Vol.88
pp. 69-76
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