Chomsky's transformational generative grammar theory is the most important reason why Nida's functional equivalence theory ignores the translator's autonomy. Chomsky said in his famous transformational generative grammar theory: "All human languages have the same grammar, and the sentence structure of this grammar consists of deep structure, surface structure and some transformation rules. Deep structure refers to the abstract expression of syntactic attribute construction of a structure, that is, the potential level of structural relationship between different components. On the contrary, the surface structure is the last stage of the syntactic derivation process of the structure, which is consistent with the structural organization that people actually send and receive. " Therefore, when people want to understand the meaning of a sentence, all they have to do is to find out the deep structure to express the meaning and the surface structure to display the structure. Nida used the applicable elements of transformational generative grammar theory for reference in his communicative translation research and practice. Peter. Newmark commented: "In terms of language and experience, Nida has outstanding Bible translation ability. In his research on translation theory, Chomsky's transformational generative grammar is applied, including terms such as "core sentence", "surface structure" and "deep structure". In Nida's statement about the translation process, we can easily find another evidence. In fact, Nida's first step "analysis" refers to transforming the surface structure of the original text into the deep structure; The second step of "transformation" is to find the corresponding equivalence of the deep structure of the original text in the translation; The third step "reconstruction" is to generate the surface structure in the translation, that is, to recreate the original text in the translation. Combining Nida's and Chomsky's theories, we find that Nida's theory on translation process is almost the same as Chomsky's theory on how to understand sentences. From the far-reaching influence of transformational generative grammar on Nida's translation theory, Nida highly respects Chomsky's transformational generative grammar theory. Nida once commented: "The theory of transformational generative grammar is the most effective way to solve grammatical meaning. With this method, translators can better grasp the process of analyzing the original text and describe the corresponding generative steps in the translation. In addition, the theory also provides the translator with transformation skills on how to analyze and describe vague sentences.
Many translation scholars in China have made in-depth research on Nida's theory of functional equivalence, the second reason for its deficiency-Reception Aesthetics. For example (Lv Jun,1998; Wang Wenbin, 1999, etc. Reception aesthetics has a great academic influence on Nida's functional theory. Reception aesthetics theory is a literary aesthetic trend of thought that appeared in the middle and late 1960s. It holds that readers are by no means irrelevant factors in the relationship between authors, works and readers. So far, the history of literature is only the history of writers and works, and the role of readers has been forgotten by literary historians and literary theorists. This is because most theorists regard works of art as objective existence beyond time and space. In fact, literary works are destined to be created for readers, who are the active subjects of literary activities. The works are eager for readers to read and hope to talk to the recipients. The enlightenment of reception aesthetics to the study of creative treason in literary translation, especially in literary translation, is manifested in two aspects: first, the meaning of the work is not inherent in the text, but produced by the reader from the specific reading process; Secondly, readers' acceptance reacts on text creation. Reception aesthetics has opened up a new horizon for literary translation studies. This theory subverts the previous academic concept that readers are in a passive position, and holds that readers occupy the main position of participating in the author's creation. This view highlights the importance of readers, and also opens up the field of cultural and artistic research, and the status of readers has also been promoted to an unprecedented height. In fact, Nida's effective equivalence theory comes from reception aesthetics, and some viewpoints are also formed on this basis. Nida believes that the translation process is over only when the reader accepts the translation. Only the reader's reaction to the translation can be regarded as the only criterion for testing the translation. Obviously, just like accepting aesthetic views, Nida also puts readers' reactions in a high position. 1969, Nida revised his theory of "functional equivalence", 1967, hans robert jauss's speech "What is the purpose of the study of literary history? Why is this purpose? "It marks the birth of reception aesthetics theory. "Dr. Nida is a far-sighted scholar, and he will not ignore this new theory." (Lv Jun) Nida's translation theory can only be enriched by constantly absorbing the applicable elements of new theories, such as information theory, linguistic theory and sociolinguistic theory. As we all know, the most difficult thing in the process of translation is how to balance the relationship between the source text, the translated text and the translator, and it seems impossible to do this well. The similarity between Nida's theory and reception aesthetics is no coincidence, which reflects Nida's absorption of reception aesthetics in translation theory and practice.
"Functional equivalence" translation theory is the core of Nida's translation theory system, which has a profound theoretical basis and rich practical basis. Its spread in China experienced a process from prosperity to decline. We should treat the theory of "functional equivalence" dialectically. We should not only see its advantages, but also ignore its disadvantages. It is of great significance to study the theory of "functional equivalence" to construct a translation theory system suitable for China's cultural tradition.