“名”的建构和解构：翻译名学辨

Mingxue(the Studies of Names)and Translation

语言是思想的载体,语言的形态直接影响着思想的形成、表述和传达。语言哲学观念植根于它所产生于的语言本身。中国的先秦名学既来源于中国汉语语言,同时也可以对汉语语言特质做出说明。翻译这种跨语命名活动势必会造成不同语言哲学思想的交汇和碰撞。从先秦名学中的儒家名学和道家名学出发,能够透视出清末以来的中国翻译实践活动的状况。从中不难看出,西方哲学术语的译名"自反"现象以及中国哲学思想的西方译名的语义消解现象,都起因于中西方语言哲学观念以及语言形态上的差异。运用以先秦名学为代表的中国语言哲学思想进行中国本位的翻译批评和研究,在一定程度上可以扭转西方的研究本位,值得进一步的探索。

This paper derives insights from mingxue,the Pre-Qin Chinese studies of names,and applies them to a reexamination of translation as a crosslinguistic naming activity.Following a survey of China's translational practices since the late Qing,it finds that assigning Chinese equivalents to Western philosophical terms and designating foreign equivalents for Chinese terms tend to suffer self-reversal and semantic reduction respectively.The problems are caused by the differ- ences in linguistic philosophy and topology between China and the West.And their solution may lie in shifting from a Western-centered translation studies and criticism to one that is based on traditional Chinese philosophy of language.