“outlast its usefulness”是“经久耐用”抑或是“不再有用”——从认知视角看《牛津现代英汉双解词典》中之误译

Does "outlast its usefulness" mean "be enduring" or "be no longer useful"?——A Cognitive Perspective on the Misinterpretations in Concise Oxford English-Chinese Dictionary

《牛津现代英汉双解词典》(增补版)将词条"outlast"[1](P1440)的一个义项及其例证last longer than du-ration和outlasted its usefulness分别译作"比…经久"与"经久耐用"。实际上这是两则明显的误解与误译。与此相反,它们实应理解为"(某事物因存在或使用时间超过特定期限而)不再经久"(no longer last or exist)和"不再有用"(be no longer useful)。文章从语言的连续统(continuum)视角对相关理据作了客观分析与可能探索,兼及双语词典翻译的相关原则问题。

In Concise Oxford English-Chinese Dictionary（Extended Edition）,＂outlast＂ is offered one such semantic item and followed by such an example： last longer than duration and outlasted its usefulness,which are regrettably misinterpreted as ＂be enduring or last longer＂.On the contrary,they should actually be interpreted as ＂no longer last or exist＂ and ＂be no longer useful＂ respectively.The reasons and motivations along with related principles concerning bilingual dictionary translation are analyzed and explored in this paper.