社会语境视阈下的汉语新词英译

Chinese Neologism Translation from the Perspective of Social Context

汉语新词英译的主要目的是为了向世界介绍变化中的中国,为国外母语为非汉语的读者以及国内需要使用此类汉语新词译文的有关人士提供借鉴。英译时要做到既保留汉语新词的新颖性和独创性,又能被英语读者理解并接受实为不易。基于上述原因,汉语新词英译必须借助语境对语言的制约机制,使译文更为精准、更具可读性。汉语新词英译时,文化语境的制约作用不可忽略,但也不可小觑社会语境对其的影响。许多汉语新词的英译,与其说是文化的不如说是社会的。本文主要从社会语境视阈结合具体翻译实例,探讨其对汉语新词翻译的制约和指导作用。在翻译这些汉语新词时,除了考虑孕育这些新词的中国传统文化语境外,还必须考虑产生这些新词的社会语境对其的制约和指导作用,通过"释义法"或"直译加解释"等方法使隐含的社会语境明晰化。

The main purposes of Chinese neologism translation are to introduce to the world changes in China and offer references for the intended readers,such as English speakers who have access to the news and information about China and native Chinese speakers who will make use of the translations of these neologisms. When they are translated into English, it is difficult to retain the originality and creativity of these Chinese neologisms and at the same time ensure the readability of their translations. Based on this, it is of primary importance that the context of these Chinese neologisms should be taken into account in translation to ensure the adequacy and readability of their translations. It is suggested that both of the influence of the cultural and social contexts of these Chinese neologisms should not be overlooked. Besides, many of the translations of these Chinese neologisms involve more social factors than cultural ones. This paper tries to discuss the conditioning effect of social context on Chinese neologism transla- tion with specific examples, proposing that ＂paraphrasing＂ and ＂literal translation plus explanation＂ should be adopt- ed to clarify the underlying social context.