闽南语英译名称的演变及规范

Changes in the Translation of the Dialect in South Fujian and Its Standardization

"闽南语",也称"闽南话",在国内的使用人群分布较广,国外也有大量的使用人群。这一方言的西译开始得较早,但至今没有统一的英语译名,妨碍学术研究和交流。本文描述历史上西方人对这一方言的译名和译法,统计目前正在使用的译名和译法,发现Hokkien,Amoy和Swatow是常用于指称该方言的地名,使用时间早;Minnan,South Min和Southern Min在二战后兴起,有一定的使用频率;language,dialect,colloquial和vernacular等词的单复数形式常与前述地名连用。在考虑文化负载词翻译中文化信息的传递、一种语言与其他语言的关系和英语构词特征3个方面后,笔者提出Minnanese可作为"闽南语"和"福建话"在学术上的统一译名。

The typical dialect in the Southern part of Fujian Province is widely used in China's Mainland and abroad. It is one of the Chinese dialects with the earliest translation into Western languages. How- ever, there is no standard English term for this dialect, which hinders academic research and commu- nication. This study presents the translated versions and translation patterns used and being used in dictionaries and books. It is found that Hokkien, Amoy and Swatow are widely applied, and their use started quite early. Minnan, South Min and Southern Min appeared after WWII and are also accepted. Language, dialect, colloquial and vernacular, in their singular and plural forms, are often used with the place names mentioned above. In order to convey the cultural messages, given the relations among languages in an area and English morphology, it is proposed that researchers adopt ＂Minnanese＂ as a standard English version.