国际化背景下我国地名通名音译方案省思

Perceptions on Pinyin Transcription of Generic Terms in Chinese Geographical Names

从社会语言学视角对我国汉语地名国际单一罗马化政策进行研究发现,尽管专名音译规则毋庸置疑,但通名音译规则的科学性、必要性及有效性值得商榷。通名音译曲解了地名国际标准化之初衷,有悖于翻译学的基本原则,不仅无助于保护汉语的纯洁性,而且会给当前的国际化带来"逆效应"。我们应该在地名的国际化过程中,兼顾本族文化保护及国际化发展需要,对现行地名翻译政策进行反思,坚持"名从主人,译从客便"的原则,音译专名,意译通名。

By resorting to sociolinguistic theories and approaches, the Romanization policies of Chinese geographic name are closely investigated. It is found out that Pinyin transcription for proper term of geographical names has been proved to be a great success, but Pinyin transcription for generic term is not because it distorted the original intention of the international standardization of geographical names and violated basic translation principles. It is also a try in vain in protecting the purity of Chinese language and brings noticeable ‘reverse effect＇ to the current internationalization program. In order to seek a balance between language protection and pragmatism, Pinyin transcription is applicable to proper names, but generic terms should be translated into English instead of Pinyin.