音译的尴尬——《庄子》英译中专有名词的处理及译学思考

Deficiencies of Transliteration——A Case Study of Proper Noun Translation in Zhuangzi and Reflections on Translatology

音译是一种翻译方法,却被奉为翻译原则,运用于中西方一千多年来的专有名词翻译实践中。由于音译只是源语言的语音转写,在带来便利和"保真"的同时也会引发很多问题,即转码时符形、符指、符释之间的关系割断,导致文化信息丧失,甚至造成译文的悖谬。本研究以《庄子》的4个英译本为例,从认知符号学角度讨论音译带来的问题,即译名不一、词义空缺、词义变化等。本研究提出译者可以挖掘源语和译语的认知系统资源,采用符形替换法、移植借用法、编码重构法来解决音译带来的问题,以确保译文文化自足和文本自足。新的方法将引发认知符号学的理论构建、音译范围的重新确定和翻译本体论乃至语言本体论的系统思考。

Transliteration is a translation method. However, it is adopted as a principle to proper noun translation both at home and abroad for over a thousand years. In fact, due to its limitations as a means of phonetic transcription, it causes many problems de- spite the convenience and ＂fidelity＂ that it might bring to the target text, Specifically, transliteration breaks the connection between representamen, object and interpretant in transcoding, hence it causes the loss of cultural information. Or even worse, it can lead to absurdity of meaning. Therefore, this paper probes into such problems as inconsistencies, semantic vacancy and semantic distor- tion based on a case study of four translated versions of Zhuangzi. Hereby, it proposes applicable strategies, i.e. substitution of representamen, transplanting of object and re-encoding of terms based on cognitive resources of both source and target languages. These strategies may guarantee the cultural and textual adequacy in the target text. And they may evoke reflections on the theorizing of Cognitive semiotics, re-defining of the scope of transliteration and ontological reconsiderations of translation and language.