英国早期汉学家托马斯·珀西的汉语研究

Early English Sinologist Thomas Percy's Understanding of and Comments on the Chinese Language

18世纪上半叶英国本土开始萌生汉学研究,产生了为数不多的几位早期汉学家。作为《好逑传》英译本的编译者,托马斯·珀西(Thomas Percy,1729—1811)值得引起重视。他的作品《中国诗文杂著》(Miscellaneous Pieces Relating to the Chinese,1762)是当时英国本土首个汇编了德、法、英不同国家作者关于中国认识的合集,对于了解18世纪英国汉学发轫期具有重要的价值。珀西撰写了该文集第一篇论文《论中国的语言和文字》,从语音、词汇、文字、共同语与方言、口语与书面语几个方面对汉语进行阐述,既有客观分析,也有文化误读,体现了作者对中国语言文字的思考和分析。早期汉学家可贵的认知经验为英国汉学从萌芽期进入发展期、对汉语进行更深入和科学的分析打下了基础。

Sinological studies in England were initiated in the first half of the 18^(th) century. Thomas Percy(1729-1811), as an important figure in this regard, deserves more attention among the few amateur sinologists in this period. He compiled and translated Hao Kiou Choaan in 1761, and published Miscellaneous Pieces Relating to the Chinese in 1762. The latteris a collection of eight articles on China issues contributed by German, French and English writers. It can help us understand the initial stage of the history of British sinology. Percy wrote the first article, A Dissertation on the Language and Characters of the Chinese, and tried to explain the main features of the Chinese language from the aspects of pronunciation, vocabulary, characters, the official language and dialects, oral and written languages, etc. In his article, there was both objective analysis and cultural misunderstanding of the Chinese language. These precious cognitive experiences from those amateur sinologists laid a foundation for further analysis about the Chinese language in the later period of British sinology.