论中医古籍书名中辞格的不可译性及英译补偿策略

On Untranslatability of Figures of Speech in Book Names of TCM Classics and Its Compensation Strategies in Chinese-english Translation

中医古籍书名虽短然其英译却非易事,书名中辞格的汉英转换尤让译者犯难。本文归纳了中医古籍书名中常见的用典、比喻、借代、委婉4种修辞格,指出中医古籍书名中辞格的可译性是相对的,即辞格存在语言和文化上的不可译性,并在此基础上提出了应对不可译性的6种英译补偿策略,即增益、替代、仿造、直译加释义、直译加文内注释、以副标题加注。故中医古籍书名英译应尽量规范化,可遵循译古如古、传递修辞、凸显专科、适时补偿的原则。

Though the book names of Traditional Chinese Medicine（TCM） classics are rather short,their translation is not an easy job. What is more complex for the translators lies in transferring figures of speech from ancient Chinese to modern English. This paper summarizes four common figures of speech in book names of TCM classics,and points out that their translatability is relative. In other words,there is an untranslatability of figures of speech in both linguistics and culture. Base on these,it proposes six compensation strategies： amplification,substitution,calque,literal translation plus paraphrase,literal translation plus in-text annotation and explanation with subtitles. The paper also argues that translation for book names of TCM classics should be standardized by following the rules of ＂maintaining the structure of ancient language＂,＂transferring figures of speech＂,＂highlighting the medical focus＂,and ＂providing necessary compensation＂.