约定与再约定——从英国王号CharlesⅢ的汉译谈起

"Establishment by Convention"and"Reestablishment by Convention":Reflections on the Two Chinese Versions of the Regnal Name of"CharlesⅢ"in English

媒体通常将当下英国国王王号CharlesⅢ译作“查尔斯三世”,亦有人按照历史上的“约定俗成”先例将CharlesⅢ译作“查理三世”。然而,从语言逻辑上来说,同一个名字在同一种目标中的翻译应当既是确定的,也是唯一的。翻译实践表明,“约定俗成”不仅是一个结果,更是一种过程。基于此,为了避免不必要的误会,应当将英国历史上的两位Charles国王译名进行“再约定”,与当下国王CharlesⅢ的译名统一起来,以实现译语系统语言逻辑自洽。

The official media in China usually render the regnal name of the current"Charles III"in English into"查尔斯三世"in Chinese whereas others prefer to follow the rule of"establishment by convention"and translate it into"查理三".However,ideally,from the point of view of language logic,the translation of a given name in the source language should have but one fixed version in the target language.As is revealed in translation practice,establishment by convention is more a process than an outcome from a historical perspective.In view of this,the translated version of"King Charles II"had better undergo"reestablishment by convention"to echo the translated versions of"CharlesⅠ"and"CharlesⅡ"logically in English history to achieve a self-contained system of the target language not to cause unnecessary misunderstandings.