《民法典》英译本where和if条件句对比研究

A Contrastive Study of Conditionals Led by Where and If in the Civil Code

在法律翻译中,对于假设条件表述的翻译,选择使用where条件句还是if条件句,学界尚未取得共识。本文通过分析《民法典》英译本,试图澄清这两个条件句的不同使用方式。研究表明,在法律翻译中,where条件句显得庄重,使用也更加频繁;if条件句显得简洁,使用情形单一;翻译存在多个条件的条件句,译文句首常用where而非if;除特定用法外,where条件句可以代替if条件句。

In legal translation literature,there isn't yet consensus reached on the choice of translating condi-tionals led by where or if.By analyzing the Civil Code,this article clarified their usages and differences.It is found that in legal translation conditionals led by where seem more formal,decent and frequently used,while if seem less;when translating parallel conditionals,where but not if may put at the very beginning of the article;conditionals led by where may replace that of if unless specific situations exist.