论《化学鉴原》元素术语译名的民族化及其学术意义

Nationalization of the Translated Terms for Chemical Elements in Hua Xue Jian Yuan and Its Academic Significance

《化学鉴原》(1871)为傅兰雅和徐寿合作翻译完成,是晚清时期中国第一部论述化学元素的译著。当时,在华西士普遍对化学元素术语汉译的可能性表示质疑,然而两译者秉持对汉语言文字的信心,采用民族化策略翻译西方化学元素术语,在语言文字方面充分利用汉字的形、音、义特点,在翻译方法方面尽可能采用意译法和音义结合法,为中国近代化学元素术语体系的构建做出了重要贡献。术语民族化不仅推进了西方化学东渐的历史进程,对中国学术界恢复对汉语汉字的文化自信也有重要学术意义。

Hua Xue Jian Yuan,co-translated by John Fryer and Xu Shou in 1871,was the first translated book on Western chemical elements in the Late Qing Dynasty.During that time,most Western scholars questioned the possibility of translating the terms into Chinese.However,the two translators had confidence in the Chinese language and adopted a nationalization strategy to translate Western chemical element terms into Chinese.They made full use of the formal,phonological,and semantic features of Chinese characters in their translation methods,using semantic translation and semantic transliteration whenever possible,which made an important contribution to the construction of the system of modern Chinese terminology for chemical elements.The nationalization of terms not only promoted the historical process of introducing Western chemistry into China,but also had important academic significance for the Chinese academic community to restore their confidence in the Chinese language.