“泡菜”新译名“辛奇”的认知语言学解读

"Pao Cai"or"Xin Qi"?-A Cognitive Linguistic Analysis of the Proposed New Chinese Translation of Kimchi

本文以韩国政府部门将Kimchi的汉语译名由“泡菜”改为“辛奇”的过程以及相关争论为例,运用认知语言学有关语言与思维关系理论、基本范畴理论、转喻(命名)理论、基于使用的理论等,说明新译名为什么未能被中国民众接受,也不可能被中国政府接受。同时,通过对本次改名风波以及其他相关中韩文化冲突的分析,说明语言虽然在一定程度上可以影响人们的思维,但通常情况下,社会文化与认知决定了语言使用。语言是(个人和社会)认知的工具,更是(社会文化)认知的产物。

This paper examines the South Korean government decision to change the Chinese translation of"Kimchi"from"Pao Cai"to"Xin Qi",and the controversy that arose.It applies theories from cognitive linguistics regarding the relationship between language and thought,basic-level category theory,metonymy(naming)theory,and usage-based theory,to explain why the new translation has not been and is unlikely to be accepted.Through a comprehensive analysis of this renaming incident and other related Sino-Korean cultural disputes,this paper argues that although language influences thoughts to a certain extent,it is culture or social cognition that determines the language use in most circumstances.Language is not only a tool for individual and social cognition,but a result of social cognition.