“经济”回溯——本体论视角下的中国近代术语翻译

严复以“计学”对译亚当·斯密《国富论》中的economics,该译词凸显了20世纪中国“经济学”概念转型的一次尝试,然而东洋“泊来品”——“经济”(之所以置“泊来品”于引号之内,皆因“经济”一词中国自古有之)后来却逐渐占据中国近代经济话语的主导地位(至少从economics的对译术语角度而言如此)。作为承载与交流知识与信息的表达系统,语言在知识本体与对象客体间架起了解释和理解的渠道,而本体(ontology)是用来描述一个系统内部知识体系的架构。人文社会术语因其特殊属性对当今计算机形式化语言下的知识本体构建提出新的要求,同时也开辟了本体视角下术语翻译的新维度。文章借西方术语 economics于近代中国的本体转型在多元译词上的反映来凸显近代术语翻译中的术语概念演变,本土语言资源选择与词汇化过程,翻译的术语化过程以及术语传播与效应,以期对中国近代术语翻译提供新的解读视角。

Retrospection on “jingji”:An Ontology-based Perspective on Term Translation in Modern China

“Jixue”, a term by Yan Fu to translate “economics” in Adam Smith’s An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, witnessed the conceptual transformation of “economics” in modern China. Nevertheless, “jingji”, a term which can be traced back to ancient China, was reintroduced from Japan to China in the late 19th century and has been dominating economic discourse since then. Language, as one of the expressive systems to impart knowledge and information, could bridge the gap between ontology and its objects. Ontologies are commonly defined as specifications of shared conceptualizations and one of its applied sides is the specification of shared conceptualization in certain domain. Terms (as the basic expressive units of knowledge and thoughts in certain domain) are supposed to comply with the certain requirements considering the specific features of terms in social science. The exploration of uniformity and compatibility of “jingji” and term translation in modern China can be perceived from a) the absorption, integration and transformation of concept, b) the selective realization of native linguistic resources and lexicalization of term translated and c) communication and effectiveness of terms translated.