语言学论文哪里有？本文以LCCM理论中的语义构成机制为指导，分析了唐代行政术语翻译中的语义构建过程，发现行政术语的翻译涉及到跨语言、跨文化、跨文化、跨文化、跨文化的术语概念的选择、整合和解释，以及跨时间/空间上下文。本研究总结了六种在英语中表达和重构这些术语概念的方法，展示了翻译语境中的意义建构和专业知识转移过程。
1 Introduction
1.1 Research Background
Chinese classics, containing a large amount of political, economic and culturalknowledge of ancient China, are priceless treasures for Chinese and world civilization. Thefull implementation of the strategy of “promoting Chinese culture going global” facilitates thesurge of translating Chinese classics into other languages, especially those classics describingChinese history and culture. However, the ancient administrative terms in these works are ahuge challenge for translators because the profound cultural and political connotations inthese terms are specific to Chinese culture, which makes it nearly impossible to findcross-lingual counterparts in other languages. Besides, the specific historical background,specialized domain information and complicated knowledge structure of this type of termscause great terminological problems for those researchers doing translation studies onChinese Classics and studying Sinology. There is an urgent need to create a bilingual databasefor the ancient Chinese administrative terms and deeply explore how the translatorsreconstruct the conceptual meanings of these terms in the target language.
As an indispensable part of the key concepts in Chinese thought and culture,administrative terms of ancient China are of great significance in studying the political historyin ancient China, for they cover key concepts in the ancient Chinese bureaucratic system, suchas the titles of government institutions, official positions, and officials. Being one of the mostprosperous periods in ancient China, the Tang Dynasty generated flourishing politicalcivilization as well as a mature administrative system, which facilitated the creation of a largenumber of administrative terms. These terms, like a mirror reflecting the social conditions inthe Tang Dynasty, contain profound political and cultural connotations specific to the Chinesenation, and constitute an important project in studying the history of the Tang Dynasty and achallenge in the translation of Chinese classics. The Cambridge History of China. Vol.3: Suiand Tang China, 589-906, Part 1 is one of the most well-recognized historical works in theWestern Sinology, which is focused on the political, economic, military, and social conditionsin the Sui and Tang dynasties [1]. There are large quantities of administrative terms in the bookwhich are translated by the authors when they referred to the historical materials selectedfrom some Chinese classics such as The Records of the Sui Dynasty (Sui Shu), The NewRecords of the Tang Dynasty (Xin Tang Shu), The Old Records of the Tang Dynasty (Jiu TangShu), etc. This paper collects the English versions of the administrative terms in the book tobuild a bilingual database, and analyze how the conceptual meanings of the Chineseadministrative terms in the Tang Dynasty are reconstructed in English.
3 Theoretical Framework
3.1 LCCM Theory
The Theory of Lexical Concepts and Cognitive Models (LCCM Theory) was initiallyproposed by the British cognitive linguist Vyvyan Evans in 2006 in his article LexicalConcepts, Cognitive Models and Meaning-construction[2]. In 2009, this theory reached itsmaturity and was systemically introduced in the monograph How Words Mean: LexicalConcepts, Cognitive Models, and Meaning Construction[3].
In LCCM Theory, the meaning of a word is a property of an utterance, and a situatedinstance of language use, which arises from the cognitive interaction in lexical representations(Figure 3.1). That is, the interplay between the linguistic system and the conceptual system inhuman language. The lexical represent consists of symbolic units and cognitive models, andthe former is the basic unit of the linguistic system. A symbolic unit is a conventional pairingof form and meaning, containing phonological vehicles and the semantic pole pairing withit—lexical concepts. Lexical concepts are highly schematic and can directly encode linguisticknowledge. They have the encapsulation function and could provide access routes to thecognitive models that contain knowledge “matrix” or conceptual structures of words,representing a large amount of non-linguistic knowledge or encyclopedic knowledge in theconceptual system. Conceptual knowledge cannot be directly encoded by linguistic symbolsbecause it is multimodal and “derived from sensory-motor experience, proprioception andsubject experience”[3]107. In the particular context, an open-class lexical concept could provideaccess sites to the entire set of cognitive models or cognitive model profiles where cognitivemodels are linked in a web of interconnections and form a semantic potential for a word.
5 Conceptual Reconstruction in Translating Administrative Terms ofthe Tang Dynasty
5.1 Features of Administrative Terms of the Tang Dynasty
The conceptual meaning of the administrative terms in the Tang Dynasty is nottransparent or ambiguous occasionally. The transparency in terminology means that readers orhearers can roughly infer the meaning of a term while they read or hear it. An administrativeterm contains functional concepts, suggesting the functions of the administrative organizationor the officials. The functional concept is the core element of the conceptual structure of anadministrative term, and determines its meaning. Using the functions of administrative unitsas their names is the most important principle in naming officials and institutions in ancientChina[61]. That is, for ancient Chinese, the meanings of administrative terms are transparent tosome extent. However, because of the semantic change in thousands of years and the hugedifferences between ancient and modern Chinese, for most general modern readers, thesemantic transparency of these terms has been weakened, and it is different for them toidentify the functions of these official positions only through linguistic symbols withoutconsulting dictionaries. For examples, the concepts of “尚书” and “仆射” are not transparentor ambiguous for general readers. Due to the ambiguity and vagueness of the conceptualmeaning of the administrative terms, the consultation of dictionaries and databases is of greatsignificance for translators. These tools could help translators clarify the concepts of theseterms exactly, and avoid literal understanding. The accuracy and intelligibility of thetranslated terms will be enhanced with the help of relevant terminology resources.
Administrative terms in the Tang Dynasty have an encapsulation function. Evans usesthe word “encapsulation” to refer to one of the features of lexical concepts. That is,open-class lexical concepts can provide access sites to “conceptual knowledge which is oftencomplex and informationally diffuse”[3]133. Administrative terms are specialized knowledgeunits in the specific political system. Being content words in nature, this type of terms canalso encapsulate various complex and culture-specific information. Their concepts are deeplyrooted in the Chinese political and cultural tradition, and active a large amount of relevantsocial, economic, political, and cultural knowledge associated with them.
5.2 Explicating the Core Functional Concepts
The conceptual structures of administrative terms are complex and culture-specific,which could not be totally represented by several linguistic symbols in the target language.Through the interactive mechanism between the lexical concepts and cognitive models,translators could construct the conceptual meanings of these administrative terms in Englishby explicating their core functional concepts.
“ 枢 密 院 shu mi yüan Eunuch Palace Council” ( 枢 密 院 ) was an administrativeorganization established for those senior eunuchs called “ 枢 密 使 ” who controlled thetransmission of official documents and the emperor’s instructions. In the very beginning, thisorganization was only in charge of the delivery of decrees from officials to the emperor andthe transference of the emperor’s oral orders. In fact, the actual responsibilities of thisinstitution were more important and greater than it, involving the power of moving troops,discussing and deciding important political affairs with chief ministers, and even interferingthe setting up of an emperor[63]83-86[58]505-506.
7 Conclusion
As an indispensable part of the key terms of Chinese thought and culture, administrativeterms of the Tang Dynasty represent a wide range of political, economic and culturalknowledge, and reflect the prosperous civilization in ancient China. Based on the theory ofLexical Concept and Cognitive Model (LCCM Theory), this paper collects the Englishversions of these terms from The Cambridge History of China, Vol.3,Sui and Tang China,589-906, Part 1, one of the most well-recognized academic works focusing on the history ofthe Sui and Tang dynasties in Western Sinology, explores how the concepts of these terms arereconstructed in English, and attempts to clarify the meaning construction mechanism as wellas methods of conceptual representation in the translation context.
Administrative terms in the Tang Dynasty identified and extracted form The CambridgeHistory of China, Vol.3, Sui and Tang China, 589-906, Part 1 are systematically classifiedaccording to the government institutions where they belong. The paper has found theseadministrative terms are characterized by four features: conceptual ambiguity, encapsulation,dynamism, and culture-specific genes. These features reflect the unique and priceless culturalvalue of this type of terms, and pose great difficulties in translating and representing thecultural and functional concepts of them in cross-lingual and cross-cultural situations.
Guided by the semantic composition mechanism in LCCM Theory, this paper analyzesthe meaning construction process in translating administrative terms of the Tang Dynasty, andfinds that the translation of administrative terms involves the selection, integration andinterpretation of terminological concepts in cross-lingual, cross-cultural, and cross time/spacecontexts. Six types of methods applied to represent and reconstruct the concepts of theseterms in English have been summarized in this study, which demonstrates the meaningconstruction and specialized knowledge transferring process in the translation context.
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