Terminology Translation in Chinese Contexts

Theory and Practice

Saihong Li, William Hope, Saihong Li, William Hope

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9780367439545
• eBook ISBN: 9781000357103
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Languages
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

Terminology Translation in Chinese Contexts: Theory and Practice investigates the theory and practice of terminology translation, terminology management, and scholarship within the distinctive milieu of Chinese and explores the complex relationship between terminology translation (micro level) and terminology management (macro level).

This book outlines the contemporary challenges of terminology translation and terminology management within Chinese contexts in specialized fields including law, the arts, religion, Chinese medicine, and food products. The volume also examines how the development and application of new technologies such as big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence have brought about major changes in the language service industry. Technology such as machine translation and computer-assisted translation has spawned new challenges in terminology management practices and has facilitated their evolution in contexts of ever greater internationalization and globalization. This book recontextualizes terminology translation and terminology management with a special focus on English–Chinese translation.

It is hoped that the volume will enable and enhance dialogue between Chinese and Western scholars and professionals in the field. All chapters have been written by specialists in the different subfields and have been peer-reviewed by the editors.

Part I

Terminology translation

Introduction

The history and development of Chinese terminology

Zhiwei Feng

Compared with occidental languages, Chinese is distant not only geographically but also in terms of script, morphology, syntax, and grammar. Terminology translation from occidental languages to Chinese and vice versa is consequently difficult compared with translation between occidental languages with their alphabetical system. A succession of historical and cultural influences has shaped the inherent features of contemporary Chinese terminology. The remit of this section introduction is to trace the nature and impact of these unique processes and to outline the history of terminology scholarship in China, with a specific emphasis on scientific terminology.

During the Zhou Dynasty (周朝, Zhōu cháo), many loanwords came from the Hun language and the Western region languages. Most of the words in ancient Chinese were monosyllables, and the structure of the language was very simple; therefore, it was problematic to transcribe foreign words as monosyllabic phonemic loanwords in accordance with their pronunciation. Consequently, in this period, most loanwords were polysyllabic phonemic loanwords; these were also terms. A major development in the Han Dynasty (汉朝, Hàn cháo), was the publication of the first Chinese term dictionary Erya (尔雅, Ěr yǎ), also known as The Ready Guide. Erya is one of the first recorded collection of glossaries, structured according to concepts. It contains 2094 entries, covering over 4300 words and a total of 13,113 characters. Erya is divided into two parts and includes 19 sections. The first part concerns common terms (sections 1–3); the second part features specialized terms (sections 4–19), which is what we call terminology today. During the Tang Dynasty (唐朝, Táng cháo), classic Buddhist books and texts were translated from Sanskrit to Chinese. In this period, many new Chinese terms relating to Buddhism were created, for example 刹那 (chànà, an instant/a short time); this was borrowed from “ksana” in Sanskrit and became a disyllabic Chinese term.

During the Northern Song Dynasty (北宋, Běisòng), an important scientific book Mengxi bitan (梦溪笔谈, mèngxī bǐtán) was published. This volume collected a wide range of terms from natural sciences (e.g. mathematics, physics, chemistry, geology, biology) and technology (e.g. metallurgy, architecture, hydraulic engineering). The Mongolian nationality dominated China with its culture for many years during the Yuan Dynasty (元朝, Yuán cháo), so Chinese inevitably assimilated terms from the Mongolian language. Most of them are phonemic loanwords, for example 蘑菇 (mógū) = 蘑菰 (mógū, mushroom). This term is borrowed from “moku” in Mongolian. Further linguistic influence came from the Manchu nationality, which dominated the country for a long time during the Qing Dynasty (清朝, Qīng cháo), 1644–1912. Some terms were borrowed from the Manchu language, most of them phonemic loanwords. During the Qing Dynasty, the Chinese language also absorbed semantic loanwords from English or other occidental languages via Japanese, and these became translated terms with Chinese characters: for example, 手工业 (shǒugōngyè); Japanese pronunciation: shukoogyoo; English term: manual industry.

But towards the end of Qing Dynasty, the need for a unified collection of scientific terms became more acute. In 1909, the Ministry of Education assigned Yan Fu (1853–1921) to compile a concordance table between foreign scientific terms and their Chinese equivalents for all the scientific disciplines. At the same time, the Ministry of Education set up an agency for the elaboration of scientific terms, the first organization to verify scientific terms in China. After the 1911 Revolution, the Association for Research in Physics and Chemistry Teaching, attached to the Jiangsu Education Association, first verified terms in the domain of physics and chemistry. The China Association of Medicine saw to the verification of medical terms. In 1915, scientific terms in the fields of chemistry, physics, mathematics, zoology, biology, and medicine were verified. In 1918, the China Science Association (中国科学会, Zhōngguó kēxué huì) proposed a project for the verification of scientific terms, and the following year the Commission for Verification of Scientific Terminology (科学名词审定委员会, kēxué míngcí shěndìng wěiyuánhuì) was founded; in 1923, it published a summary of vocabulary concerning mineralogy and geology.

In 1932, the National Translation Bureau (国立编译馆, guólì biānyì guǎn) was set up and became responsible for the verification and the examination of scientific terms in China. With the support of the Ministry of Education, the Bureau organized symposia to discuss scientific terms in the fields of astronomy, physics, and mathematics. In 1933, the Bureau published principles for the formation of chemistry terminology. Subsequent publications included a draft of Physics Terminology (物理学名词, 1934), the Lexicon of Mathematics (数学名词, 1935), a draft of Mineralogy Terminology (矿物学名词, 1937), and the Lexicon of Meteorology (天文学名词, 1934). Before 1949, in the field of biology, several drafts of terminology had been published in the following subfields: comparative anatomy, entomology, cytology, histology, phytopathology, botany, vegetal ecology, common horticulture, ornamental horticulture. By the end of 1949, drafts of terminology in mineralogy, human geography, electromechanics, and mechanics were also published (Feng 2011: 304–344).

In 1950, The Translation Bureau of the Chinese Academy (中国科学院编译局, Zhōngguó kēxuéyuàn biānyì jú) was established. It collected all the drafts of terminology proposed by the National Translation Bureau. The Chinese Academy took responsibility for the natural science group including the following disciplines: astronomy, mathematics, physics, chemistry, zoology, botany, geology, geography, geophysics, construction, agronomy (Feng 2004). In April 1950, the Committee for Scientific Terminology Unification (学术名词统一工作委员会, xuéshù míngcí tǒngyī gōngzuò wěiyuánhuì) was set up. This Committee was subdivided into five groups covering natural science, social sciences, medicine and hygiene, literature, and the arts. In 1956, The Compilation and Publication Committee of the Chinese Academy of Sciences established the Bureau of Terminology (名词室, míngcí shì), which had the key task of unifying the country’s scientific terms. At the beginning of the 1960s, this Bureau became the Bureau of Terminology directly under the leadership of the Chinese Academy. Unfortunately, during the period of the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), work towards the unification of scientific terms was totally stopped.

On 25 April 1985, the China National Commission for Terminology of Natural Sciences (自然科学名词审定委员会, zìrán kēxué míngcí shěndìng wěiyuánhuì) (CNCTNS) was officially set up in Beijing. The duties of this Commission were:

• To analyse and determine ways forward and concrete measures for the unification of terminology in natural sciences;
• To elaborate both short-term and long-term projects for the unification of terms in natural sciences;
• To disseminate the viewpoint regarding the necessity and importance of terminology unification in natural sciences in order to modernize sciences and technologies;
• To coordinate principles for terminology unification in natural sciences and in scientific symbols;
• To organize terminology-based research work in natural sciences, to collect documentation and information about terminology, and to study and determine principles and methods;
• To establish relations with international terminology institutions in order to harmonize the elaboration of terminology in the natural sciences; and
• To establish relations with terminology institutions in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan through different channels and exchange terminology in the field of natural sciences.

In order to extend the domain of terminological work from the field of natural sciences to the fields of technology, agricultural science, and human and social science, the National Committee for Terms in Natural Sciences was renamed the China National Committee for Terms in Sciences and Technologies (全国科学技术名词审定委员会, quánguó kēxué jìshù míngcí shěndìng wěiyuánhuì) (CNCTST). The phrasing “sciences and technologies” replaced the original “natural sciences”. So far, the CNCTST has established 95 different subcommittees for different domains. They have examined and verified more than 300,000 terms in more than 120 scientific disciplines. Over the past two decades, the Committee’s offical journal, the Journal of China Terminology (中国科技术语, Zhōngguó kējì shùyŭ) has published nearly 2000 terminology-related research articles. A complete terminological system has now been developed in China, covering basic science, industrial and technological science, agricultural science, medical science, human and social science, and military science. This terminological system has undoubtedly helped to accelerate the development of science and technologies in China.

In 1985, the National Bureau of Technique Supervision (国家技术监督局, guójiā jìshù jiāndū jú) created the National Technical Committee of Terminology Standardization (全国术语标准化技术委员会, quánguó shùyǔ biāozhǔnhuà jìshù wěiyuánhuì) (NTCTS), which is responsible for the standardization of terminology. Under the leadership of the NTCTS, a series of national standards for terminology was promulgated, including the following:

• GB 10112–88, Principles and methods of terminology, 1988
• GB 11617–89, Symbols for lexicography, 1989
• GB 15237.1–94, Glossary of terminology, 1994
• GB/T 15387.2–94, Guideline for the development of terminology data banks, 1994
• GB/T 15625–1995, Guideline for the evaluation of terminology data banks, 1995
• GB/T 18155–2000, Terminology work – Computer applications; Machine-readable terminology interchange format (MARTIF) – Negotiated interchange, 2001.

The formation of a complete terminological system and a complete set of terminological standards is another distinctive feature of terminology in China.

Twenty-first-century terminology research is increasingly characterized by the use of big data, a field involving the examination and extraction of information...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• List of contributors
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction: the role of terminology translation in China’s contemporary identities and cultures
• Part I Terminology translation
• Part II Terminology management and scholarship
• Bibliography
• Index