摘要
翻译是一项有明确目的的人类交际活动,译文的预期目的或功能往往决定了翻译方法和策略的择取。新加坡地名“Tek Kah”是英属殖民时期市镇委员会根据“竹脚”的福建方言音译而成。20世纪80年代初,新加坡政府为了改善语言情境,积极开展“讲华语运动”,呼吁新加坡华人“多讲华语,少说方言”,并实施“汉语拼音化”政策。街道命名委员会根据这一政策,将大多数以方言音译的街道地名改译为汉语拼音,“Tek Kah”被改译为“Zhujiao”。到了20世纪90年代末,新加坡政府决定通过保留旧街道地名的历史价值与文化色彩,以建构民众对国家的认同感,遂将“Zhujiao”改译为“Tekka”。通过新加坡地名“竹脚”的译名变迁,可以看出政府决策对街道地名翻译的影响,以及翻译目的对翻译策略选择的操控。
Translation is a human communication activity with a clear purpose. The intended purpose or function of a translation often determines the choice of translation methods and strategies. The place name “Tek Kah” in Singapore was transliterated by the Municipal Council during the British colonial period according to the pronunciation of “Zhujiao” in the Hokkien dialect. During the early 1980s, in order to improve the language situation in Singapore, the government launched the Speak Mandarin Campaign,calling on Singaporean Chinese to “Speak More Mandarin and Less Dialects”. During the same period, the government also implemented the “Hanyu Pinyin” policy. In line with this policy, the Street and Building Names Advisory Committee renamed most of the street names with Chinese dialects in Singapore into the Hanyu Pinyin format, where “Tek Kah” was re-translated as “Zhujiao”. By the late 1990s, the government decided to construct a sense of national identity among the people through preserving old street names as they contain rich cultural and historical values. As a result, “Zhujiao” was once again renamed as “Tekka”. This article will be using the three translations of the place name “Zhujiao” in Singapore as an example to examine how the choice of translation strategies is dictated by its intended purposes, as well as to investigate the influence of government’s decisions on street and place names and their translation.
作者
崔峰
谢佩君
CUI Feng;CHIA Peijun(Chinese Programme,Nanyang Technological University,Singapore 639818,Singapore)
出处
《浙江外国语学院学报》
2022年第1期76-84,共9页
Journal of Zhejiang International Studies University
关键词
翻译目的
改译
“竹脚”
街道地名
政府决策
purpose of translation
rewriting
“Tekka”
street and place names
government’s decisions
