| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] | Whose sense? Thread poster: Terry Thatcher Waltz, Ph.D.
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Kvasir
Canada
Local time: 15:28
English to Chinese
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| Ah... gotcha. | May 14, 2003 |
Quote:
On 2003-05-14 11:29, ironlady wrote:
People (especially interpreters, who see or hear it quite a lot sometimes) quite often just quote the famous phrase about how everything can be discussed as long as the parties first agree on the \"One China\" principle.
yeah i know about the \"relations across the straits\", but now that you\'ve pointed out that it\'s a \"set phrase\" it all becom... See more Quote:
On 2003-05-14 11:29, ironlady wrote:
People (especially interpreters, who see or hear it quite a lot sometimes) quite often just quote the famous phrase about how everything can be discussed as long as the parties first agree on the \"One China\" principle.
yeah i know about the \"relations across the straits\", but now that you\'ve pointed out that it\'s a \"set phrase\" it all becomes clearer.
i must say i\'m out of touch with chinese political jargons and expressions.
-kvasir ▲ Collapse
| | | | 3Sigma 
Local time: 05:28
German to English
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| This is fun and here's my 2 cents worth | May 16, 2003 |
I am a new comer here, having joint only about a month ago, and this is my very first time browsing the chinese forum.
Today, this topic caught my attention as I believe there are a couple of philosophical questions that need to be addressed.
1) Regulating consistent use of terminology
I believe most people would agree that consistent use of terminology is important. Otherwise, communication becomes confusing and perhaps misleading.... See more I am a new comer here, having joint only about a month ago, and this is my very first time browsing the chinese forum.
Today, this topic caught my attention as I believe there are a couple of philosophical questions that need to be addressed.
1) Regulating consistent use of terminology
I believe most people would agree that consistent use of terminology is important. Otherwise, communication becomes confusing and perhaps misleading.
However, as with most things in life, there must be exceptions. I believe there must be circumstances where we should/could change an already existing terminology, provided the new terminology becomes richer in meaning.
I am a practitioner turned translator. Having been a practitioner in financial services around the world for many years, I find that the original meaning of a document is often lost in translation. It happens too many a times in financial services. Please don\'t get me wrong, I think translators are doing a fine job. But sometimes the terminologies used, albeit consistently used, does not convey the exact same meaning as the original. Even in English, new terminologies are created every day. And when these words were first translated, they were translated with best effort. Then it became a common best known terminology. However, I often have the urge to modify the original translation to give it a more meaningful term, so that people are more likely to be able to comprehend the true meaning of the terminology. This would have to go against an existing, established translation term. What should we do?
I believe, if the translated term is still not yet entrenched in the language, then we should propose a better term. If human beings are not motivated to continuously improve ourselves, then we will always be what we have always been.
However, if the translated term has become entrenched in the language to the extend that people have a common understanding of the term irrespective of what the translated word would otherwise mean, then there is no need to change the translated term. It\'s like \"coke\" can be used as a generic term for a particular type of soft drink irrespective of the brand (coca-cola, pepsi, schweppes etc).
And of course, where to draw the line whether to change an existing translated term is a difficult (and judgmental)question.
2) Understanding of a native speaker
I agree with what has been said before, that the translated term should carry with it the meaning that would normally be understood by a native speaker. That\'s probably the fundamental reason for a language (ie communication at a common level), and hence the translated language should adhere to the same principle.
However, I don\'t believe that only a native speaker can be the authority for what should be the correct translated term. Some of us are very talented in multiple languages. With academic, cultural and upbringing, we could be as good as a native speaker. In fact, for some linguists, they can be better than native speaker with their in-depth understanding of the roots and backgrounds of language and their derivation. Hence, I question the \"general wisdom\" of a native speaker. Again, please don\'t get me wrong, I still think the upbringing of a native speaker gives him/her the unique sense of understanding which is common to all native speakers, and hence their perception of language should take priority. All I\'m saying is that, it is also possible for non-native speakers to have an in-depth appreciation of how language is being perceived/understood by native speakers.
Secondly, I believe English language should be treated differently from other languages. Whether we like it or not, English has become the most prevalent (not necessarily the most spoken) language of the world. It spreads across all English speaking countries, as well as many non-English speaking countries. It has been the common language for almost everyone. Moreover, amongst English speaking countries, there are many sub-cultures e.g. Irish, Scottish, English, American, Canadian, Australian, South African etc. They all have subtle differences. There is also increasing number of English speaking cultures in Asia. More typically, Singlish (Singapore English) is increasingly being recognized as a form of English. When we use the standard of a \"native English speaker\", by whose standard do we mean?
I believe, when translating into English, the standard to judge a translation should be the standard of a \"normally English speaking person\" and not necessarily a \"native English speaking person\". The spread of English usage should dictate the standard that we adhere to.
Well, if you made it this far, I thank you for reading, and have a good day!
Best regards
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| | | | | Reading the first 2 pages was a challenging assignment | Oct 12, 2003 |
In the first two pages, the text went beyond the screen. It was a nuisance to manipulate the tool ber to keep pace with the words. The third page was sensibly formatted. Is there any way to make the first two pages to have the format of the third page?
I feel that Terry is right. His point was simple and cannot be disputed. The initial reactions to his posting were really off the mark. If in a technical text a term is already in existence and has been accepted by the target audience, there... See more In the first two pages, the text went beyond the screen. It was a nuisance to manipulate the tool ber to keep pace with the words. The third page was sensibly formatted. Is there any way to make the first two pages to have the format of the third page?
I feel that Terry is right. His point was simple and cannot be disputed. The initial reactions to his posting were really off the mark. If in a technical text a term is already in existence and has been accepted by the target audience, there is no point in inventing new terms. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Kevin Yang
Local time: 14:28
Member (2003)
English to Chinese
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| The messages and letter display have to do with the coding setup for the Chinese characters. | Oct 12, 2003 |
Narasimhan Raghavan wrote:
In the first two pages, the text went beyond the screen. It was a nuisance to manipulate the tool ber to keep pace with the words. The third page was sensibly formatted. Is there any way to make the first two pages to have the format of the third page?
I feel that Terry is right. His point was simple and cannot be disputed. The initial reactions to his posting were really off the mark. If in a technical text a term is already in existence and has been accepted by the target audience, there is no point in inventing new terms.
Narasimhan Raghavan,
Thank you for your message! I am sorry to hear you experienced the format problem. I think most messages posted here are using the Chinese codes, even though many messages are actually posted in English.
It is very easy to solve this problem. You can simply go to the Menu bar, select VIEW, then select CODINGS, then select OTHERS, many coding options appear, please select "Chinese Simplified (GB2312)". If the disorder happens again in the text display, please repeat the above steps.
Enjoy!
Kevin
[Edited at 2003-10-12 17:17]
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| Thank you Kevin | Oct 13, 2003 |
I followed your advice and succeeded. Thank you very much. This problem I have been encountering on and off elsewhere as well. Now I know what to do. Thanks once again.
Regards,
Narasimhan Raghavan
| | | | | Chinese medicine - Chinese concept - Chinese term | Oct 13, 2003 |
Wow. What a debate!
Just a suggestion:
If 'shanghuo' is a Chinese concept, any reason why you couldn't just keep the Chinese term, bring it into English,and glossarise,or footnote the explanation? This is not uncommon with specialist terminology...
TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) is an Eastern tradition, so I don't think it necessarily needs to be 'Westernised' - just whatever the practitioners are comfortable with in their dealings with the various gr... See more Wow. What a debate!
Just a suggestion:
If 'shanghuo' is a Chinese concept, any reason why you couldn't just keep the Chinese term, bring it into English,and glossarise,or footnote the explanation? This is not uncommon with specialist terminology...
TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) is an Eastern tradition, so I don't think it necessarily needs to be 'Westernised' - just whatever the practitioners are comfortable with in their dealings with the various groups they deal with.
Whose sense? ...The TCM profession's. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Kevin Yang
Local time: 14:28
Member (2003)
English to Chinese
+ ...
| Introduce Chinese words into English and other languages. | Oct 14, 2003 |
lai'an wrote:
Wow. What a debate!
Just a suggestion:
If 'shanghuo' is a Chinese concept, any reason why you couldn't just keep the Chinese term, bring it into English,and glossarise,or footnote the explanation? This is not uncommon with specialist terminology...
TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) is an Eastern tradition, so I don't think it necessarily needs to be 'Westernised' - just whatever the practitioners are comfortable with in their dealings with the various groups they deal with.
Whose sense? ...The TCM profession's.
lai'an,
Good point! Actually as we all know, Chinese words have been introduced into English and other languages. It did not happen as much as I like to see. I would love to see MORE Chinese words being introduced into English if all possible.
English is a precise language, but it is sometimes just not sufficient enough to cover the whole picture that the Chinese tries to project. One easy solution is simply import the whole word by sound in order to keep its �original flavor�. As we all know well that in certain situation, a translation always adds some and loses some, no matter how hard we, as professional linguists, are trying to translate it with all the good faith possible.
Kevin
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