Saturday, February 17, 2024

‘Long’ wait for ‘Chinese dragon’ to go English

Taipei Times (英文《台北時報》)
Editorial & Opinion (言論廣場)

Sat, Feb 17, 2024 page 8

'Long' wait for 'Chinese dragon' to go English → https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2024/02/17/2003813656
By Hugo Tseng 曾泰元

The pre-eminent authority on the English language, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), last month issued an update to one of its entries, adding the term "Chinese dragon" to its lexicon for the first time.

The Chinese word long (龍) has for a long time been translated simply as "dragon," but many commentators opposed this, believing that the traditional Western concept of a dragon is represented by the embodiment of a fearsome, wicked monster that must be killed.

It was deemed unsuitable to use a wicked and inauspicious Western dragon to refer to an auspicious Chinese dragon, so it was recommended that a rectification be made to the entry.

The phonetic transliteration of the Mandarin for "Chinese dragon" can be written long, loong or lung.

There was sound reasoning behind the change. Chinese dragons and Western dragons bring to mind distinct physical traits and there are important differences in the cultural connotations.

Moreover, in terms of symbolism, the two types of dragons are polar opposites, respectively representing benevolence and wickedness.

The long spelling is from China's Hanyu pinyin system, which is considered the international standard for Romanized Chinese.

The spelling is also used by Encyclopaedia Britannica and Wikipedia.

However, long could be misread as the English word "long," referring to length, so the OED used "Chinese dragon."

Culturally specific terminology in English is often derived from transliterations and doing so with such entries is universally applicable.

However, Chinese speakers should not have the final say over how English speakers use their own language.

New terms must be widely recognized by English speakers, which might take a long time.

Dictionary entries are not written in stone by a single person, but become part of a language when terms become common parlance and are broadly recognized by native speakers.

A sense-for-sense translation of long into English should allow connections to be drawn between Chinese and Western dragons, while also providing a synonym to allow more robust descriptions.

As understanding of the East has increased in the West, and amid deconstruction and reinterpretation of cultural signaling in the English language, the traditional definition of "dragon" as a ferocious entity has softened somewhat, influencing the awareness of English speakers.

Neither Webster's Dictionary, which is widely used in the US, nor the New Oxford English Dictionary — which is distinct from the OED — have the term "Chinese dragon," yet they have in their definitions for "dragon" descriptions of the benevolence and auspiciousness of the Chinese variety.

Languages evolve and definitions are fluid. The word "dragon," which used to be negatively tinged, has gradually developed a more positive image.

More Westerners have come to see Chinese dragons as also having an auspicious meaning, and thus the term "dragon" can continue to be used to refer to Chinese dragons without throwing out the Western understanding of the word entirely.

Hugo Tseng is an associate professor and former chair of Soochow University's literature and English-language department. He has participated in the editing and revision of several English-Chinese dictionaries and reference materials.

Translated by Tim Smith

Thursday, February 08, 2024

【自由時報】龍年談龍字的英譯世界

自由廣場》龍年談龍字的英譯世界 https://talk.ltn.com.tw/article/paper/1630266

◎ 曾泰元

二○二四年一月,英語世界的至尊權威《牛津英語詞典》OED發佈了更新,首度收錄了Chinese dragon(中國龍)。

長久以來,龍的英文都翻成dragon,但有論者反對,認為西方傳統的dragon是恐怖的怪獸,邪惡的代表,須被殺戮的對象,不宜用邪惡的西方龍來對應祥瑞的中國龍,遂主張必須糾正,另以音譯的long(或loong、lung)來翻譯中國龍。


言之有理。中國龍和西方龍在外貌特性與文化意涵均有重要區別,何況兩者更是善惡兩極。

漢語拼音是中文羅馬字的國際標準,把中國龍依漢語拼音翻成long合情合理,這個音譯也得到《大英百科》和《維基百科》的認可。但long易被理解為英文的「長」,故輔以Chinese dragon(中國龍)讓人適應過渡。

文化特色詞的英譯常從語音切入,放諸四海皆準,但英文非我族語,不是我們說了算,須得到英語人士的廣泛認可才行,這條路較漫長。意譯的Chinese dragon照顧英語人士,讓中國龍和西方龍有個連接,也可作為近義詞來豐富敘事。

隨著西方越來越瞭解東方,也隨著英語對自身文化符號的解構與再詮釋,dragon的傳統語義出現鬆動,影響英語人士的認知。美國最大的《韋氏大詞典》和牛津詞典家族的《新牛津英語詞典》(和OED無關)都未收錄Chinese dragon,卻都在dragon的定義點出了中國龍的仁慈寬厚和良善祥瑞。

語言在變化,語義在流動。原本負面的dragon逐漸有正面形象,西方論及中國龍也有更多人知其代表祥瑞,故用dragon來譯中國龍可以繼續,不必因噎廢食。

(作者是前東吳大學英文系系主任,曾參與編纂數本英漢詞典與漢英詞典)

Wednesday, February 08, 2023

Wednesday, June 01, 2022