Thursday, March 15, 2018

“nihao”(你好)也會成為英語嗎?



春節期間,中國外文局首度發佈了《中國話語海外認知度調研報告》。大家感興趣的榜單,依不同的分類而有不同的結果,不過外文局概括出了一個重要的通性,就是由於全球「漢語熱」的興起,外國人能說的漢語詞彙也隨之增加。

《中國話語海外認知度調研報告》顯示,這兩年來中國詞語以漢語拼音的形式在國外的接觸度、理解度急劇上升。近幾年,我於各種場合均為文倡議呼籲,在把漢語文化特色詞譯成英語的時候,訴諸語音合情合理,因為鑒往知來,古今中外的例子比比皆是。今天看到外文局這樣的調研結果,格外欣喜。

閱讀全文請按這裡

Saturday, March 10, 2018

Bopomofo will not be easy to scrap

《自由時報》3 7 日登了我的〈廢注音,採拼音?〉,英文《台北時報》(Taipei Times) 3 10 日翻譯轉載,題為〈Bopomofo will not be easy to scrap〉,意者請自行參閱。


Bopomofo will not be easy to scrap

Hugo Tseng 曾泰元

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津), who campaigned to be her party’s candidate in the Tainan mayoral election, proposed abolishing Mandarin phonetic symbols — also known as zhuyin fuhao (注音符號, commonly known as Bopomofo) — and adopting romanized spelling — also called pinyin (拼音) — as one of her platform policies.

Taiwan is the only nation that uses Mandarin phonetic symbols, while Chinese-language education around the world uses “romanization,” she said, adding that Taiwan’s practice puts more of a burden on schoolchildren, while failing to connect with the international community.

I largely agree with Yeh and support most of her political views. However, adopting romanized spelling is one thing, but abolishing Mandarin phonetic symbols is a more radical idea and no trivial matter. If such a policy were to ever be adopted, it would likely have considerable repercussions.

First, there is something that Yeh needs to clarify: namely, what she means by “romanization.” Does she mean the dominant Chinese spelling system used worldwide, Hanyu pinyin (漢語拼音), or Tongyong pinyin (通用拼音), which was a flash in the pan some time ago? Or does she mean the Wade-Giles spelling system, which used to have pride of place, or some other system of romanization?

“Romanization” is an umbrella term that means using Latin letters, or the Roman alphabet, to transliterate other kinds of script. There are many romanization systems for Chinese. The process was started by Western missionaries, and after several centuries of competition and evolution, Hanyu pinyin eventually emerged the winner.

Hanyu pinyin is the international standard for spelling Chinese and is now the main system used in the international community.

Before that, Wade-Giles was for a long time the dominant system, while other kinds of romanization, such as the postal system, Gwoyeu Romatzyh, Yale romanization, Mandarin Phonetic Symbols II, Tongyong pinyin and so forth, have all taken the stage for a while, but have later gone quiet and been relegated to history.

If what Yeh means by romanization is Hanyu pinyin, that is the standard in Taiwan. However, after the DPP got into government in 2000, it adopted Tongyong pinyin, a system designed by Yu Bor-chuan (余伯泉), who at the time was an associate researcher at Academia Sinica, as Taiwan’s official romanization system.

It is reasonable to think that Tongyong pinyin was derived from China’s Hanyu pinyin, with certain adjustments and revisions. The purpose of these changes was to make it different, thereby expressing the difference between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.

When the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) got back into office in 2008, it stopped using Tongyong pinyin and started using Hanyu pinyin instead, in an attempt to be more similar to China. In part, it was done for the sake of cross-strait integration and aligning more with international standards.

After the DPP in 2016 got back into power, it has continued the policy of its predecessor. It remains to be seen what will happen, but Yeh’s policy proposal might guide official attitudes.

Taiwan uses Hanyu pinyin mainly to transliterate the names of streets and other places. Not all counties and municipalities use it and it has very little impact on the general public.

If Yeh’s Hanyu pinyin policy ends up being implemented, thereby establishing a unified system instead of Taiwan’s spelling mess, it would be a boon.

However, Mandarin phonetic symbols have been a foundation of education in Taiwan for decades. Abolishing them would be an enormous challenge and any attempt to do so would no doubt provoke a powerful backlash from many quarters.

The upside is that Yeh is a well-known DPP politician, so she need not worry about the pan-green camp painting her as pro-Chinese for wanting to use Hanyu pinyin. At the same time, by calling for Mandarin phonetic symbols to be abandoned, she can “de-blue” the idea by drawing a line between her proposal and the KMT, and standing on her own authority.

When Premier William Lai (賴清德) was mayor of Tainan, he called for English to become Taiwan’s second official language. Now Yeh, although she failed in her bid for Tainan mayoral candidacy, has been calling for Mandarin phonetic symbols to be abolished in favor of romanized spelling. Tainan deserves a round of applause for its courage and determination.

Hugo Tseng is an associate professor and former chair of Soochow University’s Department of English Language and Literature.

Translated by Julian Clegg

Wednesday, March 07, 2018

廢注音,採拼音?

今天《自由時報》刊登了一篇我的投書,題為〈廢注音,採拼音?〉,意者請見全文:


廢注音,採拼音?

曾泰元

民進黨立委葉宜津把「廢注音,採拼音」當成參選台南市長的政見。她強調,注音符號只有台灣在用,國際上的中文教學都是用「羅馬拼音」,台灣現行的作法既增加學童負擔,又無法與國際接軌。

我的觀點與葉委員基本相同,也大體支持她的政見。只不過相較於採納「羅馬拼音」,廢除注音符號的想法更為激進,茲事體大,倘若來日果真成為政策,其引發的後座力不可小覷。

首先,有一點必須先請葉委員澄清一下,她所謂的「羅馬拼音」不知所指為何?是世界主流的漢語拼音?是曇花一現的通用拼音?是曾經輝煌過的威妥瑪拼音?還是其他的羅馬字系統?

事實上,羅馬拼音(romanization)是個統稱,指的是以拉丁字母(也稱羅馬字母)來轉寫其他文字。中文的羅馬拼音系統紛呈,從西方傳教士開始,在歷經數百年的競爭與演變之後,最終由漢語拼音勝出,這也是拼寫中文的國際標準,是目前國際社會的主流。在此之前,則有好長一段時間是威妥瑪拼音(Wade-Giles)的天下,而其他的羅馬拼音,譬如郵政式拼音、國語羅馬字、耶魯拼音、注音符號第二式、通用拼音等等,都在登場之後逐漸歸於平靜,成為歷史的一部分。

如果葉委員的羅馬拼音指的是漢語拼音的話,那麼這也是目前台灣的標準。二○○○年民進黨執政起,台灣官方的羅馬拼音採用時任中研院副研究員余伯泉研發的通用拼音,咸信此乃脫胎自中國的漢語拼音,在其基礎上略作調整修訂而成,目標在求異,以彰顯兩岸的不同。二○○八年國民黨執政起,不再使用通用拼音,改採漢語拼音,目標在求同,有其兩岸融合、與國際接軌的意圖。二一六年民進黨再度執政,這個拼音政策目前蕭規曹隨,將來的發展有待觀察,不過葉委員的政見,說不定也會對官方的態度產生指導作用。

目前台灣的漢語拼音多半用在地名、路名的音譯,而且只在部分縣市使用,對一般民眾的影響十分有限,如果葉委員的漢語拼音政策最終能徹底落實,統一目前全台的拼音亂象,實乃功德一件。然而注音符號則是數十年來台灣國民教育的根基,加以廢除將是全面性的超大挑戰,各方面的反彈肯定排山倒海。

不過好事是,葉委員是民進黨的知名政治人物,在採納漢語拼音時不怕被綠營「抹紅」,在廢除注音符號時又可「去藍」,與國民黨劃清界線,名正言順。前有賴清德院長在台南市長任內推動的「英文列第二官方語言」,現有台南市長參選人葉宜津委員的「廢注音,採拼音」,台南的勇氣與決心,值得大家肯定。

(作者為東吳大學英文系副教授、前系主任)

Friday, March 02, 2018

“元宵” 和 “湯圓” 是不是一回事,英文又咋說?

今天是元宵節,廣州的《南方周末》刊發了一篇拙作,題為〈元宵湯圓是不是一回事,英文又咋說?〉,請見以下:

2018 3 1 日,市民在西安市回民街一家店鋪外排隊購買元宵。

元宵湯圓是不是一回事,英文又咋說?

作者:東吳大學英文系副教授 曾泰元

元宵有雙重含意,其一為 元宵節的簡稱,其二為球形的糯米製品,常於元宵節所食。

節日的元宵,英譯已約定俗成,長久以來多作 Lantern Festival(字面 燈籠節)。食物的元宵,英文怎麼說?答案很簡單,直接音譯,依中文拼音轉寫為 yuanxiao。不久前,我手機才安裝了一個《新世紀英漢漢英大詞典》的 APP,打開來測試一下,就是這個答案。

英語世界最大、最全、最受尊崇的詞典是《牛津英語詞典》(Oxford English Dictionary,簡稱 OED),它大約收錄了 300 個直接源自中文的詞彙,其中也包含了食物元宵的音譯 yuan hsiao。此 yuan hsiao 乃傳統的威妥瑪拼音(Wade-Giles),1986 年始為 OED 所收,三十餘年來未曾增減一詞,倘若日後修訂,則毫無疑問地,必將以新式的漢語拼音改為 yuanxiao

根據 OED 的定義,yuan hsiao (陰曆正月十五)中國元宵節所食之一種糯米湯糰甜品a sweet rice-flour dumpling made for the Chinese Lantern Festival (15 January in the lunar calendar)】。OED 收錄了 3 條書證(有書面證據的例句),最早的一條時間落在 1956 年,出自趙元任夫人楊步偉所寫的英文書《中國食譜》(How to Cook and Eat in Chinese),講的是做元宵用什麼材料、加多少分量的分步作法:

Orange soup with yüan-hsiao... Knead the glutinous rice flour with 1/ 2 cup hot..water. Then make into globules of about 3/ 8 inch in diameter. These are the yüan-hsiao.【橙汁元宵……糯米粉加二分之一杯的熱水揉捏,再做成直徑約八分之三英吋(約一公分,譯注)的多個小團,這就是元宵】。

閱讀這個食譜時,我心中的困惑油然而生。橙汁元宵,這種未曾聽聞的搭配,不曉得是哪裡的特色?楊步偉是南京人,趙元任是常州人,難不成這是當時他們記憶中的江南作法?還是他們到美國之後自己的創意?抑或是中間出了什麼差錯?這我們就不得而知了。此外,直徑一公分不帶餡的糯米小團,只有成人指甲蓋的大小,似乎與我們心中典型的元宵有明顯的不同,這會不會是江南的 小圓子

對元宵食譜的疑惑,我暫時無解,只能留待專家考證釋疑。

話說回來,這本 How to Cook and Eat in Chinese,名義上雖為楊步偉所作,不過一般相信,背後有很大一部分實乃趙元任代筆。英文的《中國食譜》舉足輕重,影響廣泛,受到美國知名的美食記者與烹飪史學家安妮‧門德爾松(Anne Mendelson)的高度評價,稱其為 第一本真正有深刻見解、以英文撰寫的中國菜譜the first truly insightful English-language Chinese cookbook)。英文裡有幾個常見的中餐烹飪詞彙,如 stir-fry(炒)、pot sticker(鍋貼)、red-cooking(紅燒),據聞為皆趙元任所翻譯,也都首見於此書,其影響力可見一斑。

據傳統習俗,元宵節吃湯圓,所以湯圓又稱元宵,大型權威的《辭海》、《漢語大詞典》也說,元宵是湯圓的別名。我在英文的維基百科(Wikipedia)搜索 yuanxiao(元宵),敲下回車鍵,頁面卻跳轉到 tangyuan(湯圓)。看來,元宵和湯圓似乎真的難分彼此。

湯圓和元宵的關係是有點複雜,有人認為是同物異名,也有人認為有所不同。認為彼此不同者,其看法大致是,傳統上製作元宵時,是把素的固體甜餡料放在鋪有糯米粉的竹籃上,再用雙手搖晃,使糯米粉均勻黏在餡上,如此重複數次而滾成圓球。湯圓的作法口味都不同,餡料有葷有素,先把糯米粉加水和成麵糰,再像包餃子一樣將餡包入揉圓,也有無餡的湯圓。

在我的家鄉台灣,湯圓為冬至的應景食品,也常在婚宴、團聚的場合現身餐桌,取其 團圓的諧音。元宵則為元宵節所吃。

湯圓和元宵的糾葛,我們姑且放在一旁。大陸有些地方,元宵節吃的就叫湯圓。湯圓的英文,英語世界沒有已出版的詞典收錄,不過網上的英文《維基詞典》(Wiktionary)則以拼音的 tangyuan 加以收錄。

元宵、湯圓都是文化特色詞,英文裡找不到現成的對應,只能加以解釋,然而解釋並不是翻譯。詞彙翻譯強調精簡,因此在不可譯之時訴諸語音,是個常見的作法,放諸四海皆準也。