20110426

另一個難譯的字

曾寫過一篇〈一個難譯的字〉,指出 "belief" 這個字在某些語境很難翻譯成中文,今天在課堂上講解 Harry Frankfurt 的著名文章 "Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person" 時,便想到 "person" 也是一個這樣的字。

"Person" 一般譯作「人」,例如:

"Stop treating her as an object. She is a person!"

可以譯成:

「不要再把她當作一件東西看待吧,她可是個人啊!」

可是,"human being" (或 "human")的翻譯也是「人」,假如 "human being" 和 "person" 在同一句出現,意思通常有別,便不能都譯作「人」了,例如這句:

"Because of his severe brain damage, you can say that although the human being is still there, the person has already been gone."

這句我會勉強這樣譯:

「由於他腦部嚴重受損,你可以說雖然還有個活人在那裏,但從前的那個人已不在了。」

然而,以下這句我則束手無策了:

"Scientists say dolphins should be treated as non-human persons."

總不成將 "non-human persons" 譯做「非人類的人」吧?

還有這個:

"Is God a person?"

當然不能譯成:

「神是個人嗎?」

基督教講的「三位一體」裏的「三位」,英文是 "three persons",通常的翻譯是「三個位格」,因此,以下這句:

"There are three persons in God, namely, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit."

可以這樣翻譯:

「神有三個位格,就是聖父、聖子、和聖靈。」

不過,上面那句 "Is God a person?" 卻不應該譯成:

「神是個位格嗎?」

因為假如這樣翻譯,接受「三位一體」這教義的人便要答「不是」(神有三個位格,不是一個),但對 "Is God a person?" 這問題,他們卻可以同時答「是」(神是個有思想、性格、和自我意識的存在物)。那麼,"Is God a person?" 該怎樣翻譯呢?

16 則留言:

  1. 在其它語言裡,一般都有多於一個詞,用來表達或者強調「人」的不同方面屬性(即使在東方的日文和韓文里亦是如此)。但一到中文的翻譯,這些詞都很可能都只能對應到「人(類)」上。如果翻譯的是有固定專業背景(比如人類演化)時,會比較好處理。但如果是一些原本就有爭議性問題(比如生命倫理)時,就會額外造成很多不必要的混亂。

    “Is God a person” 可不可以譯做“上帝是否具有人格性”?

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  2. person的語源好像是「面具」
    或者可從此理解問題

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  3. Is there an agreed definition for ‘personhood’ among the philosophy field?

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  4. 其實在許多英文字典裡,person都可以解作human being。
    除非我們必定要運用英文一字(較)多意的特點,這樣我們理論上可以有許多詮譯,例如引用Origin:
    1175–1225; Middle English persone < Latin persōna role (in life, a play, or a tale) ( Late Latin: member of the Trinity), orig. actor's mask < Etruscan phersu (< Greek prósōpa face, mask) + -na a suffix

    但是,個人認為如果作為一個母語為英文的人,遇到non-human persons的時候,感覺應該同中文為母語的人遇到"非人類的人"有大同少異的感覺和詮譯。
    所以,我覺得都可以啊。

    而Is God a person?,小弟都同意CYC的詮譯。

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  5. "Because of his severe brain damage, you can say that although the human being is still there, the person has already been gone."
    因為他的腦部嚴重受創,你可以說即使他肉身猶存,但他實際上已走了。

    "Scientists say dolphins should be treated as non-human persons."
    科學家說應將海豚當成人來看待。
    科學家說,應將海豚當成「非人類形態」的人來看待
    科學家說,應將海豚當作人來看待,縱使海豚的體態與人類不同。

    "Is God a person?"
    上帝具備「人」的特質嗎?

    我認為CYC的翻譯很準確,但卻不算很自然流暢的中文。「具有」與「XX性」讀來有點別扭。如果在日常文章裡,這種譯法有點不自然,不過在學術文章中,這樣譯應該是最好的。

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  6. CYC,

    //“Is God a person” 可不可以譯做“上帝是否具有人格性”?//

    - 「人格性」還是扯到人那裏去,總覺有點不妥。

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  7. Heiman,

    //person的語源好像是「面具」
    或者可從此理解問題//

    - 我提出的不是理解問題(我假設大家都理解那些句子裏 "person" 的意思),是翻譯問題。

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  8. catcat,

    //Is there an agreed definition for ‘personhood’ among the philosophy field?//

    - I don't think so.

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  9. Galileo C,

    "Person" 一字的確不只一個意思,但我提出的只是這個字在一些語境很難翻譯成中文。

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  10. hystericireul - 鄧景,

    //"Because of his severe brain damage, you can say that although the human being is still there, the person has already been gone."
    因為他的腦部嚴重受創,你可以說即使他肉身猶存,但他實際上已走了。//

    - 「肉身猶存」有點不妥,因為死了而用藥品防腐的身體也可算肉身猶存。

    海豚那三句太意譯。

    "Is God a person?" -- Yes
    上帝具備「人」的特質嗎?-- 不

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  11. 所以我認為要看你想要譯的文章是甚麼類型的,如果是學術文章,譯得詰屈聱牙也沒大問題,反而應追求絕對確切準確,那行文難免西化,句子長度也不能保持簡潔了。你那句"Is God a person"就要譯得更長,另加譯注了。

    但如果是日常用法,我覺得CYC那個已經相當不錯了。正如英語說「I wash my hands」中文不必完整地譯「我洗我的手(眾數)」一樣

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  12. "Scientists say dolphins should be treated as non-human persons."
    與人類不一樣的個性. a person with has its own personality.

    Is God a person?
    上帝只具備「人」的特質嗎? So the answer for the question can be either. No if you consider the other two. Yes, because the son exist in the for of humanbeing and has its own person. therefore god is a person and not a person. It depends on which angle you are looking from.

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  13. Mansfield,

    Thanks for your comments.

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  14. W.Wong,

    I like this blog; it inspires people to think and it also teachs people how to think.

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  15. Mr. Wong,
    //"Is God a person?"//
    This one is beyond me. I don't even know what 'person' means here. Please briefly explain. I don't know much about Christianity.

    //"Scientists say dolphins should be treated as non-human persons."//
    Do the scientists imply dolphins have some human-like characteristics and it's the reason? If so, I will rewrite it as "scientists say since dolphins have some human-like characteristics, we should treated them like persons" and then translate.

    //"Because of his severe brain damage, you can say that although the human being is still there, the person has already been gone."//
    Your Chinese translation is very good. I would do it a little differently (probably worse than yours, but that's my style). I will rewrite it as "because of his severe brain damage, although he is still alive, he is like already dead" and then translate.
    I apologize for my not typing out the Chinese translation. I am bad at typing Chinese. --zpdrmn

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