“端午节”如何翻译成英文?这样处理比较规范

教育   教育   2024-06-10 08:31   上海  

这是 高翻考研 发出的第 576 篇文章

今天是端午节,不管“安康”还是“快乐”,不管甜粽还是肉粽,大家都记得享受一下假日。
最近看了些与端午节相关的文章,为了督促自己做学习笔记,就聊一聊“端午节”名字的译法。

传统的译法为“Dragon Boat Festival”,简单明了,用“龙舟”这一意象,或者说赛龙舟这一习俗,来直接点明这个节日是什么。

随着文化交流的深入,越来越多的网站和媒体开始尝试将汉语拼音的译法,即“Duanwu”,融入到对端午节的介绍里。

以维基百科为例,它详细介绍了端午节的发端、历史、习俗等。在英文介绍里,它注明该节日的“pinyin”(拼音)写法是“Duānwǔ jié”。

🔺维基百科截图

在实际写作中,我们可以并列使用传统译法和拼音译法。

例如,英文版《环球时报》(Global Times)有这样一段话:

The Dragon Boat Festival, or Duanwu Festival, is the first Chinese festival to be inscribed in the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO.

先写上目标读者熟知的“Dragon Boat Festival”,再补充写上拼音译法“Duanwu Festival”,是比较规范的格式。

当然,也有其他处理办法。不过,一般也都只是更换连接词,例如“also known as”或“also called”。

Dragon boat races and other folk cultural activities are being held across China to mark the upcoming Dragon Boat Festival, also known as the Duanwu Festival. People make Zongzi, glutinous rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves, and hold stage performances to mark the holiday.(english.www.gov.cn)

The Dragon Boat Festival, also called Duanwu Festival, is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, which falls on June 10 this year. During the festival, Chinese people eat Zongzi, hold dragon boat races, wear five-color rope and hang moxa grass.(People's Daily)

不仅国内英文媒体如此处理,国外媒体有时也会展示拼音译法。例如,BBC这样报道:

The annual Dragon Boat Festival, also known as Duanwu Festival, is the second largest cultural event in the Chinese calendar. The legacy is a celebration that commemorates the death of patriotic statesman and poet Qu Yuan of the third century.

The New York Times是这样写的:

Preparations for China’s traditional Dragon Boat Festival races took a tragic turn on Saturday when 17 people died after two dragon boats flipped over, throwing dozens of paddlers into the churning water.

The accident in the Guangxi region of southern China happened during training for the popular event, also called the Duanwu Festival, which will be held in June and features long boats powered by dozens of paddlers racing along rivers and reservoirs.

有时候,也会把拼音译法放在前面。新华网英文报道有这样一段话:

To celebrate the upcoming Duanwu, or the Dragon Boat Festival, dragon boat races were held in many places in China. The festival is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month on the Chinese lunar calendar to commemorate ancient Chinese poet Qu Yuan from the Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.).

“Dragon Boat Festival”前面,一般要加“the”。至于“Duanwu Festival”前是否要加定冠词“the”呢?我们注意到,有的媒体加了,有的没加。加the,是因为端午节乃是一节日;不加the,因为Duanwu是一个名字,可以直接读出来。加或不加,似乎都有各自的理由。

不过,我觉得比较稳妥的处理方式,可能是:

the Dragon Boat Festival, or the Duanwu Festival

the Dragon Boat Festival, also called the Duanwu Festival

the Dragon Boat Festival, also known as the Duanwu Festival

除了“端午节”名字本身的译法之外,大家也可以积累一下与端午节相关的英文表达,上面的例句里就有不少。当然,篇幅所限,这里就不再展开细聊了


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