Starting with "Merkel" - a brief discussion on the transliteration of German names
At the end of September last year, the author provided an article about the German election for "World Knowledge". Before publication, I called and said that the name of the female chancellor candidate of the German League Party in the article should not be "Mekel" but "Merkel". I also said that this is the "standard translation" stipulated by the press and publication department. There is no way. Ever since, all the "Mekels" in the article have been changed to "Merkel" which is "unpalatable" to the author. Why is it "unpalatable"?
Because the original German name of this German lady is "Merkel", the more accurate, elegant and feminine transliteration should be "Mekel" instead of "Merkel" ". However, "Merkel" has become the "standard translation" and there is nothing we can do about it.
Thinking of the "unfortunate encounters" of other German names in the country, the author can only sigh deeply.
"Folle" became "Worrell"
Let's give two examples from football. Two or three years ago, the author just returned from Germany. I often heard domestic media reporting on a famous German football coach "Worrell", but I was at a loss to know who he was referring to. I thought that after living in Germany for many years, I was "familiar" with most German celebrities. How could I know nothing about "Worrell"? After much searching, I suddenly realized that "Vller" refers to "Rudi Vller". However, for heaven's sake, the accurate transliteration of "Vller" should be "Foerle" or "Foller", or it can be "Foller", but it should never be "Voller", because the first one The letter "v" should not be pronounced as a "w", but as an "f" sound, just like "Vater" (father) is pronounced as "Father" in German. In addition, the more accurate and refreshing transliteration of "Bayern - Munich" should be "Bayang - Munich", in which "rn" is too strong when translated as "ren", which means using a large tongue to pronounce the uvular sound , it sounds different. The original German name of "Leverkusen" is "Lever kusen", and its full name is "Bayer Leverkusen". "Bayer" has one "n" less than "Bayern", so the pronunciation is obviously different. The more accurate transliteration should be "白." Ya". "Bayer Leverkusen" should be translated as "Bayer Leverkusen". Although the vowel "o" in "Buddha" is not quite consistent with the "er" in the original text, it sounds closer. Like "Vller", the "v" in it should be translated as "f" in Chinese Pinyin and should not be translated as "w".
Let’s look at the transliteration of the names of German historical figures. Since the late 19th century, with the rise of the German nation, the names of German philosophers, writers and politicians have been introduced to China through transliteration. These transliterations can be said to be a difficult scripture to read. They were written by seniors to juniors and colleagues to colleagues, and they became thicker and thicker as they were written. The above-mentioned translated names of German football figures and teams and "Merkel" are just the latest pages in this book. In front of them, there are many troublesome, but sometimes very thought-provoking "classics".
Translation of foreign languages: the influence of dialects
Of course, most translations are accurate and elegant, so there is no problem. For example, there is no problem with the well-known "Marx" and "Engels", and there is no problem with "Goethe", "Schiller", "Kant", "Hegel", etc. But when it comes to "Nietzsche" and "Bismarck", problems arise. The original German name of "Nietzsche" is "Nietzsche", and a more accurate transliteration should be "Nietzsche", "Nietzsche" or "Nietzsche". I wonder where the sound "cai" (cai) comes from? The original German name of "Bismarck" is "Bismarck", and the accurate transliteration should be "Bismarck". The sound of "Ke" is very soft and can be omitted. But how did the sound of "horse" become the sound of "mai"? If the translation at that time did not mistranslate the original pronunciation, there can only be one explanation, that is, he (probably one of Li Hongzhang's staff) was a southerner and translated the German according to his dialect. In some southern dialects, the pronunciation of the word "Mai" is "ma", which is similar to the pronunciation of "horse" in northern dialects.
It seems that dialects often play a role in "adding confusion" in German transliteration (the answer to "Nietzsche" should probably be found here). However, due to the numerous dialects in our country, although some German translations in Mandarin after the founding of the People's Republic of China distorted the original pronunciation, when they are spoken by local people, they can sometimes achieve the effect of "a distortion of the meaning". The classic example is the transliteration of former German Prime Minister Kohl as "Kohl". Since there is no "ko" sound in Mandarin, translating "Kohl" into "Kohl" is a helpless choice. But in some places in the south, the original German sound "ko" for "科" is pronounced in the dialect. Isn't it wonderful that the German Chancellor was able to "rectify his name"!
German-English Translation: Interpretation of Languages
The second type of problem in the transliteration of German names is to pronounce German names as English. For example, the accurate transliteration of Bismarck's military advisor Moltke should be "Moltke", but it has always been translated as "Maultke". The sound of "Mao" is understandable, but where does "Qi" come from? Probably his name was translated from English (or first from an English work). There are many examples of this.
For example, when the German literary giant Thomas Mann is translated as "Thomas Mann", it has an English flavor, and it cannot be said to be a very successful transliteration. The accurate transliteration should be "Man". Schmidt, the fifth Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, is translated as "Schmidt", and Schrder, the seventh Chancellor who just stepped down, is also translated as "Schroeder". In fact, the sound of Sch in German is closest to the sound of "Xu" in Chinese. Translating it as "Shi" actually means pronouncing it as English. In contrast, Austrian Chancellor Schüssel's transliteration ("Schüssel") was accurate, but the word "sai" was misread by the TV announcer as "sai". The correct pronunciation is "se", which should also be the original intention of the translator.
"Taking sounds out of sections": abrupt changes
The third type of problem is the abrupt changes to the original sound. For example, Adenauer, the first Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany, should have been translated as "Adenauer" or "Adenauer", but it was translated as "Adenauer", and the last three letters "uer" were cut off abruptly, regardless of "au" belongs to the same syllable, creating the non-existent "na" sound. For another example, the suffix of Himmler, the leader of the Nazi SS, is exactly the same as Hitler. It should be translated as "Himmler", but it is translated as "Himmler". Where does "Lei" come from? Is there such a sound? ? If the first two types of problems are excusable, then this kind of unreasonable "standard translation method" is the most troublesome for later translators. They have to repeat these mistranslations over and over again, as if they were forced to pronounce white words and typos. Why can't it be changed? Why should we make mistakes as soon as they are made?
Many people say that the transliteration of foreign names is "conventional" and cannot be changed casually. If it is really a "convention", then that's fine. However, many of the transliterations we often see are often caused by a "conception" difference of the first translator, and then the official "finalized the pronunciation", which is passed down from generation to generation. Some readers may think that it doesn’t matter what the transliteration of a foreign name is, as long as it has a translation that is slightly closer to the original pronunciation. In fact, this is not the case. The accuracy of these transliterations will also affect the international reputation of the Chinese people. I remember that when I first arrived in West Germany in 1984 and was studying German at the Goethe-Institut in Mannheim, a German teacher made fun of us Chinese for translating the name of the then American president into "Reagan". After being criticized by a classmate, the German teacher was criticized by the dean. We thought at that time that we should actually be able to make a more accurate transliteration (for example, "Reigen") without leaving people laughing.
Yan Fu once required translation to be "faithful, expressive and elegant". The transliteration of a person's name does not matter whether it is "da" or "da", but "faithfulness" and "elegance" are still needed. "Trust" means to be as close to the original sound as possible, which is also the most important in the author's opinion, and "elegance" means to be as elegant as possible. If it is "faithful", foreigners and Chinese people who understand foreign languages ??will feel comfortable listening to it; if it is "elegant", all Chinese will feel comfortable listening.
It is conceivable that when German female Prime Minister Merkel heard "Moker" (ie "Merkel") for the first time, she might be confused and couldn't tell that he was talking about her. And when she hears "Meiker" ("Meiker"), she will definitely smile. It is said that she will visit China for the first time in May this year. I think giving her a "Mekel" is better than a bouquet of roses.