A Study of “Untranslatability”from the Perspective of “FiveUntranslated Categories” by Xuan Zang

秦琦

【Abstract】Untranslatability has been the issue hotly debated for a long time in the translation field. Translation activity has been conducted for several thousand years， but there have been some concrete language points that are beyond translation. Translation itself is possible， but the existence of untranslatability is indeed unavoidable. Thousands years ago， poured himself into translating the Buddhism scripture that carried by him form the ancient India， Xuan Zang found that there were a lot more words， phrases and sentences written in Sanskrit laden with profound cultural implication cannot be translated into Chinese. Afterwards， he had come up with “five untranslated Categories” on basis of his own translating experiences， in which “untranslated ” does not mean that the translator has no need to translate these cultural-loaded words， but to find some methods to solve these problems. Actually， it is clear to see that Xuan Zang translated these words by transliteration that has been widespread used in these days， and by which the Chinese culture can be kept and transferred. Nowadays， as the number of transliteration is increasing， many words featured with Chinese culture have been accepted gradually by the foreign such as “Majiang （麻將）”，“kongfu （功夫）”， “taiji（太極）”. But many people treat wrongly “transliteration” as “dead translation”， which directly has led to that distorted transliteration has ran rampant in our daily life. Therefore， this paper will go into the “untranslatability ” combined with the “Five Untranslated Categories”. In the first chapter， this paper will make a introduction of Xuan Zang and his translation theory，in which I will interpret “Five Untranslated Categories”. The second chapter will review the concept and development of “untranslatability”. And the third part will present the case of “untranslatability ” and the solution of it according to the analysis of A Dream of Red Mansions. This paper aims to reveal the cause of “untranslatability ” by which it is conductive for people have the right understanding of it and transliteration. Since untranslatability is not absolute， it is possible for us to find the effective solution by which the across-culture communication could be strengthened.

【Key words】Xuan Zang； Five untranslated categories； untranslatability

Introduction

Translation， as the paramount means to advance the progress of human society， is both a cross-language and a cross-cultural communicative activity. The observation by Ivor American Richard （1953） that translation is probably the most complex human activity that has ever been produced in the evolution of the universe reveals the inevitable difficulties and challenge in the study of translation. The constantly argued theoretical problem of translatability and untranslatability has hence been the focus when numerous translators are confronted with the translation puzzle from language as well as culture， both of which are best manifested in classical literal works.

After experiencing lots of bitterness and sorrow， Xuan Zang， a prestigious monk of Tang Dynasty， finally brought the Buddhism Scriptures back to China. The he concentrated all his energy on translating the Sanskrit into Chinese， which aimed to bring the Chinese folks to the profound implication of them. Therefore， he established the translation workshop under the support from government， which made translation activity to be more systematic and organized. “translation activity ” is not only treasure he left， but the famous theory—“Five untranslatability Categories”： a. Do not translate the word containing mysterious implications. b. Do not translated the word containing rich meanings that it is seldom to probe the equivalent in Chinese；c. If the culture of targeted language does not have the corresponding object for the concept existed in the source language， this kind of words do not translated.；d. Do not translated the word that has the existing translation. In this case， it is unnecessary for the translator to blaze a trail； e. .Although there is the similar words in the target language， it is not the quietly properly corresponding word in terms of its connotative meanings， in which this kind of word do no translated—that dose not persuade translator to give up， but presented five types of “untranslatability” with the corresponding solution. Based on the case of two translation versions of A Dream， of Red Mansions， this paper will make a deep interpretation about these five categories， which aims to raise translators awareness of “untranslatability” during translation or any cross-culture communication.

1. Brief review of Xuan Zang and His “Five Untranslated Categories”

1.1 Introduction of Xuan Zangs lifetime and works.

Formally called Chen Wei， Xuan Zang who was born in Houshi county， Henan province （todays the south Yanshi county， Henan province） is not only the founder of the Buddhism hossoshu， but the the prototype of Tang Monk the character of Journey to the West Pilgrimage to the West. After being the Buddhism monk at his 20 years， Xuan Zang set off to Changan （todays Xian ） for learning Sanskrit and Buddhism thoughts in which he acquired the large stock of knowledge about Buddhism scriptures. Later， owing to the incomplete preaches at home， Xuan Zang had began to stepped on the road to the ancient India for learning Buddhism Theory in AD 627. During his study tour of 17 years， followed many prestigious monks， he visited a great number of temples including the Nananda Monastery—the major study center for Buddhism Theory—where he had learned Buddhism scripture form the Master Jie Xian， the leader of the Nananda Monastery who was the authority on the Buddhism at that time. Finally， he finished the study tour of the 50-thousand-li（“l(fā)i ”is a Chinese unit for measurement； a “l(fā)i” is a approximately half a kilometer） during which he had investigated the whole South Asian Subcontinent by Region （a Han dynasty term for the area west of Yumen Pass including what is now Xinjiang and parts of Central area）. Besides， he return to Changan with 657 volumes of Buddhism Scriptures. Only after 3 mouths away from the end of his tour， Xuan Zang began to devoted himself into translating that lasted around 20 years in which he had translated many Buddhism works such as Tripitaka， Mahaprajnaparamita Sutra and so on.

Knowing the Tripitaka from A to Z， Xuan Zang was proficient in both Chinese and Sanskrit which helped him win the esteem from the all folk，monk and King in the ancient India and the west region. According to the record， nobody had the confidence to debate with him about the Buddhism theory in the Kumbh Mela（the big meeting of alms giving to monks and laymen） hold by the King Siladitya for him alone. Therefore， he was praised as the God of Mahayana by the scholar studying Mahayana， which is the supreme honor in the academic exchange between Chinese and the ancient India.

1.2 Interpretation of “Five untranslated categories”

“Five Untranslated Categories” means literally that the word or phrase do not need to translated in five cases， which demonstrates evidently the untranslatability. In fact ， the basic principle of these categories is transliteration that is the widespread adoption as it is hard to find the equivalent words in the targeted language because of the cultural vacancy， which has existed ever since the ancient times. Concerning this issue， Xuan Zang summed up an effective method—“Five Untranslated Categories”—based on his own translating practices.

a. Do not translate the word containing mysterious implications. There are a lot more words or phrase in Buddhism scriptures such as incantations or spells implying Buddhism color， which is impossible to find the correct equivalents in Chinese culture. The reason why the monk are used to read these incantation in unusual tone is to strengthen the air of mystery by which the folk could awe for the Buddha. Therefore ， Xuan Zang hold that these word should be transliterated to guarantee that the folks form different background could experience the mystery in the words. For example， the famous Buddhism scripture— Nīlakantha dhāranī with the 48 sentences—was transliterated in Chinese. There are special expression called argot or lingo in Chinese especially in literature and daily life. For example， some people often use “duck ” and “chicken” to indicate “male prostitute” and “female prostitute”， by which the obscure phenomenon could be expressed by the concrete concept that the possessing the comparison in the real life. In additional， some lawbreakers always use “Leizi ” and “Tiaozi” to indicate “police”， which is meaningless in Chinese system， so it is impossible to translated them. Therefore， some people think that “cop” could correspond with them which is a kind of simplification treatment for varied expression in Chinese that can erase the distinguish between“Leizi”and “Tiaozl”. Actually， this type of words focus on the linguistic form， not the content， in which the translator could obey the “Five untranslated categories”

b. Do not translated the word containing rich meanings that it is seldom to probe the equivalent in Chinese. It would damage the original meanings of these words in the Buddhism scripture even if we can find the similar one in Chinese， which could cause the information gap. For instance， there are six definitions of “bhagavat” in Sanskrit： Ishvara， flourishing， demure， designation， auspicious omen and distinguished. There are no words implying simultaneously these six meanings in Chinese. The another meaning will lose if we pick any one of them， however， it is unnecessary to list them one by one. So “bhagavat” is transliterated as “Bo Jiafan”（薄伽梵） in Chinese phonetic alphabet， which is the one and only method to revivify the meaning of it in Chinese.

c. If the culture of targeted language does not have the corresponding object for the concept existed in the source language， this kind of words do not translated. For example， “jambu” refers to a sort of tree what do not existed in China， for which it was transliterated as “Fuyan tree”（閻浮數(shù)）. Another typical example is the translation of “道觀”. Generally， “道觀” is defined as “Taoist temple” or “Taoist abbey” in the Chinese-English dictionary， which is not appropriate translation in the strict sense. But according to the definition of the dictionary， “temple ” is a building where people to go to worship， in the Hindu， Sikh， Mormon， or modern Jewish religion”， and “abbey ” means a larger church， especially one with the buildings next to it where monks and nuns live or used to live. Above all， these two words at most have a connection with the Buddhist temple， but as we know，Taoist is not only a religion different totally from Buddha， but the indigenous one in China. So transliteration of “道觀” —“daoguan”is the most correct expression.

d. Do not translated the word that has the existing translation. In this case， it is unnecessary for the translator to blaze a trail. Before Xuan Zangs translation， “Aunttarasamyaksabodhi” was transliterated as “阿褥多羅三藐三菩提” which means that one who understand all the Buddhist truth and see through clearly all things on earth can know everything. Later， Xuan Zang apply it mechanically during his translation. Some Chinese words or phrase has been translated whose expression has tended to be fixed despite that is barely satisfactory according to modern standard requirements， in which it is unnecessary for the translators to put forward with the new translation such as“tea”and “china”.

e. Although there is the similar words in the target language， it is not the quietly properly corresponding word in terms of its connotative meanings， in which this kind of word do no translated. For example， “prajna” in Sanskrit is not only one of the major practices for Mahayana， but one of six methods by which human could leave the mundanes for the stage of the Buddha. “Zhi Hui” in Chinese means wisdom being close to “projna”； however， the Buddhist is convinced that projna is the special wisdom by which human can discover directly the nature of everything， and that cannot be equal to the wisdom in general meaning. So Xuan Zang chose the transliteration to translated it as “bore” （般若），by which the folk do not think superficially that projna means wisdom. Besides， there are a great number of Chinese phrases linking with closely Chinese culture that mostly stand for propitiousness， joy and dignity such as“旗袍”“鴛鴦”“麒麟”. According to Wade system， “旗袍”is “cheongsam” and “麒麟”is “kylin” ， but they are translated as “Chinese dress” “Chinese duck” and “Chinese unicorn”. Although the grammar of this kind of translation is not wrong， all the positive meaning of these words have vanished.

2. Review of the “Untransaltability”.

According to the presentation of “Five untranslated categories” above， we can found that not all context can be translated. Language and character is not only a tool by which people could communicate with each other， but the practical and unique reflection of concerned race， nations and regions in terms of ecology， material and spiritual civilization. Therefore， different nations have different view and description to world laden with the uneven level of civilization， which directly give rise to the “untranslatability”. As is know to all now， the most important and key theoretical basis of the untranslatability is the principle of isomorphs， so it is important to make an analysis of the relativity of this principle at the beginning.

2.1 Relativity of the Principle of Isomorphs.

The relativity of the principle of Isomophs is due mainly to the fact that during the information transmission， subjective judgment is unavoidably involved， and it varies from person to person. For the people speaking different languages， the way in which the physical world is reflected in the brain and the way in which the concepts are produced via languages are apparently distinct.

First， Liu Miqin has said that the concept is the reflection of the world， the language， the concrete expression of the outside world， is used to describe the world. What should be pointed out is that in the process of reflection， expression， and description， each transmission is flavored with personal effect， whether it is in source language or the targeted language. The unique perspective in viewing the physical world may rely on various factors， such as gender， age，educational background， religion， nationality， life experience and so on. Therefore， the source language that describe the physical world is the personally processed by the source language writer， who has its own limitation and his own viewing angle. No guarantee can be given that language used by the writer can exactly and accurately describe the objective world .

Second， in the transmission between source language and target language， the translator serves as the intermediary who takes charge of the transference channel. The initial step of translation is thorough understanding of the original text but because of different background information and some subjective factors， seldom can the translator see with the writer， much less grasp the implicaion of some culture-marked words and phrase， especially obviously when it comes to the translation of some classical literary works.

2.2 the type of untranlatability.

Many linguists have put forward their opinion about the classification of untranslatability. For example， Catford， the British linguist， divided the untranlatability between the linguistic untranslatability and the cultural untranslatability according to the cause of its emergence. And others divided it into two categories： firstly， there are not the corresponding expression in the target language， in other words， the concept existing in the source language is totally strange as for the people from the culture of the target language. Secondly， the target language is lack of the corresponding expressing pattern. Generally，all both the source language and the target language have the semantic field in the same scale， being provided with the linguistic form by which any meanings within this field could be expressed. But the problem of untranslatability has appeared， if the source language implies the concerned meaning by the designed pattern that also transferred the features of this structure while the target language dose not have the equivalent expressing pattern. Besides， Fu Zhongxuan divided it into absolute untranslatability and Relative untranslatability.

2.2.1 the Linguistic Untranslatability.

According to the Catford， the linguistic untranslatability means that the target language dose not has the corresponding pattern that in the source language. There are two aspects constituting the untranslatability in language： on the one hand， a linguistic pattern shared by more than two grammar units or the words in the source language. On the other hand， the target language dose not have the polysemy that is common in the source language. Actually， any language is created and improved gradually by the the speaker to meet their needs， so it is the sole task for the language to service the “creator”—the community or people， being the reflection of them in such fields including ecology， material， culture， mind， custom and so on. Therefore， all language is featured by the substantiality and limitation. For example， there are many relative addressing terms for families in China， such as “舅媽”“姨夫”“嬸嬸”“姑媽”…… which present directly that Chinese attach the great importance on the family and the family relationship； however， the west people just use”uncle”to mean “姨夫” or “舅舅”，and “aunt” to “姨媽”or “姑媽”， which cannot reflect the concept of family relation of China. In addition， the intonation is the major way to express for Chinese， however， it is common that English has many phonetic rhetoric， for which it is hard to find the proper corresponding expressing in both language. For example：

The curfew tolls the knell of parting day

The towing herd wind slowly oer the tea

The ploughman home ward plods his weary day

And leaves the world to darkness and to me .

暮種鳴，晝已暝。

牛羊相呼，迂回草徑

農(nóng)人荷鋤歸，蹣跚而行。

他全盤的世界剩給我與黃昏

It is easy for you to feel the air of solemnity from the rhythm in the English poem， which is the major massage that poet managed to deliver. But the translation version is hard to reproduce the beauty of poem owing to the difference both in Chinese and English despite that Guo moruos translation demonstrate the beauty of Chinese to a large extend.

2.2.2 The Cultural Untranslatability.

A. The cultural untranslatability in ecological and geographic environment. Different nations have their own range of vocabulary for the different geological position. For instance， as for the Maya people who living the tropical forest in which the seasons just divided into the dry season and the rainy season， the fours seasons—spring， summer， autumn and winter is hard to be expressed in Maya language.

B. The culture untranslatability in the material culture. The diversity among countries， regions and nations， posed by the uneven development of different regions and the unique spontaneity， are reflected totally in the language. For example， it is impossible to translate “播種者” by people who living in the central Asia as the Nomad， not to mention translating some domestic appliance that is the symbol of modern civilization. Actually， not everyone could be acquainted with some object despite they have the same culture background. For example， there are various sorts of bread in French， and each bread has its own name， making-step， ingredient， color， figure and so on that the native French arent able to make out clearly and correctly. It seems to heap Pelion upon Ossa if we try to translate these bread names into Chinese.

C. The culture untranslatability in social and religious aspect. The culture of the target language in which the hierarchy dose not exist cannot understand the meanings of “the civilian”.

Conclusion

The famous classical Chinese novel A Dream of Red Mansions has impressed lot of Chinese since its birth in the mid-eighteen century and it is know in nearly every household in China. It is often called the encyclopaepdia of Chinese feudal society. Besides， the author Cao Xueqin is a great master of Chinese language， and skillful applied a variety of unique linguistic features. It can be imagined what a task it is to translate such an inclusive literary work into English， especially some words laden deeply with Chinese culture and tradition.

This paper has made the overall introduction of Xuan Zang and his translation theory， in the first part， upon which it is clear to find that “translatability ” is not absolute so that him had put forward with the “Five Untranslatability ” in which he demonstrated the five “untranslated ” condition and corresponding solution—transliteration. Then this paper has probed into the “untranslatability ” under the direction of Catford Theory—the linguistic untranslatability means that the target language dose not has the corresponding pattern that in the source language. There are two aspects constituting the untranslatability in language： on the one hand， a linguistic pattern shared by more than two grammar units or the words in the source language. On the other hand， the target language dose not have the polysemy that is common in the source language. Above all， it is easy to make a conclusion that although the untranslatability is prevailing among the whole cross-cultural communications， it is not absolute and the degree of that could be decreased by transliteration. This paper is planed to tell the people including the translator that it is necessary to strengthen the sense of cultural vacancy in the cross-cultural， and that the translator should face up to the problem of “untranslatability” from different angles.

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