Comparative Study Of Standards On English Translation Of Etiology Terminology In Traditional Chinese Medicine

PurposeWith the development of economic globalization， Traditional Chinese Medicine(hereinafter referred to as TCM) has been already accepted by more and more countries.English translation of terminology in TCM has become an irreplaceable bridge linking Chinaand world for TCM. To strengthen academic information exchange， promotingcommunication on TCM，the work to establish standard of English translation of terminologyin TCM is a key link for the development of modernization，internationalization in TCM.There have been5standards published by organizations in China and the World HealthOrganization during the different periods on terminology standard of English translation ofTCM. This Study comparatively analyzed English translation of etiology terminology in5Terminology Standards of TCM by linguistics，terminology and translatology，summing upprinciples on English translation of etiology terminology and method，and putting forwardproper English translation about etiology terminology. This study comparatively analyzed5Terminology Standards of TCM and thus summarized the problems and causes，whichprovides reference for studying and revising standards of English translation of terminologyin TCM.Subjects and MethodsWe select117entries of terminology about etiology in the5Terminology Standards ofTraditional Chinese Medicine：The Republic National Standard Terms of The Basic Theory ofTCM (GB/T20348—2006)(Standard①)， English Translation of Common Terms inTraditional Chinese Medicine (Standard②)，Chinese Terms in Traditional Chinese Medicineand Pharmacy (Standard③)，International Standard Chinese-English Basic Nomenclature ofChinese Medicine (Standard④)，WHO International Standard Terminologies on TraditionalMedicine in the Western Pacific Region2007(Standard⑤). English translation of these117entries of terminology about etiology were classified into four levels (I，II，III，IV)，or fourconcordance rates，which goes from full agreement in5standards to complete inconsistency. The level III and IV translations of terminology were the essential part of our study.Chinese concept of terminology respectively refer to The Republic National StandardTerms of the Basic Theory of TCM (GB/T20348—2006) and Chinese Terms in TraditionalChinese Medicine and Pharmacy. This thesis emphasizes on contrast research of Englishtranslation of etiology terminology in TCM by analyzing English translation principles andmethods in5standards. Concepts of English vocabulary refer to:www.websters-online-dictionary.org/；English medical vocabulary refer to：W．B．SaundersCompany．Dorland’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary，29th edition．Forum，Singapore HarcourtAsia Pte Ltd．2001, and other websites such as Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/etc.ResultsThis research reviewed the concepts of terminology，standardization of terminology，standardization of terminology in TCM，and outlined the principles and methods of Englishtranslation of terminology in TCM. Based on this，the author comparatively studied theterminology standard on etiology in TCM with the following respects.1. Consistence of English translation on etiology terminology in TCM in all the fivestandardsAmong117entries of etiology terminology in TCM，there are4entries with level Iwhich account for3.4%of the whole；20entries with level II which account for17.1%of thewhole；26entries with level III which account for22.2%of the whole；67entries with levelIV which account for57.3%of the whole. There are multiple translations for one terminologybecause of the authors with different ideas about TCM terminology and differences betweenTCM and west medicine.2. Comparative study of terminology standard on etiology in TCMWe discuss briefly level I，II English translation terms，and mainly discuss level III，IVEnglish translation terms in all the five standards.Among the4entries with consistence level I，there are3entries selected from originalEnglish translation in the5standards，and1entry created in this study as a new Englishtranslation “wind-dryness pathogen” based on the original English translation.Among the20entries with consistence level II，there are16entries selected fromoriginal English translation in the5standards. There are4entries created in this study as a new English translation based on the original English translation. They are wind-coldpathogen，wind-heat pathogen，wind-damp pathogen，stagnant fluid.Among the26entries with consistence level III，there are21entries selected fromoriginal English translation in the5standards. There are5entries created by us as a newEnglish translation based on the original English translation. They are vital qi，damp pathogenhampering qi movement，phlegm and stagnant fluid，damp pathogen，patient with damp.Among the67entries with consistence level IV, there are30terms selected from originalEnglish translation in the5standards. There are32terms created by us as a new Englishtranslation based on the original English translation，5entries are completely created in thisstudy by ourselves，they are dietary intemperance，dietary unsanitary，dietary partiality，over-ease，deficiency pathogen.Conclusion1. It is necessary that one should obey the principles of scientificity，arbitrariness，practicality，indentity，objectivity on English translation of terminology.2. Literal translation is the main approach used on English translation of terminology. It isappropriate to use transliteration for the TCM terminology which is puzzled. Free translationmay be keep the exact meaning and overall style of TCM terminology.3. There were117entries of terminology and their derived terms brought in the study, ofwhich4are reached to level I and account for about3.4%of all the terms，20are reached tolevel II and account for about17.1%，26are reached to level III and account for about22.2%，67are reached to level IV and account for about57.3%.4. This study confirmed117entries of English translation of etiology terminology. There are70terms selected from original English translation in the5standards，47entries ofterminology suggested to be used as a new English translation，including5created completelyby ourselves in this study.The results of this study will benefit the English translation of TCM terminology，whichalso provides reference for revision on English translation standard of terminology in TCM.