摘要
本文立足于法律翻译领域,通过对机器翻译的法律译文进行实例分析发现,机器翻译技术运用于法律翻译中的难点在于:①法律术语的语际理解与对等;②多义词的法律含义选择与顺应;③法律语言色彩的感知与再现;④法律语句的逻辑判断与重建;从而否定机器翻译的"取代论"。此外,本文尝试探析机器翻译技术与人工翻译的结合点,从而准确定位机器翻译与法律翻译译员的角色关系。本文在一定程度上为法律翻译中的机器翻译技术发展提供了启示。
Against the backdrop of the controversial notion that human translation will be replaced by machine translation,this paper,focusing on the field of legal translation,analyzes the difficulties in applying machine translation technology to legal translation,and then tries to negate the"replacement"view.These difficulties lie in:(1)Interlingual equivalence of legal terms.Equivalent translation of legal terms is the key to legal translation and is directly related to the quality of translation.Machine translation has some obstacles to obtain the understanding and equivalence of legal terms;(2)Selection and adaption of proper meanings of polysemous legal terms.Many legal terms that carry legal specific meanings also contain meanings commonly used in daily life.Case studies show that machine translation currently does not have the ability to accurately select meanings according to the translation context,thereby conforming to the overall coherent expression of the sentence,and there are still significant obstacles to the translation of polysemous legal terms;(3)Perception and representation of the distinctive features of legal language.As a professional language,legal language has rich cultural connotation,and also shows distinctive language characteristics.Case studies show that machine translation still has certain obstacles in the perception and reproduction of legal language features;(4)Logical decision apropos legal statements and reconstruction.Translation is one of the most complicated practical activities of human beings,and involves complex human brain activities,which is absolutely the most difficult part for machine simulation.As we all know,machine translation technology is the product and output of the existing human intelligence.In translation practice,the machine translation cannot make logical judgments like the human brain,nor can it flexibly deal with the difficulties of semantic ambiguity and sentence formation.Research shows that machine translation has substantial defects in logical judgment and reconstruction of legal sentences.We conclude that,at the present stage and at least in the field of legal translation,machine translation technology has a long way to go to achieve full automation.Machine translation technology and human translation are not contradictory,but mutually beneficial.Their goals are the same in terms of improving translation efficiency and promoting translation.This paper explores the combination of machine translation technology and human translation in"memory capacity and logical thinking ability","field width and professional depth",and"backwardness and creativity",so as to clarify the relationship between the roles of machine translation systems and legal translators.This is especially true for the application of machine translation technology for legal translation.To achieve a substantial breakthrough,we must rely on the wisdom and capabilities of legal translation experts,scholars,and legal practitioners.The study also points out the direction for the development of machine translation technology in legal translation.
作者
张法连
ZHANG Fa-lian(School of Foreign Studies,China University of Political Science and Law,Beijing 100088,China)
出处
《外语电化教学》
CSSCI
北大核心
2020年第1期53-58,8,共7页
Technology Enhanced Foreign Language Education
基金
国家社科基金重点项目“新时代‘英语+法律’复合型外语人才培养体系构建与应用研究”(项目编号:18AYY012)
国家社科基金重大项目“美国国会涉华法案文本整理、翻译与研究(1979-2019)”(项目编号:19ZDA168)的阶段性研究成果。
关键词
机器翻译
神经网络机器翻译
法律翻译
法律术语
Machine Translation
Neural Machine Translation
Legal Translation
Legal Terms
