Overtranslation： Ancestry in the Translation of Chinese Surnames  

作　　者：Goh Sang Seong 

机构地区：[1]Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia

出　　处：《US-China Foreign Language》2012年第12期1850-1853,共4页美中外语（英文版）

摘　　要：This paper discusses the overtranslation of Chinese surnames, which bear genealogical information of the Chinese people in Malaysia. A total of 2,547 surnames collected from USM （Universiti Sains Malaysia） and UTAR （Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman） were used as research data. A semantic analysis was conducted to identify cultural meanings expressed in the translated version of the Chinese surnames, while a semantic comparison was made between the original version and the translated version. Surnames, which occupy the foremost position in the characters of Chinese names, contain cultural meanings--i.e., a person＇s lineage. However, this cultural meaning is not detected directly or as much in its original Chinese version. On the contrary, by studying its translation in the Malay language, a person＇s dialectal ancestry can clearly be identified. Therefore, it is proposed that transliteration of Chinese surnames based on dialect pronunciations must be maintained, and not a transliteration based on the Mandarin pronunciation, as practiced in China.

关 键 词：Chinese surnames overtranslation TRANSLITERATION Chinese genealogy DIALECT 

分 类 号：H315.9[语言文字—英语] K820.9[历史地理—历史学]