從側文本觀點探討專利翻譯

Examining Patent Translation from a Paratextual Perspective

側文本為圍繞著主文以呈現主文的文字。側文本一詞原指由編輯、出版商、書評針對出版書籍所撰寫設計的前言、索引、護封、書評等，也就是作者本身創作以外的文字。這一類型的文字與主文相互呼應卻又相近相遠。專利申請文件，如同書籍般，有著文字以外的空間。這空間通常包含發明名稱、作者姓名、發明摘要、發明說明、書目資料、申請專利範圍、指定代表圖等。不同專利局在專利申請文件上的要求，除了格式上有些微差異外，基本內容標準化一，而最重要的文字莫過於申請專利範圍以及發明說明。本研究從側文本的觀點探討專利文字與專利翻譯，並分析側文本與主文之間的關聯。

Paratexts are texts that are parts of a larger text, of the main text. The Preface and Index of a published book are paratexts, as are its dust jacket summaries and book reviews which are, of course, contributed by editors, publishers, and reviewers rather than by the primary author of the text. Paratexts are thus closely related to but still distinct from the main text. Patent application documents also fill a space that is outside the main text, a paratextual space filled with the names of new inventions and of their inventors, abstracts, descriptions of the new invention, bibliographic data, claims, and drawings. Despite minor differences in the formats used by various patent offices, patent applications contain a standard list of items, the most critical of which is a detailed description of the invention and what it claims to be able to do. This study examines the complexity of patent texts by analyzing paratexts and patent translation contexts, and exploring the ways in which titles, abstracts, and descriptions of patent applications are correlated with each other and with the main texts.