文學、翻譯、編詞典－－梁實秋「遠東英漢大辭典」問題初探

Literature, Translation, and Lexicography: A Preliminary Investigation into the Problems of Liang Shih-chiu's Far East English-Chinese Dictionary

梁實秋集散文家、英國文學學者、莎士比亞翻譯大師於一身，在文人圈內地位崇隆。自大陸來台後獲遠東圖書公司延攬，開始編纂各種英漢、漢英詞典，1975年由他掛名主編的《遠東英漢大辭典》出版，空前龐大的規模，也讓「梁實秋」成為台灣詞典界的一塊金字招牌。這部36年前的巨著，語文、百科兼收，術、古、方、俚併錄，收詞量號稱16萬有餘，據聞在1990年上海譯文出版社《遠東英漢大辭典》問世之前，曾是聯合國英漢翻譯的主要參考工具書。然而，《遠東英漢大辭典》是否實至名歸呢？還是在當時特殊的時空背景下，有了梁實秋的光環加持，加上各界紛至沓來的讚譽，以致原本該理性探討的問題，被有意無意地掩蓋了呢？事過境遷，昔人已遠，也是該客觀持平看待此書之時。本研究打算以詞典學（lexicography）的角度切入，從不同的面向探討《遠東英漢大辭典》的貢獻與問題，以期能還給它一個原本就該有的評價。An essayist, scholar of English literature, and translator of the complete works of Shakespeare into Chinese, Liang Shih-chiu has enjoyed immense prestige in the literary circles. In addition, Liang is also fondly remembered as a prominent lexicographer. He is the chief editor of the monumental 'Far East English-Chinese Dictionary' (henceforth 'FEECD'), its predecessors, and its subsequent derivatives. His name has thus come to be synonymous with English dictionaries in Taiwan. This landmark in English-Chinese lexicography boasts an extensive lexical coverage of over 160,000, where not only general entries are included, but also terminology, archaisms, regionalisms, slang, and those with an encyclopedic nature. The 'FEECD' has dominated the scene of English-Chinese lexicography for quite some time, only to be superseded by 'The English-Chinese Dictionary' on the Chinese mainland 15 years later. However, does this widely acclaimed 'FEECD' really live up to its name? This paper argues that the 'FEECD' has a number of problems and weaknesses which have rarely, intentionally or unintentionally, been exposed and discussed before, thanks to Liang's superior academic status and decisive influence. A quarter of a century has elapsed since Liang passed away. It is time to carry out an objective and impartial evaluation of the once invulnerable 'FEECD'. This paper intends to investigate the problems and contributions of the dictionary from a lexicographical perspective, in the hope that the 'FEECD' can receive a fair evaluation it deserves.