專利「逆向翻譯」的成功因素探討

Exploring the Success Factors of “Inverse Translation” in Patent Translation

「逆向翻譯」（inverse translation）──即「以書面或口頭形式從譯者的本族語言或常用語言譯出的翻譯形式」（Shuttleworth, 2004），其品質則大多被質疑可能不夠精準或必定存在錯誤。在此普遍的認定下，針對逆向翻譯的研究也相對稀少。Pokorn 2005年的研究證明，母語並非影響翻譯至目標語言的品質、流暢度及可接受度的絕對因素。本文以Pokorn提出的研究結果為出發點，針對以中文為母語的英譯者在逆向翻譯上的策略研究，訪談三位從事英文專利翻譯的專業譯者，提出此類文件的逆向翻譯在實務上所需具備的能力，並以英語為母語者的修訂意見作為主要資料，探討中文母語譯者在逆向翻譯上的表現。本研究提出專利領域逆向翻譯的成功因素，包括譯者自身語文專業能力和設定有效的翻譯策略，或可作為新進譯者學習的目標，及翻譯系所在課程設計上的參考。

 

The quality of “inverse translation”- that is, “a form of translation from the translator’s native or common language in written or oral form” (Shuttleworth, 2004), - has mostly been questioned as possibly inaccurate or necessarily erroneous. Under such a common assumption, research on inverse translation is also relatively scarce. Pokorn’s 2005 study demonstrates that mother tongue is not an absolute factor affecting the quality, fluency and acceptability of translation into the target language. This paper takes on Pokorn’s findings as the starting point, to investigate the strategies of Chinese-speaking English translators in inverse translation of patents. From the current situation of translation practice, three translators of patent specifications into English were interviewed to propose the required skills for inverse translation in the technical fields, mainly of patent specification translation. This study suggests the success factors of inverse translation in such fields include the translators’ own language expertise and setting effective translation strategies, which may serve as a learning objective for new translators in paten translation and a reference point for curriculum design of translation departments and graduate programs.