- 期刊
從西方現代化學的觀點談養輕淡的翻譯
On the View of the Western Modern Chemistry to the Chinese Translations Of Oxygen, Hydrogen and Nitrogen
摘要
拉瓦節的化學命名與他所帶來的化學革命是無法分開的，在推行新的化學名詞的時候，西文的氧氫氮名詞常被用來解釋拉瓦節的化學理論，然而拉瓦師的化學名詞在中國卻沒有綻放出革命的火花。氧氫氮連三個名詞是由養輕淡衍生，它們分別由oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen 翻譯而來。在二十世紀初以前，養輕淡是最適用的名詞。從化學角度而言，西文的oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen 和中文的養輕淡代表了兩種不同化學知識層級。Oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen文字上蘊含現代化學元素及化合物的觀念，除此它們還表示了定量的意義，但根據中文譯名，「養氣」，「輕氣」、「淡氣」所表示的化學意義，依然停留在西方燃素說時代。養輕淡名詞之所以能夠直被沿用至今，其中一個原因，就是中西自然哲學觀的相同性。
並列摘要
The chemical terms oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen explain the definitions of the modern elements and compounds. In 1855 Benjamin Hobson translated oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen respectively as yang(nourishing gas, 養), qing(light gas, 輕) and dan(diluting gas, 淡). The three Chinese translations did not reflect their original meanings of the elements and compounds in modem chemistry. As the Chinese understood their chemical characters in the 19th Century, they interpreted them through the Chinese meaning under the influence of the Chinese natural philosophy. The development of chemistry in 19th Century China referred back to a time of Phlogiston.