Reassessment On The English Translation Standard Of TCM Terminology From The Perspective Of Modern Terminology

Terminology is a young and promising cross-discipline. Most researches on terminology translation are concentrated on translation theory and methods. The previous studies of TCM terminology English translation are from three perspectives: translation principles and methods, culture background, and translation theory. So far there are seldom studies on reassessing the English translation of TCM terminology from the perspective of modern terminology. Therefore this thesis reassessed more than 3500 English translations of TCM terminology in WHO International Standard Terminologies on Traditional Medicine in the Western Pacific Region with the guidance of the six principles of terminology nomenclature(professional, conventional, univocal, scientific, concise and systematic). After the reassessment, the author found the translations of about 100 TCM terms that did not follow these principles. And according to these principles the author proposed some suggestions which presented the medical concepts of TCM terminology more clearly, enhanced the systematicness of the English translation of TCM terminology, and avoided the ambiguity of the English translations in the standard.There are five parts in the thesis. Chapter one is an introduction of Modern terminology, research question, and the purpose and the significance of the research. Chapter two is literature review. In chapter two, the previous research on the standardization of TCM terminology translation is briefly overviewed. And three main representatives in the field of TCM terminology translation are introduced. In Chapter three, the principles of terminology nomenclature and the standard are introduced. Chapter four is the main part in the thesis that the six principles of terminology nomenclature are used as guidance to reassess the English translation of TCM terminology standard one by one in WHO International Standard Terminologies on Traditional Medicine in the Western Pacific Region. Meanwhile, the results of the research are presented in this chapter too. Chapter five is conclusion.