The prelude to the Year of the Dragon kicked off.
Various topics about "dragons" are also getting hotter.
On the evening of February 8.
Dragon no longer translates as dragon but loong
The topic rushed to the first place in the hot search on Weibo.
According to CCTV***
The Year of the Dragon has arrived.
Many netizens posted about the Year of the Dragon event**.
We found an interesting phenomenon.
A lot of "dragon" no longer translates as dragon
It's loong
Whether the "dragon" in the Year of the Dragon should be translated into English as "dragon" or "loong", netizens began to debate. It has been argued that the Chinese Year of the Dragon is more appropriately transliterated as "loong" than the aggressive image of "dragon", and that it is more representative of Chinese culture. Experts said that the controversy over the translation of "dragon" in the academic field has actually been discussed for decades, and the English translation of "dragon" is slowly forming a new choice and standard in the application of words by the public.
"Loong" has repeatedly appeared in CGTN reports
In current primary and secondary school textbooks, the English word "dragon" is mostly translated as "dragon". But in recent months, as the Year of the Dragon approaches, the English translation of "dragon" as "loong" has gradually become more and more accepted. For example, on January 9, when CGTN reported on the "Chinese New Year Dragon Dance Challenge", it translated "Year of the Dragon" as "Loong Year" and "Dragon Dance" as "Loong Dance". In the report of Xiaonian, CGTN also translated "'dragon'-themed artwork" as "loong themed artwork".
Don't think it's an unfamiliar word, the earliest appearance of "loong" can even be traced back to itYear 1809When the British missionary Mahman translated the Analects, he phonetized the basic Chinese characters used in the translation, and the phonetic pronunciation of "dragon" was "loong". In modern times, "loong" is not the first time it has been used. China's first computer CPU chip "Loongson" is called "Loongson"; Kung fu superstar Bruce Lee's English name is translated as Lee Siu Loong.
Although "loong" is an English word, it looks like a Chinese character, and the two "o's" in the middle are like a pair of big bright eyes of a dragon, and the "long" of "elongated" can also better describe the shape of "dragon" or "dragon boat".
Cheng Shuiying, an English teacher at the School of Foreign Chinese Languages of Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, introduced that when translating into English, transliteration is a more ingenious translation method for some proper nouns with the imprint of traditional Chinese culture in Chinese, which can input the source cultural information to the target readers, such as kungfu, tofu, zongzi, etc. Nowadays, the translation of "dragon" as "loong" is also accepted by more and more people.
What is the difference between "loong" and "dragon"?
What is the difference between "loong" and "dragon" with "big eyes"? According to experts, the dragon referred to by the English word "dragon" refers to a fictional animal in European mythology, with a huge body and a fierce image. Most of the "dragons" in traditional Chinese culture have beautiful meanings, which are symbols of auspiciousness, nobility and bravery, and Chinese are also proud to be "descendants of the dragon".
The image of the "descendants of the dragon" is fierce, but it is not appropriate. As a result, the mascot "Long Chenchen" released by the 2024 CCTV Spring Festival Gala appeared in the public eye with a cute image, with a chubby body, big eyes, and the official English name of "Long Chenchen"."loong chenchen" 。CCTV is right"loong chenchen"The name is explained:
loong, which means dragon in english, has long held significant spiritual and cultural importance in china. the mascot embodies auspicious meanings of good fortune, peace and happiness. the image of loong chenchen comes from many archaeological discoveries that h**e the image of loong.("Loong" means "dragon" in English.) The "dragon" has always been of great spiritual and cultural significance in China. The mascot "Long Chenchen" symbolizes auspiciousness, peace and happiness, and the creation is inspired by the images of many "dragons" found in Chinese archaeology. ）
WeChat***Shanghai Federation of Literary and Art Circles has conducted a survey on the acceptance of "loong", and more than ninety percent of the netizens who participated in the vote chose "loong" between "loong" and "dragon".
There are also versions that take the "common divisor"."Chinese dragon" appeared
The latest edition of the Oxford English Dictionary also includes a new English translation of "dragon", including the entry "Chinese dragon". In fact, the controversy over the translation of "dragon" has always existed. Cheng Shuiying, an English teacher at the School of Foreign Chinese Languages of Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, showed reporters relevant materials that during the two sessions of the National People's Congress in 2015, some members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference proposed to further clarify the English translation of "dragon". According to The Paper, Huang Ji, an associate professor at East China Normal University's School of Communication, proposed as early as 2006 that "dragon" should not be translated as "dragon", and that "loong" should be the correct English translation of "dragon".
The bustling academic community has not been able to agree on the English translation of "dragon". There is an argument that we should change the understanding of the word "dragon" in foreigners rather than changing the translation of dragon. Scholars who support the translation of "dragon" as "loong" give examples to prove that if the traditional Chinese "dragon boat racing" is translated as "dragon boat racing", the "dragon" here is easily misinterpreted to cause unnecessary misunderstandings, and even affect the image of traditional Chinese culture to a certain extent. Therefore, it may be transliterated as "loong". Then, "dragon boat racing" can be translated as "loong boat racing". This translation seems to better convey the cultural connotation of this traditional sports activity, and it is not easy to cause misunderstanding.
The English translation of "dragon" is slowly forming new choices and standards in the application of words by the general public. Experts said that with the increasing economic and cultural soft power of China, Chinese culture is increasingly understood by foreign tourists, and a large number of culturally loaded words can be understood and accepted only by using transliteration methods, such as yin (yin), yang (yang), tai chi (taiji) and so on. The transliteration method can preserve the language style of the source language to the greatest extent, and at the same time, it can also convey the local cultural information in the original text to the greatest extent, giving foreigners the opportunity to learn more about China.
*: Comprehensive CCTV Network, Yangtze Evening News, Weibo Duty Editor: Chen Jie Duty Director: Zhou Yanhua Duty Editor: Zheng RonglinMore news
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