ABSTRACT

Meaning is not a ready-made entity found in dictionaries as signified by a language sign, but rather something which is manufactured through a sense-positing procedure that starts with an initial intuition and runs until the text is written down. This initial intuition may have two interpretations, namely, a substance-based and a process-based readings. This option sets down a bifurcation point on a way towards the text’s final meaning. The translator’s task is, firstly, to understand which of the two possible routes, running from this bifurcation point, the author of the text opted for and, secondly, to accomplish the translation (i.e., to manufacture its meaning) accordingly. The cognitive models adopted by Arabic and Islamic authors serve as markers to highlight the author’s choice. The ẓāhir-bāṭin (“manifest-hidden”) opposition is one of such models which, provided it is correctly interpreted by the translator, enables him/her to adequately reproduce the meaning of the text. This article examines the opening pages of the English, French, and Russian translations of the “Introduction” to Ibn Khaldūn’s “History” which includes its title. It shows how the translators passed the initial bifurcation point and how their option affected the final meaning of their translations.

摘要

含义不是在词典中找到的现成的实体（由语言符号表示），而是通过某种意义上的定位过程制造的东西，该过程从最初的直觉开始一直运行到文本被写下为止。最初的直觉可能有两种解释，即基于物质的读数和基于过程的读数。该选项设置了一条通向文本最终含义的分叉点。译者的任务是，首先，要理解从该分叉点开始的两条可能的路线中的哪一条，文本的作者选择了该观点；其次，相应地完成了翻译（即，表达了其含义）。阿拉伯和伊斯兰作者采用的认知模型是标记，突出了作者的选择。该查希尔-巴廷（“隐藏清单”）对立就是这种模式之一，只要译者能够正确解释，它就能使他/她充分再现文本的含义。本文研究了伊本·卡尔杜恩（IbnKhaldūn）的“历史”（包括其标题）的“简介”的英语，法语和俄语翻译的开篇。它显示了翻译人员如何通过初始分叉点，以及他们的选择如何影响翻译的最终含义。