The Study on Thai to Chinese Translations: Names of the Important Historical Places in Three-Buri (Lopburi, Singburi and Saraburi)

Abstract

This research aims to study the translation methods using to translate the names of the important historical places in the Three-Buri-Lopburi, Singburi and Saraburi-from Thai to Chinese. The study also tends to give the advices on the translation based on the principles of translation. The forty-seven names of the thirty-three important historical places located in the Three-Buri that were translated into Chinese, were studied. The names of places were collected from information resources, published journals, tourist guide books and other publicized resources. The study found that the popular translation method using to translate the forty names of the important historical places in the Three-Buri, were the mixed translation method including a pronunciation-based translating and using of the physical descriptions of the places. This would help readers to easily pronounce the names which sounded resemble to the Thai names, and help them to have the understanding about the physical layout of the place. The second mostly used method was a meaning-based translating, following by a pronunciation-based translating and a renaming. In addition to the results, this research intends to suggest the guideline for translation that, to effectively translate the names of the important historical places from Thai to Chinese, the translation should be related to the identity of each place. The translators should have the insight studying of the history of the places, and should select the words which could help reflecting the outstanding physical layout and the uniqueness of the places. Moreover, it is also the need to concern about the local tribes who own the unique identities, so that the translations could shed the light on their identities more explicitly.