翻译本质属性视域下机器翻译计算主义范式局限研究

A Study on the Limitations of Machine Translation Computationalism Paradigm from the Perspective of Essential Attributes of Translation

摘要: 文章以翻译本质属性与机器翻译的理论进路计算主义范式为研究对象，旨在探究计算主义范式应用于翻译活动的固有局限。文章首先梳理翻译本质属性的历史理论发展脉络，厘清了翻译兼具语境动态性、社会文化性与主体创造性的本质属性；继而阐释机器翻译逻辑进路计算主义的理论内涵，剖析符号计算、形式化语义计算、联结主义的核心逻辑。研究发现，计算主义以形式化、静态化的数理运算处理语言意义转换，与翻译的本质属性形成根本性、结构性冲突：计算主义范式难以适应复杂语境、难以识别语言的深厚文化内涵，也不能模拟人类译者的主体性与创造性。研究表明，计算主义支撑下的机器翻译仅适用于标准化文本，因而存在明显的理论与实践边界。

Abstract: This paper takes the essential attributes of translation and computationalism—the theoretical approach underlying machine translation—as its research objects, aiming to explore the inherent limitations of applying the computationalism paradigm to translation activities. It first reviews the historical theoretical development of the essential attributes of translation and clarifies that translation is characterized by contextual dynamism, socio-cultural embeddedness, and subjective creativity. It then expounds the theoretical connotations of computationalism as the logical approach of machine translation and analyzes the core logic of symbolic computation, formalized semantic computation, and connectionism. The study finds that computationalism handles the transfer of linguistic meaning through formalized and static mathematical operations, which is in fundamental and structural conflict with the essential attributes of translation: the computationalism paradigm struggles to adapt to complex contexts, to recognize the profound cultural connotations of language, and to simulate the subjectivity and creativity of human translators. The study indicates that machine translation supported by computationalism is only applicable to standardized texts and therefore has clear theoretical and practical boundaries.