Abstract:

“Jixue”, a term by Yan Fu to translate “economics” in Adam Smith’s An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, witnessed the conceptual transformation of “economics” in modern China. Nevertheless, “jingji”, a term which can be traced back to ancient China, was reintroduced from Japan to China in the late 19th century and has been dominating economic discourse since then. Language, as one of the expressive systems to impart knowledge and information, could bridge the gap between ontology and its objects. Ontologies are commonly defined as specifications of shared conceptualizations and one of its applied sides is the specification of shared conceptualization in certain domain. Terms (as the basic expressive units of knowledge and thoughts in certain domain) are supposed to comply with the certain requirements considering the specific features of terms in social science. The exploration of uniformity and compatibility of “jingji” and term translation in modern China can be perceived from a) the absorption, integration and transformation of concept, b) the selective realization of native linguistic resources and lexicalization of term translated and c) communication and effectiveness of terms translated.

Key words: economics, ontology, term translation, modern China