翻譯中遇到這樣一段話:
有關勞動教養審批程序不科學。需要勞動教養的人,由省、自治區、直轄市和大中城市成立的勞動教養管理委員會審查批准。勞動教養管理委員會由民政、公安、勞動部門的負責人組成。由於這個委員會是非常設機構, 沒有固定的人員、編制、預算和工作程序, 勞動教養委員會對勞動教養的審批、解除、監督以及對勞教場所的管理工作最後都被公安機關代行。勞動教養是對公民人身自由權利的嚴厲限制,但勞動教養決定的作出不需經過司法程序, 致使公安機關容易濫用職權。
其中的「編制」,是我們經常遇到,但很難翻譯的詞。詞典上的翻譯(authorized size of an organization; establishment)用在這裡也不合適。
根據百度百科:
編制指公司或部門為了完成未來或過去的任務而確定的公司或部門的人員數量的配置,其對人員的實際配置工作產生指導和約束作用。
編制:編制的概念有廣義和狹義之分。
廣義的編制是指各種機構的設置及其人員數量定額、結構和職務配置;狹義的編制即人員編制,是指為完成組織的功能,經過被授權的機關或部門批准的機關或單位內部人員的定額、人員結構比例及對職位(崗位)的分配。
一般包括以下幾方面的內容:
(1)編制員額的規定;
(2)各職位(崗位)的名稱、設置以及領導職數的規定;
(3)各類人員的比例結構的規定;
(4)人員配備的質量要求。
這裡顯然是狹義。根據這一解釋,似乎可以翻譯為post(崗位):
a position of duty, employment, or trust to which one is assigned or appointed: a diplomatic post.
但這樣翻譯似乎不能說明這個詞的全部含義。「臨時工」的工作崗位就不是崗位了嗎?根據生活經驗,說一個僱員在編不在編(臨時工不在編,正式工在編),就學校而言,基本是指這個人的工資是國家發還是學校自己發。據此,就猜測是否可以譯為budgted posts.上谷歌檢驗,發現這樣的內容:
While the number of beds and official staffing recommendations remained constant, actual staffing levels did decline in line with numbers of deliveries. As a result, increasing numbers of officially budgeted posts have been left vacant. There were shortfalls in 16 out of 19 facilities, with the greatest discrepancies in the larger free-standing facilities; in Tula oblast maternity home there were 28 obstetricians compared with 71 budgeted posts. Novomoskovski maternity home similarly had 13 filled posts out of 27 budgeted for. Other facilities had, on average, a shortfall of three obstetrician posts.
For midwives, some discrepancies were even larger, with the Tula maternity home filling 54 of its 100 budgeted posts; elsewhere the average shortfall was five posts. For nurses, the average shortfall was three posts, except in the Tula maternity home, which filled 54 of its 127 budgeted posts. As funding is based on the number of budgeted posts, these shortfalls allow facilities to employ individuals in up to two posts, making possible a doubling of salaries (interviews with head physicians). In addition, any surplus in the salary budget could be used to contract additional administrative staff or, less often, more specialized staff (e.g. anaesthetists), who can command higher payment.
(http://heapol.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/21/3/195)
這兩段談的是某醫院的「編制」用不完。從中可以看到,編制確實可以用budgeted posts.還可以用officially budgeted posts.國家建議的編制,可以用official staffing recommendations.
當然,這一譯法不一定放之四海而皆準。遇到中文裡的「編制」所指不同,需要調整英文譯法。這一點,是機器翻譯做不到的。
作者:北外高翻學院 李長栓