日本統治初期の台湾総督府翻訳官－その創設およびかれらの経歴と言語能力－

日治初期的台灣總督府翻譯官──其設置以及他們的經歷和語言能力（Interpreters in Taiwan Government-General at the Beginning of Japanese Period; The Establishment of the Post and Their Career and Language Proficiency）

本論探討日治初期擔任台灣總督府翻譯官的官員之經歷。台灣總督府於1900年設置這個職位，它是負責翻譯工作職員中位階最高的官員。他們不僅精通河洛語（閩南語），還具高程度「漢文」（指文言文）和北京官話能力，因此日本統治開始不久來台的他們，就職翻譯官前在總督府即已被重用來擔任各方面職務，例如舊慣調查、口譯、文書翻譯等。在當時的被統治者與統治者的「接觸領域」中，除了河洛語和日語之外，更有藉助讀音相異的漢文作溝通，或是當事人雙方間藉由複數的官話翻譯人的「複通譯」溝通等方式，都在雙方意思溝通手段，扮演相當程度的重要地位。擔任翻譯官的他們有的曾留學中國，有的在甲午、日俄戰爭時當翻譯，從軍到中國東北部等，他們的經歷深刻反映出19 世紀末期以後日本在東亞勢力擴大的過程。漢文是東亞傳統知識空間共有的語言，再加上明治時期日本對中國抱持高度關注，官話也跟著成為熱門語言。對具備這些語言高度能力的他們而言，「活躍」的空間便不會僅拘限於台灣。 This paper focuses on the careers of those who had been appointed asInterpreters to Taiwan Government-General at the beginning of JapanesePeriod. The post established in 1900 was the highest-level positionamong interpreters and translators of the government. They were highlygood at not only Holo (Hokkien) but also Literary Chinese and Mandarin,so even before the appointments, they had been given such tasks asinvestigation of “old customs,” interpretation and translation ofdocuments. Literary Chinese and Mandarin played certain significant roleat the “contact zone” between the colonizer and the colonized in the earlyperiod; Literary Chinese could be comprehended by the both withdifferent readings, and Mandarin was the language often used forinterpretation between them through two interpreters when an interpreterfor Holo and Japanese was not available. The Interpreters’ carrers weretandem with expansion of Japanese influence in East Asia after the end of19th century. They had experienced study in China or been dispatchedthere as Mandarin interpreters in the army during Sino-Japan War andRusso-Japan War. Their proficiency of Literary Chinese, traditionallyshared written language in East Asia, and Mandarin, a getting-popularlanguage in Meiji Japan, allowed to extend their sphere of activitybeyond Taiwan.