Company和Corporation

2024年3月7日发(作者：北斗星x5车价格及图片)

Company和Corporation

此两词均可作“公司”解。通说认为“company”乃英国英语，而美国英语则用“corporation”公司。引自美国人写、在美国出版、讲美国法律的专著的下列句子——

1.

/ Your federal trademark application must be made

to the Commissioner of Patents in Washington, D.C. /

It should include your name, home address, citizenship

and the location of your company （or those of a

corporation if you have formed one to sell your

product）.

——You and the Law, the Reader’s Digest

Association. Inc. 1980, p. 193

上列句中圆括弧内的“corporation”与圆括弧外的“company”显然是不同的概念、具有不同的含义（而决非都指“公司”这一概念）。试想一位因任务紧迫而信笔译来的译者已逐词把“company”译做“公司”于先，则随后读到圆括弧里的“corporation”又如何译才好呢？

其实，句子的“company”并非“公司”，“商行”

是也。有书为证：

2.

Company, a flexible term. （1）A corporation. （2）An unincorporated association organized for commercial

purposes.

——Cochran’s Law Lexicon. 1977, Library of

Congress Catalog Card Number: 72—95860

最后，必须指出：即使是美国英语，“corporation”也未“公司”而已。此词还可以有一个较“公司”更广的内涵——“法人”。请看：

3.

Corporation, an artificial person[法人]composed

of individuals. It usually has a corporate name and

perpetual duration. Sometimes its duration is a fixed

term of years. It substitutes for the individuals who

compose it. See also Municipal Corporation

——Ibid

附带提一句：就上列有关词义而论，不妨说“company”与“corporation”是一对反义词——你说是吗？是的，你会说，因为“company”是unincorporated的，而“corporation”则是incorporated的。再说，如果要把“公司法”译成英语，得根据情况分别译作“corporate

law”（以美国英语读者为对象）或“company law”（以英国英语读者为对象）。但美国英语中，“公司法”偶尔也有作“corporation law”的：

4.

The usual term in the U.S. for the law of

corporations is corporate law. The equivalent in G.B.

is company law. Corporation law is a variant phrase

occasionally used.