“珐琅”这个词最可能是“foreign”的中文音译

By金品之

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珐琅的法语词是émail，英语是enamel。珐琅器作为艺术品时，法语另用cloisonné一字，英语也借用这个词。如霍克斯译“一只什锦珐琅杯”，就是“A little polychrome cloisonné winecup.”可知，虽然珐琅是个音译词，但不是从外语词珐琅音译过来的。于是人们想到这种瓷釉和瓷器最初创烧的产地名称，较多认为是中古时期西北欧Falanders帝国，尤其是法兰克人聚居的Farancia地区。

近日，搜得一家瑞典Jan-Erik Nilsson创建的专门研究中国古代瓷器的专业网站。在“Famille Rose”术语条目下，有如下两节文字：

In the Yongzheng reign it was known as ruancai (soft colors). In the Qianlong reign it acquired the name yangcai (foreign colors), possible since this new decorative technique used many imported materials, and its method of mixing pigments was also 'foreign' however, it could also refer to the popularity abroad these gaudily decorated wares had with the export markets, which by and by overtook the market for the plain blue and white wares.

Fencai (powder colors) is a 19th C term which has been further defined to being 'famille rose decor against a white ground' whereas 'falangcai' has become the name for 'famille rose on a colored ground'. Most likely 'falang' is a Chinese pronunciation of 'foreign' while 'cai' just means 'enamels'.

想必关心这类话题的人多半懂英文，恕不翻译了。关键是最后一句的前半：Most likely 'falang' is a Chinese pronunciation of 'foreign'，直译为“最可能‘珐琅’是‘外国’（ foreign）的中国人发音”。

我觉得这可能最接近历史实际。首先，瑞典地理位置最接近中古的Farancia地区，如果珐琅由此音译而来，他们研究中国瓷器的专家不可能不知道。其次，粉彩是十九世纪的术语，此前直接就称作“洋彩”、“洋瓷”。这“洋”就是“外国”（ foreign）。