Филологические науки/3.

Актуальные проблемы перевода

Крыжак О.Ю.

Национальный технический университет Украины «Киевский политехнический інститут им. И.Сикорского»

WAYS OF TRANSLATING OF LEGAL AND MEDICAL TERMS

Legal parlance if it needs translation needs the services of an expert that is highly knowledgeable in legal terms and practices. Translating legal documents needs accurate and correct translation and is one of the most difficult among all translation work. There are many things that need legal translation, including birth certificates, application letters, technical patent confirmation, deposition records, financial statement, evidence documents, litigation materials and business contracts. Translators should not only possess general knowledge of legal terminology, they should also be well versed in statutory requirements and the legal intricacies of foreign cultural and legal systems.

Translation per se is already a complex process that involves so many specific skills. However, translating legal documents is more exacting, as the ramifications of even the slightest of mistakes will involve a complex legal process, notwithstanding the financial costs, for it to be reversed.

There are such ways of translating of legal terms:

- Transcription – the type of translation, where the correlation between units of source language and target language is established on the level of phonemes: e.g. Craw v. Ramsey – справа «Кроу проти Ремсі» (proper names “Craw” and “Ramsey” are transcribed;

- Mixed transcoding – combination of transcription and transliteration devices: e.g. the Treaty of Fort Stanwix – Договір про Форт Стенвікс (“Fort” is transliterated, “Stanwix” is transcribed);

- Adaptive transliteration – source language elements are adapted to the target phonetics or grammatical structure: e.g. Auburn Prison – Обернська в’язниця, the Lima Syndrome – Лімський синдром;

- Loan translation – a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal, word – for – word or root – for – root translation: e.g. the General Court – Генеральний суд, the Supreme Court – Верховний суд, the Federal Trade Commission – Федеральна торгова комісія;

- Translation + transcoding – e.g. Dale’s Law – закон Дейла, Calvin’s Case – справа Кальвіна, prison of Alcatraz – в’язниця Алькатрас;

- Substantiation/ specification/ concretization – the essence of this transformation lies in translating such words of source language by the words with specified concrete meaning in target language: e.g. The House of Representatives – Палата Представників;

- Transposition – the change of location (compliance) of source language elements in the target language text in comparison with the original text: e.g. the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights – Комітет юристів з прав людини, Natural Resources Defense Council – Рада із захисту природних ресурсів;

- Addition – the inclusion explanations and inserts to the target text: e.g. The Firland institution – Фірландська пенітенціарна установа, Ainslie v. Martin – справа «Ейнслі проти Мартіна», Cherokee Nation v. Georgia – справа нації Черокі проти штату Джорджія;

- Omission – giving up redundant and communicatively irrelevant words: e.g. The Statute of the International Court of Justice – Статут Міжнародного суду;

- De – onymization – transition of proper names to common names: John Doe/Richard Roe – уявний позивач/відповідач, представлений іменем фіктивної юридичної особи, John Hancock – власноручний підпис (Джон Генкок першим підписав Декларацію Незалежності США).

Legal document translation is such a demanding task. It requires professional legal translators that have the right academic background, and are backed by years of legal translation expertise.

Translating medical documents (Medical Translation) accurately requires a native or near-native, formal level of language proficiency, analytical capabilities, and a deep-rooted cultural knowledge in the source and target languages.

There are such ways of translating of medical terms:

- Transliteration – e.g. Napoleon Complex – комплекс Наполена, Glenn anastomosis – анастомоз Глена;

- Transcription – e.g. Charcot disease – хвороба Шарко;

- Transposition – e.g. Pott disease – хвороба Потта;

- Replacing the source language eponym by the target language possessive adjective – Bright’s disease – Брайтова хвороба, Oedipal Complex – Едіпів комплекс;

- Existence of two variants of translation: an eponymic term and a common name: Kooper’s glands –залози Купера/ бульбо уретральні залози, Meissner’s plexus – сплетіння Мейснера/ підслизове нервове сплетіння;

- Existence of several terms in target language denoting the same disease – due to divergences in the system of classifying and naming diseases in different countries: e.g. Strumpell – Marie disease – хвороба Штрюмпеля – Марі – Бехтєрєва/ хвороба Бехтєрєва;

- Translation of English non – eponymic term denoting a specific disease by the target language eponymic term – transition of common names to proper names: e.g. cranial arteritis – синдром Хортона – Магата – Брауна, murine leprosy – хвороба Стефанського;

- Descriptive translation – e.g. Ferrein’s cords – голосові зв’язки, Morgan unit – одиниця генетичної карти.

A medical translator must have formal education in the source and target languages to a minimum of college level (ideally having received instruction in translation theory and practice), be an expert in the terminology of the subject matter, fully understand the source text, write correctly, and make use of highly specialising dictionaries.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Korunets I. V. Theory and Practice of Translation. – Vinnytsia 2001

2. Шевчук Н.О. – наукова стаття «Особливості перекладу англійської медичної термінології»