Stegnitska L.V.
Higher State Educational
Establishment "Bukovinian State Medical University", Ukraine
TRANSFORMATION
OF A MEDICAL EPONYM AND ITS RELEVANT EQUIVALENT IN A TARGET LANGUAGE.
Pros and cons of eponyms in the field of linguistics
have been discussing not only by linguists and interpreters, but physicians
have also been arguing about the proliferation of eponyms which are firmly
rooted in medical terminology. Modern medicine,
being a fundamental branch of scientific cognition and expertise, requires accurate
and arranged terminology. The growing interest in the ways of assimilation of
foreign language vocabulary at different levels (phonetic, grammatical, etc.),
translation problems and transformations of English medical terminology,
including eponyms, are topical at the time. Any new eponym enters the language
with a new invention and adapts to the structure and rules of operation of the
lexical system language of the recipient. Each system has its particular types
of language unit compatibility, and this reveals in its specificity.
Under the terms, eponyms we understand denotation of events (such as
illness), the concept, and structure or method named after the person who first
discovered or described them. The presence of the proper name is a compulsory
factor for the medical eponym as it is the name of the single individual object
which sets in it. We consider that common names combine and generalize similar objects,
and proper names, on the contrary, distinguish and differentiate them. The
significance of the common names is to generalize, the function of proper names
– to differentiate. Proper names appear when an individual acquires social significance
distinction. That's proper name, which is present in eponyms, highlights the
object or phenomenon within the related class and gives a new meaning. The main
objectives of terminology are aimed at the process of formation and use of
terminological units, and make this process more manageable in the assistance
of professional interaction.
The main purpose of standardizing scientific and technical terminology
in Ukraine is to establish clear and consistent terminology in all types of
documents and literature, creating conditions for identifying the language of
international standards, ensuring mutual understanding between experts.
International body that coordinates and directs the work of
standardization worldwide is the International Organization for Standardization
(ISO). It is the Technical Committee 37 named "Terminology, principles,
and coordination" that carries out the main work. Standardization of terms
performs by the National Committees for their languages. There
are already more than 8 thousand standards in 59 countries in 32 languages. It
is supposed to unite all terminologies developed in individual committees ISO
in one technical dictionary. There are rules of transliteration fixed by
international standard ISO 9: 1995 Information and documentation – Transliteration
of Cyrillic characters into Latin characters – Slavic and non-Slavic languages,
established by the International Organization for Standardization
(International Organization for Standardization - ISO).
Our attention focuses on the eponyms and the ways of a
transformation of the proper names in the Ukrainian language. Some names that
are parts of the medical terms reproduced graphically preserving all letters
and doubling: Allemann syndrome – Àëëåìàííà ñèíäðîì, Brill’s disease – Áð³ëëÿ õâîðîáà, Gosselin’s fracture – ¥îññåë³íà ïåðåëîì. Sometimes, proper names can be
transcribed phonetically according to the rules of the certain language: Hancock’s
amputation – Ãåíêîêà àìïóòàö³ÿ,
Hecht-Beals syndrome – Ãåõòà-Á³ëñà ñèíäðîì, Alder-Reilly anomally – Àëüäåðà Ðåéë³ àíîìàë³ÿ. But mostly, eponyms expose both spelling and phonetic transformation and
adapt to the language of the recipient: Cruveilhier’s joint – Êðþâåëüº ñóãëîá, Mantoux test – ïðîáà Ìàíòó.
Having various alternatives of transliterated options of the proper name
in eponyms can lead to misunderstanding. For example, the terms Allis' sign,
Ellis syndrome and Ellis-van Creveld syndrome have identical spelling of the
proper name Allis/Ellis in Ukrainian. Thus, using the mistaken or passing at
least one element in these terms with its proper name is changing its value.
Ellis (Havelock) syndrome – is a form of
sexual perversion;
Allis' sign – is an indication of
fracture in the neck of the femur in which a finger easily sinks in to the
relaxed fascia between the great trochanter and the iliac crest;
Ellis - van Creveld (EVC) syndrome
– is an inherited disorder of bone growth that results in very short stature
(dwarfism).
In dealing with
the translation of medical terms that require accuracy and uniqueness, we agree
with the idea that the translator must focus at least partially on the subject
texts translated, which also acquired the experience of his work. While
translating the terms, try to avoid false oriented terms whether they have
synonyms with a motivated internal form. The terms containing syndrome or
symptom components consider unacceptable transformation accidental choice,
despite the fact that these lexical items in the Ukrainian language similar
phonetically, informative, they are different. In this case, the more
appropriate is the use of synonyms or descriptive method. Although considered
synonyms negative phenomenon in a terminological matrix, yet it exists. And it
is the frequency of its use determines which term to apply and which to avoid.
The
difficulties arise when eponyms include the names of French origin. Some
of them are mostly transcribed phonetically according to the rules of the
French; others reproduce in the Ukrainian version some graphical differences.
For example: Mauriceau’s maneuver – Ìîð³ñî ïðèéîì, Chopart's joint – Øîïàðà ñóãëîá, Joffroy’s reflex – Æîôðóà ðåôëåêñ, HeLa cells – Ãåëà êë³òèíè (the
merger of two components surname), Gilles de la Tourette's disease – Ƴëëü äå
ëà Òóðåòòà ñèíäðîì ([la] – softened in French, in
Ukrainian version, it does not specify; besides, each component of the name is
translated in full).
The use of an
apostrophe in possessive case is also an unclear issue. In 1974 a conference of
US the National Institutes of Health discussed setting rules regarding the
naming of diseases and conditions. They resolved to refuse possessive case in
eponyms since the researcher neither had nor owned the disorder. Nevertheless,
it is still used in the most disease names: Bright’s disease, Hoffa’s disease,
Little’s disease. At the same time, comprising two or more proper components of
family, possessive case is not used in the term: Brion-Kayser disease, Gee-Herter-Heubner
disease.
We assume
that the use of synthetic genitives in the English version does not affect the
transformation or meaning of the term, and only causes confusion with its use. Perhaps
it is expedient to avoid using of an apostrophe in English medical eponyms,
though it contradicts grammatical rules of the certain language. We have
revealed that eponyms do not undergo identical transformations, mostly they
adapt and adjust the rules of the target language.
While choosing
the correct Ukrainian equivalents, the prevalence of the term, its euphony and
frequency of use or motivation to use should be taken into consideration;
otherwise, the accurate synonym is advisable.
References:
1.
Àíãëî-Óêðà¿íñüêèé ³ëþñòðîâàíèé ìåäè÷íèé ñëîâíèê
Äîðëàíäà. Ó äâîõ òîìàõ. – Ëüâ³â : Íàóò³ëóñ, 2002. – 2688 ñ.
2. Claude
H. The eponym problem / H. Organ Jr. Claude, Louis A. Sojka // The American Journal of Surgery. – Volume 102. – Issue 1, July 1961. – P. 1–2. [Åëåêòðîííèé ðåñóðñ] – Ðåæèì äîñòóïó:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00029610/102/1
3. Duque-Parra J.E. Reflection on eponyms in Neuroscience terminology / J. E. Duque-Parra // The Anatomical Record. – 2006. – P.
219 – 224. [Åëåêòðîííèé ðåñóðñ]. – Ðåæèì äîñòóïó: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ar.b.20121/pdf.
4. Kishore M. Eponyms — are they relevant? / M. Kishore, A. Khashaba, E. Dinakara, W.J. Harries // Injury. – Volume 31. – Issue 6, 1 July 2000. – P. 425– 426. [Åëåêòðîííèé
ðåñóðñ] – Ðåæèì äîñòóïó: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0020138300000139
5. http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com