Lexical chains in technical translation
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Margaret Rogers
Abstract
This contribution examines the role of terms in establishing cohesive ties in a German technical text–a safety-critical text (instructions for use) in the medical field–and its translations into English and French. It expands the notion of terms as multifunctional elements contributing to the “texture” of written communication on the one hand, and performing a referential function with respect to a highly-constrained specialist domain on the other hand. Both intralingual and interlingual aspects of variation are explored, revealing tensions and complex lexical interrelations which suggest a degree of indeterminacy in lexical relations, understood here as lexical choice exercised by the translator but against a background of considerable stability.
Abstract
This contribution examines the role of terms in establishing cohesive ties in a German technical text–a safety-critical text (instructions for use) in the medical field–and its translations into English and French. It expands the notion of terms as multifunctional elements contributing to the “texture” of written communication on the one hand, and performing a referential function with respect to a highly-constrained specialist domain on the other hand. Both intralingual and interlingual aspects of variation are explored, revealing tensions and complex lexical interrelations which suggest a degree of indeterminacy in lexical relations, understood here as lexical choice exercised by the translator but against a background of considerable stability.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword xi
- Introduction – LSP studies xiii
-
Indeterminacy
- Indeterminacy, context, economy and well-formedness in specialist communication 3
- Lexical chains in technical translation 15
- Eliminating indeterminacy 37
- Indeterminacy of terms and icons in software localization 49
-
Indeterminacy
- Epistemological aspects of indeterminacy in postmodernist science 61
- No fixed boundaries 73
- Commensurability of scientific theories and indeterminacy of terminological concepts 93
- Concept formation and indeterminacy in the LSP of Economics 107
- Vague legal concepts 119
- Präzision versus Vagheit 135
-
Indeterminacy
- Coping with indeterminacy 157
- Ontologies and indeterminacy 181
- Terminological modelling of processes 199
-
Heribert Picht
- Heribert Picht 217
- Contributors 231
- Index 235
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword xi
- Introduction – LSP studies xiii
-
Indeterminacy
- Indeterminacy, context, economy and well-formedness in specialist communication 3
- Lexical chains in technical translation 15
- Eliminating indeterminacy 37
- Indeterminacy of terms and icons in software localization 49
-
Indeterminacy
- Epistemological aspects of indeterminacy in postmodernist science 61
- No fixed boundaries 73
- Commensurability of scientific theories and indeterminacy of terminological concepts 93
- Concept formation and indeterminacy in the LSP of Economics 107
- Vague legal concepts 119
- Präzision versus Vagheit 135
-
Indeterminacy
- Coping with indeterminacy 157
- Ontologies and indeterminacy 181
- Terminological modelling of processes 199
-
Heribert Picht
- Heribert Picht 217
- Contributors 231
- Index 235
