A single set of standards and the multiplicity of interpretations - EGOS

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with literal or word-for-word translation is that the source language terms and its translation may not refer to same object, e.g. American high school is not the same institution as the German Hochschule or the Swedish högskola. The third alternative is to make use of the closest existing concept in the target language culture even if the substance of the concept is not exactly the same. Fourth, the translator can construct neologisms (new words from the material that exists in the target language) in order to convey the meaning of a concept in the original language. (Dahl 1991, 59-60, Evans 2010.) Language use in professional contexts as is often referred to as registers. Registers are closely related to disciplines: Disciplines are understood in terms of the specific knowledge and they represent the content whereas registers represent the language associated to the discipline. Genres extend to different disciplines but also genres have their disciplinary characteristics (Bhatia 2004, 31, House 2006, 346). To exemplify, accounting genres include the financial statements, accounting standards, accounting acts etc. The figure 1 below illustrates the interrelationship between the terms discipline, register and genre that are essential notions for the analysis of language for specific purposes. Disciplines Legal Standards Law Accounting Business Annual Reports Law Accounting Business Genres Registers (Adapted from Bhatia 2004.) Figure 2: The interrelationship between genres, disciplines and registers 6
The registers that are related to disciplines serve several social purposes, for instance, learning the professional register is a vital part of becoming an expert within the discipline (Evans 2010, Evans et al 2011). Moreover, technical terms may have different meaning in the professional register compared to that in layman’s language. Registers appear as a social constructs that rely on conventions within a particular group. Thus decisions on how (unfamiliar) terms of the professional register in one language are rendered in the register of another language constitute one of the main concerns when translating texts that regulate professional disciplines. In the field of terminology, the interrelationship of different elements that are used in terminological analysis are traditionally illustrated either as a parallelogram (see figure 2) or a triangle which build on the early works of de Saussure (1985), who analyzed the arbitrary relationship between a word and its meaning with the notions of signified, signifier and sign (see also Macintosh 2002, 10-12). The figure 2 below illustrates the links between the basic elements that are applied in terminological analysis and description of concept systems in professional language use. In addition to the Saussurean notions of signified and signifier the two angles of the parallelogram represent concept and definition the former being a mental representation of the referent and the latter being verbal description of the term and the concept. Term is an arbitrary symbol that the speakers of a particular language have chosen to represent the concept. For the purposes of translation studies it is worth noting that not only words but also the three other elements can differ between languages. (See also Nissilä 2008, 43-44 and Laurén et al 1997, 73- 80). concept referent (signified) term (signifier) definition (Adapted from Nissilä 2008 & Laurén, Myckin & Picht 1997) Figure 2: The basic elements of terminological analysis: term, concept, referent and definition 7
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A single set of standards and the multiplicity of interpretations - EGOS

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