The extended meanings of medical terms. Difficulties in the practice of translation

• Main Authors: Corina Lungu, Oana Badea, Valentina Gabriela Hohotă
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Editura Sitech 2015-10-01
• Series: Social Sciences and Education Research Review
• Subjects: medical lexicon; change of meaning; common language; specialized field
• Online Access: http://sserr.ro/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/2-2-11-21.pdf

Taking into account that the structure of a specialized field is never homogeneous, in order to interpret or translate a term, we should define and know its different possible "semantic manifestations" (Martin, 1972: 125). In order to facilitate understanding and to ensure translation accuracy, we analyze - from the perspective of an internal polysemy - the terms of the medical lexicon which constitute a specific and restrictive use of the common language lexicon. Through the study of a selection of terms extracted from a specialized dictionary (Dicţionar Medical, Rusu V. 2010), this communication illustrates the restrictions and the extensions of meaning in a double translation: the terms taken from the common language with a restrictive meaning in the specialized field; the terms belonging to related disciplines and various fields adopting a specific meaning in the medical area. All these directions of change of meaning are thus envisaged to facilitate the practice of translation which raises both general and specific difficulties.