SPECIFIC FEATURES OF TRANSLATING ENGLISH TERMINOLOGY IN TRANSLATION STUDIES INTO UKRAINIAN

Abstract

This article explores the field of scientific and technical translation, emphasizing the significant role of terminological vocabulary within this domain. The research aims to identify methods for translating English terms in the field of Translation Studies into Ukrainian, considering their semantic and structural characteristics. The study analyzes approaches to defining the concepts of “term”, “terminoid”, and “terminology”, as well as the characteristics of terminological units in English and Ukrainian. To gain a comprehensive understanding of the challenges associated with translating terminological vocabulary, this study examines a range of translation methods, including the concept of untranslatability, which often arises when direct equivalents in the target language are absent. A semantic and translation analysis is presented based on 100 English-language terms extracted from articles in the reputable “Handbook of Translation Studies” (four volumes), edited by Yves Gambier and Luc van Doorslaer, along with their corresponding Ukrainian translations. A diverse set of methodologies was utilized, including analysis, induction and deduction, componential analysis, descriptive method, statistical method, comparative method, generalization, and synthesis. The study finds that the primary methods for translating terms in Translation Studies include calquing, equivalence search, transcoding, and descriptive translation. Specifically, 4% of the terms in the sample were translated using transcoding, 41% using calquing, and equivalence search was the most commonly employed method, accounting for 55% of the terms. The research highlights the importance of a comprehensive approach to determining the specificity of term translation, particularly for innovative terms. This approach involves considering the functional domain, target orientation (pragmatic load), and structural-semantic organization. The main findings of this study may contribute to the specific theory of scientific and technical translation, and the partial theory of English-Ukrainian translation. The results can serve as material for further research (including corpus-based) on the translation of terminology.