Transfer features of medical terms translated from english into Russian

Aigerim Smagulova ¹ Roza Rakhimbayeva²

¹ candidate of pedagogical sciences, professor of diplomatic translations chair, faculty of international relations, al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, Kazakhstan

e-mail: aigerim_0715@ mail.ru tel.: +7 701 167 4373

²senior teacher of diplomatic translations chair, faculty of international relations, al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, Kazakhstan. Almaty, Kazakhstan

e-mail: roza_madjarova68@mail.ru

Annotation

The world globalization processes pose new problems and tasks to a person, require further development of professional knowledge and skills. In the modern world, active cooperation and international exchange of experience in the field of medicine and health care are carried out. In this regard, the implementation of a high-quality translation of medical documentation is of current importance. Medical translation, translation of texts on medical and pharmaceutical topics is a highly specialized type of translation that requires a translator who knows not only the relevant foreign language, but also the special terminology of the translated text. In addition, a characteristic feature of modern medicine is the growth in the number of narrow specialties, the emergence of new treatment options and the development of specialized equipment and materials. Accordingly, the requirements for the qualifications of the translator are increasing. Only experienced translators with certain knowledge in the field of medicine and pharmaceuticals are involved in the translation of medical documents. Medical translation occupies a special place among other types of scientific and technical translation, as it is directly related to human life and health.

The article is devoted to study and interpret the terms of various branches of medicine in English and Russian, as well as to identify their structural features. The article identifies the features of translation of medical terminology, considers a medical term as a translation unit, identifies the requirements for an adequate translation of a medical term.

Key words: term, medical terminology, translation of medical texts.

Introduction

Translation of medical texts and terms, nowadays, is a very demanded type of translation, but at the same time one of the most difficult.

This genre assumes the translator's 100% understanding of the original text and painstaking work with dictionaries and reference books. Here you cannot fantasize and guess, because the medical diagnosis, the prescribed treatment and, as a result, the patient's life often depend on the accuracy of the translation.

While working with medical texts, a translator is faced with a whole range of problems that are not limited only by translation of medical terminology itself. The high saturation of such texts with highly specialized vocabulary is quite obvious. However, although medical texts have a number of other, no less specific features, which are most clearly manifested in interlanguage comparison.

An additional difficulty for the translator is the translations concerning doubtful or difficult cases or diseases. Here, a special role is played by the translator's conscientiousness and attentiveness, the ability to correctly and accurately translate evasive and vague medical expressions, without losing the meaning put into them, the internal logic of presentation. Here it seems appropriate to cite the words of Hippocrates for the translator: "Do no harm", because an inaccurate translation can lead to an incorrect diagnosis and, as a result, inappropriate treatment, and even death. Such translations should be performed by specially trained translators with medical education and relevant specialization. If the translator does not have the necessary knowledge for a specific case, you should take care of consulting a doctor-specialist in this field, familiarize yourself with special medical publications and other sources.

Modern medical terminology is a system of systems, or a macro-term system. The totality of medical and paramedical terms, as noted, reaches several hundred thousand. The content plan of medical terminology is very diverse: morphological formations and processes characteristic of the human body in health and disease at different stages of their development; human diseases and pathological conditions; forms of their course and signs (symptoms, syndromes), pathogens and vectors of diseases; environmental factors that positively or negatively affect the human body; indicators of hygienic regulation and assessment; methods of diagnosis, prevention and therapeutic treatment of diseases; operative approaches and surgical operations; organizational forms of providing medical and preventive care to the population and sanitary and epidemiological services; apparatus, devices, tools and other technical means, equipment, furniture for medical purposes; medicines grouped according to the principle of their pharmacological action or therapeutic effect; individual medicines, medicinal plants, medicinal raw materials, etc. [Барсукова М.П.,2002: 1, 77.]

Discussion and result

Absolutely every term is an element of a certain subsystem, for example, anatomical, histological, embryological, therapeutic, surgical, gynecological, endocrinological, forensic, traumatological, psychiatric, genetic, botanical, biochemical, etc. And undoubtedly, each subterm system reflects a certain scientific classification of concepts, adopted in this science. At the same time, terms from different subsystems, interacting with each other, are in certain semantic relationships and connections at the level of the macro-terminosystem.

This reflects a dual trend of progress: further differentiation of medical sciences, on the one hand, and their increasing interdependence and integration, on the other. In the XX century, the number of highly specialized subterm-systems expressing concepts related to the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of diseases affecting mainly individual organs and systems (pulmonology, urology, nephrology, neurosurgery, etc.) has significantly increased. Over the past decades, highly specialized dictionaries of cardiology, oncology, radiology, immunology, medical virology, and hygienic sciences have reached impressive sizes.

Most often, especially when translating special, scientific and technical texts, the translator transmits a foreign abbreviation with an equivalent Russian abbreviation. [Зубова, Л.Ю., 2005. – № 2. – С.113–116] When applying this method, you need to be sure of the existence of a truly stable, equivalent Russian abbreviation, in case of doubt, you should check its spelling with the help of special literature. An example is the acronym AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, English) - СПИД (Синдром Приобретенного Иммунодефицита), in German, despite the decoding "Syndrom des erworbenen Immunodefizites", the abbreviation AIDS is also used.

Medical texts, provided for translation, also differ in a peculiar structure of sentences (grammatical relations between words become clear only when the meaning is taken into account), sentence structure (the problem of determining the logical stress in a sentence), it is also possible to construct unsuccessfully sentences that are replete with detailed definitions that make it difficult to establish a connection between words [Марковина, И.Ю., Громова, Г.Е.,2002]. All this leads to the emergence of ambiguity of the translated text. Also, when preparing medical documents, clichés and terminological phrases are often used.

Nevertheless, a high-quality translation of medical texts replete with complex terminology is a completely feasible task, all that is needed for this is knowledge of the characteristics and classification of terms, the methods of their formation and, finally, the methods of translation.

Medical terms are usually systematized by origin and structure. Depending on the origin, there are 4 categories of terms: primordially Russian concepts, internationalisms of Greek-Latin origin, Western Europeanisms and Latin terms. In terms of structure, medical terminology is also represented by 4 groups: monosyllabic terms, two-syllable terms that are written together or with a hyphen, polysyllabic terms from three or more elements, as well as terminological phrases. The norms of the scientific and technical style in English and Russian are not identical, therefore many translators make the following transformations: concretizing general scientific English words when translating into Russian, replacing internationalisms due to their wider range of meanings in English, explicating implicitness, neutralizing stylistically colored English general scientific vocabulary when translated into Russian [Паршина Т. В., 2016. - С. 66–72].

Let us consider the problem of translation of medical terminology using specific examples:

It is also important to note that CA-125 is primarily a marker for epithelial ovarian carcinoma and is only raised in 50% of early stage disease.

The term ovarian carcinoma can be translated into Russian in two ways: ovarian carcinoma and ovarian cancer. The concept of carcinoma is defined as a type of malignant tumor formed from the epithelial tissue of organs. [Мультитран: электронный словарь,2017] Thus, carcinoma is a type of disease. The word has an ancient Greek root (καρκίνωμα - "crab"), because, according to the source, when this type of tumor was first examined by Hippocrates, it reminded him of a crab. The next version of the translation - ovarian cancer - is a tracing of the English word cancer (cancer). The term cancer is interpreted as "a malignant tumor of the external or internal organs of a person or animal" [Академик, толковый словарь,2017].

Thus, the terms рак and карцинома are referred to hyperonyms and hyponyms. In this example, there is an adjective epithelial, which indicates that the tumor develops from epithelial tissues, which, in turn, indicates carcinoma. Therefore, using both words - эпителиальный и карцинома - seems redundant, so this fragment can be translated in the following ways: карцинома яичника or эпителиальный рак яичников.

Although clinical examination has poor sensitivity in the detection of ovarian masses (15–51 %) its importance lies in the evaluation of mass tenderness, mobility, nodularity and ascites.

The noun tenderness has many meanings in both English and Russian, and its synonymous range includes many components: tenderness, softness, sensitivity, soreness, fragility, weakness, etc.     [Мультитран: электронный словарь. [Электронный ресурс]. — URL: http://www.multitran.ru/ (дата последнего обращения 20.01.2017].

In this case, the noun tenderness represents a qualitative characteristic of tumor-like formations (in this context, ovaries). Thus, it is necessary to choose a term that will best reflect the specified quality. First of all, it is necessary to exclude from the range of synonyms the nouns tenderness, fragility and weakness, which are not related to the description of the disease. In the section "Medicine", the dictionary offers synonyms for sensitivity and soreness [Академик, толковый словарь,2017]. Turning to the medical portal, we find that tumors can be both painful and sensitive, which in this context seems identical [Диагностика и лечение опухолей яичника: Диагностика, 2017].

Turning to the medical portal, we find that tumors can be both painful and sensitive, which in this context seems identical [Диагностика и лечение опухолей яичника: Диагностика, 2017]. However, a characteristic of a tumor can also be a soft consistency; more precisely, the level of softness can determine the degree of tumor development. In this case, let us refer to the description of the clinical examination of patients in Russian. The medical portal SurgeryZone names the following clinical signs of the disease that must be taken into account by the doctor: “the nature of the course of the disease, the rate of tumor growth, its mobility, painfulness” [Диагностика и лечение опухолей яичника: Диагностика, 2017]. For the final choice of a synonym, let us check the meaning of the word tenderness in the English-Russian medical dictionary [12], which offers two translation options: хрупкость and болезненность. Accordingly, the noun болезненность is a suitable synonym.

Now let's look at examples of dictionary translations of some terms that have synonyms fixed in dictionary:

I've been involved in every ridiculous TV-induced panic there is – Poison pills, West Nile… mad cow, bird flu [9.  Яндекс. Видео. «Клиника»,2014].-  Я пережил все выдуманные телевизионные эпидемии – отравленные таблетки, западно-нильская лихорадка… коровье бешенство, птичий грипп… (MTV channel).

The full name of the disease is "mad cow" - " коровья губчатая энцефалопатия ". In this situation, the variant " коровье бешенство " used in the translation seems to us stylistically correct, since in the context, it is not so much the essence of the disease that matters as its lexical design. The character makes fun of patients who, upon hearing about another epidemic, are sent to the hospital, confident that they are suffering from this disease. Thus, a satirical effect is created.

And then I said something stupid. Could be SARS. I forgot that if any doctor suspects SARS, it's cause for immediate quarantine lockdown - И тут я сказал откровенную глупость. Возможно у него атипичная пневмония. Я забыл, если доктор подозревает атипичную пневмонию, немедленно объявляется карантин.

In this example, the abbreviation “SARS” is translated as “атипичная пневмония”. Its full name is “тяжелый острый респираторный синдром”. We believe that the choice of this option is due to the need to synchronize the original and translated audio tracks, that is, to shorten the Russian phrase.

The article don’t cover all the difficulties associated with the translation of primary medical documentation or terms, which is intended for patients and doctors performing treatment. Modern medicine opens up more and more new possibilities. Many countries, international medical centers, clinics and institutes are taking part in the search for the latest treatment methods. Due to the increasing use of advanced high-tech techniques in medicine, the use of the latest developments, equipment of high complexity, the number of highly specialized clinics and centers is growing. Such clinics are in great demand, patients from different countries come here for treatment, paying tribute to the provision of the clinic with advanced equipment and the presence of highly professional medical personnel. Foreign clinics are actively receiving patients, successfully performing diagnostics and treatment. Both patients and doctors need to ensure mutual exchange of information, accurate and high-quality translations. In such clinics, patients are provided with the services of specially trained, often on-staff translators, who provide support for medical consultations. As a rule, after receiving medical care, patients continue their treatment at the place of residence. It is very important to ensure the proper continuation of treatment, the implementation of all medical recommendations. This is guaranteed by the translation of the accompanying documentation, performed by a translator who has the appropriate education and a high qualification category.

Conclusion

Thus, the need for training specialists with experience and knowledge in the field of medicine, as well as proficient in foreign languages, is still relevant. The translation of the text related to the medical history or the results of the tests performed is entrusted to specialists with the appropriate education and a high qualification category. Of course, the best option is a translator with a medical degree. In recent years, medical universities have been organizing advanced language courses for their students, in addition, training in some institutes is conducted in a foreign language. This makes it possible to train qualified translators. In addition to an in-depth language course, in such classes, students study professionally oriented translation, get acquainted with the original scientific medical literature. Training of modern highly qualified specialists in the field of medicine and pharmacy, who speak a foreign language and are ready for international professional cooperation, is one of the most important tasks of modern education.

References

1. Барсукова М. П. К вопросу изучения медицинского дискурса./ М.П. Барсукова // Саратовский научно-медицинский вестник.- 2002.- №1. – С.77.
2.  Зубова, Л.Ю. К вопросу об особенностях и трудностях перевода английских медицинских сокращений // Вестник ВГУ, серия "Лингвистика и межкультурная коммуникация", 2005. – № 2. – С.113–116.
3. Марковина, И.Ю., Громова, Г.Е. Английский язык для медиков. Грамматический практикум. М.: "Билингва", 2002.
4. Паршина Т. В. О теории технического перевода [Текст] // Актуальные вопросы филологических наук: материалы IV междунар. науч. конф. (г. Казань, октябрь 2016 г.). — Казань: Бук, 2016. — С. 66–72.
5. Мультитран: электронный словарь. [Электронный ресурс]. — URL: http://www.multitran.ru/ (дата последнего обращения 20.01.2017).
6. Академик, толковый словарь [Электронный ресурс]. — URL: http://dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enc_medicine (дата последнего обращения 21.01.2017).
7. Мультитран: электронный словарь. [Электронный ресурс]. — URL: http://www.multitran.ru/ (дата последнего обращения 20.01.2017)
8. Диагностика и лечение опухолей яичника: Диагностика // Medi.RU. URL: https://medi.ru/info/7387/ (дата обращения: 24.01.2017).
9. Яндекс. Видео. «Клиника» [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://yandex.ru/video/search?text=%D0%9A%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BD%D%B8%D0%BA%D0%B0&safety=1 (дата обращения: 09.06.2014).

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