Rendering English pharmacological terms into Ukrainian: Translation and didactic dimensions

V.N.Karazin Kharkiv National University, Kharkiv, Ukraine

^* Corresponding author: leonid.m.chernovaty@meta.ua

Abstract

The research into the dependence of translation techniques choice on the term structure in the source language on the material of rendering 603 English single-word terms and terminological collocations (related to pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics) into Ukrainian contributed to suggesting the following preliminary conclusions. The choice of translation techniques in rendering single-word terms depends, to a certain degree, on their structure. The share of the dictionary equivalents decreases with the increase in the term complexity, falling from 82% in the case of simple terms and prefixal derivatives to 58% concerning the suffixal, 34% – prefix-suffixal and 9% – compound lexemes. The transcoding share is minimal with prefixal and simple terms, steadily growing with suffixal, prefix-suffixal and compound lexemes. Dictionary equivalents complemented by transcoding may be enough to render simple terms, prefixal derivatives may additionally require contextual substitution or addition in the case of suffixal lexemes. The growth in the terminology complexity results in the expansion of the translation procedures ranges to four or even six techniques in rendering the prefix-suffixal terms. Adjectival, participial and verbal two-word collocations are mostly translated by calquing. The addition of a noun reduces its share, increasing the role of transformations. The correlation of translation techniques depends on the nature of the added element. If it is an adjective, the impact of calquing grows; the addition of a noun contributes to the expansion of transformations.