Difficulties in Translating Terminological Phrasemes in Economic Print Media from French, Spanish and English into Slovak-a Contrastive Approach

Abstract

Abstract: The aim of this study is to demonstrate that the correct identification, understanding and translating of terminological phrasemes can cause difficulty for students, translators, managers and entrepreneurs. The theoretical framework of this study comprises phraseology, phraseodidactics and one branch of cognitive linguistics - construction grammar-which takes into account phrases and not only individual words. Professional economic phrasemes were first compiled on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) glossary web 2014 terminological database. From this database, 126 figurative compound terms were selected in three source languages (Spanish, French and English) and compared with terms in one target language (Slovak).We have primarily focused on the occurrence of these terminological phrasemes in the print media and they have been analysed from the point of view of difficulties which might be caused within the process of translation. Similarities and peculiarities of these terminological phrasemes have been discovered through analysis of the equivalents in the four aforementioned languages and the outcomes of this study also highlight differences regarding intercultural aspects. The acquisition of general phrasemes and in this case terminological phrasemes, is the important part of language skills not only for students of economics, but also for future translators and professional translators.Keywords: Cognitive Approach, Phraseology, Phraseodidactics, Professional Language, Terminological Phrasemes, TranslationIntroductionThe research in this study is focused on phraseology as well as phraseodidactics. Emphasis is currently placed upon cognitive approach in this field. The acquisition of language skills according to the methods of traditional teaching does not correspond with cognitive reality. The traditional categories of languages are considered to be artificially created, because they do not reflect the processing of language structures on a mental level. Cognitive didactics tries to bridge these differences and in the process of foreign language acquisition represents language as one of the possible products of cognition (Tuharska, 2010; 2011). Construction grammar, developed in the 1980s by linguists such as Fillmore et al., 1988; Fillmore and Kay, 1996; Kay and Fillmore, 1999; Lakoff, 1977) is understood as being an orientation of cognitive linguistics, which aims to describe and explain mental linguistic constructions and principles. According to Lakoff (1977), constructions themselves must have meanings. Students learn phrasemes and in this case terminological phrasemes, as units.Terminological phrasemes are researched in a translational manner, because the acquisition of phrasemes in general is considered to be a very important part of language skills not only for students of economics, but also for translation students and indeed professional translators. This process is supposed to be significant for the enrichment of their vocabulary from the point of view of phraseodidactics.It is necessary to mention that the history of phraseodidactics has been researched by Gonzalez Rey (2012). She distinguishes three stages of development of this discipline, i.e., didactics of phraseology, where didactics is applied to phraseology. Both mother tongue and foreign language teachers are interested in teaching phrases. The second stage is represented by phraseology as a linguistic discipline applied to didactics and phraseologists and paremiologists express interest in this discipline. The third stage is phraseodidactics as an independent sphere of phraseology, which enables teachers and phraseologists to focus on didactics of phraseology which has taken its own place in phraseology. The term phraseodidactics first appeared in 1987 in Germany (Kuhn, 1987; Ettinger, 1998). An increasing number of researchers were dealing with phraseodidactics, inter alia Galisson (1984; Gonzalez Rey, 2005; 2010; 2011; Greciano, 1984b). …