International military cooperation as an impetus for enriching terminological dictionaries: the English-Ukrainian context

Abstract

The article focuses on the problem of successful communication in the course of military translation. The significant part of this process is a translation of numerous military terms, acronyms, and abbreviations where a translator must consider the context of the military document to ensure the right translation, which is as close as possible to the original text meaning. The research is based on the method of scientific observation during the classes and practical exercises in cooperation with NATO officers, the descriptive method, the method of comparison, which was used in the analysis of many textbooks and scientific articles. The use of the specific method of distributive analysis allowed the consideration of the context-dependent military terms and abbreviations. This paper presents the results of the research, including, in particular, the outlining of the classification of military terms and abbreviations, accentuation on the skills and knowledge which are important for producing a correct translation of the military terms and abbreviations which, in its turn, may have correspondents in a target language or may not have ones. Last but not least, the article provides the most striking instances of translating military terms and abbreviations grouped by their types. Reviewing the results, one can consider military translation as a context-based linguistic activity to a significant degree. The translator should have wide knowledge in the military sphere generally and in a concrete object of translation in part: artillery, ammo, IT-technologies etc. Besides English, itself is a language that develops exponentially, which invokes the growth of a variety of military terminology. As known, English is one of the two official languages of NATO. However, there are some differences in vocabulary and stylistic usage between the native languages of the Alliance member countries and English, so translators must take it into account in order to avoid misunderstandings