ON THE ISSUE OF TRANSLATING ENGLISH AND CHINESE MEDICAL DISCOURSE

Abstract

The novelty of the research is determined by the translation techniques and devices analysis in the paradigm of the communicative and functional approach to translation. The object of the research is English and Chinese medical discourse in the aspect of its translation. The subject of the research is represented by the arsenal of translation techniques and devices applied. The research was performed on the basis of the recommendations on in vitro COVID-19 testing both in English and Chinese. The objective of the research was formulated as the analysis of the English and Chinese medical texts with the focus on the terms. As far as the distinctive lexical linguistic features are concerned, the experimental analysis has revealed the predominance of terms over general vocabulary units in the English medical texts. Moreover, the translator’s background knowledge comprises linguistic competence in the various fields of knowledge, such as IT, physics, statistics and others. Another challenge of medical translation is the high content of international lexis both in diachrony and synchrony. Among the grammatical peculiarities of the Chinese medical discourse there are various grammatical constructions, types of complex and compound sentences, parenthetical words and expressions, aimed at foregrounding the most relevant information. Grammatical constructions, coined according to the requirements of the written language wenyan, stereotypical word combinations, 3d person narration as well as the absence of personal addresses contribute to the similarity with scientific discourse.