Specialised Dictionaries of Economics and Translation

Pedro A Fuertes-Olivera

doi:10.7146/hjlcb.v26i50.97795

Abstract

This article describes the “Dictionary of Economics” in terms of the Function Theory of Lexicography. It defends the thesis that such information tools must be designed for assisting specific users to solve the specific needs they have in a translation situation. In particular, I will focus on the solutions offered for individualising data retrieval, which will in turn eliminate the so-called information stress or information death produced when users retrieve so much data that they cannot cope with it. This process is illustrated in two recent online dictionaries, the Diccionario Inglés-Español de Contabilidad: Traducción (Fuertes-Olivera et al. 2012a) and the Diccionario Inglés-Español de Contabilidad: Traducción de Frases y Expresiones (Fuertes-Olivera et al. 2012b). They are especially suitable when translating English accounting texts into Spanish. These two dictionaries are considered high quality 21st Century dictionaries, e.g., as candidates for assisting in the training of professional translators within the field of Economics, one of the topics discussed in this Special Issue of Hermes.

Highlights

The key role information tools play in the field of translation has attracted researchers’ attention in different ways
This article presents the dictionary of Economics as an information tool that assists professional translators
The concept of “dictionary of Economics” is analysed in terms of the Function Theory of Lexicography, which defends the argument that information tools must be designed for assisting specific users to solve the specific needs they have in specific usage situations

Summary

Introduction

The key role information tools play in the field of translation has attracted researchers’ attention in different ways. It has been shown that some of them are more suitable than others in a translation situation (Tarp 2002), and that their suitability increases when lexicographers conceive them as tools for meeting user needs, i.e., the specific needs users have in specific usage situations This demands the use of, say, a lexicographic theory that addresses key lexicographic elements, usually dictionary data, access routes, and users’ needs, as well as operational requirements, e.g., a working framework that deals with (technical) means, lexicographic information costs, time constraints, delivery options, and medium possibilities. The other definition refers to the “dictionary”, e.g., the “dictionary of Economics”, as any information tool that consists of several dictionaries, each of which contains dictionary articles related to business/economics matters or language elements, mostly business/economics terms, and possibly one (or more) external texts, which can be consulted if someone needs assistance in a specific situation. It offers a primitive system of grammar codes, which is not useful and can be misleading, e.g., “n” for both noun and neuter; it mixes the grammar of accounting: in several collocations, e.g., accounting adjustment, it is an adjective; this will confuse users, especially inexperienced translators who might be wondering whether the term is a noun or an adjective. (Below I will offer more information on example (1))

Cognitive Dictionaries of Economics

Dictionaries for the 21st Century: A Set of Usage-based Dictionaries

Conclusion