SPECIALISED LEXICON IN THE OPTIONAL COURSE ON TRANSLATION OF OFFICIAL DOCUMENTATION

Abstract

The paper focuses on the translational approach to terminologies and special lexicon in the optional course of translation of official documentation. The aim of the paper is to propose didactic techniques in teaching specialized translation, in particular, translation of official documents. We suggest to precise the term “content-based instruction” and propose the term “content-based meta-linguistic instruction/teaching” in the context of teaching of translation where the object of studies comprises translation peculiarities of linguistic units. We emphasize the importance of knowledge of special vocabulary for future translators. The translation difficulties related to polysemic, homonymic and synonymic terms are solved by the context and discourse analyses, the frequency and the tradition of the use of lexical units. The search of translation equivalents is facilitated by the study of functional or pragmatic peculiarities of special lexicon and the structure of official documents in Spanish and Ukrainian.

We recommend paying special attention to international terms which look synonymic, though they are translated differently depending on the context, such as “certificate”, “diploma”, “license”, which, in many cases, are not translated literally depending on certain document and on the Spanish-speaking country. Translators must consider the clichés used in Spanish official communication which seems less brief and dry than the Ukrainian one. The use of Subjunctive Mood and Future Simple in Spanish laws is transmitted in Ukrainian with the Present Simple of the Indicative Mood according to the established norms of use.