CHALLENGES OF TRANSLATING POLYSEMANTIC AND MULTIEQUIVALENT TERMS WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF ECONOMIC PROFESSIONAL DISCOURSE

Abstract

The present work is devoted to the phenomenon of polysemy and to the issue of translation of English polysemantic termsin professional economic discourse. The paper presentsthe analysis of terms used in the economic and banking fields. The authors consider banking terminology as a system and show that systemic relations are important in organizing a special type of professional discourse. The objective of the research is to reveal the significance of correct and accurate rendering of terms for the effectiveness of intercultural professional communication. Particular attention in the paper is paid to the study of the meanings of economic terms listed in English and English-Russian terminological dictionaries. The authors conclude that the compilers of dictionaries often complicate the process of translation by including not only specific terminological meanings but also general language ones from different areas and fields. This causes “false polysemy”, hampers comprehension and the correct usage of terms. The methods of definitional and contextual analysis, interpretation, the method of comparison and opposition of concepts, and that of description have been made use of.

Keywords

• professional discourse
• economics
• terminological system
• polysemantic/monosemantic term
• false polysemy
• translation equivalent