Should Green Always Get the Green Light? Translation of Figurative Technical Terms in View of Conceptual Integration Theory

Abstract

The paper is a case study analysing the process of secondary term formation by looking into the introduction of figurative terms in the field of economics from English, as the current lingua franca in the field, into Croatian. Although the primary focus is on the terminological gap-filling function of figurative terms, the paper also explores what happens in translation when a term conveys more functions (e.g., ideology constitutive function). Our approach is usage-based in that our conclusions are founded on the observations of how the analysed figurative terms behave in real communication (official documents, research papers, magazines, newspapers, blogs, etc.). The paper also argues for the applicability of the Conceptual Integration Theory as a framework able to account for the meaning construal in the process of translation and for translators’ choices. The translational process is thus seen as discourse-pragmatic phenomenon involving the transfer of cognitive categories, crucially determined by both intercultural and interlingual factors.

Keywords

• figurative terms
• translation
• conceptual integration theory
• terminological gapfilling function
• ideology constitutive function of terms