The extended meanings of medical terms. Difficulties in the practice of translation

Abstract

Taking into account that the structure of a specialized field is never homogeneous, in order to interpret or translate a term, we should define and know its different possible "semantic manifestations" (Martin, 1972: 125). In order to facilitate understanding and to ensure translation accuracy, we analyze - from the perspective of an internal polysemy - the terms of the medical lexicon which constitute a specific and restrictive use of the common language lexicon. Through the study of a selection of terms extracted from a specialized dictionary (Dicţionar Medical, Rusu V. 2010), this communication illustrates the restrictions and the extensions of meaning in a double translation: the terms taken from the common language with a restrictive meaning in the specialized field; the terms belonging to related disciplines and various fields adopting a specific meaning in the medical area. All these directions of change of meaning are thus envisaged to facilitate the practice of translation which raises both general and specific difficulties.

Keywords

• medical lexicon
• change of meaning
• common language
• specialized field