Translating Abbreviations

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Translating Abbreviations

By Daryna Zakharenko,
Lugansk, Ukraine

daryna at unexceptionabletranslations.com

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Translation is a complex process where fragile balance is achieved between the equivalence of the text translated and the linguistic means chosen. Abbreviations can cause many difficulties during the translation. First of all despite the history of translation originates since ancient times when people needed to communicate with people from different communities, abbreviation is a comparatively new linguistic phenomenon and thus its translating isn’t well studied yet. This phenomenon perfectly reflects the spirit of our times, when there is a need to transmit much information during the shortest period of time. Abbreviations are formed by certain patterns and knowing these patterns can greatly simplify the process of translation. Abbreviations mostly occur in scientific and journalistic styles, where ambiguity and uncertainty are not accepted. They mostly occur in the names of organizations, associations, committees, etc.

Translation of abbreviation consists of the process of reformulation of abbreviation from one language to another. The process of reformulation consists of several steps. First of all it’s necessary to interpret each word, which constitute abbreviation. The order of words can be changed after translation. New abbreviation is made from the new name with the next step. New initials can be completely different and abbreviations can have absolutely nothing in common in different languages. It’s also necessary to remember that not all the words are abbreviated in all languages. There are combinations of words that make the abbreviation in one languages but are translated like several separate words in another. These three easy steps help to deal with abbreviations of any difficulty.

In addition, there are special vocabularies of abbreviations, which contain the most widely used abbreviations and their translations. Such vocabularies can greatly simplify the process of translation. In translation of abbreviations it’s very important to know the culture and history of the country of the source language. In translation of abbreviation this knowledge is more important than being familiar with the culture of the country of target language. For the professional translation of abbreviation translation should be aware of all changes in the cultural, political, economical and social life of the country of the source language. To translate abbreviations in this way will be much easier and context is very important in this case.

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