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Article published In:
Target
Vol. 8:2 (1996) ► pp.275–299

A Translator's Reference Needs

Dictionaries or Parallel Texts?

| University of Cantabria (Spain)
This paper examines how far consulting dictionaries and references cited in the bibliography can solve the problems raised by standardized and non-standardized terms in the translation of medical research reports from Spanish into English. Analysis of two translations representing different types of report (clinical and experimental) showed that use of three references offered greater certainty than using three specialized dictionaries: 71% and 51 % of items were found by the two methods, respectively. A combined method improved coverage to between 85% and 90%, and could guarantee acceptability for 95% of the items. As instances of parallel texts, references provided more and better information than dictionaries, especially at the higher sentence and text levels, as well as giving insight into stylistic aspects of lexical choice for the genre.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Method
    • 2.1.Dictionaries
    • 2.2.References
    • 2.3.Criteria for Classification of Results
  • 3.Results and Discussion
    • 3.1.Misleading
    • 3.2.Not Found
    • 3.3.Creatable
  • 4.Stylistic Questions
  • 5.Conclusions
  • References
Published online: 1 January 1996
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/target.8.2.05wil
References (29)
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Fusari, Sabrina
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