Translation Strategies of Economic Terms & Expressions

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University of Medea

Faculty of Arts & Foreign Languages

Department of Foreign Languages

English-Arabic

Translation Strategies of Economic Terms

Expressions

Lessons for the Young Economistas a study-corpus

A thesis submitted for Masters Degree

in Translation Studies

YOUNES MAROUF

SARA BENSAADA

Under the supervision of Mr. MOHAMED BABCHIKH

2016


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-22

And of His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth and the diversity

of your languages and your colors. Indeed, in that are signs for those of

knowledge.

SAHIHINTERNATIONAL:QURAN [30:22]


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If Im selling to you, I speak your language. If

Im buying, dann mssen Sie Deutsch

sprechen

Willy Brandt, Former German Chancellor


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A

CKNOWLEDGMENT

All thanks are due to our families for the tremendous effort and the meaningful support

they have shown since our early schooling, let alone throughout the making of this thesis.

We would like to thank our teachers and professors to whom all respect is due, for the

guidance and tips they volunteer to provide during these two years course, we also

recognize that they have marked our memories with broadening the limits of the traditionallimited bonds between teachers and students, they have not been only our teachers, but

our colleagues and partners.

We would as well thank our colleagues and friends for the wishes and the support.

We also want to thank the scholars who were magnificently helpful with their instant

replies to our enquiries; Robert Patrick Murphy, our study corpus writer, who responded

several times to our questions and provided as much information as we needed; Raymond

Hickey andAlexandra Cavignaux, who provided us with a free account in one of their

databases.

Also, to our teacher and supervisor, Mr. Mohamed Babchikh, for the valuable comments

and tips regarding the methodology of research and the specialized translation.

To whom we owe every piece of knowledge we had ever acquired...


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T

ABLE OF

C

ONTENTS

Introduction.I

CHAPTER ONE:

SPECIALIZED ECONOMIC TRANSALTION

Chapter Introduction.1

1. General and Specialized Language....2

1.1. Common language and Specialized Language......2

1.1.1. Common Language.....3

1.1.2.Fundamental Characteristics of Language....3

1.1.3.

Stylistic Features of Language..51.1.4.Specialized Language.6

1.1.5.Language for Specific Purpose (LSP).9

1.1.5.1. Different types of LSP users.......10

1.2. General Translation and Specialized Translation..11

1.2.1.Terminology and Specialized Translation..15

1.2.2.English to Arabic Translation.19

1.2.3.

Specialized Translation Strategies & Procedures....221.2.3.1. Strategies..22

1.2.4.Technical Translation Procedures. ...24

2.Economic Translation.27

2.1. The Language of Economics....28

2.2. Economic Terminology.29

2.3. English, the Language of Economics....33

2.4.

Economic Translation...342.4.1.Equivalence in Economic Translation..35

2.4.2.Economic Translator...................................................36

2.4.3.Difficulties of Economic Translation37

2.4.4.Resources for an Economic Translator39


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3.Term Formation....42

3.1. Lexicology..42

3.2. Morphology...45

3.3. English Term Formation.47

3.4.

Arabic Term Formation50

CHAPTER TWO:

ANALYSIS

Chapter Introduction52

1. Study Corpus.53

1.1An Overview......53

1.2

The Translated Version.541.3 Examples of Translated Terms...54

First Example: Arbitrage Opportunity...........54

Second Example: Guilds.........56

Third Example: Hyperinflation..........58

Fourth Example: Dissaving.............60

Fifth Example: Purposeful Action........62

Sixth Example: Fiat Money.......64

Seventh Example: Loan Sharking.........65

Eighth Example: Sin Taxes.............66

Ninth Example: Hazard Pay............68

Tenth Example: Speculator..........69

Eleventh Example: Collateral..........71

Twelfth Example: Default..........73

Thirteenth Example: Debasement..............76


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Fourteenth Example: Maturity...........79

Fifteenth Example: Economies of Scale........81

Sixteenth Example: Marginal Utility.............84

Seventeenth Example: Depreciation.............85

Eighteenth Example: Delinquencies...........87

Nineteenth Example: Spread..........89

Twentieth Example: Credit Intermediary........91

Twenty First Example: Budget Deficit....92

Twenty Second Example: Monetary Inflation..........94Glossary...97

Conclusion ..98

Abstract Arabic......100

Abstract French.10 1

List of References...102


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I

NTRODUCTION

This is a thesis submitted for the fulfillment of the requirements for Masters

Degree in Translation Studies, aiming to summarize what we have been taught and

discovered throughout the two years of course.

Our worksmain focus is on language, translation and economics, treating in

the first chapter various aspects of specialized and common language, general and

specialized translation, economic language and translation, then word formation, with

special care given to English and Arabic.

In the second chapter, we will deal with terms and expression and their

translation, provided in an academic book destined for economics students, entitled

Lessons for the Young Economist written by Professor Robert Patrick Murphy, and

its Arabic Translation by Rihab Salah Eddine.

Translation is one of the oldest practices, which had always existed along the

different languages and dialects, and is a mandatory tool to transfer thoughts and ideasand facilitate communication.

Accordingly, we find that the greatest ancient civilizations had given this

practice its proper status and rewarded translators and interpreters very generously.

Eventually, economy is one of the most important axes of recent

developments in the last two centuries. A steady economy allows people to think

beyond assuring a loaf of bread. It instigates people to create, according to their

needs, what would make life easier, the thing that leads them to achieve such

developments.


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INTRODUCTION

These developments contributed in enriching the economy of the world by

shortening distances and provided high technologies of communications aiming to

facilitate the transfer of information.

Translation also can be considered as a tool to convey information and

knowledge. In the field of economy, translations contribution is to fetch the different

experiences from the leading countries of the world economy, such as the United

States, where English Language is the official language, to low income countries,

especially those in way of development, to strengthen their economies.

English language is as a result one of the major languages in Economics, you

cannot teach or learn proper economics basis and theories without at least a slight

knowledge of English economics lexicon.

On the other hand, Arabic language in the field of economics remains a mere

recipient of translated specialized terminology, and poorly contributes in the evolution

of this science and its terminology.

This might be due to the Arabic countries economic status in the global

economic scene, and for what the Arab world suffers from, as the lack of unanimity on

the economic level, wealth disparity in addition to governments balking in funding real

industry projects and others.

There are multiple reasons that induce us to tackle such a subject in this

research paper, amid which we can state the necessity to possess, as future translators,

an intermediate knowledge of specialized translation in many aspects, and a rich

terminology of the economic field.


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INTRODUCTION

III

Also, for the importance of Economics among modern sciences, and due to

the lack of researches in economic translation especially with regards to its lexicon.

The problematic that this thesis discuss mainly revolves around the role of an

accurate economic terminology in the economic growth at both the worldwide and the

Arabic level, the hurdles that a translator of a specialized field faces, and the procedures

he should follow to attain a high level of accuracy and render most of the important

part of the meaning that any term or expression underlies. We will also tackle the

Arabic language issues relating to economic language and economic current facts.

We will also respond to the next two hypotheses, consisting of:

- The specialized translator has to be proficient in, in addition to both source and target

language, the fields they are working on, i.e. they have to be either a translator with

some specialized background (for instance a deep knowledge of economics or law), or

an economist with good translational skills.

- Language reflects the reality of its speaker, in this case, Arabic and English languages;

while United States and the United Kingdom have been on the top of the world

economy leaders, English language had become the language of economics, while

Arabic language reflect the economic situation in the Arab world countries.


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Chapter Introduction

1

Chapter One

This chapter is entirely vowed to the theoretical part of thisthesis. In this chapter, we will emphasize in 1. the main features of thegeneral language used in our daily conversation and documents, as wellas the features of specialized language and the differences betweenthem.

In 1.2 we will mainly deal with translation, its history and

theories, then with specialized translation and its intricacies, itsterminology, in addition to problems and obstacle that face a translatorof any specialized domain, with special reference to English-Arabictranslation.

2. is entirely devoted to the characteristics of economic language,

its terminology, its translation, the hurdles that an economic translatorface and the resources they use. We will tackle the economic translationas a very specialized translation; alongside with general translation, itstheories and practices, the specialized terminology, the specific domainterminology.

Owing to the fact that our research papers interest is thetranslation of economic terms, we will scrutinize in 3. the processes ofcoining new general and technical terms in both English and Arabiclanguages.


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Chapter One Specialized Language & Translation

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1.Specialized language & Translation:

Language is an asset. It is more than a tool by virtue of which

we communicate and express our thoughts, it was considered in the pastto be a luxury for those who acquire it. Linguist McWorther* comparedthe meticulous knowledge of the intricacies of any language as theknowledge of what is living under the sea for a man in the 1840s,because it is so much about language is so hard to see or hear1, andmore importantly, to make people dive and see themselves.

1.1. Common and specialized languages:

Language is basically formed starting from several verbalhabits. It is a system of communication including both common andspecialized language, with its diversity and complexity. On the onehand, we have the linguistic code that involves syntax, morphology,orthography and phonetics of both common and specialized language.

On the other hand, we find their lexis. Thus, a language is a system thatis composed of sub-systems2, one of them is thematically unmarked(common language) and the others are thematically marked, and thedifference between them is pragmatic (the use of language).

*John Hamilton McWhorter V, Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Universityof Columbia, B.A.: Rutgers, 1985; M.A., New York University, 1987; Ph.D., Stanford, 1993. (Universityof Columbia, Bulletin 2014-2015, February 2nd, 2015)

1MCWORTHER, John, What Language Is: And What It Isn't and What It Could Be, GothamBooks, United States, 2011, Page 1-2.

gbfv


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Translation Strategies of Economic Terms & Expressions Chapter One

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1.1.1. Common language:

Common language is an unspecialized and unmarkedlanguage, usually used in texts that do not belong to a specific field. The

current lexicon is formed by lexis and units used in situationscharacterized in the first place by not being specialized. Its units areused in situations that can qualify them as unmarked3which happensthrough the unspecialized exchange that takes place almost every day.

When we try to define the common language, which thespecialized language is derived from, we normally tend to use terms like

daily languageand the language that everyone can understand.The same applies to specialized language, it is the situations

containing specialized languages that can be considered as marked.4

1.1.2. Fundamental characteristics of language:

Humanity developed tremendously all kind of sciences, art, andtechnologies by the means of language, which is a systematic instrumentof communication characterized by the following5:

Arbitrary: there is no inherent relation between words of alanguage and their meanings, or the message they convey. Beingarbitrary allowed the creation of other languages.

3CABR, Teresa, Terminology: Theory, Methods and Application, Translation from French:Janette Ann DeCesaris, Benjamins, Amsterdam & Philadelphia, 1999, page 59.4 id. page1125 NAEEM, Mohamed, Characteristics and Features of Language, NeoEnglish, Url:https://neoenglish.wordpress.com/2010/12/16/characteristics-and-features-of-language ,Date ofaccess: February 3rd, 2016, 09:34.
https://neoenglish.wordpress.com/2010/12/16/characteristics-and-features-of-languagehttps://neoenglish.wordpress.com/2010/12/16/characteristics-and-features-of-languagehttps://neoenglish.wordpress.com/2010/12/16/characteristics-and-features-of-language


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Social: it is the system of communication in the human society,composed of certain rules that make exchange in a social group possibleand, in the same time helps developing new relations and cultures.

Symbolic: is it a set of diverse symbols used to indicate certainobjects or their meanings. They are usually accepted and widelyemployed. A proper interpretation of these symbols is acquired, in orderto make a language more understandable.

Systematic: a language is based on systems of systems. In otherwords, each and every language has its own system that is divided into

different sub-systems and within each one of them, there are othersystems. We take grammar for example, which is composed of syntacticsystem that manages the order of words.

Vocal: it is mostly formed of vocal sounds that only the humanbody can produce through a specific articulator mechanism. Vocalsounds came first and are considered very important compared towriting, which is only their graphic representation.

Conventional: language is the fruit of evolutions and conventions.It did not simply happen in one day but actually the result of thecontinuous transmission of conventions through several generations,therefore, a language itself is a convention.

Non-instinctive: the human being is not endowed with theknowledge of a language at birth. He should thusly learn and acquire it

as long as he lives.Productivity and creativity: totally new statements can be created

and different structural elements are easily combined to form newutterances and expressions made for the first time and yetunderstandable.


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In order to fully understand the concept of language,linguists have established an analysis of its stylistic features andmanaged to sum them up in a list of six elements, otherwise knownas levels6:

Object of study Name of fieldAll human sounds PhoneticsClassified sounds Phonology

Words, forms MorphologySentences, clauses Syntax

Meaning Semantics

Language use Pragmatics

1.1.3. Stylistic features of language:

Phonetics/phonology: Two identical but distinguishable disciplines,they both focus on sounds. However, phonetics main emphasis is onsounds that are possible for a human to make, while phonology isrelevant to classifying sounds used by a person in a certain language.

Morphology: It is the study of words, forms and lexicons; it is oftenrelated to grammar, which is part of language and studies the internalstructure of words.

Syntax: This is the level of sentences, which means the combinedwords that create phrases and clauses and their meanings, more

specifically it includes diversity in meaning whenever we change theorder of words in a sentence, modify, replace, remove or add.

6HICKEY, Raymond, Levels of Language, University of Duisburg-Essen, 2016, Germany,Url:http://www.uni-due.de/ELE/Levels_of_Language.pdf,Date of Access: February 4th, 2016,Page 3-4.
http://www.uni-due.de/ELE/Levels_of_Language.pdfhttp://www.uni-due.de/ELE/Levels_of_Language.pdfhttp://www.uni-due.de/ELE/Levels_of_Language.pdfhttp://www.uni-due.de/ELE/Levels_of_Language.pdf


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Semantics: It is the study of meaning in language, this level is asimportant as the other levels mentioned above; four types of meaningsare distinguished (lexical, grammatical, utterance and sentencemeaning).

Pragmatics: The study of language usage in communication, which isvery associated with the study of meaning.

Therefore, common languages are general systems from whichderive specialized ones, having several notions in common, and can bedistinguished from one another by other points, thoroughly explained

afterwards.

1.1.4 Specialized languages:

Specialized languages are linguistic codes known to thespecialist speaker (expert) and put into use in a perfect context of aspecific communication. Each specialized language represents somelexical/semantic and pragmatic characteristics that are presented in thespeech by their lexis.

Lerat states that:cest une langue naturelle considre en tantque vecteur des connaissances spcialises 7meaning that specializedlanguage is one of the specialized knowledges vectors.

Specialized languages are considered as jargons related to a

given domain, which is surely not destined for the laymen to understand.Nowadays, it is completely different; linguists emphasize that there ismore in specialized languages than just their vocabulary.

7LERAT, Pierre, Les langues spcialises, Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 1995,page 20.


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Due to the popularization of specialized communication thatwas very useful, making the specialized language understood by morereaders than before and not any longer limited just for specialists to use

in communication.

Yet, it is necessary to make a clear distinction betweenspecialized languages and the unspecialized ones, in order to show thatthere are many features in common which will lead these two types to aharmonious coexistence and complementariness.

Indeed, general language and special languages are notcompletely separate, but they coexist within a same language and thereis a continuous interchange of lexis between them.8

Therefore, in order to assign an accurate definition tospecialized language, it would be mandatory to enumerate the followingcharacteristics:

A.

The distinctive elements of special languages are a form ofconnected sets of characteristics.

B. The purpose of communication is the main distinguishing elementamong the other functions.

C.

The special nature is based on the differences existing in subjectfield, user knowledge, and area of usage9.

8 BERRUTO, Gaetano, Masterclass in Sociolinguistics, Laterza, Twelfth Edition, Rome,2015, page 1029CABR, Teresa, Op.cit, page 62.


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The real meaning of the general languages sub-code, which isa reference of the special languages that are characterized by thefollowing features:

Special subject fields do not belong to the general knowledgeof the speaker but are the goal of a certain learning process, specific toexperts, and here we find two types: originators and recipients. The firstkind are experts in a specific field of knowledge, which contribute in thespecialized communication. The second type is the ordinary people,which can encounter the special field during their learning process10.

Special communication is always formal and takes place insituations of professional or scientific nature.

Special language has features on which language is based,these features are units and rules on which a text in based, for instance,document types.

A special language depends on the usage and the

communicative situation by permitting the abstraction that is based onthe subject field, the information received and the purpose of thecommunication that distinguishes the type of text, and the personalstyle.

However, another distinction between general and speciallanguage, can be spotted according to the context, the different use andthe situation that implies some changing linguistic characteristics:

General language and specialized language are part of onenatural language and the main difference between these two is a matter

10CABR, Teresa, Op.cit, Page 65-66.


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of degree, the level of use of fundamental special languagescharacteristics and not a matter of kind11.

Furthermore, we bring into notice that there are two types ofspecialized languages: highly specialized ones and the non-specializedones. The first type such as science and economics and have a specifiedlexis, a distinguishing morphosyntactic and textual feature. However,the second type that are used in certain specific domains like the press,have no particular lexis and tend to use terms from the other type.

1.1.5 Language for Specific Purpose (LSP)

Among determiners of a language to be special, the purpose forwhich the learner is acquiring it. A Language for Specific Purpose isdeemed as a natural language used often in a specific field, also for aspecific purpose within a certain professional setting. The naturallanguage and the professional setting are the basic variables in LSPs,and consequently, gave birth to a Business English, Medical French and

so forth.

The emphasis of the word special then, in English for Special

Purposes should be firmly placed upon the purpose of the learner for

learning the language, not on the language he is learning.12

Indeed, the expression Language for Specific Purpose, is

usually used by experts who deal with foreign languages for adetermined purpose and give priority to the learners needs duringteaching and training sessions, who might have faced a particular

11Id., page112.12MACKAY, Ronald, and MOUNTFORD, Alan, English for Specific Purposes. A CaseStudy Approach, Longman Group Limited, London, 1978, Page 5-6.


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language that needs to be used in their education or work. Therefore, itis truly a matter of purpose that pushes the learner to study the languagethat is called special and not the language itself.

What is really special is the set of characteristics that aretypical. Some of these characteristics: the specific subject, and the typeof situation, the purpose, exchange and means of communication.

Furthermore, and from a pragmatic point of view, the featuresof special languages are based on two things, the first is connected tothe situation containing the communication and the second involves theparticipants and their aims.13

1.1.5.1. Different types of LSP users:

a)

Experts: are the ones who took training sessions or have experiencein a given field domain.

b)

Semi-experts: include students that are still learning a determinedfield, or experts from related fields who may know some of thespecialtys terms.

c) Non-experts, who ignore an LSP but end up forced to use it in acertain situation14.

Since there are divers LSP users with different levels ofknowledge, there are obviously several levels of LSP communication.

13Id., page 129.14BOWKER, Lynne and PEARSON, Jennifer, Working with Specialized Language. Apractical guide to using corpora,Routledge, London, 2002, page 27.


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When communication is between experts, the specializedlanguage used is usually of a high level because they have theknowledge level and experience needed to understand. But if it takesplace between experts and semi-experts; experts are supposed tomaintain the exact same specialized conversation, but some kind ofclarification will be required in order make it understandable for semi-experts and in the same occasion, help them learn new terms of thatparticular subject. the third and last type of communication is betweenexperts and non-experts; where less terms will be used, even words fromthe general language may be put to use to simplify the specializedconcept15.

This type of communication is mainly used in newspapers articles,for example, a case in which the ordinary reader is supposed tounderstand the terms without the need to become an expert.

Specialized languages are also about being fathomable to a largernumber of persons. What differs would be the degree of specialization.

We have tackled language of a common and specialized nature,in view of the major importance that they have in translational mattersand the common basics between language and translation.

1.2. General Translation & Specialized Translation

One of the mandatory questions that should be asked beforecarrying out the translation of a text is on the aim of translation, thepurpose of the text and its potential reader. Once the purpose of the textis determined, the scheme of the translation action becomes set, owingthe fact that texts are mainly distinguished by their purposes. However,

15Id., page 28.


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the nature of a text is what differentiate the aspect of translation.Understanding what makes a text specialized is the key to fathom howspecialized translation proceeds.

Hence, a translational action is governed by its purpose16.Every action is preceded by a chain of motivation aiming to achieve anintended objective. Whilst translational action is more complex than ageneral action, we do not only ask what we are translating or what weprovided as a translation, but rather to whom this translation isdestined17.

The skopos translational theory is the kind of theory thatanswer the question: is it a correct translation? by another question: towhom it is correct?18

Historically, until the mid-twentieth century, literarytranslation had the lions share of translators interest, they did not onlyvow their time to translate poems and novels, but also to write aboutliterary translation19. Nevertheless, it was not totally neglected. Manyauthors allude to the specific-domain translation with regards tocommercial dealings and negotiations, where the objective of thetranslation was exclusive on commerce and the context was specialized,using both arithmetic and measurements vocabulary.

16REISS, Katherina & VERMEER, Hans, Towards a General Theory of Translation: SkoposTheory Explained, Translated from Deutsch by Christina, Nord, Routledge, 2013, Page 85.17Id., page 85.18Id., page 86.19 GREGO, Kim, Specialized Translation: theoretical issues, operational perspectives,Polimetrica, International Scientific Publisher, 2010, page 47.


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Furthermore, some Greek scientific books were translated intoLatin throughout the Middle Ages. For instance, the Almagest ofClaudius Ptolemy, which was mathematical and astronomical treatisewritten in the second century BC, in addition to multiple Islamic andArabic works on Mathematics, Astronomy, Chemistry, Medicine,Psychology and Politics20, such asIhsa Ul Ulum of Al-Faraby, weretranslated into Latin around the years 1150s.

Generally speaking, translation is a complicated task, itrequires a profound knowledge of the structural basis of both target and

source languages, and also of the translation process, in which arecombined the elements that conceive a quality translation. Moreover,we need to be acquainted with, especially regarding literary texts, thetargeted readers culture constituents, and those of the source language,for that literary translation goes beyond being a mere linguistic transferoperation.

General translation is deemed to use a simple, uncomplicatedterminology that is used in the common language, known to educatedpeople. However, it may contain structures and units that generatesambiguity due to polysemy and misleading intention.

Specialized translation, on the other hand, is marked with itsrelevant lexicon, objectivity and quantifiability21; a specializedtranslator uses specialized lexical units relevant to the domain they workwith, called Terminology. It is also discernible amid specialized

20" " 1998116.

21 GREGO, Kim, Specialized Translation: theoretical issues, operational perspectives,Polimetrica, International Scientific Publisher, 2010, Page 49.


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translation a frequent use of terms with Greek affixes, short sentenceswith a slightly variated complex of subordination, the tendency towardsimpersonalization and objectivity and use of the passive voice andimpersonal sentences with third singular pronoun it.22

Technically, Specialized translation is not independent orcompletely separated from general translation. Although, it isconsidered as a sub-discipline derived of general translation, it submitsto most of its theories and practices. However, specialized translationrelies on the nature of the text and the purpose of translation.

Specialized translation requires also the competency of thetranslator in the field of translation they are working on, the mastery ofboth target and source languages and an up-to-date knowledge of thespecialization terminology (technical, mechanicaletc.).

Al-Jahith

() was believed to be the first to establish the veryrudimentary conditions that a translator should fulfill, in his bookKitab Al-Hayawane (, Al-Jahith( said that a translator hasto master both the language from which they translate (source language)and the language to which they translate (target language), in additionto, more importantly, the mastery of the field of specialization inquestion.23

General translation, especially literary, can be said to be linked tothe targeted reader and its culture, while the specialized one is a

22 TALAVAN ZANON, Noa, A University Handbook On Terminology and Translation,Netbiblo, La Corua, Spain, 2011, page 22.

23" " 24.


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mechanical activity that is related to the nature, purpose and theterminology of the text.

1.2.1. Terminology & Specialized Translation

Terminology is, following Cambridge dictionary, specialwords or expressions used in relation to a particular subject or

activity24. These subjects are what we call specialized areas of study,in which the communication has readily become one of any specializedareas major pillar. Moreover, throughout the last century,

communication in these areas spread considerably. Thus, specializedlexicons increased significantly.

Etymologically, terminology would mean the study or theknowledge of terms, or of lexicon terms, towards which terminologistshave had an antagonism and strongly rejected this definition.Terminology was first used to refer to technical vocabulary. However,

nowadays, it is narrowly likely to be defined as a consistent andcoherent set of terms belonging to a single subject field25.

Terms can differ from words for being unambiguous,monosemic, invariable and independent of context, unlike words, alsocalled lexis, of general language, because they can be ambiguous,polysemous, collocation-bound and register sensitive.

The practice of terminology, often referred as Terminography,is divided into two scopes, the first is the resolution of specified terms

24 Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary, Page 1501.25 SAGER, Juan, A Practical course in Terminology Processing, Benjamins Library,Amsterdam, 1990, Page 3.


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related issues, the second is based on the elaboration of terminologicalrepertories such as technical dictionaries.

It is unavoidable to speak about Terminology withoutmentioning Eugene Wster, an Austrian scholar, who considersterminology to be an interdisciplinary field of linguistics, logic,ontology, information science and individual subject fields.26He wrotein his doctoral dissertation in the 1930s on the importance ofstandardizing terminology, and was, to him, a tool to obliterateabstruseness around technical and scientific communications. Also,

Wster founded the main principles for working with terms throughoutthe three decades following his doctoral thesis and until his book themachine tool was published, by which he checks the rationale andsustainability of his methods.27

Terminology was not born out of the desire to create a newdifferent field, it was due to the need to standardize the various terms

belonging to the same domain, also to cope with the ever increasingevolution of modern technology. Linguists were alarmed by theproliferation of terms and the diversity of forms, their main purpose wasto combine between them in a logical and practical way. Theycontributed to organize, by the means of theoretical terminology, theconcept-object relations, which can heavily eliminate ambiguity on thespecial term.

26 RESCHE, Catherine, An Approach to Interface Terminology: The Example ofEnvironmental Economics in English Language as a Foreign Language,Meta Journal, Vol 45,n 4, 2000, Page 629.27CABR, Teresa, Op.cit., page 5.


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Therefore, terminology cannot be regarded as a mere practice.Three European schools of terminology were established in the early20thcentury, with three different approaches and theories regarding thisphenomenon: One says terminology is an interdisciplinary butautonomous subject at the service of other disciplines; the other schoolsees that its major interest is the logical classification of concept systemsand the organization of knowledge, the third thinks this science focuseson the linguistic side as it is a subcomponent of a languages lexiconand special languages as subsystem of general language.28

Terminology theories are indeed derived from the practicalworks on terms and specialized areas, looking to find solutions tocommunication and translation problems.

When it comes to translation, more specifically specializedtranslation, the role of terminology in translation is basically functional.It offers for the translation of domain-specific text a clear path to follow

through the terminological databases, made by technical writers,terminologists or specialized professionals (Doctors,Economistsetc.).

Translators, due to the nature of their work, did not express inthe past as much interest in terminology. By contraries, they deemed itto be a spot on the genuine translation.29 They expected from

terminology to offer a list of words to refer to in their daily process oftranslation. Be it the query for a terminological problem, as a translatorpresents it to terminologists, or the simple act of consulting dictionaries,

28Id., page7.29 RESCHE, Catherine, Op. cit. page 629.


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glossaries and term banks, the translator of a specified texts is liable tointeract and partake in the terminology process.

Specialized translators were among the earliest professionalsto acknowledge the need to know and manage terminologies as anessential part of the process of translation30. It is worth mentioning thatthis process -terminology knowledge and managing- can be intuitive,enhanced by the daily operation of meeting new terms in several or solespecial area, or, more practically, can be done under training programsaiming to increase the proficiency of managing the aforementioned

terms and their proper use.

Consequently, the necessity of teaching terminology totranslators is a moot point, for that terminology is an indissociablyessential component of specialized translation teaching programs.Regarding the fact that professional profile of a specialized translatorrelays on the combination of both understanding the domain language,

in addition to a deep and up-to-date knowledge of its relevant lexicon,we must say that the formalized knowledge can be relatively efficient inorder to skillfully control the various types of terminologies within thegiven area of specialization.

We must say, terminology is rather characterized by itsinterdisciplinarity, due to the fact that it provides services for all

knowledge areas, i.e. every area has its own terminology, whethersharing its terms with both general language and another specialized

30 BASSEY, Antia; GERHARD, Budin; HERIBERT, Picht; ROGERS, Margaret; SCHMITZ,Klaus-Dirk and WRIGHT, Sue Ellen, Shaping Translation: A View from TerminologyResearch, Meta Journal, Volume 50, No. 4, 2005, Page 1-2.


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language, relatively different in the use or in the concept, or possessutterly new terms created to designate a new concept, otherwise knownas neologismwhich is more often in the field of technology.

Modern technologies, especially Computer Science and itsrelated spheres, have contributed to the evolution of modernterminology, in virtue of the enormous possibilities and features offeredto aid to easily store and retrieve information, creating terminologicaldatabases and standardizing terminology through the documentation ofthe unanimously agreed terms, by specialists of a specific field or

linguists, in order to be used uniformly within specialized jargons.

As for the field of Economics, we can notice that, due to thelink this discipline has with other disciplines, its terminology is not veryspecified or complicated, we can identify several economic terms usedin the common language and known to any educated adult. However,this does not exclude the existence of specified economic terms, created

for an economic concept, which we will not omit to adduce mention inthis research paper.

1.2.2. EnglishArabic translation:

Technical translation plays a great role in the acquisition ofknowledge and the diffusion of new technologies across the world;hence, the formation of new technical vocabulary is a crucial matter,deeply necessary to enrich the Arabic language.

Translating from English into Arabic is a real challenge fortranslator. In order to overcome this challenge, translators should havesome translational and extra-translational qualities such as intelligence,


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patience, competence and the linguistic knowledge of both source andtarget languages. Besides, translation can be easily achieved byfollowing enormous methods variating at multiple points.

Arabic vocabulary knows a serious deficiency with respect totechnical fields31, translators should take the latter in considerationbefore undertaking the translation.

Consequently, Arabic Language has to append foreign terms tofulfill this deficiency. Thus, terminologists have followed these twostratagems for that purpose:

Transliteration:

This procedure consists of writing in Arabic letters a word oran expression according to the pronunciation; which meansmodification on the phonetic and morphological level of the term.

Although this method is widely used, it does not actuallyconvey the real meaning of the term, simply presents a writtenpronunciation of the English term using Arabic alphabet.

This technique does not help enriching nor improving itsvocabulary. Using this technique by Arabic translators might mean thatthey are not capable of minting new Arabic words and that they havechoose the easy way. Therefore, translators should not use it unless theequivalent of the term in question does not exist or is too hard to find.

Naturalization:

This strategy is one step ahead compared to the transcriptionthanks to it way of adopting the English term to the morphology of

31MARZARI, Robert, Arabic in Chains, structural problems and artificial barriers, VerlagHans Schiler, Berlin, 2006, page 30.


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Arabic word structure, in other words: changing the pronunciation ofthe term in way it agrees with the phonology of the target language 32.

Translators find this method better than the first, yet the words

are not completely of an Arabic nature, the roots of terms are stillEnglish.

Translators should keep creating and forming new terms thatcomply with the Arabic linguistics, in order to preserve its identity, andcontinue seeking for new methods to enrich its vocabulary.

What prevents an easy translation from happening andintercept the translator to fully understand technical texts, are eventuallythe lexical categories existing between the general and the meretechnical vocabulary, which create sub-technical, semi-technical andnon-technical vocabulary, used in scientific and technological texts.Moreover, dealing with new technical terms with no equivalentspresents a real challenge for the translator when trying to find the samemeaning in target language.

It has been given by various Arab terminologists, translatorsand linguists as a solution for most of the translational issues thatexclusively burden the Arabic language, the unification of terms, whichmeans each specialized term has one and only one equivalent in Arabic,whether the translator is Lebanese or Algerian, they have to use theproper equivalent put -after thorough studies and researches- by theAssembly of Arabic Language. As a consequence, we can spare thereaders the huge ambiguity -caused by the terminological chaos-,increase comprehension potential.

32HASSAN, Ghazzala, Essays in Translation and Stylistics, Dar El-Ilm lilmalayin, Beirut,2004, page 176.


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We shall point out that the intention to endorse the unificationof technical Arabic terms is not recent. But, efforts to implement thisproject were so humble, beside the natural and intended hurdles

preventing the union of the Arabic terminology.

In respect of the economic Arabic term, the fact that each Arabcountry has its proper economic system and currency separated fromothers; alongside with the different linguistic and economic influenceson Arabic countries due to the former French and British colonization.

1.2.3. Specialized Translation Strategies & procedures

The process of translation is divided into a set of proceduresand strategies, which the translator follows to provide a qualitytranslation.

The translator of technical texts has to follow some procedurein order to fulfill the process of translation. First, they shall start with ananalysis of both source and target language, then establishes a completestudy of the source language text to finally summarize the semantic andsyntactic aspects before any attempt to translate the text in question.

1.2.3.1. Strategies

A professional specialized translator must follow somestrategies in order to overcome the difficulties the nature of technicaltext and terms presents, stated inexhaustibly by Mona Baker in the caseof non-equivalence as follows:


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A-Translation by a general term:

Also called superordinate, used in the situation when there

is lack of specificity in the target language; the translator gas tochoose a general term yielding the intended meaning at high level.

B-Translation by a neutral term

Especially used when the target language has no equivalentwith the same expressive characteristics. The translator then has to opt

out for a less expressive term that may convey the sought message.

C-Translation by a cultural substitution

Which is represented in the fact of substituting a culturespecific item or expression. They need to find an item that has the sameimpact in the target language, but has not the same propositional

meaning.

D-Translation by loanword

Loanwords are used when there is no other option, no term canbear the identical meaning of the source term, which is common with

modern concepts: when using a loanword for multiple times, the firsttime they use it shall be followed by an explanation in the targetlanguage, once the reader is acquainted of it, it would be ready to beused solely.


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E-Translation by omission

Although it may seem dire, the fact of omitting a term or anexpression that has no vital role in both the order or the sense of asentence, has indeed no harmful effect. 33

1.2.3.2. Technical Translation Procedures:

In their pioneer work Stylistique compare du franais et delanglais", Vinay and Darbelnet defined seven basic procedures on three

level of style, lexis, morphology and syntax, and message. Theyclassified the technical procedure as direct (Literal) and Oblique.34

Literal translation can be useful when the two languages areclosely similar, and when there is equivalence on the structural, lexicaland morphological levels. Literal translations technical procedures are:

Borrowing:

The use of words taken from one language or more intoanother, directly without really translating them, which is the case ofseveral English terms belonging to other languages. Many words areborrowed from French, Arabic even from German. We mention forexample:

English words with Arabic roots: Alcohol , algebra , earth

.

English words with French roots: Dj vu, antique, fianc, coup-dtat.

33 BAKER, Mona, In Other Words: A Coursebook on translation, Routledge, FirstEdition,1992, page 22-45.34MOLINA Lucia and HURTADO ALBIR, Amparo, Translation Techniques Revisited: ADynamic and Functionalist Approach Meta Journal, Vol 47, n 4, 2002, Page 499.


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Calque:

Also called loan translation technique, is an expression literally

translated from another language, introduced into a language that isdaily used and widely accepted in the society. We take for example theword cookie, which is the calque for the Dutch koekje, by heartis acalque for the Frenchpar coeur andpoint of viewfor point devue,these words are naturally includes into English language.

Literal translation:

It is a direct translation, which means translating word by wordfrom language into another without paying attention -most of the time-to the meaning, but with the caution of keeping the same structure of thesource text. This technique might be considered as a mistranslation ofthe text in question, and yet, it can create new terms in the target text.35

Whereas Oblique translation occurs when the literal translationis impossible, its technical procedures are:

Transposition:

It is the act of reversing the order of speechs parts whiletranslating (red dress: robe rouge) this technique is frequently usedbetween different languages with diverse grammatical structures, thegrammatical gap existing between both source and target language leadsto the use of transposition; it is a sort of solution that translators refer to

when they are incapable of translating a certain word.

Modulation:

35MOLINA Lucia and HURTADO ALBIR, Amparo, Op.cit., Page 499


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It is about making changes in the semantic structure of thesource language and adjusting the idea of the message by turning it intoa stylistically appropriate translation, smoothly accepted by the readerof the target language.

Equivalence:

this type requires creativity and intelligence to easily translateand preserve the meaning, the main aim is simplifying and clarifyingthe translated expressions in the target language. The translator has thefreedom of adding or deleting words if jugged necessary and yet stillcorrect.

Adaptation:

The translator put this technique into use while translatingexpressions that are specific to the culture of a given language andwritten in a whole other way but still common and known by the readerof the target language. In other words, we adapt the translation of onelanguage to the culture of another language.

Compensation:

It is the act of replacing untranslatable terms from the textsource with other terms that have the same meaning and dont exist inthe source text but hold the same signification36.

36MOLINA Lucia and HURTADO ALBIR, Amparo, Op.cit., Page 500


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2.Economic Language & Translation

Economy has always been the vector of the society; for that the

development of the civilizations depended on, among other factors, awell-established economy. Thus, economics -the study of economicscience- has become one of the most essential basis to found a stabilizedsociety, and to maintain the equilibrium in it.

Several populations have witnessed, especially in thecontemporary era, many revolutions which the major symptoms were

financial. Most of these revolutions were recommending in the firstplace higher wages, more job openings and lower taxes. Historian CraneBrinton sees that French revolution, for instance, was instigated by theeconomic situation; France was put into huge debts after the costly wars,Royals tried to overcome bankruptcy by heavily and unjustly taxing,which was refused by all the estates and classes of the Frenchpopulation37.

Economics is, therefore, the study of how society uses itsscarce resources38, this Dismal Science* is also defined by AdamSmith, the founding father of Modern Economics, as the study of thenature and causes of nations wealth39, and also by Alfred Marshall asa study of man in his ordinary business of life. It examines part of

37BRINTON, Crane, Anatomy of Revolution, Vintage Books, New York, 1965, page 73.38The economist newspapers website, Glossary A-Z terms, entry: Economics, December 21st,2015, 11:49.* Term coined by Thomas Carlyle, Scottish essayist and historian, to describe the discipline ofEconomics.39 Accounting and Economics magazine, Meanings & definitions of Economics, New AgePublishers, url:http://www.newagepublishers.com/samplechapter/001983.pdf;Date of Access:December 23rd, 2015, 23:13.
http://www.newagepublishers.com/samplechapter/001983.pdfhttp://www.newagepublishers.com/samplechapter/001983.pdfhttp://www.newagepublishers.com/samplechapter/001983.pdfhttp://www.newagepublishers.com/samplechapter/001983.pdf


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Chapter One Economic Language & Translation

2

individual and social action which is most closely connected with the

attainment and with the use of the material requisites of well-being.40

The word Economics originates from the Greek wordOikonomikos which is constituted of two parts:(a) Oikos, whichmeans Home, and (b)Nomos, which means Management.41

2.1. The language of Economics

The language of economics is very close in use to the commonone, in view of the fact that most people partake in the basic economictransactions that are crucial in daily life. However, the economiclanguage is distinguished by the various terms with specific meaningsin the texts. Moreover, the more we delve into economics branches andits texts, the more we find new terms that do not exist in the generallanguage, coming from other languages borrowed, or simply are

archaic words that are no longer in use.

The language of economy is a particular field that is dividedinto several domains; each of these domains has a specific economiclexicon, this language is a very practical one and the economic texts arefull of practical terms.

Economic texts are characterized by long sentences composedof many subordinates, separated by commas, it might seem complicated

40MARSHALL, Alfred, PrinciplesofEconomics, MacMillan, 8thEdition, London, 2011,page 6.41MANKIW, Gregory, The principles of Economics,South-Western Cenegage, 5th Edition,2009, Ohio, USA, Page 3.


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but it is actually easy to understand. These texts have complex structuresusually formed of successive expressions or sometimes; a wholeparagraph is compressed in few sentences.

We can notice in the text of an economic nature the use of tables andfigures, two features that partake in the process of making the contextmore understandable, very useful when it comes to facilitating, clearlydescribing economic rules and simplifying complex theories. Figuresmake reference to graphic representations of data with vertical andhorizontal axis, bar and pie charts, diagrams and pictures, while tablesare relevant to a set of data, facts and numbers arranged in rows and

columns, normally used to clarify some sort of data analysis42

.

2.2. Economic Terminology

Due to the popularization that took place in the first threedecades of the 19thcentury, when a number of liberal British scholars

intended to make classical economics a flexible science, it was rather apopularization of its laws and theories, Harriet Martineaus Illustrationof Political Economy is considered as one of the most successful ofsuch works43, in which he softened the sharp and edgy nature of theeconomic texts and substituted some technical terms with a set ofcommon or resembling common terms. Nonetheless, it still isconsidered hard to be understood from anyone, it needs an expert or

more specifically an economist to be able to reach this kind ofknowledge and understand each and every word in an economic text.

42XUI, Changbai, English in Economics, China Agriculture Press, Beijing, China, 2008, page75.43WOODMANSEE, Martha & OSTEEN, Mark, The New Economic Criticism, Routledge,1999, London, Page 180.


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Consequently, economic terms are usually vague and univocal,readers face no problem to identify these terms and notions and can

properly reproduce them in a convenient context. However, someeconomics sub-fields use sheer technical terms, that are both equivocaland misleading.

Furthermore, there are some technical terms, that have aspecific meaning in the economic language. They can be a single wordor two combined terms. Multiple economic terms are eponyms, which

means they are named after a scholar or theorist of economics. Forinstance, the Allias paradox44, one of the axioms theories ofeconomics.

Notwithstanding, students and generally laymen face someambiguity that covers economic terms of a low and mediumspecialization degree. Despite that specialized terms are supposed to be

accurate, a large number of readers are misled by misnomers; terms withfamiliar appearances but hide new or unexpected meanings, misnomersare either frequently used terms with a fluctuating meaning, or termswhere the meaning and form are characterized by an unsettlingdichotomy.45

44SEGURA, Julio and BRAUN, Carlos Rodriguez, An Eponymous Dictionary of Economics,Edouard Elgar Published Limited, Massachusetts 2004, Page 4.45RESCHE, Catherine, Equivocal Economic terms or revisited terminology, Meta Journal,volume 44, No 4, 2000, page 619.* French term referring to a meaning, whether an object or a concept, used in the first place byAustrian linguist Ferdinand de Saussure.


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An example of a misnomer, negativesaving46to designate thenotion of spending more money than ones income, because literally,saving is an action that does not submit to a negative or a positive aspect.

The other terminological phenomenon affecting economics,reputed to be born out of the chronical and logical evolution of eitherthe fields of technology and linguistics or both, isNeologism.

Characteristically, newly-coined words are conceived toreplace older and archaic ones, which is more likely to end up creatingambiguity and confusion in terminological databases, likewise for

terminologists, translators or teachers of any given domain.

Assuredly, other new terms are minted to designate acompletely new signif*; Neologisms are made following a linguisticrequest, for that any recognized concept needs a name, especially in ascientific field, indeed, a term cannot be formed to denote a quality oran action that has no existence.47

There are other cases demanding to create new words, forinstance, the process of substituting older terms of a foreign origin withdomestic ones48, which is the case of Arabization of scientificterminology, for that most of technical and medical terms are derived

46ZHENGLAI, Deng, China's Economy: Rural Reform and Agr icul tural Development,

World Scientific Publishing, China, 2009, Page 225.

47 BAUER, Laurie, English Word Formation, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,United Kingdom, 1983, page 83.48PERPNIK, Jaroslav, English Lexicography, Palacky University, Olomuc, Czech Republic,2006, page 77.


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from either English or French language, and Arab scholars alwaysaspire to create or exhume an Arabic term.

Additionally, neologism may also serve to replacing adegrading term with a more prestigious one. For instance: sanitationworker in nowadays used instead of garbage man

Oxymoronis also a phenomenon that affects economic terms,especially the combined ones. It is defined by the American HeritageDictionary of English Language as a rhetorical figure in whichincongruous or contradictory terms are combined. Which certainlywould create ambiguity.

It is a known fact to terminologists and economists that, sinceeconomy is related to almost every existing fields, economic languageborrows a big number of terms from history, mathematics, geography,

to name but a few.49

Translation of economic texts and terms, due to theaforementioned fact, is characterized by loanwords, sometimes fromother languages, other times inside the same language, but from anotherfield.

Economic terminology should keep up with the last recentdevelopments in the economic field in order to enrich it.

49RESCHE, Catherine, An Approach to Interface Terminology: The Example of EnvironmentalEconomics in English Language as a Foreign Language, Meta Journal, Vol 45, n 4, 2000,Page 6


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Our corpus, Lessons for Young economist, as its title refer to,contains a set of lessons for newly graduated and current students ofeconomics. Consequently, the nature of the economic context andconcepts are popularized, and the text main scope is rather explanatoryusing examples and metaphors with a high frequency; the usedterminology can be described as easy and understandable. Albeit, theauthor establishes after the end of every lesson a list of the hard termswith his own definition.

2.3. English, the Language of Economics

English has, since the 1970s, broaden its supremacy andsucceeded to become the first language in the world, chiefly regardingEconomics and Business, due to the dominance of English speakercountries over technological, economic and cultural power 50, whichwas the case during the Roman Empire, when Latin was a lauded andmost desirable language to be taught, the same applies to Arabic back

when Islamic Caliphates were powerful in science and artillery. Thus, itis never up to the number of speakers, that makes a language global.Nevertheless, its primacy is the motive for which non-native people startto learn it.

Thus, most international professionals rush to learn BusinessEnglish in order to be in accordance with the international level, andsince the United States is one leader of world economy amid othercountries, it has become more likely to be mandatory to study

50CRYSTAL, David, English as a Global Language, Second Edition, Cambridge UniversityPress, United Kingdom, 2003, page 8.


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economics in English, to be at least be cognizant of the Englisheconomic terminology.

Nonetheless, BusinessEnglishand EnglishforEconomicsshould be distinguished by learners and teachers, in order to fulfill theconvenient task, and because they are generally regarded as identical,BE is a wide area of study, a Professionally-Oriented language that hasan end to achieve, using linguistic and extra-linguistic features to be athelp for Businessman and decision makers with their daily interactions,and for companies to draft reports and memos, hold meetings and so

forth. Whilst economic English is an academic code and scientificlanguage used at specialist level, and has an informative purpose, its textmight appear to be rigid and peculiar compared with general English.51

2.4. Economic Translation

Theoretically, unlike scientific and legal translation, economictranslation is less present in the shelves of specialized literature and

translation studies books. On the other hand, the practice of economictranslation witnessed an outstandingly rapid changes52, accordinglywith recent economic evolution; more books on economy are translatedin the last decades, aiming to popularize new fundamental theories at aninternational level.

51PIERINI, Francesco, Definition and Main Features of Business English with A SpecialRegard to Differences with the Language of Economics, University of Genova, Italy, page111.

52BEUCHAT, Alice,La traduction conomique, thorie et pratique ,Master of Arts thesis,Vienna University, Switzerland, 2012, Page 20.


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2.4.1. Equivalence in Economic Translation

Equivalence in translation is simply finding an equal code in

the target language during the process of translation. Albeit, it isconsidered as the most complicated and controversial area in translationtheory; it initiated endless debates and had been the object of thoroughresearches. Kenny states that it is a central and controversial concept ata time.53

Theorists have been found divided into two teams: the first

includes scholars such as Nida and Toury, acknowledges the existenceof a linguistic approach to translation. However, translation is more thana linguistic subject; while some rejected the notion of equivalence froma theoretical aspect, when a message is being translated, the translatoralso deals with culture transfer. To them, equivalence it is eitherirrelevant or damaging to translation study.54

Meanwhile, a third medium opinion sees equivalence notion isbeing used for the sake of convenience because more translators areused to it rather because it has any theoretical status.55

Four types of equivalence are put to furtherly explain thetheory of equivalence in translation: linguistic equivalence where there

is homogeneity on the linguistic level between the source text and thetranslation, also known as word for word translation; paradigmatic

53 KENNY, Dorothy, Equivalence in Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies,Edited by Mona Baker, Routledge, London & New York, 1998, page 77.54Id., page77.55BAKER, Mona, Op.cit., page 5-6.


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equivalence is when equivalence exists between the elements ofgrammar in both texts; stylistic, otherwise known as translationalequivalence is a functional equivalence between the components of thetranslation and the original message. Finally, the textual orsyntagmaticequivalence, which emphasizes the equivalence of shape and form.56

The equivalence of economic translation lies on itsterminology, when dealing with an economic term, a translator has tobe aware of the value and the role of the term in a given economiccontext, in order to choose the accurate term of the target language that

represent the exact semantic field as the one presented at the first placeby the source language term.

However, among the difficulties that the economic translatorface, the case of non-equivalence, when they cannot find a properequivalent in the target language. Here, the translator has a series ofsolution that they can choose one accordingly to the situation.

2.4.2 Economic Translator

An economic translator must be Familiar with economic termsand continuously update their knowledge to be able of deeplyunderstanding their meanings. Being aware of many aspects of theeconomic field will help them find the perfect corresponding terms.

They are required to profoundly understand before translating,and be aware of the fact that inaccurate translation can not only cause

56 CHIFANE, Christina, Equivalence and non-Equivalence in Economic Translation,University of Piteti, Romania, (unknown year), Page 74


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confusion and incomprehensibility of the meaning, but can also lead toworse, especially in fields such as medicine and legal when errors arefatal.57

Moreover, the three required principles for a translator to fulfillare58, loyalty in conveying the intended message, the translator issupposed to stay faithful to the source text, this includes avoiding anykind of misrepresentation or addition in the source text for the purposeof presenting a professional, honest translation.

He also has to be expressive and elegant by providing a quality

translation that would be interesting and not hard to follow orunderstand, attracting the readers mind.

2.4.3. Difficulties of Economic Translation

Besides the deficiency of resources on economic translationsmethodology and literary, economic translator confronts a number ofimpediments, some regardless of the source and the target language,others are specific for either one of them or both. The technical natureof the subject and the terminology in an economic text constitute thefirst fiendish challenge for a translator.59

Additionally, the most debatable and polemical phenomenon

that was the moot point amongst economists, and was the subject of57AREVI, Susan, New Approach to Legal Translation, Kulwer Law International, TheNetherlands, 2000, Page 201.58NIDA, Eugene, Context in translation, Benjamins, Amsterdam/Philadelphia, 2001, Page 1.59DIOP, Abdoulaye, Rle, place et perspectives de la traduction conomique et financire Genve.A Masters Thesis. University of Geneva, Translation and Interpretation School,2005, Page102.


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many academic papers, is beyond any doubt the metaphor, how is itreasonable that economics, a scientific study field, can use such anonscientific tool to express its rules and theorems. Some argue that itis rhetorical and poetic in order for a readers attention to be attachedthrough their imagination, whilst it is deemed to create more ambiguitythan imagination. Indeed, the imprecision created by an ambiguousmeaning is presumably fine for poets, an anathema for scientists.60

Nonetheless, metaphors are accepted, embedded, widely usedand even ubiquitous in contemporary economic writing. Assuredly,

what we need to be focusing on here is how the translator would evadesuch an impasse, would it be more effective and faithful at time totranslate with an equivalent metaphor? would the translation by ametaphor affects the exact meaning that was sought to be understood inthe first place? Or he just opts out to explaining the metaphor by simplewords?

We can also state as another hurdle, neologisms and theunceaseable change that occurs in the thick of terminological databases,which are a major resource for economic translators in the economictranslation, as well as the fluctuation relations between objects andconcepts with respect to the economic term.

It can be said that the economic language characteristics

constitute most of the time the difficulties of translation, due the fact

60KLAMER, Arjo & THOMAS, Leonard, So whats an Economic Metaphor?in NaturalImages in Economic Thought, Edited by Philip Mirowski, Cambridge University Press, UnitedKingdom, 1994, page 20.


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that equivocal terms, synonyms and oxymorons* consistently induce abig challenge to a specialized translator.

Accordingly, culture, connotation and ideology of an economictext must be taken into account, the potential reader, may it be a studentor an economist, might have a limited knowledge about the exclusivesource economic culture and intricacies, and which need to betranslated. Sarah Love mentioned that, although economic text isclaimed to be neutral, authors implies a certain connotation, whichcreate a difficulty of translation.61

Besides, texts of an economic nature are usually written by aspecialist in economics and the related fields, who is not very proficientin the specialized writing. Thus, a non-specialist of economics and therelated fields will be required to readjust the text before the translation,which is not always efficient, then they must also contact the writer ofthe original text to clarify the intended meaning or justify the use of

some terms62.

2.4.4. Resources for an Economic Translator

Unfortunately, the economic translation resources are veryseldom. However, specialized dictionaries of economics and finance arevery frequent, as a consequence of the popularization of economics.

61LOVE, Sarah, The Role of Connotation and Ideology in Economic Translation: a casestudy, A Masters Thesis: University of Geneva, Translation and Interpretation School, 2009,Page 28.

62DURBAN, Christine. La traduction financire. In: Universits et Colloques Rennes 2,University of Rennes 2, 2002, available online:http://www.colloque.net/archives/2002/Spec-M%E9tiers/Specimet021.htm.

* The Latin plural oxymora.
http://www.colloque.net/archives/2002/Spec-M%E9tiers/Specimet021.htmhttp://www.colloque.net/archives/2002/Spec-M%E9tiers/Specimet021.htmhttp://www.colloque.net/archives/2002/Spec-M%E9tiers/Specimet021.htmhttp://www.colloque.net/archives/2002/Spec-M%E9tiers/Specimet021.htmhttp://www.colloque.net/archives/2002/Spec-M%E9tiers/Specimet021.htmhttp://www.colloque.net/archives/2002/Spec-M%E9tiers/Specimet021.htm


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Specialized dictionaries, glossaries and thesauruses are veryhelpful in the matter of the forenamed terminological difficulties

regarding the economic translation, they contribute to effect a qualitytranslation and reduce the duration of the translation process. Withal,the printed dictionaries and glossaries fail to cope with the constantexpansion of the domains lexicon, a translator has to possess and up-to-date terminology of the area of his interest. He needs to buy newversions every now and then in order for him to be cognizant of the rapidchanges that characterize the economic terminology.

When it comes to online specialized glossaries, there are somespecified glossaries for economic and finance terms available inassociations, for instance Association Suisse des Traducteurs,Terminologues et Interprtes that put such glossaries into serviceexclusively of its members63.

Economic translator may also recur to human resources,modern technologies made it easier to communicate with experts of anygiven domain. Many translators reveal that they frequently askcolleagues, clients or experts of the domain in both source and targetlanguage64.

Many translators of economic text depend on term banks and

databases, created by specialized translation agencies, economic

63 DIOP, Abdoulaye, Rle, place et perspectives de la traduction conomique et financire Genve.A Masters Thesis. University of Geneva, Translation and Interpretation School,2005, 57.

64BEUCHAT, Alice, La traduction conomique, thorie et pratique, Master of Arts thesis,Vienna University, Translation and Interpretation School, Switzerland, 2012. Page 44.


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institutes, financial companies. Usually, the accredited terms byinternational terminologists and economists associations are the onesthat prevail at these databases. Accordingly, most of the worldwideorganization and official ministries create its own database to be of helpfor the internal workers at the first place, and since they are availableonline (open access), for any specialized translator or terminologists.

MINEFITERM is a term bank belonging to both the FrenchMinistry for the Economy, Industry and Employment and the Ministryfor the Budget, Public Accounts and the Civil Service, with up to sixty

thousand terms in seven languages, relating to the domain of Economics& Finance65

65http://www.minefiterm.finances.gouv.fr/


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Chapter Introduction

3. Term Formation

A term, exactly as a word can be defined, is an uninterrupted string ofletters followed by a blank space or a punctuation mark66. However, a termbelongs in the first place to a specific lexicon, New American HeritageDictionary of Englishdefines the entry termunder the number four, as a wordor a group of words having a particular meaning67. So when we talk about termcreation, it may refer to the creation of a new word destined to be used in aspecial language, or to start using a word, existing in the general language, tolabel a given concept related to a specific field.

From a historical view, the English language as well as any othermodern languages, had to accept, due to the contact with foreign cultures anddisciplines, a number of words, which constitute now its modern lexicon; also,it was due to the developments in the fields of art, literature and medicine in thesixteenth century, that the English language was enriched by such a vocabulary

of the common speakers and the rhetorical speech.

3.1. Lexicography

Nonetheless, lexicologists rush to label non-domestic or newlydiscovered notions, using for that purpose, depending on the nature of notionsin question, a chain of procedures, aiming to accommodate all probable terms

in one dictionary.

66PLAG, Ingo, TheWordFormation, Cambridge University Press, 2003, Page 4.67New American Heritage Dictionary of English, Page 7352. Term 4. A


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Dictionaries nowadays are so popular, but it was the fruit of a hardwork; in the case of Arabic dictionaries, it was at first a list of limited scopevocabulary established in an uncertain order, then entire dictionaries were

made in anagrammatic order

68

. Thus, the alphabetically ordered moderndictionaries only exist after a series of trials and errors69.

The first Arabic dictionary "" Kitab Al Ain, by Al KhalilIbn Ahmed Al-Farahidi)(during the eight century, was amajor linguistic project, made after foreign words threatened the Arabiclanguage eloquence. Al-Khalils work was based on the two foundations of

ancient Arabic Linguistics: Lexicology and Grammar70. He arranged the entriesaccording to the sounds and the utterance of letters, as per the sources ofcharacters 71in an alphabetical order startingfrom the guttural to the labial

sounds.72

Indeed, this pioneer dictionary represents not only a reference in theArabic Lexicology, but among all the languages of the world.

The first dictionary of the English language is believed to be writtenin 1604 by Robert Cawdrey. However, it can be said that monks of the MiddleAges underlined the Latin words in the Bible and wrote glosses under them.These glosses were later gathered to create the first Latin-English dictionary73.

68HAYWOOD, John, ArabicLexicography, Leiden E. J. Brill, the Netherlands, 1965, Page 1.69Id., page1.

""70 .20091271KOAK, Abit Yaar, Handbook of Arabic Dictionary, University of Istanbul, Turkey, 2002, Page19.72Id., page20.73GODDEN Malcolm & LAPIDGE Michael, The Cambridge Companion to Old English Literature,Cambridge University Press, Second Edition, Cambridge, 2013, Page 277.


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We can notice that the first dictionary provided definitions for English wordswith some synonyms; while the second is a bilingual dictionary.

Moreover, specialized dictionaries are very recent compared to thegeneral ones, they are believed to firstly appear in the early twentieth century.However, multiple specialized dictionaries were made hundred years ago, wecanmention the one that is believed to be the first, Al-

Khwarizmis Mafatih Al-Ulum, 997 C.E 74, in which he gathered various termsbelonging to the fields of Linguistics, Poetry, Philosophy, Medicine,Numerology, Geometry and Chemistry.75

Dictionaries of a specialized nature are characterized by the fact thatthey do not submit to the linguistic consideration on both the content, structureor methods.76

Specialized dictionaries, both monolingual or multilingual subdivideinto general specialized dictionaries and subject specific ones, for instance, aneconomic dictionary or a macroeconomic dictionary, in which is given thedefinition of technical terms and often their synonyms, but they never providethe grammatical category or such a linguistics feature.77

Any language is divided into two study branches with regards to itslexicon, each term is studied in a morphological and lexicological area, the firstemphasizes the form of the term, while the second focuses on the ability of this

term to fit in the lexicon.

74"" 2004375" .1989"

76OPITZ, Kurt, Dictionaries for Technical Use, Hartmann, London, 1983, Page 163.77PEARSON, Jennifer, Terms in Context, Benjamins, Amsterdam & Philadelphia, 1998, Page 70.


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3.2. Morphology:

Morphology is a term minted by August Schleicher in 1859, referring

to a linguistic and grammatical branch of study, it is a combination of the Greekwords morph meaning form and logy meaning science. Hence, we aredealing with the science that study the forms of words78.

Morphology is related directly to morphemes through word formationprocesses. However, these morphological processes differ from one languageto another.

A word is a lexeme and this lexeme is defined as the meaningful lexicalunit that can be modified by many different ways to create new words. Indeed,morphology deals with the specific processes related to the formation ofvocabularies. And it is made of several sub-fields, each one of them works onthe formation of lexeme.

Morphology is a large field that develops various methods of formingnew words, and studies the structure and form of words in all the livinglanguages, Morphology is relevant to any language because it explicates therules governing the transformational patterns of the word of that language.79

In order to give a full insight into this field we should probably start

by defining the term morpheme; the smallest meaningful unit, which has twotypes of lexical meanings: the sense and the grammatical meaning. These two

78PRASARD, Tarni, A Course in Linguistics, PHI Learning, Second Edition, New Delhi, 2012, Page48.79MATTHEWS, Peter, Morphology: An Introduction to The Theory of Word Structure., CambridgeUniversity Press, Cambridge, 1974, page 47.


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are rarely gathered in one morpheme, usually we only find one but not both.The ones holding a grammatical meaning can be called grammaticalmorphemes.

Affixes with a grammatical meaning like heart(s), affixes with a sensemeaning like heart(less). Grammatical meanings connect sense to grammaticalconcepts (number, gender and tense).

Like we mentioned before morphological processes are made of subfieldsand each one has a method of forming new words which leads us to this

definition: Word formation is the linguistic branch that studies the patterns onwhich a language forms new lexical units80

Word formation is that branch of morphology which deals withrelations between a complex lexeme and a simple(r) lexeme.81, so it is aprocess, a linguistic one that exists in all the living languages, and deals withseveral methods to create new words within these languages. Also related to,not only the rules of creating new words, but the relation that connects themone another as well.

After many efforts from the interested linguists in the classification ofword formation fields like Valerie Adams in 1973, we are able to distinguishtwo fields established by Hans Marchand who is considered to be the father of

the modern word formation theory in 1960.

80MARCHAND, Hans, The Categories and Types of Present-day English: Word-formation, SecondEdition, C.H. Beck, Munich, 1969, Page 3081MATHEWS, Peter, Op.cit., page 37.


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The first includes compounding, affixation and derivation, while thesecond is composed of blending, clipping and word manufacturing. 82

3.3. English Term Formation

There ar

Translation Strategies of Economic Terms & Expressions

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