scholarly journals A DUAL PERSPECTIVE IN LEGAL TRANSLATION

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (7) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Radegundis Stolze
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Law ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Legal Aspects ◽  
Levels Of Abstraction ◽  
Legal Translation ◽  
Legal Texts ◽  
Text Types ◽  
Dual Perspective ◽  
Legal Contexts ◽  
Legal Concepts

The article describes, on the basis of hermeneutics, the specific perspective from which a translator may approach legal texts, as translation is seen as a personalized activity. Different text types are rooted in a specific legal system and fulfil their function within a special field of law, and the cultural and legal background is evident in linguistic aspects on a textual level. Comparative law carries out research on the differences in legal concepts, whereas translation studies and practice use this knowledge as a basis for work. Legal terminology has various levels of abstraction and appears in texts along with general language words. Fields of orientation for the translator are presented here, such as legal contexts, genre, concepts and style. This should be combined with proficiency in writing according to the text function, terminology and standard formulae. The translator tries to make source cultural and legal aspects transparent for target readers, as translation is always a means of comprehension that furthers communication.

Legal Translation Studies as Interdiscipline: Scope and Evolution

2014 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 260-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Prieto Ramos
Keyword(s):  
Translation Studies ◽  
Research Community ◽  
Reference Points ◽  
Current Position ◽  
Translation Quality ◽  
Legal Translation ◽  
Professional Needs ◽  
Legal Texts ◽  
Object Of Study ◽  
Further Development

This paper offers an overview of the development of Legal Translation Studies as a major interdiscipline within Translation Studies. It reviews key elements that shape its specificity and constitute the shared ground of its research community: object of study, place within academia, denomination, historical milestones and key approaches. This review elicits the different stages of evolution leading to the field’s current position and its particular interaction with Law. The focus is placed on commonalities as a means to identify distinctive reference points and avenues for further development. A comprehensive categorization of legal texts and the systematic scrutiny of contextual variables are highlighted as pivotal in defining the scope of the discipline and in proposing overarching conceptual and methodological models. Analyzing the applicability of these models and their impact on legal translation quality is considered a priority in order to reinforce interdisciplinary specificity in line with professional needs.

scholarly journals AN INTEGRATED MODEL FOR TRANSLATING LEGAL TEXTS

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 64
Author(s):  
Alenka Kocbek
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Law ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Legal Culture ◽  
Specific Situation ◽  
Translation Process ◽  
Third Language ◽  
Skopos Theory ◽  
Legal Texts ◽  
Text Types ◽  
Legal Communication

The paper proposes a model for translating legal texts which is intended to direct the translation process through a series of stages to the final product—a skopos-oriented target text in which the potential pitfalls resulting from translating between different legal languages and systems have been considered. The model unites different translation stances (Snell-Hornby’s integrated approach, the functionalist views with the skopos theory and the concept of cultureme, as well as Chesterman’s theory of memes) with the findings of comparative law regarding differences between legal systems and their impact on legal languages. It consists of ten stages, each addressing one of the specific linguistic and extralinguistic aspects of legal text types. When translating legal texts, a very specific situation may arise with respect to the cultural embeddedness of the target text, since memes of different legal cultures may co-exist on its various levels. This is especially the case when the parties involved in legal communication occurring through translation decide to use a third language as a lingua franca, which may lack any direct correlation with the legal culture(s) underlying such communication.

scholarly journals STATE-OF-THE-ART TRENDS IN THE INTERNATIONAL LEGAL TRANSLATION STUDIES

2021 ◽  
pp. 184-190
Author(s):  
Анна Владимировна Бородина
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Corpus Linguistics ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Comparative Law ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Relevant Research ◽  
Legal Translation ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
Sociological Approaches ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Methods

В статье приводится обзор ключевых тенденций в изучении юридического перевода за рубежом на современном этапе, включая корпусную лингвистику, социологические методы, комбинацию количественных и качественных методов, инструментарий сравнительного правоведения. Подчёркивается трансграничность научного знания о юридическом переводе и методах его получения. Обращается внимание на специфичность нотариального перевода как преимущественно российского феномена. Намечаются перспективы применения актуальной методологии юридического переводоведения к изучению нотариального перевода в Российской Федерации. The paper provides a review of current trends in the legal translation studies worldwide including corpus linguistics, sociological approaches, combination of quantitative and qualitative methods and research tools of comparative law. The transboundariness of the scientific knowledge on legal translation and relevant research methods is high-lighted. The author pinpoints specificity of the notarized translation as a predominantly Russian phenomenon and delineates applicability of the relevant methodological grounds of legal translation studies to the research on the notarized translation in Russia.

The problem of equivalence in translating legal texts

2011 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandro Paolucci
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Law ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Translation Process ◽  
Central Topic ◽  
Legal Texts ◽  
General Translation

AbstractAlthough it is a subject of continuous debate and a frequent source of controversy, the concept of equivalence remains a central topic in translation studies. The solution to any translation problem is obviously far beyond the mere linear transposition of a source text into a target language and, particularly when translating legal texts, specialists in comparative law and legal translators continuously strive to find the most equivalent term or concept in the target language. After briefly presenting equivalence issues in general translation, this article examines the problem of equivalence in legal texts. It stresses the relevance of terminological equivalence, including as a translation process that may compete with others within the same text.

scholarly journals ZUR VERSTÄNDLICHKEIT VON ÜBERSETZUNGEN DEUTSCHER UND POLNISCHER GERICHTSBENENNUNGEN

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 65-84
Author(s):  
Paweł BIELAWSKI
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Law ◽  
Legal Systems ◽  
Legal Translation ◽  
Legal Literature ◽  
Legal Texts ◽  
Translation Techniques ◽  
Legal Communication

The focus of this paper is centered on the translation of German and Polish court names. Based on a thorough analysis of the translation terms used in legal literature and dictionaries, the author concludes that the court names are often being translated in a way that makes it impossible for the reader to correctly identify the institution in question, thus undermining the comprehensibility of the target texts significantly.Pointing to the differences between the court systems of Germany and Poland, the author contemplates whether the dissimilarities between two institutions from different legal systems need always to be marked in the translation. On the basis of the comparative law theory, the meaning features essential for both legal communication and legal translation are identified and presented.In the next part, the author examines how to translate the court names so that the institution at issue is instantly recognizable in the target text. As a result, three comprehensive translation techniques are proposed.The presented translation techniques shall contribute to improving the comprehensibility of legal texts, and constitute an alternative to the  descriptive translation of these institutions.

scholarly journals Current (2015) Professional Profiles of the Legal Translator in Greece: A Function-oriented Comparison

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 20
Author(s):  
Panagiotis G. Krimpas
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Law ◽  
The Other ◽  
Text Linguistics ◽  
Interdisciplinary Field ◽  
Legal Translation ◽  
General Law ◽  
Technical Translation ◽  
Legal Texts ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Ideal

<p>Like translation in general, and even law itself, legal translation is an interdisciplinary field. Legal linguistics (jurilinguistics), comparative law, general law, terminology, text-linguistics and pragmatics, all have a share in legal translation. The latter is generally viewed as a sort of technical translation (Venuti 1995: 41) and legal language as a technical language (Cao 1997: 18). Those who argue for its special status often claim that legal translation is the antipode of technical translation (Bocquet 2000: 16). On the other hand, there are scholars who argue against this special status of legal translation, claiming there is nothing special about legal translation (Harvey 2002: 180). More moderate views are also found (Herbots 1987: 814). In such questions it takes no true/false answer. Rather, there are many sorts of legal translation. Of course, each view has different implications as far as the legal translator’s skills are concerned. Our discussion starts with a presentation of some key-views about legal translation, with particular emphasis on opposing ones. Then we present the main professional profiles of the legal translator in Greece and the relevant legislation. Who does translate legal texts? What skills do they have? How do they describe their profession and/or services in social media and/or professional websites? Who is the ideal legal translator for the several categories of clients? Which is the right kind of education and/or training for every sort of legal translator? Those are some of the questions that this article tries to give an answer to. After presenting the main functions of translated legal texts, the article closes with a comparison of legal translator’s professional profiles in Greece on the basis of those text functions.</p>

scholarly journals School of Juridical English

2014 ◽  
pp. 216-217
Author(s):  
I. G. Fedotova
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
English Language ◽  
Legal Aspects ◽  
Associate Professor ◽  
Legal Interpretation ◽  
Commercial Law ◽  
Legal Translation ◽  
Anglo American ◽  
Legal Concepts ◽  
Further Development

The Department of English Language № 8 works with students of the Faculty of International Law. The unique school of teaching legal aspects of the English language is one of the most significant achievements of the department. Associate Professor V.F. Nazarov was one of professionals, was at the origin of this school. In 1992 the textbook "The course of the legal interpretation of Anglo-American Commercial Law" was published, which was the result of work of group of specialists in legal translation since early 1970s. The book laid foundation for the further development of the school of teaching legal aspects of the English language. After1990stheteaching of the legal aspects of English language was brought to the next level, marked of the by the creation of the educational complex "Legal concepts and categories in the English language" by I.G. Fedotova and G.P. Tolstopyatenko, based on the new competence-based concept of educating professional international lawyers.

scholarly journals METODA KONTRASTYWNA I KRYTERIA TEKSTUALNOŚCI W PRZEKŁADZIE TEKSTÓW PRAWNICZYCH

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 89-113
Author(s):  
Paweł BIELAWSKI
Keyword(s):  
Legal System ◽  
Comparative Law ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Legal Translation ◽  
Legal Texts ◽  
The Status ◽  
Functional Equivalent ◽  
Similarities And Differences

This paper focuses on legal translation. First, the author defines legal texts and points to particular responsibility related with legal translation resulting from the status of these texts. Turning to the aspects of translation, the author underlines the boundness of each legal system to the country it is in force. At the same time, he points to the conceptual and terminological uniqueness resulting from this boundness. Against this backdrop, the premisses of, both, the comparative law and comparative terminology are presented. With regard to legal translation the similarities and differences existing between both comparative approaches are stated. In the final step, the author points to the importance of seven standards of textuality in legal translation. The purpose of the present paper is to emphasize the importance of the comparative approach and of the textuality for legal translation. The Author stresses here these aspects of translation which allow the  target text to become a functional equivalent to the source text.

Language as a phenomenon of the third kind

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-229
Author(s):  
Ewa Dąbrowska
Keyword(s):  
Language Change ◽  
Invisible Hand ◽  
Social Phenomenon ◽  
Speech Community ◽  
Communicative Interaction ◽  
Levels Of Abstraction ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
The Third ◽  
Dual Perspective ◽  
Micro Level

AbstractWhile many linguists view language as either a cognitive or a social phenomenon, it is clearly both: a language can live only in individual minds, but it is learned from examples of utterances produced by speakers engaged in communicative interaction. In other words, language is what (Keller 1994. On language change: The invisible hand in language. London: Taylor & Francis) calls a “phenomenon of the third kind”, emerging from the interaction of a micro-level and a macro-level. Such a dual perspective helps us understand some otherwise puzzling phenomena, including “non-psychological” generalizations, or situations where a pattern which is arguably present in a language is not explicitly represented in most speakers’ minds. This paper discusses two very different examples of such generalizations, genitive marking on masculine nouns in Polish and some restrictions on questions with long-distance dependencies in English. It is argued that such situations are possible because speakers may represent “the same” knowledge at different levels of abstraction: while a few may have extracted an abstract generalization, others approximate their behaviour by relying on memorised exemplars or lexically specific patterns. Thus, a cognitively realistic usage-based construction grammar needs to distinguish between patterns in the usage of a particular speech community (a social phenomenon) and patterns in speakers’ minds (a cognitive phenomenon).

scholarly journals Peculiarities and main characteristics of the legal English language

Litera ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 177-182
Author(s):  
Natalia Kurchinskaya-Grasso
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
English Language ◽  
Comparative Method ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Entire System ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Linguistic Structure ◽  
Legal Texts ◽  
Descriptive Method

This article examines the peculiarities of the legal English language as the object of translation studies. Currently, English language is dominant in international relations and business, and plays a significant role as legal language within the European Union. Legal English is a global phenomenon. This style of English language is used by the lawyers and other legal experts in their work. In the conditions of globalization of English language, it is necessary to be scrupulous about translation of the legal English in order to avoid inaccuracies in the entire system of international law. Therefore, the goal of this article consists in consideration of the unique characteristics of legal English associated with its origin, terminology, linguistic structure, linguistic peculiarities, and punctuation. The work employs descriptive method, comparative method, and method of applied comparative jurisprudence. The conclusion is made that legal English developed under the influence of languages previously used in the legal system, which is reflected in modern legal terminology and linguistic structure of the legal English language and requires attention in translation. Taking into account the aforementioned peculiarities would be of much help the legal translator in working with legal texts in English language.

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