Translationpolicy and terminology in the European Union

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Translation(policy) and terminology in the
European Union

• Terminology and Society
• 14-17. November 2006.
• Antwerp
• Márta Fischer
• marta.fischer1_at_gmail.com

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• Language means of communication
• Language most spectacular element of Europes
  diversity
• Language cultural heritage
• Language potential barrier in the free movement
  of European citizens
• Language element of minority rights
• Language identity
• Language costs

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Language Policy at European level

• Not codified as a policy neither in primary nor
  in secondary legislation
• Implicit policy may be deduced
• competence of the Union at the different
  communication levels
• led by the principles equality and linguistic
  diversity

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EU competenceat the different comunication levels

• at institutional level
• within the institutions
• between the institutions and the citizens of
  Europe
• legislative competence
• regulation in primary and secondary law
• Treaty and official and working languages
• at European citizen level
• no legislative competence, education is not
  harmonised
• measures are supportive, complementary
• recommendations (mother tongue2)

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Principles

• EU intergovernmental and supranational
• Unique approach
• I. equality
• using the theory of official languages
• 20 (all) official languages of the MSs
• II. diversity
• providing programs
• counterbalancing the de facto inequality of
  languages
• supporting minority/regional languages

effectiveness
Unity in diversity
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Principle of Equality

• Raison d?tre direct effect of Community law
• fundamental principle of a democratic state law
  available in the official languages of the state
• Languages on equal footing
• Treaty languages
• Article 314
• 20Irish, in which the Treaty is authentic
• Official and working languages
• Article 290 -------- Council regulation 1958/1.
• 20IrishRumanian, Bulgarian (from 2007)
• Equality translation
• Theoretically no translation, but DRAFT

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Translation(policy)

• Practice
• All versions authentic notion of equivalence
• Source language
• dominance of English and French
• drafting by non-mother tongue speakers
• Text
• several modifications in the decision-making
  process
• often bymore than one translator
• Lack of time and forum for wide consensus

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Translation(policy)

• Policy at EU level
• Center/insitution, DGT the biggest
• Supply and demand management (Strategy 2004)
• Recruitment and training of translators (Profile
  for translators)
• Enhanced cooperation with universities (EMT
  project)
• Terminology
• Policy at national level
• Translation before accession at home, after in
  the EU
• Training of translators at universities
• terminology

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Implications for terminology

• Terminology as an asset
• multilingual IATE database
• replacing Eurodicautom, Euterpe, TIS
• EU-terminology in the national languages
• Rare case parallel and continuous creation of a
  multilingual terminology for a specific subject
  field
• Theoretically a subject field equally accessible
  in all the EU official languages (contrary to
  general trends)
• Challenges
• Definition EU-term
• Term formation, variation of terms
• Primary term formation (Sager 1990)
• Secondary term formation (Sager 1990)
• Implications for theories

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Primary term formation

• Creation of a new term
• new form for a new concept
• acquis communautaire, comitology, enhanced
  cooperation, etc
• mono-, bilingual drafting
• influences the source language entrepreneurship
• Variation of terms in EU context
• same form but different concepts
• New meaning given to an existing term
• Deriving from the supranational character (EU vs
  national law)
• directive, etc (Verdejo
• same concept but different forms
• a need for effective communication
• different needs EU citizen vs. eurocrat

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Example

• proposal for a recommendation of the European
  Parliament and of the Council on key competences
  for lifelong learning (COM/2005/0548)
• Basic skills and key competences
• entrepreneurship- debate
• EU context broad (factual knowledge, skills,
  approach)
• national context business oriented

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Secondary term formation

• Bi-, multilingual activity, translation of terms
• Domestication or neologism
• time factor
• incomprehensible in national context
• Horizontal and vertical subsidiarity
• different needs of officials
• preference for easily recognisable terms (with
  French, English)
• translation of directives
• Terminology in the translated directive vs.
  terminology in national law (implemented
  directive)
• Diploma
• policy aspects
• translators, time factor, consensus
• national involvment

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Example

• Horizontal and vertical subsidiarity
• Finnish considerations
• Horizontal subsidiarity
• better fit participatory democracy
• Vertical subsidiarity at institutional level
• Source Half-day seminar, theme Rethinking the
  principle of subsidiarity in Helsinki
  Head-Library on Tuesday, May13th 2003 . Report by
  The Consumers (Kuluttajat-Konsumenterna ry),
  Finland

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Example

• EN diploma, diploma, certificate, attestation
  of competence
• FR diplôme, diplôme, certificat, attestation de
  compétence
• DE Diplom, Diplom, Prüfungszeugnis,
  Befähigungsnachweis
• Hungarian translation
• EU directive
• oklevél, oklevél, bizonyítvány, alkalmassági
  igazolás
• Hungarian Act on the Recognition of Diplomas
• oklevél, végbizonyítvány, bizonyítvány,
  alkalmassági tanúsítvány
• Council directive 92/51 and 89/48

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New theoretical approaches in terminology and the
EU context

• Traditional v. new theories of terminology
• Common points in the new approaches
• (Cabré 2000, 2003, LHomme 2005, Temmerman 2000)
• term to be considered in a context
• term to play a communicative role
• term as a polysemic unit
• term with a dynamic function - coherence and
  cohesion
• different terminology different text types

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Research

• EU-texts EU-terms
• a rather unexploited research field both in
  terminology and in corpus linguistics
• Corpus linguistics a role to play
• Text as object of terminological research, new
  approaches
• (Nuopponen 1993, 1996, Collett 2004, LHomme
  2002, 2004)
• Results would provide
• theoretical basis for practical decisions
• arguments in favour of a more coherent national
  involvment

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• Thank you for your attention!
• Danke für Ihre Aufmerksamkeit!
• Merci beaucoup de votre attention!
• Köszönöm a figyelmet!