Terminological issues in official translations of international environmental conventions. The case of Greek as a target language

Panagiotis G. Krimpas & Despina Karadimou

• Download the full document in PDF [English]

• HTML version of the abstract and keywords [English]:

Title

Terminological issues in official translations of international environmental conventions. The case of Greek as a target language

Abstract

In this paper we discuss twenty-two representative cases of terminologically conditioned translation issues detected in a corpus of twenty Greek target texts of environmental conventions and/or their respective protocols or amendments, signed between 1946 and 2001. We classify such issues in ten special categories and assign them to three major profiles. For each category we examine problematic equivalents by drawing on terminology theory or translation studies. Where appropriate, we propose a more satisfactory equivalent on the basis of the relevant ISO 704:2009 principles and mechanisms for term formation. The paper concludes that Greek translations of environmental legal texts – especially older ones – are often variously unsatisfactory with respect to terminology, which evinces the need for careful use of such texts in the Hellenic Republic.

Keywords

Environmental terminology, international conventions, ISO 704:2009, legal translation, term formation

DOI 10.17462/para.2018.01.03