Introduction

Translation has played a major part in communication between languages and cultures.
Without translation modern technology could never have been transferred between nations.
Translation can be applied to all fields of language including legal, religious, literary and medical
language etc. Difficulties can arise from the fact that the language of science and technology has its
own characteristic terminology.
Terms are the key concept in the translation of any kind of technical text. In translating
technical terms, one is often faced with the problem of neologism, acronysm and abbreviation.
Translation has often been viewed as the process of establishing equivalence between the source
language (SL) and the target language (TL). Finding equivalents is the most problematic stage of
translation, as equivalence (which means sameness or similarity) is a key concept in translation
studies.
Scientific and technical translation is very important in its effects on people’s lives. A
translator's failure to achieve an appropriate equivalent translation will result in an incorrect
translation which may be misleading in most fields but can have very serious consequences in the
field of medicine. Medical terms are the main challenge for a translator of medical texts. Therefore,
a translator should be aware of the importance of understanding the medical terms he/she comes
across during the translation process in both languages and should also be aware of the sensitivity of
the subject matter. The present study aims to examine a specific translation problem, i.e., medical
terms.
The study investigates the problems of medical terms. This study is an attempt to investigate
the scope, problems and intricacies of translating medical terms from English into Arabic, and to
illustrate the importance of training in medical translation. This study focuses on different types of
medical terms, namely the names of diseases, conditions, parts of the body, tests, symptoms and
medical equipment.
Medical language belongs to the so-called languages for specialists. It differs from everyday
language in the specification of terminology and partially overlaps over the every day usage due to
its constant development. Medical terminology is one of the most complicated and contradictory
languages where medical errors can be deadly serious and lead to life-threatening situations.
When translating medical information should the specialized translator use the medical term
or the lay term for a medical condition, diagnosis, treatment or drug label? Actually the choice of
terminology depends on target audience, whether it is used by professionals or common population.
This term-duality comes up frequently in the Romanian language, too. Having a clear
understanding the translation purpose will help facilitate the process of specialized translation.
In the era of globalization technological development when the dominance of English
language has significantly increased over other major languages, there is still a demand for
specialized translation. Specialized translation refers to any of non-literary texts. It has developed
along with high level of modernization that is in the field of science, economics, politics law and, of
course, medicine. The system of health care is constantly thus there is a continuous increase for a
good qualitative translation of medical information.
Most of medical translations concern general medical material, instructions for medical
devices information for health care professionals and patients, questionnaires, and articles from
medical journals. Although the translators are not professionals in this specialized field, they need to
know how to cope with many translating problems. In this paper we present in some details the
strategy and multilingual semantic implementation for supporting of specialized medical
translations. In attempt to get a balance between theory and practice the translator may encounter
different problems of interpreting the specialized content. In this article we investigate
terminological and phraseological aspects of these problems.
Medical translation as a sensitive subject demands a high degree of consistency and
accuracy in transferring the source text to the target language (TL). The translation of medical terms
generally throws up many challenges. Although some medical terms can be translated without any
difficulty, others are tremendously difficult to translate.
Additionally, there are medical compound terms and abbreviations (that can be ambiguous)
which make it hard for the untrained translator to grasp the intended interpretation, e.g. “CNS”
Central Nervous System- is that part of the nervous system that consists of the brain and spinal
cord., “IS” Immune system-A complex network of cells, tissues, organs, and the substances they
make that helps the body fight infections and other diseases, "CT" Chemoterapy- a treatment that
uses drugs to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from
dividing.The prevalence of use of abbreviations and acronyms in the medical field is high due to
reasons of history as well due to the saving of time and space that they provide in emergencies.
One of the main motivations for studying medical terms is that medical terms are essentialy
interesting as they represent the key concepts within medical texts. Translation in the medical field
is very momentous. There are many medical documents that require translations in the hospitals,
from patient histories to a foreign doctor’s instructions, and even research reports. Translation in
medical field is also very essential as they not only help improve patient care but they also make
life easier for the hospital staff. Translation in medical field can and do save lives, so make sure that
you are using them correctly.

Keywords: medical language, medical terminology, specialized terms, specialized

translation, globalization.
 CHAPTER I. THEORETICAL OVERVIEW ON MEDICAL TRANSLATION
1.1 Brief History of Medical Discourse
Medical discourse comprises a range of forms of communication. Gotti uses the term
specialized discourse as ”the specialist use of language in contexts which are typical of a specialized
community stretching across the academic, the professional, the technical and the occupational area
of knowledge and practice”.1 Three factors are of crucial importance: the user, the domain of use
and special application of language. Medical language is used in expert-expert and expert-lay
communication, with characteristic features varying from genre to genre, depending on the
communicative situation and its participants. Genres used in expert-expert communication such as
discharge summaries, case studies and case notes, imaging reports and research papers use
numerous specialized terms whose semantic value is taken for granted; the only words or phrases
which are explained are those coined or redefined by the author of a paper or a presentation (Gotti
2008). Expert-lay communication covers package leaflets, informed consent documents, patient
factsheets etc., which use (or should use) less complex terminology, which is illustrated or explained
when it occurs for the first time (Gotti 2008). The main characteristics of specialized medical texts
include terminology and syntactic features, such as nominalization, heavy pre- and post-
modification, long sentences, use of passives and third person .2 The sections below present some of
the most prominent features of medical English with particular focus on medical terminology and
related translation problems and challenges.
The scientific world is predominantly English-speaking and major scientific journals
publish papers in English. The share of scientific papers written in English in the total number of
papers published is 80% according to Montgomery (2009) 3and 85% according to Kaplan (2001). 4

But long before English became the lingua franca of science, Latin was the dominant language of
medicine as of the 2 nd century, while Greek remained the language of instruction. All the great
civilizations kept records of medical findings and translation has for a long time supported the

1
Gotti M. 2008 Investigating Specialized Discourse. Peter Lang.
2
Askehave I., Zethsen K. 2000 “Medical Texts Made Simple : Dream or Reality?” Hermes - Journal of Language and
Communication Studies, No. 25, p. 63-74.
3
Montgomery S.L. 2009 “English and Science: realities and issues for translation in the age of an expanding lingua
franca”. The Journal of Specialised Translation. Issue 11.
4
Kaplan R. 2001 “English – the Accidental Language of Science” (in:) Ammon U. The Dominance of English as a
Language of Science: Effects on Other Languages and Language Communities. Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
dissemination of medical knowledge – Greek medical advances were imported to Rome thanks to
physician translators. Physicians translated medical writings to other languages as well, which
included Syriac, Arabic, Farsi, and Hebrew .5
“Changes in medical knowledge and language have overtaken changes in political and
social context during the past 200 years. A major change in medical terminology is well under way,
one that will not wipe out the classical heritage, but enfold it with many layers of heterogeneous
material”6
The modern language of medicine employs modern derivatives of Greek and Latin words
“with no concern for etymological purity” The corpus of Greek and Latin terminology is still the
base of the contemporary medical language, which also uses new eponyms, acronyms and trade
names .
1.2 Term and Terminology
Medicine is a field of knowledge in accelerated scientific and technological development
that each year incorporates a large number of new terms into the medical lexicon. According to
Sager 7terminology is formed by a collection of terms within a particular domain. Cabre 8
defines
terminology as the principal and conceptual base that governs the study of terms, the guidelines used
in terminographic work or its methodology as well as the set of terms of a special study and of a
specific topic.
The most difficult part of the translation work has been to transfer the terminology
specific to this field. As for general terminology as a discipline, Pozzi states that “the ancient
process of naming concepts and objects belonging to a special subject or field constitutes an
essential part of what is now known as the discipline of terminology”9. A translator should follow
principles of terminology like aiming at accuracy which links to Koller’s formal equivalence.10
Specialist terms are great among specialists, but they can make an outsider’s brain shut down.
Everyone knows this, but specialists often underestimate how niche their own jargon is. If you and

5
McMorrow L. 1998 “Breaking the Greco-Roman Mold in Medical Writing: The Many Languages of 20th Century
Medicine”. (in:) Fischbach H. (red.) Translation and Medicine. 13-28 Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
6
McMorrow L. 1998 “Breaking the Greco-Roman Mold in Medical Writing: The Many Languages of 20th Century
Medicine”. (in:) Fischbach H. (red.) Translation and Medicine. 13-28 Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
7
Sager, J. C. 1990. A practical course in terminology processing. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
8
Cabre, M. 1999. Terminology: Theory, methods and application. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
9
Pozzi, Mariá. 1996.Terminology today. In Terminology, LSP and Translation. Studies in language engineering in honour
of Juan C. Sager, ed. by Somers, Harold, 15-33. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
10
Munday, Jeremy.2001. Introducing Translation Studies–Theories and applications. London and New York: Routledge.
all your colleagues use a word every day for years, it becomes familiar and obvious. But that doesn’t
mean knowledge of it has spread more widely.
The terms should be appropriate translation equivalents adapted in spelling and should be
found in up-to-date parallel texts that are representative of the field. Cabré argues that it is essential
to keep to the standardisation of terms to exclude the risk of naming the same concepts with variants
of terms. “The ultimate goal is the achievement of accurate, modern and unambiguous professional
communication” 11
Primarily, there are three categories of medical terms, each used within its specific group
of people for communication, information and documentation :
 scientific medical terms used among professional medical staff
 general medical terms used between medical staff and patients
 medical terms used among medical staff (often jargon)
Medical terms are used for describing diagnoses, body organs and diseases. Medical staff
needs to know Graeco-Latin terms to understand medical documentation properly and for the
communication between professional medical people.

1.2.1 Medical terminology vs Lay terminology

Differential understanding of lay and medicalese terminology, and the subsequent effects
on lay perceptions of disease seriousness, representativeness and prevalence should be taken into
consideration during medical communication with the public. The role of medical language can
impact public perception of illness in such domains as advertising and press releases, and has larger
implications for the controversy surrounding the medicalization of the disorders along the fringes of
health. Additionally, future directions of research include investigating the role of medical language
in a patient's decision to seek care and the evaluation of not only medical information drawn from
the internet, but decisions to seek treatment, how quickly, and whether to comply with that
treatment. This kind of patient decision making, or self-triage has obvious implications for health
care and the dissemination of health related information.
Medical terminology is difficult for several reasons. First of all, it is a jargon to facilitate
professional communication. Secondly, it is in a continuous growth due to new additions, whether

11
Cabré, Teresa. 1996. Quality assurance of terminology available on the international computer networks. In
Terminology, LSP and Translation. Studies in language 18 engineering in honour of Juan C. Sager, ed. by Somers,
Harold, 67-82. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
new terminology is based on Latin/ Greek or not. Thirdly, synonymic terms function simultaneously
with probably minor shades of different meanings. Fourthly, there is a lack of standardisation in
12
most languages. This is the case of both English and Romanian. There have been attempts in
13
standardising medical English in recent years, such as the Unified Medical Language System or
SNOMED ,14Having access to such databases greatly facilitates not only the work of a translator but
also the work of the professional in medicine.
1.3 Challenges Faced by Medical Translations
The language of medicine is in constant change and development. New terms are added,
other ones become redundant. Hence, there are numerous difficulties translators have to face when
translating medical texts. The terminology of clinical disciplines poses a great challenge to any
translator. Terms relating to pathological anatomy abound in medical literature, in diagnoses or
names of diseases. It is indubitable that Greek and Latin represent the basis of medical terminology
in English. However, as linguistic units will sometimes not suffice to describe current advances in
sciences, terminology may “use modern derivatives of old Greek and Latin words”15
When a translator has to contend with translating medical documents, he or she must
translate special collocations, idiomatic expressions, connotation, register, style, structure,
terminology and syntax in his/her quest for an accurate translation. For the purposes of this article,
I'm going to delve into the particular problems that arise at the word level, as opposed to the levels
of grammatical equivalence, textual equivalence and pragmatic equivalence.
If originally medical language derived from classical Greek and Latin roots, the reality
today has shifted to compositions of words borrowed from ordinary English. This could be the case
of terms like screening, bypass, stent, pacemaker, and so on. The influence of English is so powerful
that many languages simply borrow the terms in their English form instead of searching for
correspondents or finding local variants. Since many such terms describe new realities, importing
the word seems to be the best choice in covering the lexical gap.

12
Costarelli, L. et al, Intraductal Proliferative Lesions of the Breast Terminology and BiologyMatter: Premalignant
Lesions or Preinvasive Cancer?, in International Journal of Surgical Oncology, Volume 2012, Article ID 501904, available
online at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3357964/?tool=pmcentrez, viewed March 31 2012
13
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/research/umls/
14
http://www.ihtsdo.org/snomed-ct/
15
McMorrow, Leon, Breaking the Greco-Roman Mold in Medical Writing: The Many Languages of 20th Century
Medicine in Translation and Medicine, Volume X, Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company,
Fischbach, Henry (ed.) (1998)
 1.3.1 Linguistic Problems
There are two levels of grammatical problems in translation: morphology and syntax. If
morphology examines aspects as compounding, inflexion, derivation, etc, syntax will regard the
arrangement and relationship of words in sentences. The syntactic structure of a language imposes
different boundaries on the way messages are organised in that particular language, which results in
various difficulties in translations. Choices in a language are of two types: grammatical and lexical.
Regarding translation, the most important difference between these two options is that while lexical
choices are somewhat optional, grammatical ones are compulsory. Another difference is the fact
that, unlike lexical structures, grammatical structures are more rigid, resisting change. New words,
terms, concepts are much easier to be introduced into a language than to alter any of its grammar
structures or systems, which would require an extended period of time. Synchronically, changes in
the grammar systems of languages are practically invisible, while lexical changes can be recorded.
It is such differences in the grammar systems of the source language and the target
language which impose alterations in the content of information during translation. Such alterations
can be done either by adding the necessary information or by removing the parts which would be
irrelevant in the target language text. Baker points out that “a translation which repeatedly indicates
information that is normally left unspecified in the target language is bound to sound
unnatural”.16Another difference across linguistic systems is that of tense. Authors of Romanian
medical research articles frequently use the past tense. Since such temporal structures are not 700
necessarily linked to time markers in Romanian, translators may run into difficulties in choosing the
English past or the present perfect. In the Introduction section of a biomedical paper, for example,
reference might be made to the work of other authors, which, in English, should make use of the
present perfect.
As Newmark notes “the medical translator has much more freedom with grammar than
with lexis” 17. In order for a translated biomedical article to be accurate and to rise to the standards
of the target language, the translator has to match the frequency of features of the source language
text (terminology, compounds, syntax, word order) to equal frequency of the corresponding feature
in the target language text (ibid.). Since medical English has a sober, moderate and conservative

16
Baker, Mona, In Other Words. A Coursebook on Translation, London and New York: Routledge, (1992)
17
Newmark, Peter, A layman’s view of medical translation, British Medical Journal, Vol. 2, No. 6202, Dec. 1 1979, BMJ
Publishing Group
style, the translator has to determine both the degree of formality and the technicality of the target
language text. Newmark also notes that components of a text depend on three types of context: -
linguistic, since words in isolation may have different meanings than in combinations; - situational,
to connect to the extra-linguistic reality; - cultural, because words may have different meanings in
different languages In the case of scientific texts, in general, and biomedical articles in particular,
the translator has to adhere to the norms that govern such types of texts in the target language.
1.4 Techniques of Medical Terms Transaltions
A medical translator should be a professional, since any sort of wrong translation or
mistake could trigger serious consequences. Jaaskelainen considers that the translation strategy is “a
series of competencies, a set of steps or processes that favor the acquisition, storage, and/or
utilization of information”18 . In his turn, W. Loescher understands by translation strategy “a
potentially conscious procedure for solving a problem faced in translating a text, or any segment of
it”19 . Direct translation techniques and oblique translation techniques, which are going to be dealt
with in this paper, are among the most commonly used. It is noteworthy that each field has its own
linguistic features, therefore needing an appropriate approach when it comes to translation.
1.4.1 Direct Translation Techniques
Direct translation occurs when there is an “exact structural, lexical, even morphological
equivalence between two languages”, only possible when the two languages are very close to each
other20. These translation procedures are borrowing, calque and literal translation.
Borrowing in translation does not refer to the words borrowed “officially”, but mostly to
the ones that are unknown to the reader. Take for example the following sentence, found on a
website designed to inform people about medicine: “Tomografia computerizată (CT) foloseşte
razele X pentru a crea imagini detaliate ale structurilor din interiorul corpului”5 . The sentence uses
two different terms for the concept described. At the beginning, we have “tomografie
computerizată,” which in English would be “computed tomography”. Nevertheless, the abbreviation
given in parenthesis is “CT”, which is actually the English abbreviation for “computed
tomography.” Irrespective of the purpose, this is clearly an instance of borrowing. The problem in

18
R. Jaaskelainen, (1999). Tapping the process: an explorative study of cognitive and effective factors involved in
translating. Joensuu: University of Joensuu Publications in Humanities. p. 71
19
W. Loescher, (1991). Translation performance, translation process and translation strategies. Tuebingen: Guten
Narr., p. 8
20
Lucia Molina and Amparo Hurtado Albir (2002). “Translation Techniques Revisited: A Dynamic and Functionalist
Approach.” Translators’ Journal. 47.4., p. 499, Web. 03 Jun. 2013. .
this case is with borrowing abbreviations, since a reader without any medical or linguistic
background regarding English language would not know what the abbreviation stands for and where
it comes from.
Regarding calque, it is another type of borrowing where the target text borrows an
expression form from the source language and then translates literally each of its elements. This
technique of translation is mostly used for names of organizations, but not only. Some calques can
be widely accepted, but if the calque is unsuccessful, then it could cause confusion because of
unfamiliarity. Examples of calques include “hemolytic serum” translated in Romanian as “ser
hemolitic”. Romanian medical language also uses “ser hemolizant,” and this term is used even more
often than the first. Nevertheless, the presence of “ser hemolitic” in the Romanian medical language
is a clear indication of calque in translation.
The word-for-word or the literal translation represents the direct transfer (and translation)
of the explicit features of the source language into the target language. It is noteworthy that the
literal translation could be used in several languages and only under certain circumstances, but not
all of them, since the technique is dependent on the sentence structure. Such an instance is
represented by the following fragment, first translated word-for-word (see Translation I – Ro) and
afterwards translated by having in view various techniques (see Translation II – Ro):
Anex 1.

Source text: Eng Translation I (literal) – Ro Translation II – Ro

Cancer cells differ from Cancerul celulelor diferă de celulele Celulele canceroase diferă de
normal cells in many normale în multe feluri care le celulele sănătoase în multe
ways that allow them to permit să crească din control și să feluri care le permit să crească
grow out of control and devină invazive. O diferență în exces devenind invazive. O
become invasive. One importantă este că cancerul celuleor diferență importantă este că
important difference is sunt mai puțin specializate decât celulele canceroase se
that cancer cells are less celulele normale. deosebesc mai puțin decât
specialized than normal celulele sănătoase.
cells.
 It is noteworthy that the word-for-word translation does make sense in certain contexts.
Nevertheless, a major problem was represented by the grammatical structure. In Romanian, the
adjective usually follows the noun, whereas in English, exactly the opposite. This is why the
expression “celule canceroase”, the correct expression in Romanian – by use of transposition,
becomes “canceroase celule”, while translating word-for-word.
1.4.2 Oblique Translation Techniques
According to Molina and Hurtado Albir, “oblique translation occurs when word for word
translation is impossible”21 . The oblique translation procedures are transposition, modulation,
equivalence and adaptation.
By means of transposition, the sequence of different parts of speech is changed during
translation; for example, in the table above, the expression “cancer cells” is translated in Romanian
by “celule canceroase” The process of transposition implies the fact that grammatical structures
often differ from one language to another and, therefore, different translation approaches are
requested. Nevertheless, not only sequence is shifted in transposition. The technique also consists in
replacing a grammatical category in the source language by another in the target language, without
changing the meaning of the message.
This technique implies a more complex change of semantic perspective and involves a
shift in perspective, in point of view, or the replacement of the abstract by the concrete, or the means
by the result – such as in “screening tests”, which in Romanian are “teste de prevenţie”. The most
important aspect in modulation is nuance, since the target text has to sound natural to its readers. For
example, “It is easy to understand” would be translated better through “Este uşor de înţeles” rather
than “Nu este dificil de înţeles” (“It is not difficult to understand”), since the latter version suggests
a previous supposition of difficulty, but the first one only conveys the message clearly and without
interference.
Equivalence is used when a restricted meaning and situation in the source language
implies maintenance in the target language by finding completely different stylistic and lexical
means. Equivalence involves the message in its entirety and is the case of set phrases, proverbs,
clichés, idiomatic phrases etc, as is “ouch!” (“au!”). Adaptation is required when there is no
correspondence in the target language for a certain source language term or expression, situation

21
Lucia Molina, op. Cit., p. 502
which rarely happens in medicine. Adaptation is mostly necessary when the target language has no
referential event, situation, or custom similar to one in the source language.
C. Seguinot implies the fact that a translator needs to adopt at least three major strategies
when dealing with specialized translation. The first strategy implies that a translation should be
written without interruptions for as long as possible. The second strategy implies that surface errors
should be corrected immediately. A third strategy presented by Seguinot is that the stylistic or
qualitative errors should be left for the revision step.22
1.4.3 Difficulties Encountered in the Translation of Medical Texts
An important process which should be taken into account when dealing with a translation
is represented by the analysis of the source text, also known as TOSTA (Translation Oriented
Source Text Analysis). This analysis helps the translator discover important key elements, such as
the function of the text, its target readers, (who may have different backgrounds, ages, and
knowledge about the subject), as well as “source text elements that need to be preserved or adapted
in translation”23 .
In order to preserve the fidelity toward the source text and the equivalence in terms of
wordiness, medical translators face numerous problems. This analysis would help the translator
identify several possible translation issues and elaborate a translation strategy in order to solve these
issues. According to Christiane Nord, there are four main translation problems (i.e. pragmatic,
linguistic, cultural and text-specific) which require specific transfer strategies and which should
represent the starting point of the translation process. Therefore, the translator should identify these
four issues before he/she starts working.24
For example, the translation of the question “Can you diagnose a cancer?” (“Poţi
diagnostica cancerul?”) is tightly connected to the speaker’s communicative intention. In this case,
the translator does not know whether the question is a request for information or for action. This
aspect could cause problems to the target text, since the question could be interpreted in at least two
or three ways in Romanian, for example: “Ai cunoştinţele necesare pentru a diagnostica cancerul?”,
“Ai timpul necesar pentru a diagnostica cancerul?” or “Dispui de condiţiile necesare pentru a
diagnostica cancerul?”

22
C. Seguinot, (1989). The translation process. Toronto: H.G. Publications. p. 87-88
23
C. Nord (1997), Text Analysis in Translation: Theory, Methodology and Didactic Application of a Model for
Translation-Oriented Text Analysis. Amsterdam: Rodopi. p. 21
24
Idem, p. 47
 Linguistic problems arise from differences in structure concerning syntax and vocabulary,
both in the source language and in the target language. The author argues that these problems could
be caused by certain terms belonging to the “false friends” group, or by situations of equivalence,
either one-to-many, or one-to-zero. Nevertheless, linguistic problems also occur because of lack of
grammar and/or style knowledge both of the source and of the target language. This is precisely the
aspect that requires a translator to have extended knowledge of all the languages he or she is
working with in terms of vocabulary, grammar, syntax, expressions, domains, but also culture.
Take for example the following phrase: “good cells”. The problems is that without context
or a determinant, the translator would not know how to translate the word “good” without context,
since in The Dictionary of the English Language attributes to it not one or two definitions, but more
definitions. Nevertheless, without any context, which of the other definitions would suit this
sentence? Fortunately, a translator does not usually translate one sentence only, but at least a text
containing several sentences from which he or she could obtain a clue about what means “good” in
the sentence.
Lucía Ruiz Rosendo writes that medical language is no exception to specialized languages
as to the abusive use of acronyms. The author explains that acronyms are most difficult to translate,
especially in those cases when the original meaning of the acronym has been forgotten. 25 For
example (AACR = American Association for Cancer Research; SIOP= International Society of
Paediatric Oncology; UKACR= UK Association of Cancer Registeries; ABPI= Association of the
British Pharmaceutical Industry ABTA American Brain Tumour Association; CCG =Children's
Cancer Group (USA); FECS= Federation of European Cancer Societies; ICARE = International
Cancer Alliance for Research and Education;).
One of the main difficulties faced by a medical translator is that many abbreviations and
acronyms are used in the medical field. Acronyms and abbreviations are two of the most common
elements in written and oral medical communication. Extremely long terms presenting names of
diseases, names of chemical compounds or names of therapies hardly ever appear in the full form,
because this would hinder efficient communication. The popularity of abbreviations is strongly
related to the “time economy” they provide, so needed in most of medical emergencies. Moreover,
abbreviations enable medical professionals to “encrypt” the true meaning of what is they denote,
thus making the content somewhat inaccessible to the patient who might not have extensive or

25
Lucia Luis Rosendo, op. cit., p. 238
enough medical knowledge in order to understand the respective text. Although, at times, this is
advisable due to certain ethical reasons, the extensive use of abbreviations tend to obscure the
meaning in many situations, as they might be the source of ambiguity, since even in highly technical
fields, one acronym or abbreviation may stand for several different terms. However, Latin acronyms
are rarely used, as in English medical discourse English terminology is preferred. Latin has been
preserved largely in pharmacology, and especially in English prescription-writing. Latin prescription
abbreviations are generally spelled in italicized letters, having dots in-between. Often, these
abbreviations relate to the administration of medicines. Latin abbreviations are indeed a common
source of translation difficulties, since finding their full form often proves to be problematic. The
knowledge of the Latin roots helps professionals in the field of medicine understand medical texts in
various languages.26 Irrespective of the use rate of Latin abbreviations in English, Romanian doctors
mostly use Romanian abbreviations for prescriptions indications. Examples of abbreviations : (CLL
Chronic lymphocytic Leukaemia; CT Chemotherapy ; GCT Germ Cell Tumour; HCC
Hepatocellular Carcinoma; HD Hodgkin's Disease (lymphoma); MM Malignant Myelanoma; NHL
Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma; NMSC Non Melanoma Skin Cancer; NSCLC Non-small cell lung
cancer; OS Osteogenic sarcoma (context bone tumours); PLB Primary Lymphoma of Bone; RCC
Renal Cell Carcinoma).
Another major translating problem is represented by content errors, “such as typographical
errors, incorrect uses of terms, errors in writing, and ambiguities”27. The most problematic problems
for medical translators are, in Engels’s opinion, noun stacking, ambiguities, decimals, abbreviations
and vagueness. 28Regarding the first problem, Engels argues that noun stacking includes the range of
nouns used to from a word with one meaning starting from as little as two nouns to having virtually
no maximum amount of nouns. The problem with ambiguities lays in the context, or rather the
omission of context, Engels writes; “for if the context allows no further indications as to what is
meant the translator has little option but to maintain the ambiguity in his target text”. However,
especially in the case of medicine, ambiguities must not exist. The translator has the responsibility to
prevent errors from happening and to deliver a high quality translation. If a mistake is made in the

26
0 Katrin Herget (1999). "The Spanish Language in Medicine."Medical Translation 3.3. Borkorlang. Web. 04 Jun 2013.
27
Simon Andriesen (2006). ‘Medical Translation: What Is It, and What Can the Medical Writer Do to Improve Its
Quality?’. AMWA Journal. Vol. 21:4, p. 157-158.
28
Engels, op. cit., p. 23
translation of a prescription for medicinal intake, for example, if the translator accidentally places a
decimal wrongly, therefore changing the intake, the consequences can be catastrophic.
Fischbach characterizes a good translating as being “the rewriting in the foreign language
of the ideas contained in the original”29. He argues that a translation should be “invisible”, i.e. the
foreign-language reader of the translated text should be unaware of the fact that the respective is a
translation.30 An obvious translation would confuse the reader, since unusual topics, odd meanings,
or unfamiliar metaphors are common with inexperienced translators. The reader should have the
impression that the translated text was in fact written originally in his/ her own language. In
Fischbach’s opinion, a good technical translator should have three main qualities: “have a fairly
extensive knowledge of, and be able to reason in, the subject matter of the translation; be able to
read the language he is translating well enough so that he can grasp the author's intended meaning;
be able to embody that meaning in lucid and straightforward language”.31
1.4.4 The Difficulties In Translating Medical Terminology
Medicine is universal, but language not, and without a full understanding of the medical
terms, medical concepts, and medical terminology is impossible to construct a complete translation
that captures the universal medical text. Translating medical documents and medical terms cannot
be entrusted to a person who simply speaks the required language. Thus, there appeared many
translation services founded and managed by mediat translation services by translators with
background in the science of terminology. The translators use medical terminology and slang,
appropriate medical terms and culturally sensitive in order to reflect the intended meaning of a
medical text. While translating people are able to express their ideas to a multilingual audience of
medical professionals and consumers.
Medical translation services are now particularly important because most medical literature
is written in English or German, which are the languages that many people do not speak. Thus,
medical translation is crucial for a wide range of documents. Medical translations will help people
with up to date medical medical essential brochures and medical books and will improve someone's
practice. An investigation was made with the aim of presenting different problems of term
translation from the medical terminological system. One of the problems a translator faces is the
overlap between scientific and popular terms this respect this particular research was made.

29
Fischbach, op. cit., p. 462
30
Idem, p. 463
31
Idem, p. 464
 The scientific and popular terms are established by comparing and contrasting similar
phenomena in one and the same or different languages. The lingust, thus, sets a classification of
linguistic facts : show the meaning of both scientific and popular terms. Scientific terms are those
connected with science, medicine in our case popular terms are those used by ordinary people, not
by a specialist or people with high level of education. The linguistic in order to overcome
considerable hurdles at the terminology level, sets up the English basic list where a scientific term is
considered as equivalent to its popular version.Romance language being closely related to Latin,
many scientific medical terms of a Latin origin pose no problems to native speakers of Romance
languages. Therefore those terms did not require a popular equivalent .
1.4.5 The Terminological Aspect of a Specialized Medical Translation
Perhaps, medical together with religious translations are the oldest fields research since early
times. The scientific methods that are related to our modern medical translations may be dated since
the period of ancient Greece, when first attempts were made by Hippocrates to distinguish between
the divine and logical reasoning. Almost for nine centuries, Latin was the specialized language for
the European universities and physicians, thus most of medical terminology is made up of Greek
and Latin affixes and roots. Although many terms have retained a Greco-Latin core, English become
the lingua franca for medical translation. It is obvious that the predominance of a unique language is
so important for interpreting medical content that most of English specialized terms have been
imported into different languages. It is no doubt, easier to be an expert in medicine, pharmacy and
stomatology but more often translators are not specialists in theses domains and seek for new ways
of learning the language of medicines. One issue that comes up in medical translation is the
terminology proper relating to pathological anatomy,names or diagnoses of diseases, names of
substances or chemicals and so on. Despite the Greco-Latin origin of most terms like for example
hem/(blood) commonly result in forming hybrids of Greco-Latin and English words (haemoglobin)
Changes in spelling, prefixes and suffixes or parallel forms ( as for example /venae/Latin and /veins)
also commonly occur. Moreover, English influence is so strong that sometimes borrow entirely
unchanged rather than find a native equivalent for these terms (/scanning/tests/symptom/) etc. This
is due to such major factors globalization and technology advance, thus a tendency to
standardization for many languages. Romanian is being the case, too. Standardization will certainly
facilitate many issues, such as doctor-patient communication, as well as between medical
professionals, translation of medical documents, prospects, lab researches and drug prospects.
 Another aspect of medical terminology is that it encloses an amount daily words that have
gained a certain medical status. A common -speech word with a medical connotation has been the
word "history” which medically speaking denotes "past medical history” whereas in Romanian it
cannot be translated as “istorie". The Romanian translator will opt for “ anamneza” or
“antecedente". Or for example the common word /conditon has different connotation within the
medical context and will be translated in Romanian "starea sănătății”.
The same occurs with the word "tender" or "drug" which have nothing do with Romanian
“loving and kind” or “narcotics” but will refer to English "painful when touched" and "medicine “.
Thus an expert in translation will choose “dureros la atingere” and “medicament”.
There is also synonymous aspect of specialized language. There can appear different
numerous names of the same word, which are related to one but may be used differently according
to whether they derive from anatomical, pathogenic, descriptive connotation. As example may serve
(“bad cells/ cancer cells”) or (“good cells/ healthy cells/ living cells”)
One of example of abbreviations which are of Latin or Greek origin used in medical field
are: ro.Papilomavirus- eng.Papilomavirus- lt.Papilomavirus.
1.4.6 Phraseological Aspects of a Specialized Medical Translation
Any translation “domesticates foreign texts, inscribing them with linguist and cultural values
that are intelligible to specific domestic constituencies” So far, we have described the medical
terminology as individual units. Nevertheless, medical language is full of various idioms, phrases
and medical jargons that otherwise may get a wrong decoding. Mistranslationof different medical
articles and documentary may be explained by the differences between English and Romanian
culture, use of specific concepts and phrases. There is a series of conventional phrases used for
example in filling in the case, clinical reports, medical documentation that eventually would sound
strange in everyday speech. These conventional phrases if not used properly may lead to
mistranslation or sound less professional. All these specific conventions are context depend and
cannot be generalized. Let's for example take a conventional phrase describe a medical procedure
like" the post-operative course ended uneventfully”, which cannot be literally translated as “…ended
routinely”. This may be translated as "without complications or recurrences" which are used to
describe a particular medical situation or procedure.
Examples of phrases that qualify recommendations are “ it is prudent to recommend" and "is
recommended as probably effective". Both are rather unclear in specifying definite
recommendations. The guideline of medicine including both of the phrases "present data are
insufficient to support the use of [drug A] and "there are no data to support the use of [drug B]” may
serve also an example of misunderstanding. Both statements are considered understandable and right
if taken separately. However, if they are presented together, the reader cannot determine whether
there is more evidence supporting the use of drug A or B, or that both are equally not recommended.
Phraseological units may change instantaneously within a single language but they also
change if they are transferred into different languages. For example, most case reports open with a
standard sentence, such as "A 32-year-old Caucasian female presented with a three-month history of
severe episodic wheezing, cough and extreme dyspnea associated […]”.
The target English language has its conventional phrases, whereas clinical reports differ
considerably when written by a doctor in the USA and Moldova i.e “patient-centered disease
management should address all patient-relevant issues in. an individualized, system-oriented and
multidisciplinary approach […].
Apart from the mastery of translation methodology, extralinguistic knowledge has to be
accompanied by linguistic competence ,which in the case of the translation of specialized texts
might seemingly play a minor role, which means that a professional in the field of medicine might
perform a better translation than a translator who lacks scientific knowledge in the field.
"For linguists the language of medicine is fascinating for the flow of concepts and words
from one tongue to another. For medical doctors, an appreciation of the history and original meaning
of words offers a new dimension to their professional language.”32

32
The language of medicine. Henrik R.Wulff
CHAPTER II. PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF MEDICAL TRANSLATION FROM ENGLISH
INTO ROMANIAN
2.1 Linguistic and Extralinguistic Problems of Rendering Medical Terms
The most typical features of specialized medical texts, i.e. terminology, nominalization,
33 34
heavy pre- and postmodification, long sentences, use of passives hedges metaphors and rich
35
images4 , and, occasionally, the language of evidence-based medicine may constitute the areas of
the greatest challenge to translators, as presented in the passages below – extracts from research
papers translated from Polish to English by the native speakers of the source language.
Medical translation is a complex and interesting phenomenon in which linguistic,
sociocultural, scientific, economic and other factors are at play. That is probably why
multidisciplinary approach is so useful in approaching medical translation in research.
2.1.1 Eponyms
Eponyms constitute a considerable portion of medical terminology; they include names
of anatomical parts, e.g. Albarran's glands, names of diseases : Bard's syndrome (eponym used to
indicate pulmonary metastases from cancer of the stomach), Bence Jones’ syndrome (Kahler's
disease) , a fatal condition with occurrence of multiple malign tumours disease (multiple myeloma)
in the bone marrow, causing disturbances of its function, Bonfils' disease (Hodgkin's disease), a
neoplastic disease of unknown aetiology, considered to be a form of malignant lymphoma,
producing enlargement of lymphoid tissue, spleen, and liver with invasion of other tissues. Eponyms
are frequently derived from the names of researchers, but may also be derived from the names of
celebrity patients, e.g. Hutchison's disease, a common name for a malignant tumor, often
metastasing to the liver, lungs, and bones.
Eponyms may be the source of translation problems - the correspondence between
eponymous terms and their equivalents does not necessarily mean that both source and target terms
will be eponymous, although it may be the case.

33
Askehave I., Zethsen K. 2000 “Medical Texts Made Simple : Dream or Reality?” Hermes - Journal of Language and
Communication Studies, No. 25, p. 63-74.
34
Salager-Meyer F. 1994 ”Hedges and textual communicative function in medical English written discourse.” English
for Specific Purposes 13(2), 149-170.
35
Gajewski P. et al. 2003 “Evidence Based medicine (EBM) współczesną sztuką lekarską. Cele Polskiego Instytutu
Evidence Based Medicine”. Medycyna Praktyczna, 3/2003, 31-34.
Table.1 . Examples of eponyms used in English and Romanian medical language
English eponyms Meaning Romanian eponyms
Abercrombie's tumour This syndrome consists of a malignant tumor, Boala Huntington
(Hutchison's disease) often metastasing to the liver, lungs, and bones.
Ackermann’s A rare locally malignant tumor which is Tumoarea Ackerman
carcinoma (Ackerman's malignant in behaviour but whose pathology is
tumour) relatively benign.
Foster Kennedy's Condition characterised by unilateral ipsilateral Sindromul Kennedy
syndrome (Kennedy's atrophy with contralateral papilloedema,
syndrome) central scotoma, and anosmia (absence of the
sense of smell).
Gartner's tumour A term comprising various ovarial tumours that Chistul Gartner
(Gartner's cyst) are assumed to have developed in persistent
vestiges of mesonephros.
Papanicolaou's test A test for early diagnosis of cervical cancer. Testul Papanicolau
Schiller's test Test for carcinoma of the cervix Testul Schiller
Troisier's node or sign Enlargement of one of the supraclavicular Nodulul Troisier
(Virchow's node) lymph nodes.

Winer’s pore (Winer's A hair structure anomaly that appears as an Porul Winer
dilated pore) enlarged solitary comedo, most commonly on
the face, predominantly on the upper lip, cheek,
or forehead of a middle-aged person
Wilms' cones Cones on the interior wall of dermoid cysts and Conul Wilms
teratoma. Embryonal.
Warthin's tumour Benign salivary gland tumour with lymphoid Tumoarea Warthin
tissue covered by epithelium.
von Hippel-Lindau A disturbance characterised by angiomata of Tumoarea Hippel-
tumour (Hippel-Lindau the retina and cysts and angiomata of the brain Lindau
tumour) and certain visceral organs.

2.1.2 Acronyms and abbreviations

One of the characteristic features of medical language is the presence of acronyms,
initialisms and clipped forms. With English having the status of the lingua franca of medicine,
English acronyms enter other languages and are used both by the medical professionals and patients,
especially if no native acronym is commonly used in the local language e.g. CT, ABC, AML, BMT,
CRC, GCT, HD, HNSCC, HPV, LCH, MM, RCC, VM-26 etc. As presented in the table below, the
correspondence between terms and the type of abbreviation may vary.
Table 2. Examples of abbreviated forms used in English and Romanian medical language
English Romanian
CT Chemotherapy CT Tomografia computerizată
HPV Human Papilloma Virus - implicated in HPV virusul papilloma uman
some gynacological cancers
AML Acute Myeloid leukaemia LMC leucemie mielocitara cronică
qam every morning qAM in fiecare dimineata (cu privire la
administrarea medicamentelor))
qd, QD every day qd în fiecare zi la administrarea
medicamentelor)
qh every hour qh în fiecare ora (cu privire la administrarea
medicamentelor)
qhs each night at bedtime qhs în fiecare seara (cu privire la administrarea
medicamen
qid four times a day qid de 4 ori pe zi (cu privire la administrarea
medicamentelor)
qod, QOD, q.o.d every other day qod o data la 2 zile (cu privire la administrarea
medicamentelor
MM Malignant Myelanoma MM melomă malignă
NHL Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma LNH limfoamele non-hodgkin
CNS Central Nervous System. SNC sistem nervos central
MCT Multichemotherapy PChT polichimioterapie
Table.3 Examples of acronyms used in English and Romanian medical language
English acronym Romanian acronym
AACR American Association for Cancer AACC Asociatia Americana pentru Cercetarea
Research Cancerului
ABTA American Brain Tumour Association AATC Asociația Americană Tumoare la Creier
ACS American Cancer Society SAC Societatea Americană pentru combaterea
Cancerului
ASCO American Society of Clinical Oncology SAOC Societatea Americana de Oncologie
Clinica
COG Children's Oncology Group GOC Grupul de Oncologie pentru Copii
EACR European Association for Cancer AECC Asociația Europeană pentru Cercetarea
Research în domeniul Cancerului
EORTC European Organisation for OECTC Organizația Europeană pentru
Research and Treatment of Cancer Cercetarea și Tratamentul Cancerului
IARC International Agency for Research on AICC Agenția Internațională pentru Cercetarea
Cancer Cancerului
LRF Leukaemia Research Fund FCL Fondul de Cercetare pentru Leucemie
NCI National Cancer Institue INC Institutul Național de combatere a
Cancerului
OECI Organization of European Cancer OIEC Organizația Institutelor Europene pentru
Institutes combaterea Cancerului
SIOP International Society of Paediatric SIOC Societatea Internațională de Oncologie
Oncology Pediatrică
UICC Union Internationale Contre le Cancer - UIC Uniunea Internațională împotriva
International Union Against Cancer Cancerului
WHO World Health Organisation OMS Organizația Mondială a Sănătății
 2.1.3 Word compounding
The affixation process is not only common in the lexis of fundamental medical English
(fail – failure, relate – relationship/correlation - unrelated, define – definition – undefined, improve –
improvement)36– it is also observed in specialized terminology. What is especially characteristic of
specialized terminology is the use of Latin and Greek affixes (e.g. prefixes: all(o) –another,
different, adip(o) – fatty, carni(o) – of the cranium, onco- relating to cancer, hyper – excessive, hypo
– insufficient, suffixes: - itis – inflammation, - algia – pain, -lepsy – attack, seizure, -logy – the
knowledge of something), and the obvious correspondences between suffixes, roots etc. and the
meaning of the term. Romanian medical terminology is also heavily based on Latin and Greek
affixes, besides borrowings and descriptive terms.
Table 4. Examples of word formation with root used in English and Romanian medical language
Affix Meaning Example of use (ENG) Equivalent in RO
blastoma = a cancer made blastom
BLAST- germ, immature cell
of immature cells
carcinogenic = cancer cancerigene
CARCIN- cancer
causing
cardiotoxicity = toxicity to cardiotoxicitate
CARDIO- heart
the heart
cytotoxic = toxic to the citotoxice
CYTO- cell
cell
dermatitis = inflammation dermatită
DERMA- skin
of the skin
histologie
HISTIO- tissue histology = study of tissue

hepatoblastoma = liver hepatoblastomul

HEPATI- liver
cancer
MALIGN- bad / harmful malignant = growing, maligne

36
Salager-Meyer F. 1983 ”The Lexis of Fundamental Medical English: Classificatory Framework and Rhetorical Function
(A Statistical Approach)”. Reading in a Foreign Language. Vol. 1 Nr 1, 54-64.
 spreading
nephrotoxic = harmful to nefrotoxice
NEPHRO- kidney
the kidneys
neurob1ast = an immature neuroblast
NEURO- nerves
nerve cell
oncology = the study of oncologie
ONCO- mass / tumour
cancer
osteosarcoma = bone osteosarcom
OSTEO- bone / bony tissue
cancer
pediatrie
paediatric oncology =
PAED- child oncologică
study of childhood cancer

sarcoma = tumour of bone, sarcom

SARCO- tissue muscle, or connective
tissue
toxicology = study of toxicologie
TOXO- poison
poisons
Table 5. Examples of word formation with suffixes used in English and Romanian medical
language
Affix Meaning Example of use (ENG) Equivalent in RO
leukaemia = cancer of leucemie
-AEMIA condition of blood
blood cells
nephrectomy = excision nefrectomie
-ECTOMY excision / removal
of a kidney
cytology = the study of citologie
-OLOGY study / science of
cells
retinoblastoma = retinoblastom
-OMA tumour
tumour of the eye
-OSIS disease /condition necrosis = dying cells necroză
Table 6. Examples of word formation with prefixes used in English and Romanian medical
language
Affix Meaning Example of use (ENG) Equivalent in RO
abnormal = away from anormal
AB- away from
the normal
bilateral Wilm's = bilateral
BI- two / both
tumour in both kidneys
dysfunction = not disfuncţie
DYS- difficult / painful
working properly
hyperglycaemia = hiperglicemie
HYPER- excessive / above excessive blood sugar
levels
intravenous = into a intravenos
INTRA- within / Inside
vein
parathyroid = beside the paratiroid
PARA- beside, about, near
thyroid gland
pericardium = pericard
PERI- around membrane around the
heart
prenatal
PRE- before prenatal = before birth

post surgical stage = post-chirurgical

POST- after
stage after surgery
submucosa = tissue submucoasa
SUB- under / below
below mucus membrane
syndrome = group of sindromul
SYN- together with symptoms occurring
together

2.1.4 Translation of medical texts for lay readers

 In recent times, there has been an increased focus on the importance of health
communication, especially the communication of health matters to lay people, or the general public.
Patients want sufficient information to make informed choices whether to go ahead with an
operation, take a specific medication etc., and they want the communication of this information to
be directed at them, and they want it to be written in an understandable manner. This demand for
patient information and communication is not only seen as coming from patients, but there is also a
societal push to involve patients in their own health.
For early terminologists like Wüster,37 terms were easily distinguishable from (ordinary)
words because terms related to concepts within a specialized field, whereas words did not. However,
the word/term dichotomy envisaged by Wüster has been dismantled by middle ground concepts such
as semi‐technical terms, the distinction between medical technical terms and medical everyday
terms,38 the idea that medical language should be seen as lying along a continuum39 and
Nation's40 notion of technicalness as a spectrum which has to do with ‘how restricted a word is to a
particular area’. Furthermore, pragmatic context is increasingly recognized as playing an important
role in identifying whether a word is a term.41 Interestingly, the distinction between words and terms
is completely eroded by Cabré Castelví,42 who suggests that any lexical unit can potentially be a
terminological unit.
Table 7.Examples of lay terms used in English medical language
Medical Terms Lay terminology
fulminant onset sudden and acute start
analgesics pain killer
benign not cancerous
good prognosis positive outcomes
carcinogenic cancer related

37
Wüster E. Introduction to the general theory of terminology and terminological lexicography. Vienna: Springer, 1979.
38
Bromme R, Jucks R, Wagner T. How to refer to ‘diabetes’? Language in online health advice. Applied Cognitive
Psychology, 2005; 19: 569–586.
39
Pilegaard M. Translation of medical research articles In: Trosborg A, editor. (ed.) Text Typology and Translation.
Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 1997: 159–184.
40
Nation ISP. Learning Vocabulary in Another Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
41
Cabré Castellví MT. Theories of terminology: their description, prescription and explanation. Terminology, 2003; 9:
163–199.
42
Smith CA, Stavri PZ, Chapman WW, eds. In their own words? A terminological analysis of e‐mail to a cancer
information service. Proceedings of the AMIA Symposium; 2002: American Medical Informatics Association.
carcinoma a type of cancer
chemotherapy treatment of cancer
dysplasia abnormal cells
hepatoma liver cancer
lymphoma lymph cancer
maligna cancerous
medullobastoma brain tumor
neoplasia tumor, may be non-cancerous or cancerous
neuroblastoma cancer of nerve tissue
oncology the study of tumors or cancer
polyps, cysts abnormal growths
remission disappearance
sarcoma a type of cancer
recurrent pains repeated

2.2 Translation Pecularities of Rendering Medical Terms from English into Romanian