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Abstract

This study is an attempt to consider the role of translation competence of medical experts who are self-translating medical research abstracts from English into Kurdish. To do so, it investigates a corpus of research abstracts terminologically, syntactically and textually in order to identify and establish the translation competence of the medical experts.

The study adopts the descriptive approach to translation for the purpose of its investigation within the frame of which it employs Toury’s methodology in order to analyse 65 originally written abstracts and 65 translated Kurdish abstracts. The aim of the study is to identify the translation competence of medical experts who perform English-Kurdish specialised medical translation. It also aims to identify any potential recurrent translational behaviour that occurs in Kurdish specialised medical translation. Moreover, the study aims to provide an insight into the status of Kurdish specialised language through examining the translated abstracts.

The results of the data analysis reveal that medical experts have successfully demonstrated the translation of their research abstracts as far as terminology and conceptual knowledge are concerned. However, their translations show recurrent cases of linguistic and textual markedness which can be attributed to a lack of linguistic and textual competence. The results also revealed that Kurdish specialised medical language is not under-developed as the study hypothesised but it has a rich stock of specialised terminology as well as naturalised terms that the medical experts have largely used in their self-translated abstracts.

Based on the outcomes of the study, it is concluded that medical experts require linguistic and textual competence as much as subject competence. In addition, consistent and appropriate proofreading can have a profound impact on specialised medical translation in reducing the incidence of syntactic and textual calques as well as common typographical errors before publication.

Publication Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races
Departments:	Doctoral Theses School of Communication & Creativity > Media, Culture & Creative Industries > Culture & the Creative Industries School of Communication & Creativity > School of Communication & Creativity Doctoral Theses

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