Stumbling Blocks in the Translation of English Road Traffic Terminology

Abstract

Under the conditions of a rapid increase in the number of vehicles and the extension of the European Union borders, the investigation of road traffic terminology acquires vital importance, as language has always been a means of reflecting non/specialized realities and phenomena. The aim of this study was to investigate the difficulties and challenges met in the translation of English road traffic terms into Romanian. The objectives included providing an overview of the concept of specialized language and terms, as well as investigating the nature and characteristics of specialized translation of a selected corpus of English road traffic terms using functional (conceptual reference), semantic (mono/polysemantism as well as homonymy), structural (simple, compound, derivative, and term combinations), and translational approaches. The findings of this study suggest the necessity of the original road traffic term's profound analysis in the pre-translation stage, focusing on the purpose, communicative situation, requirements, and function of the translated terminological unit.