Study of linguistic transformations in the translation of instructions for medical use from English into Russian (based on the instructions for the use of the immunomodulators Keytruda and Zelboraf)

Abstract

The aim of the research is to describe the most characteristic lexical transformations used in the process of translating texts of instructions for medical use from English into Russian. The study is novel in that it is the first to analyze the transformations of lexical units involving the material of the instructions for the use of such modern immunomodulators as Keytruda and Zelboraf. The empirical study of the original instructions in English and their translations into Russian revealed the most frequent models of lexical transformations that ensure adequate perception of semantic information by the ultimate user of the corresponding drug. The research findings showed that the names of the drugs and active substances are subjected to transcription and transliteration; particularization is employed due to the need to clarify the area of denotation of English verbs of broad semantics; generalization is explained by the tendency to use generalized nouns (medication, medicinal product). Addition of lexemes is directly related to grammatical transformations at the morphological and syntactic levels; omission of lexemes is dictated by the phenomenon of couplets and the tendency to use clichéd phrases; meaning extension is chosen due to causal relationships between the lexemes of the original language and the target language.