Terminological Consistency in Croatian Translations of EU Legislation: A Corpus-Based Study

master's thesis

• Title (croatian): Terminološka dosljednost u hrvatskim prijevodima zakonodavstva EU-a: korpusno istraživanje
• Author: Laura Marić
• Mentor: Nataša Pavlović (mentor)
• Committee member: Snježana Veselica Majhut (predsjednik povjerenstva)
• Committee member: Mateusz-Milan Stanojević (član povjerenstva)
• Granter: University of Zagreb; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences; (Department of English language and literature); Zagreb
• Defense date and country: 2024-02-14, Croatia
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: HUMANISTIC SCIENCES; Philology; Anglistics

Abstract

The EU produces thousands of translations every year since all legally-binding documents have to be available in all 24 official languages. A particular emphasis is placed on terminology, or rather terminological consistency due to its impact on clarity and legal certainty. However, a question still arises about how consistently the terminology is really used considering the fast pace the translations are produced at. The aim of this study is, therefore, to check for inconsistencies in the use of trade-related terminology in Croatian translations of EU legislation, and to determine if there is a correlation between the frequency and structure of terms and their consistency. Terminological consistency is measured using the HHI, following the example of Itagaki et al. (2007). Trade-related terms are taken from IATE and analysed on a corpus compiling English-Croatian translation memories from 2020 provided by the European Commission's DGT. The results confirm the presence of terminological inconsistency and show a weak positive correlation between consistency and frequency, and no correlation between consistency and structure. The main contribution of the study is to show the usefulness of EU materials and the HHI for linguistic and terminological research and create a space for further discussions about terminological consistency.

• Keywords: terminologija; terminološka dosljednost; Europska unija; prevođenje; HHI
• Keywords (english): terminology; EU translation; terminological consistency; HHI; European Union
• Language: english
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:131:592331
• Study programme: Title: English Language and Literature (double major); specializations in: Linguistics, Literature and Culture, Translation, TEFL; Course: Translation; Study programme type: university; Study level: graduate; Academic / professional title: magistar/magistra engleskog jezika i književnosti (magistar/magistra engleskog jezika i književnosti)
• Type of resource: Text
• File origin: Born digital
• Access conditions: Open access
• Created on: 2024-02-19 12:56:58