Translation of Medical Terms in Light of Vinay and Darbelnet’s Translation Procedures: A Case Study on Medical Thrillers the Apprentice and the Sinner by Tess Gerritsen

Abstract

The history of medicine dates back to ancient civilisations and the field of medicine has always been valued greatly. Each civilisation or community has developed their own methods, procedures, or remedies to overcome various health problems. Translation have played a significant role in transferring this valuable knowledge up to date. In return for being referred to as a very old field of scientific translation, medical translation has its own challenges to offer to translators. Medical language has distinctive features that draw attention, such as high number of acronyms, eponyms, Latin and Greek roots, prefixes and suffixes. However, these very characteristics also pose difficulties for translators and require special caution. Notwithstanding, medical content is not only included in health-related informative texts, but it may also heavily be found in fictional works. The Apprentice and The Sinner by Tess Gerritsen are reviewed in this thesis regarding the intense use of medical content, considering it may cause a dilemma for translators not only due to the medical language itself but also because of their respective target audience and the professions of main characters. In this sense, Vinay and Darbelnet suggest a number of translation procedures that may help translators to overcome challenges. In order to detect the procedures and techniques applied while translating medical terms, these books are meticulously read and scanned, and all medical terms are noted with their Turkish translations. A total of one hundred randomly selected medical terms are reviewed in light of Vinay and Darbelnet’s procedures, the methods that are used the most are identified, and it is discussed to what extent translators apply direct translation methods, as prescribed by Vinay and Darbelnet. Furthermore, other possible translations, as applicable, are provided with an aim to guide translators and help them to minimise potential mistakes made during translation process.