Terminological challenges and their impact on the translation of specialized texts: an analysis of pharmaceutical translations from English into Kiswahili

Abstract

In translation practice, translators experience a number of challenges including lack of equivalents due to variations existing between source and target languages. The attempts to establish equivalents in the target language have always had positive and negative impact on the target language text in particular and the target language in general. The main objective of this paper is to analyze the situation using pharmaceutical translations from English into Kiswahili. Data for this study was collected through documentary review and interview and thereafter analyzed qualitatively. A comparison of pharmaceutical Kiswahili translations with their source language texts shows that the problem of establishing equivalents for specialized terms has resulted into various translation problems, such as omission, distortion, undertranslation, overtranslation, as well as dilution of special features. Generally, term creation has both positive and negative impact on the translation process and product, and it always presents a rich area of translation studies.