Translating Political and Legal Terminology

Abstract

International information constitutes a large part of the material utilized in scientific research. This is quite applicable to jurisprudence, too, which studies not only purely legal phenomena but the social and political reality that gives birth to them. New phenomena are constantly arising in foreign lands and in the international arena for the denotation of which ready-made terms often do not exist in Russian. When this occurs, it becomes necessary to translate the pertinent terms from other languages. This is an unending process. It is clear that terms used in translation are subject to the general requirements that have to be met by terminology. The literature regards these as being, above all, consonant with system, high information content, freedom from ambiguity, preciseness, and also the quality of being value free [1. P. 21]. Of course, meeting these requirements fully is only an ideal. In reality, terms are often ambiguous in meaning, have synonyms (1), and are not always as precise as they should be. (2) As far as being value free is concerned, in the sphere of politics and, to some extent, in law, one can hardly agree unconditionally with A. A. Reformatskii's assertion that "Theoretically, a term should be outside the realm of value judgment, for that presumes a choice at least between the dichotomy ‘good’ and ‘bad.’ Where a term is concerned, there must be no choice in this sense. A term is precise and cold …" [3]. Agreeing with Reformatskii, I. S. Kvitko regards a term's value-freedom as one of its distinctive features [1. Pp. 18-19]. In the realm with which we are concerned, one sometimes encounters a value coloration that helps the reader to judge properly the phenomenon denoted by the term.