Translation in Economics

Starting the issue of economic translation, a person without economic education may be puzzled: what is it? The question can hardly be answered without at least primary understanding of the terms of “economy” and “economics”. To begin with, one must remember the distinction between these two: by “ economy” we usually mean the economic system of a country or other area; the labor, capital and land resources; and the manufacturing, trade, distribution, and consumption of goods and services of that area. An economy may also be described as a spatially limited and social network where goods and services are exchanged according to demand and supply between participants by barter or a medium of exchange with a credit or debit value accepted within the network.

Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Putting it in other words, it studies economies. Microeconomics examines the behavior of basic elements in the economy, including individual agents (such as households and firms or as buyers and sellers) and markets, and their interactions. Macroeconomics analyzes the entire economy and issues affecting it, including unemployment, inflation, economic growth, and monetary and fiscal policy. Both macro- and microeconomics are subdivided into several branches. For example, economics of a country as a part of macroeconomics studies national economies. Economics of an enterprise is viewed as a part of microeconomics. It studies economic processes within a company or an enterprise.

Due to the continuing evolvement of the translation industry into economic sphere caused by internationalization of markets there are now certain terms defining specialist translations used in the field.

Commercial translation, or business translation, covers any sort of document used in the business world such as correspondence, company accounts, tender documents, reports, etc. Commercial translations require specialist translators with knowledge of terminology used in the business world. With globalization of markets, more and more international projects are being developed which requires running meetings and negotiations. So besides translating written records, oral speeches of the participants also need interpreting.

Financial translation is the translation of texts of a financial nature. Anything from banking to asset management to stocks and bonds could be covered. Like in the previous case, talks and negotiations take place in the world of finance too, so oral translation is required.

Administrative translation is translation of administrative oral and written texts. Although “ administrative” has a very broad meaning, in terms of translation it refers to common texts used within businesses and organisations that are used in day to day management. It can also be stretched to cover texts with similar functions in government.

Similar to commercial or business translation, economic translation is simply a more specific term used for the translation of documents relating to the field of economics. Such texts are usually a lot more academic in nature. Though other scholars interpret this definition in another way and regard economic translation as a more general term that includes all the kinds of translations mentioned above. This is the strategy the author of this textbook is going to. So, in our view, economic translation refers to translation of documents related to economics as an academic discipline and translation non-academic documents like bank articles, sales reports and more, including oral translation of business and economic events.

Economics is a broad and complex subject. For perfect economic translation the economic translator must have in-depth knowledge on the particular domain of economics he or she is going to translate. For non-academic economic document translation knowledge on the specific field is required. Along with this proficiency in both source and target languages is a primary necessity for accurate economic translations.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org,http://www.translationshub.com,

http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/translation/articles/types.html