Specialized translation

Impact of Genre Theory on Translation

All these characteristics have an impact on translation. Genre theory is a functional approach in linguistics that itself contributes to bringing coherence by providing how lexical and non-lexical aspects combine in specialized texts.

Genres are collections of similar structural and stylistic patterns, applicable to certain domains. Whoever does not know the internal rules of the specialized genre can neither access the genre, nor share in the discourse community behind it.

Specialized does not necessarily mean from specialist to specialist. LSPs genre is dominated also by the horizontal-vertical framework, where the horizontal vertical variation relates to the domain, and the to the degree of specialization. The vertical framework identifies an intra-specialists level (specialists communicating about the same field), an inter-specialists (within different fields), a didactic level (teaching members of a specialized community), and a popular level (communicating with non-specialists).

Some texts can

Belong to different genres at the same time, very few have a pure genre (legal language and medical research). While specialization and domain (horizontal and vertical frameworks) are inbound characteristics, determining the inner nature of the text, purpose (oblique framework) is an outbound feature, affecting the external use that is done of the text.

The professional translator does not look for genres in texts, but it interprets a text according to genre features that best describe it. Genre analysis redefines and enriches a translator's purpose by introducing the level of specialization.

Another factor which, together with domain, specialization and purpose, time affects the translating product, process and practice is Time affects the text at each linguistic, lexical and contextual levels. It is considered to be what makes a translation useful not just theoretically, but also operationally.