Glossary of terms used by the European Union, the Council of Europe and UNESCO in the fields of culture and new media

Abstract

The main aim of translation is to relay a message from one language to another in the best possible manner. This could be problematic when dealing with terminology particular to the European Union. In certain cases, terms which in other contexts could be better placed to suitably relay a message may be eschewed in favour of heavier, more legalistic terms. These terms are chosen because they already in use or have a very clear and precise legal meaning. This often makes this specific branch of communication challenging. A sensitive balance between legal validity, uniformity, language, style and clear communication needs to be achieved. In an example of primary and secondary term creation - the creation of words which were previously not part of that language - Temmerman illustrates the example of multilingual primary term formation. All EU official languages (and, to a lesser extent, those of a number of UN agencies) are equally authentic in legal documents, but in several official languages a multilingual primary term is created and used, for example “flexicurity” or “transposition”. In this work such terms are explored and discussed, particularly those related to the arts and culture, as well as those related to new media.