Glossary of terms used in the textiles and design industry

Abstract

In an increasingly globalised world, in which thousands of technical documents are translated per day, terminology does not only assist communication between experts, but it also facilitates the work of translators who must demonstrate a basic understanding of the subject when dealing with a specialised text. This dissertation is a compilation of one hundred and fifty terms, translated from English into Maltese. This terminology is employed within the textiles and design industry, a sector which plays an important role in both local and international manufacturing production. However, albeit highly specialised, this terminology is not only utilised by experts in the field, but also by advertisers and all those describing products of the industry in a detailed manner. As Cabre (1999) outlines, the availability of terminology directly ensures a language's health, assuring that speakers of a language do not resort to another language to express a particular concept. This dissertation should therefore be seen in light of the aforementioned statement, given that despite having the appropriate vocabulary in the field, Maltese users tend to choose an English equivalent, making the specialised jargon in their own language less widespread in its use. The collection and analysis of the terminology presented in this dissertation was carried out utilising multiple sources, including bilingual dictionaries, specialised texts as well as the contribution of various experts in the field. Jointly, all these resources were employed as best possible to achieve the aims of concision, precision and clarity. The first of four chapters covers the basic steps involved in the translation process. Additionally, it also presents an overview of the main debates in the field, including that surrounding the concept of equivalence, and a discussion of the role of terminology, technical translation and the translator, and how the three aspects are closely linked together. In the second chapter, the methodology adopted in this research is explained. This chapter describes the way the one hundred and fifty terms were collected, translated and analysed, as well as outlining the resources employed throughout the work. The structure of the glossary is also better illustrated in the same chapter. The glossary of terms itself is spread over the third chapter. This central part of this dissertation provides a thorough analysis of the terms tackled, focusing mainly on validity and frequency of use, and also presents as other aspects such as definitions to ease the understanding of the concepts dealt with. In the last chapter, a summary of the main observations as well as the strengths and limitations of this dissertation are explored. The chapter concludes with suggestions for further study.