A glossary (Maltese-English) of terms used in electrical engineering with special focus on alternating current drives and programmable logic controllers

Abstract

When one tries to hitch ordinary language to scientifically correct language, very often one runs into an obstacle. The two languages are not equal. Their disparity hinders the process of equivalence. Ordinary language comes to us naturally and has great scope, but it carries vestiges of long-outmoded views and follows its own complicated and often obscure internal logic. Scientific language has narrower scope and comes to us only painstakingly. In the very recent years Malta has seen a sharp rise in the need for translators to work on all the documents that have to be available in Maltese, within the European Institutions. However, there was another bigger problem which was soon surfacing and that was the availability of terminology in various areas especially where scientific terms were concerned. Very few glossaries were available if any and this resulted in great discrepancies between the terms that were being used. This dissertation examines term formation methods applied in the creation of English and Maltese Engineering terminology. Firstly, term formation methods and International Standard Organisation terminological standards are presented. A term list is then created from English sources that will represent the basic term formation agents in Maltese. The most representative examples are examined, in both English and Maltese. Finally, the term formation choices observed in each source are discussed in relation to their target audience and their context.