Translating Medical Terminologies

Difficulties and Suggestions

Abstract

This study identified some difficulties of translating medical terms and discussed how experienced translators go about such difficulties. Data consisted of 24 English medical terms and their Arabic equivalences. Different types of medical terms were considered, excluding pharmacy-related terms (as most pharmacy terms are formulas, trade names and drug names, most of which cannot be translated into Arabic). Findings showed that translation of medical terms pose difficulties and challenges for medical students and researchers. These difficulties were tabulated and discussed to provide corresponding suggestions to lessen such problematic issues when working with medical terms. Most importantly, approaches to medical translation into Arabic should comply with the Arabic language structure if the terminological inconsistency in medical Arabic is to be overcome.