1St approach

1. Terms.

2. General scientific & technical vocabulary.

3. Common core vocabulary.

2Nd approach

1. Terms

2. Non-terms.

Both classifications are rather vague & we should resort to some other classification. Dictionaries used by people are based on the fiction & do not register the technical meaning of a word. The vocabulary used in technical texts depends for the most part on the situation. All the situations are divided into groups:

1. Elocutionary situations. These are the cases when there are one to one equivalents in the SL & in the TL. E.g. a similar tool exists in both cultures (pliers, pincers).

2. Perlocutionary situations. Here the message is a challenge. There is no one to one equivalent in both cultures. The translator should give an explanation that will accompany the required term. E.g. smart board  сенсорная доска

If we divide non-terms into common core vocabulary & general scientific vocabulary we find out that there are some words, which don’t belong to any category. The non-terms layer comprises words that function to describe scientific & technical phenomena & acquire therefore a specific meaning acc. to the situation. This vocabulary can be classified into 3 substrata, acc. to their informative importance & to their function.

1. Nuclear vocabulary. It is used to describe the process & the objects of investigation. It is used in texts dealing with fundamental scientific research & applying research as well.

*Application, development, analysis, background etc.

2. Words of everyday use. These are used in special situations, dealing with investigation, its result, the implementation of the results & the dissemination. Many of these words are synonyms. They represent different parts of speech (functional & notional words). They acquire quantitative & qualitative features depending on the nature of the scientific or technical text. They are very difficult to translate as they seem to be familiar, but the meaning is rather vague. That’s why they do not let themselves easily to translation.

*This system is favorable. – Эта система вполне удовлетворительна.

* The agreement is favorable. – Соглашение вполне приемлемо.

* It is the favorable commentary on the resources of modern chemistry. – Ресурсы современной химии заслуживают самого высокого понимания.

*History of temperature – перепады температуры

*Radiation-time-pulse history – график импульсов облучения

*Reliable history – надежные данные

3. Functional words. They have different meanings & for the most part they do not coincide with the meanings of words that are usually used in Russian.

People usually use different approaches to classify words & the most important is classification from the point of view of translation challenges.

1. Words that cannot be found in the recent English-Russian dictionaries.

2. False friends of the translator.

3. Words with a broad semantic range.

4. Words with a very narrow semantic range & low frequently of occurrence.

5. Words that are stylistically colored & have affective connotations.