The characterization of specialized knowledge in general bilingual dictionaries from Translator’s perspective

Abstract

In recent decades, there has been a revolution in expert knowledge due to the emergence of new concepts and, consequently, new terms. Thus, general vocabulary has been gradually enlarged with terms traditionally limited to specialised discourse. In addition, expert knowledge is usually produced in the English language. However, in the globalised world, the need to transfer terms to other languages such as Spanish has emerged. General bilingual dictionaries are increasingly used to solve the difficulties that arise for users in the transference of specialised knowledge into other languages; nevertheless, this tool is not the most suitable when making decisions about the equivalents of specialised terms in other language. In this paper, we try to get a characterization of specialized vocabulary gathered in two of the most prestigious general bilingual dictionaries in English and Spanish. From our findings, we hope to obtain relevant data that emphasize the need to improve the standard of information gathered in these reference works and implement the searching procedures adopted by general bilingual dictionary users and, specially, by translators and translation trainees.