Abstract:
Translation of scientific and technical text is a multidimensional and multifaceted process
determined by the System and norm of the two languages involved. It is not only dependant on the
two cultures and the communicative situations, but also directly dependant on the referential
situation and the functional parameters, of the source / target text. The process of translation is not
only a speech act, but also an act of cross-cultural communication and this fact is borne out by the
interdisciplinary status of translation studies and its close link with contrastive and text-linguistics;
socio and psycholinguistics and semiotics.
The 21 st century witnessed the emergence of scientific and technical translation as an independent
field of study on the international level. The Intercultural and Intercontinental communications made
it mandatory for human beings to understand scientific, technical and environmental issues in the
world, and to leave their cocoons behind. It only served to underscore the significance that
translation studies was to hold in the times to come.
There is hardly a Translator or an Interpreter today who has not to deal with translation of scientific
and technical materials. Translation of technical text puts a premium on the translator's knowledge of
the subject-matter of Source Text. He must take great pains to get familiar with the system of terms
in the appropriate field and make good use of technical dictionaries and other books of reference.
When new words come into being to denote news object or phenomena, they naturally cannot have
regular equivalents in another language. Such equivalents may only gradually evolve as the result of
extensive contacts between the two nations. Therefore the translator coming across a new coinage
has to interpret its meaning and to choose the appropriate way of rendering it in his translation.
It has been observed that many phenomenon, words and terminologies of Urdu language have no
regular equivalents, and a number of techniques has been suggested for transformation of such units
of translation in Russian. New words are coined in the language to give names to new objects, or
phenomena which become known to the people.
Thus, research has been conducted in the background of the ever changing in scientific and
technological scenario. The fast-track changes and rapid breakthrough in almost all fields in science
and technology has made it mandatory for technical and scientific texts to translate into languages,
other than the one in which the study or work has been conducted. Selecting this area to work in, the
researcher has tried to focus on the problems encountered during the translation of technical and
scientific texts from Urdu into Russian.
The researcher is seemed mindful of the magnitude of the task, and has therefore delimited the study
to focusing on the lexico-semantic peculiarities of translation of scientific and technical text from
Urdu into Russian. Russian and Urdu are difficult languages to learn/teach, yet the geographical
proximity has made it important for learners and teachers to recognize and identify the issues
involved in translating the text. The major problems, in rendering Urdu scientific/technical texts intovi
Russian, lie in the domain of lexico-semantics. Thus, the researcher has made a comparison of the
two languages. But in keeping with the nature of the study, has focused only on the major
differences – the foremost being the fact that Urdu lexicon suffers from a dearth of scientific and
technical terminology. These and other points have been discussed in detail in this study.
The parameters of the research demand a theoretical framework, and this has been discussed in the
preliminary chapters – 1 & 2. Chapter 3 comprises general scientific and technical lexicon; word-
building; structure and features of translation of terminological units and ways of translating multi-
component terms etc. Chapter 4 deals with the fundamentals of translation, focusing on the
contrastive analysis of translation material. The concluding chapter gives the findings and
recommends that the study be used to further explore and exploit the Russian market, in order to
give a boost to our economy.
This study discusses translation studies, from a variety of perspectives and not merely the
pedagogical aspects. The nature of the research combined with the significance of the language in
the global scenario, makes this study the first of its kind, and the researcher, without idle boasting, is
hopeful that he has begun to set a new trend in Pakistan. Hopefully, this study would be utilized to
its utmost and in the spirit in which it has been conducted.