Writing and Translation of Patent Documents: Language of Descriptions and Claims

Özet

Technical advancements and new inventions highlighted the importance of technical translation, particularly patent translations as a specialised sub-field. In this respect, translation ofpatent application documents has emergedas a practice requiring specialisation,especially because the translated text is bound by the legal rules and restrictions in language use. The regulations governing the writing and wording of Claimsand the textual characteristics in the patent documents require more attention. The main aim of this study is toprovide a description of the general textual characteristics of patent documents as a subfield of technical translation, and particularlytoprovide examples to illustrate the characteristics of Claimswith reference to relatedlegal requirements. The focus of analysis ison English and Turkish languagepair.The linguistic, contextual, structural and terminological properties of Turkish and English patent documents are introduced; then, Turkish and English versions of Claims are compared,to exemplify different sentence structuresand translation requirements pertaining to specific textual conventions in TL.In the analyses of the translations, discussions centrenot only on the translation itself, but also on what governs the translators’decision process in terms of technically appropriate andlegally acceptable text characteristics. It is claimed that it is not merely the technical and terminological knowledge, but in fact the expertisein thisspecific genre and style of writing that brings quality in the translation of patents. The discussions regarding the translation process and examples of textual conventions might be beneficial for professionaland prospective translators who are interested in the translationof patent documents.