Abbreviations in modern German economic terminology: structural and translation aspects

Abstract

The emergence of modern technologies has stimulated word-formation processes, including abbreviations, as language should facilitate substantial information exchange. The proposed article highlights and explores structural types of abbreviations in contemporary German economic terminology. It is revealed that the majority of them comprise initialisms (acronyms) – 77%, followed by clippings (contractions) – 13%, and components – 10%. Acronyms are commonly found as "second," abbreviated variants of company names, enterprises, technical devices, or concepts, and are widely utilized in media texts. Depending on the truncated part of the word, contractions in the examined terminology include initial, componential, and final forms. Initial contractions possess several advantages – they can conveniently combine with other words into a single compound, are less formal, and more understandable. During the analysis, various translation methods were identified: equivalent translation, transcoding, translation of German economic abbreviation into the corresponding full original word in Ukrainian, and descriptive translation. The best option for equivalent translation is the availability of a corresponding lexicographically codified unit in Ukrainian. Transcoding is most often used to reproduce abbreviations of proper names, media agencies, international companies, conglomerates, firms, publishing houses, etc. Descriptive translation is appropriate when there are no corresponding equivalents in Ukrainian. It was found that the choice of a specific method for reproducing German economic abbreviations in Ukrainian is influenced by many factors, including the structure of the abbreviation itself. The use of abbreviated equivalents for multicomponent terms in modern German economic terminology is driven by the desire for convenience and brevity, which, however, cannot ensure the motivation of the designation or reflect the most essential characteristics of the concept. The use of abbreviations is appropriate only if they are easily understood in both the original text and translation.