Les énoncés définitoires en contexte : Perspective traductologique
Definitional Statements in Context: The Perspective from Translation Studies

Summary/Abstract: This paper focuses on definitional statements, and more broadly on explanatory statements, present in published texts. The author deals with the structural dimension of the definitional statement – form, scope, span, textual boundaries – and analyse the discursive purpose of the definitional statement from the pragmatic point of view, in order to highlight the writing strategies implemented. In addition, the definitional statement is evaluated in terms of its intratextual documentary contribution and its role in the construction of the meaning of the text. To illustrate her analysis, the author presents examples drawn from recent press articles (2021), based on the consideration that newspapers act as a powerful relay in the evolution of language. The advent of new occurrences of terms and notions justifies the inclusion of definitional statements. Finally, the author draws some useful lessons for the translator from this study, both in the semasiological (understanding) and onomasiological (making understood) phases of the translation process.

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