Intralingwalne tłumaczenie niemieckiej dokumentacji medycznej
Intralingual Translation of Medical Documentation

Summary/Abstract: The medical language, the same as every specialist language, often hinders or even disenables successful communication between a specialist and a layman (the doctor and the patient). It is characterised not only by specialist terminology referring to medical knowledge, which is usually unavailable to the patient, but also the occurrence of words of foreign origin, specific structures and numerous abbreviations and acronyms. German speaking patients can, however, use various tools which enable to understanding information conveyed during a conversation with a doctor or such contained in medical documentation. Among them, it is worth mentioning the initiatives of the Bertelsmann Stiftung Foundation and “Was hab’ ich?” gGmbH initiated a few years ago, whose main purpose is to provide information to patients in a manner understandable to them, such as an online diagnosis translator (Diagnosen-Dolmetscher), a translator of medical specialisation names (Facharzt-Dolmetscher), a translation of test results (Befunddolmetscher). The best assistance can be given to patients on the portal washabich.de, which allows to send parts of medical records and obtain their free translation into general language. All the abovementioned tools facilitating the comprehension of medical language can be treated as tools offering intralingual translation, defined as the rendering of specialist terms in the general language, understandable for the patient, who is not a specialist in the field of medicine. This paper presents and elaborates on examples of intralingual translations of selected German medical terminology, derived from the above tools. The purpose of the analysis comprises an attempt to portray elements of medical documentation which, in the opinion of students and doctors, need to be reformulated into language understandable to patients.

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