Open access to global health information in mass media: Specialized translation and Russian-German-Spanish terminology

Abstract

The situation triggered by the coronavirus pandemic has demonstrated the need to simplify medical terminology for better understanding by the public. The goal of specialized communication on medical topics is to more efficiently transfer and assimilate information that is important to human health, which has become literally vital in the times of COVID-19. Such circumstances lead to the fact that medical terminology is no longer the exclusive prerogative of the professional vocabulary of medical personnel, but is already more and more integrated into the vocabulary of everyday use, and is also widely used in mass media. A cognitive approach to terminology helps to extract specialized knowledge encoded in terms, simplifies specialized translation and contributes to mass communication at a global level. This study, using the example of Russian-German-Spanish medical terminology, demonstrates the fact that an effective and intuitive presentation of specialized concepts helps to correctly apply international terminology, and most importantly, allows its target audience to assimilate the knowledge behind it in a structured form. This cognitive approach to medical terminology serves public health purposes by facilitating the communication between doctor and patient, on the success of which the life and health of society depends. It also argued that the correct interlanguage terminology management facilitates the constructive exchange of experience and cooperation between doctors, specialists, scientists, healthcare organizations and specialized translators, whose joint work at the global level is now especially necessary for medicine.