A corpus-based analysis of Croatian and Slovenian term formation in the marketing domain

Abstract

The paper analyzes Croatian and Slovenian term formation strategies in the marketing domain on the basis of the data obtained by computer processing of the corpora composed of translations of Philip Kotler’s Marketing Management. As Croatian and Slovenian are closely related Slavic languages, it was expected that term formation strategies would generally be the same. However, the analysis uncovered opposite approaches to translation of multi-word terms resulting in terminological solutions of variable transparency. Croatian translators of Marketing Management were more likely to copy the concise English-language structures, i. e. compounds, sometimes at the expense of clarity and precision, while Slovenian translators opted for paraphrases and thus the clarity of meaning. While the conclusions of this paper refer solely to the analyzed corpus and not to the two languages in general, they are a good starting point for further research into Croatian and Slovenian term formation strategies in the marketing and other domains. Furthermore, the paper discusses the lack of knowledge of terminology and terminological work among Croatian publishers, translators and field experts. The paper also points to the benefits of corpus-based methodologies and how they can help with the creation of Croatian terminological resources in various scientific and technical fields.