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¿Debería o debo?: Variaciones deónticas en la traducción al español de los verbos modales should y must en prospectos farmacéuticos

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Author

  • Basem Agha

Summary, in English

This study investigates the modal verbs must and should with deontic meaning in patient information leaflets (PILs), comparing them with their varying translations in the corresponding PILs in Spanish. The objective is to draw conclusions about whether and how the degree of obligation is modified in the translation. Modal verbs are known to pose translation challenges due to the absence of one-to-one equivalents. For example, both must and should are often translated into the present tense of deber. Furthermore, modal verbs play a crucial role in PIL instructions, where inaccurate translations can jeopardize patient safety. To investigate deontic variation, the first step was to develop a classification system in the theoretical framework that maps the deontic-semantic relationships between the English modal verbs and Spanish verbal periphrases of obligation. Subsequently, a pharmaco-professional evaluation was caried out during the analysis phase. The results obtained were derived from combining the semantic and pharmaco-professional evaluations, along with an analysis of linguistic markers in the textual context. It was concluded that the deontic degree remained unaltered in most cases. Additionally, the study revealed that, beyond semantic considerations, the choice of an appropriate translation largely depends on context, which underscores the need to hire professionals with both linguistic and medical knowledge, i.e., translators specializing in medicine.

Department/s

Publishing year

2025

Language

Spanish

Document type

Student publication for Bachelor's degree

Topic

  • Languages and Literatures

Keywords

  • modalidad deóntica
  • verbos modales deónticos
  • perífrasis verbales de obligación
  • should
  • must
  • deber
  • tener que
  • traducción
  • variaciones deónticas
  • prospectos farmacéuticos

Supervisor

  • Carlos Henderson (Research fellow)