An English-Romanian and Romanian-English Cultural Thematic Dictionary

Abstract

[...]the importance of globalization that the world has been enjoying for the past few decades, at a higher speed, perhaps, than in all the previous centuries put together, has prompted the necessity of works such as this to help not only Modern Languages and/or Translation Studies in their learning process. [...]this dictionary will be of interest to anyone who wants to learn more about the Romanian or Anglo-Saxon cultures, and it is, certainly, a very necessary text. [...]the dictionary will become an indispensable tool for those students who are studying another culture or language. A dictionary such as this precisely helps university students to start this process, namely, to begin understanding another culture and its different fields (clothing, cuisine, holidays, language, sports, cuisine, etc) as a necessary preamble to live that culture, to know it, to become immersed in it, and to learn it properly in order to put all this gained knowledge in practice for their future employment.

Translating cultures: Claudia Stoian and Simona Şimon, An English-Romanian and RomanianEnglish Cultural Thematic Dictionary

Seldom do we find dictionaries in Humanities focusing on very specific topics and in such a depth like An English-Romanian and Romanian-English Cultural Thematic Dictionary by Claudia Stoian and Simona Şimon (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne, 2018). Usually, this kind of dictionaries tend to satisfy only part of the topics they intend to analyse, or a specific section of the language(s) of study. However, on the contrary, the work that both authors have employed in offering an exhaustive list of cultural terms used both in English and Romanian is praiseworthy.

Indeed, the importance of globalization that the world has been enjoying for the past few decades, at a higher speed, perhaps, than in all the previous centuries put together, has prompted the necessity of works such as this to help not only Modern Languages and/or Translation Studies in their learning process. In fact, this dictionary will be of interest to anyone who wants to learn more about the Romanian or Anglo-Saxon cultures, and it is, certainly, a very necessary text. Anyone who is interested in other cultures will find An English-Romanian and Romanian-English Cultural Thematic Dictionary by Claudia Stoian and Simona Şimon very useful. Moreover, the dictionary will become an indispensable tool for those students who are studying another culture or language. Interculturality is one of the skills that many employers emphasise and to which they attach importance, and they will continue to do so, even in difficult political and societal moments such as this- or, rather, because of them. To be intercultural is not only to know another language; it is to understand another culture and to live it. A dictionary such as this precisely helps university students to start this process, namely, to begin understanding another culture and its different fields (clothing, cuisine, holidays, language, sports, cuisine, etc) as a necessary preamble to live that culture, to know it, to become immersed in it, and to learn it properly in order to put all this gained knowledge in practice for their future employment.

The painstaking task which is to create a dictionary bears fruitful results in An English-Romanian and Romanian-English Cultural Thematic Dictionary. The election of topics provides a practical focus on lexis that is clearly linked to cultural ideology, national identity, touristic and leisure time activities, amongst others.

The dictionary is clearly divided into two parts following a preface by the two authors. The first part enlists the terms from English into Romanian within a general vocabulary section focused followed by semi-specialised sections focusing on cultural ideology and identity, ranging from clothing to sports and holidays. This is complemented by a carefully selected list of verbs and their translation into Romanian. Whenever the verb undergoes any phonetical change or an irregularity of any type, this is also clearly indicated in the dictionary. The thematic lists introduce the reader to the differences in interjections, which is a welcome feature of originality for works such as this, as well as introducing onomatopoeias a field with which language students feel awkward and surprised in equal terms (why do dogs bark differently in each language?). For translation studies particularly, the section on measurement units will be specifically useful when translating official texts. This section closes with a list of countries, languages, and nationalities, very useful for language learners of all levels. The second part (Romanian into English) mirrors the precedent one by using the same layout, thematic fields, and grammatical aid in their entries.

A dictionary such is this one is very valuable for learners of Romanian in English-speaking countries where there is a clear need of texts such as this. Using both everyday words and semi-specialised vocabulary (namely, the section on sports, holidays, weights and measurement, to mention a few), this dictionary will cater for the linguistic and cultural needs of the English-speaking learners of Romanian and vice-versa. As the authors explain, this dictionary will supply students with the basic tools to understand culture and intercultural communication in a globalised world.

The novelty of this dictionary does not only lie in the pair of languages used, but also in the introduction to semi-specialised terms in specific sections, with itemised lexis, or the inclusion of onomatopoeias and interjections, as mentioned above.