Outreach genres

Thematic article

Receiver

Non-expert audience

Subject

Ebola virus disease

Specialty

Infectious diseases

Source Text in English
Once the virus enters the body, it targets several types of immune cells that represent the first line of defense against invasion. It infects dendritic cells, which normally display signals of an infection on their surfaces to activate T lymphocytes—the white blood cells that could destroy other infected cells before the virus replicates further.
Target Text in Spanish
Al introducirse en el organismo, el virus actúa de forma selectiva sobre varios tipos de células inmunitarias que representan la primera línea de defensa contra la invasión. Infecta las células dendríticas, que en condiciones normales presentan señales de infección en su superficie para inducir la respuesta de los linfocitos T, los glóbulos blancos que eliminarían las células infectadas para detener la replicación del virus.

Specialised verbs

Some verbs of the scientific language don’t have an exact match in Spanish. Here, the English verb “to target” requires an amplification technique to express the nuance of virus specificity for immune cells. Without this nuance, the mechanism of infection cannot be understood.

The adjective “immune”

To make a terminological decision, the translator must often choose between common usage and conceptual correctness. In this case, the criterion for choosing the term “inmunitario” accounts for the traditional distinction in Spanish between “inmune” (having immunity) and “inmunitario” (of or relating to immunity).

Register and popularisation

The translation of “white blood cells” to “glóbulos blancos” instead of “leucocitos” reflects a register adaptation according to the needs of non-expert readers. In an outreach article, determinologisation and terminological adaptation strategies improve understanding and bring the text closer to the receiver.

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