Problems of translating polysemic terms: a cross-cultural study of the term "facilities" in Chinese-English academic discourse.

Abstract

Aim. The primary objective of this study is to analyze the specific usage of the term "facilities" in Englishand Chinese-language academic discourse and propose translation methods that account for its polysemy and contextual variability. Methodology. The study's materials include English-language academic articles, Chinese publications, and institutional texts. Methods of comparative linguistic analysis, corpus sampling, and discourse description were used. Results. It was revealed that in the English academic tradition, "facilities" encompasses a wide range of meanings: infrastructure, platforms, services, and research conditions. In Chinese texts, the term's meaning is often reduced to the variants "设施" and "设备," which leads to a narrowing of the semantic field and a distortion of the functional role. An analysis of the examples revealed typical errors associated with the reduction of institutional and service components. Research implications. The theoretical significance of this work lies in clarifying concepts regarding the translation of polysemous terms and the role of discursive factors. The practical value lies in the development of recommendations that can improve the quality of academic texts and facilitate their integration into the international scientific community.