TRANSLATION ISSUES IN AGILE TERMINOLOGY: ENGLISH–UKRAINIAN PARALLELS

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of translation issues arising in the rendering of Agile methodology terminology from English into Ukrainian. The relevance of the research is determined by the rapid spread of Agile approaches in the Ukrainian IT environment and the absence of an established normative framework for Ukrainian-language professional terminology in this field. The study identifies seven main translation strategies used in rendering Agile terminology into Ukrainian: transcription and transliteration, calquing, descriptive translation, retention of the English original without translation, adaptive translation, modulation, and a mixed strategy. It has been established that the choice of strategy is determined by a combination of factors, including the structure of the term, its degree of entrenchment in the professional community, the text’s genre, and the target audience’s level of preparedness. A detailed analysis of the most problematic terms has shown that the main difficulties arise not at the formal level but at the semantic level: a formally accurate translation may distort a term’s conceptual content or generate undesirable associations with related concepts. In particular, it has been found that certain terms lack adequate Ukrainian equivalents because their specific terminological meanings differ from their generallanguage usage; some units exhibit the highest degree of translational variability within the analysed material; and a number of terms effectively function as internationalisms despite the existence of calqued equivalents. It has been revealed that Ukrainian Agile terminology is currently in an active state of formation: for most terms, several competing equivalents coexist, there is no unified normative framework, and translation practice remains inconsistent. The study substantiates the need to develop a specialised Ukrainian-language glossary of Agile terminology and to establish unified editorial standards for localised texts. Prospects for further research include incorporating material from other Agile frameworks, conducting comparative analyses across Slavic languages, and exploring the linguodidactic aspect of using Agile terminology in the teaching of translation and Business English.