Abstract
This chapter analyses safety instructions, related to COVID-19 mitigation measures, by comparing the English versions of safety instructions with their Polish renderings. The study focuses on investigating translation issues through analysis of source and target pairs concerning the pragmalinguistic shifts introduced by the flow of pandemic-related information. Following the analysis of translation issues found in instructions, leaflets, and texts gathered online, which are available as publications prepared by specific companies and institutions to instruct contractors and visitors in Polish and English, the chapter reports on possible correlations between pragmalinguistic dimensions and health and safety discourse. Additionally, the analysis provides insights into the reasons of apparent unwillingness of Polish recipients to read and follow safety regulations due to their specific linguistic form.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
See NKJP (2012). Narodowy Korpus Języka Polskiego (2008-2012). Retrieved on April 29, 2021, from http://nkjp.pl/
- 2.
See for instance Press Release (2020, July 2). Polacy pomimo apeli nie noszą maseczek w sklepach. Statystyki nie napawają optymizmem. Wiadomościhandlowe.pl. Retrieved April 29, 2021, from https://www.wiadomoscihandlowe.pl/artykul/polacy-pomimo-apeli-nie-nosza-maseczek-w-sklepach-statystyki-nie-napawaja-optymizmem. Kałuski, M. (2020, September 21). Covidowi buntownicy. Maseczka to ich wróg nr 1. beskidza 24.pl. Retrieved April 29, 2021, from https://beskidzka24.pl/covidowi-buntownicy-maseczka-to-ich-wrog-nr-1/. Godziński, B. (2020, October 1). Kaganiec, covidianie i plandemia. Pokażę Wam, jak wygląda świat oczami koronasceptyków. na:Temat.pl. Retrieved on April 29, 2021, from https://natemat.pl/321875,abecadlo-koronasceptyka-czym-jest-kaganiec-a-kim-sa-covidianie-lista
- 3.
Although no work concerning the impact of COVID-19 on the Polish language has been published so far, several interesting aspects have been discussed by Polish linguists Jerzy Bralczyk and Konrad Szamryk in interviews with the press. See respectively „Zdalność”, „koronaferie”, „tarcza”. Prof. Bralczyk o języku czasów pandemii. Gazetaprawna.pl. Retrieved May 7, 2021, from https://www.gazetaprawna.pl/wiadomosci/artykuly/1481797,profesor-bralczyk-koronawirus-jezyk.html; and Hukałowicz, I. (2021, March 21). Plandemia, namordnik, covidianie... Jak dobrze znasz język koronasceptyków? Polska Times. Retrieved May 7, 2021, from https://polskatimes.pl/plandemia-namordnik-covidianie-jak-dobrze-znasz-jezyk-koronasceptykow/ar/c14-15509477
- 4.
See Ustawa z dnia 5 grudnia 2008 r. o zapobieganiu oraz zwalczaniu zakażeń i chorób zakaźnych u ludzi Dz. U. 2008 No. 234 item 1570 [Act on the Prevention and Control of Infections and Infectious Diseases in Humans].; https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=WDU20082341570
- 5.
Data as of 29 April; available, see Rządowe Centrum Bezpieczeństwa (2021, April 20). Retrieved May 7, 2021, from https://rcb.gov.pl/raport-dobowy-covid-19/
- 6.
Variations of this phrase could be seen in various contexts: mainly press headlines, but also book titles, or private conversations, e.g. ‘Edukacja w czasach zarazy’ [Education in times of epidemic], ‘E-learning w czasach zarazy’ [E-learning in times of epidemic], ‘Gospodarka i praca w czasach zarazy’ [Economy and work in times of epidemic], or ‘Inżynieria życia w czasach zarazy’ [Life engineering in times of epidemic], to mention just a few.
- 7.
See for example, TVP INFO (2020, February 27). Marszałek Karczewski pokazał, jak myć ręce. Grodzki robił to błędnie [WIDEO]. TVP INFO.Retrieved May 7, 2021. https://www.tvp.info/46859737/senat-wicemarszalek-stanislaw-karczewski-pokazal-jak-myc-rece-wieszwiecej
- 8.
The online search with the use of the Google search engine included the following keywords in English ‘health and safety’, ‘instructions’, ‘guidelines’, ‘OHS’ and in Polish: ‘bezpieczeństwo i higiena pracy’, ‘instrukcje’, ‘wytyczne’ and ‘BHP’.
- 9.
The verbatim translations used as examples in this chapter are provided in italics, accompanied by grammar explanations in square brackets.
- 10.
The list of possible ways to render this simple instruction is not exhaustive, as certain additional variants with the use of ‘Pani’, ‘Pan’, or ‘Państwo’ (Ms/Mr/polite plural) are also grammatically possible, although not found in the collected material, which consists of safety instructions.
- 11.
In all the Examples, the material is presented in three columns, indicating ‘Polish’, ‘Verbatim translation + grammar information’, and ‘Existing English version’. In cases where the analysis is based on a single language example and not on a translation pair, a backtranslation in English is provided as necessary in the third column for the sake of consistency and clarity.
- 12.
Since the text is available only in Polish, the third column provides translation into English suggested by the author of this paper.
- 13.
In case of documents available as bilingual texts, the third column contains the existing English version.
- 14.
The English version should include here a possessive pronoun ‘your’, but since possessive pronouns are not typically used with the body parts in Polish, all verbatim translations are provided without this element.
References
‘Zdalność’, ‘koronaferie’, ‘tarcza’. Prof. Bralczyk o języku czasów pandemii. (2020). Dziennik Gazeta Prawna 7 Jun 2020. Retrieved April 29, 2021, from https://www.gazetaprawna.pl/wiadomosci/artykuly/1481797,profesor-bralczyk-koronawirus-jezyk.html
Allender, S., Colquhoun, D., & Peter, K. (2006). Competing discourses of workplace health. Health, 10(1), 75–93.
Austin, J. K. (1962). How to do things with words? Clarendon Press.
Awdiejew, A. (1987). Pragmatyczne podstawy interpretacji wypowiedzeń. Uniwersytet Jagielloński.
Bruti, S. (2019). Speech acts and translation. In R. Tipton & L. Desilla (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of translation and pragmatics (pp. 13–26). Routledge.
Chłopicki, W., & Świątek, J. (2000). Angielski w polskiej reklamie. Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
CIOP. (2021). Centralny Instytut Ochrony Pracy—Państwowy Instytut Badawczy. Retrieved April 29, 2021, from https://www.ciop.pl
Dz.U. (2003). Obwieszczenie Ministra Gospodarki, Pracy i Polityki Społecznej [Ordinance of the Minister of Labour and Social Policy of 26 September 1997 on General Occupational Health and Safety regulations] (Dz.U. 2003 No. 169 item 1650 as amended). Retrieved April 29, 2021, from http://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/download.xsp/WDU20031691650/O/D20031650.pdf
Dziennik Gazeta Prawna. (2020, June 7). ‘Zdalność’, ‘koronaferie’, ‘tarcza’. Prof. Bralczyk o języku czasów pandemii. Dziennik Gazeta Prawna. Retrieved February 1, 2021, from https://www.gazetaprawna.pl/wiadomosci/artykuly/1481797,profesor-bralczyk-koronawirus-jezyk.html
Główny Inspektorat Sanitarny (2020). Jak myć ręce? Instrukcja mycia rąk. Główny Inspektorat Sanitarny [Polish Chief Sanitary Inspectorate]. Retrieved February 1, 2021, from https://www.gov.pl/web/gis/jak-myc-rece-instrukcja-mycia-rak
Hukalowicz, I. (2021, March 25). Plandemia, namordnik, covidianie… Jak dobrze znasz język koronasceptyków? Polska Times. Retrieved March 30, 2021, from https://polskatimes.pl/plandemia-namordnik-covidianie-jak-dobrze-znasz-jezyk-koronasceptykow/ar/c14-15509477
International Organization for Standardization. (2018). Occupational health and safety management systems—Requirements with guidance for use (ISO Standard No. 45001). Retrieved April 29, 2021, from http://www.iso.org/iso/catalogue_detail?csnumber=63787
Kalisz, R. (1993). Pragmatyka językowa. Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego.
Lubecka, A. (1993). Forms of address in English, French and polish: A sociolinguistic approach. Zeszyty Naukowe Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego.
Mey, J. L. (1993). Pragmatics. An introduction. Blackwell.
OLE. (2020, March 3). Instrukcja mycia rąk—oświata, handel, zakłady i instytucje. Retrieved February 1, 2021, from https://www.ole.pl/blog/instrukcja-mycia-rak.html
PCC Rokita. (2020). Podstawowe wymagania systemu bezpieczeństwa obowiązujące na terenie PCC Rokita SA. Retrieved February 1, 2021, from https://pcc.rokita.pl/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Kompendium-bhp-za%C5%82.-nr.-1-podstawowe-wymagania-bhp_1-PL-EN-1.pdf
Plan Ewakuacji Instrukcje Awaryjne. (n.d.) Plan Ewakuacji Instrukcje Awaryjne [Evacuation plan]. Warbud. Retrieved February 1, 2021, from https://www.warbud.pl/files/BHP/standardy/17.5._plan_ewakuacji,_instrukcje_awaryjne_warbud.pdf
Politechnika Wrocławska (2021). Politechnika Wrocławska—Covid-19. Retrieved April 29, 2021, from https://bhp.pwr.edu.pl/covid-19
Porozumienie dla Bezpieczeństwa w Budownictwie. (2020). Zbiór Zasad Bezpieczeństwa W Zapobieganiu Covid-19. Porozumienie dla Bezpieczeństwa w Budownictwie. Retrieved February 1, 2021, from http://porozumieniedlabezpieczenstwa.pl/images/aktualnosci/2020/Zbi%C3%B3r_zasad_bezpiecze%C5%84stwa_w_zapobieganiu_COVID-19/Zbior_zasad_COVID_PL.pdf
Rasmussen, J. (2013). Governing the workplace or the worker? Evolving dilemmas in chemical professionals’ discourse on occupational health and safety. Discourse & Communication, 7(1), 75–94.
Rettig, M. (1991). Nobody reads documentation. Communications of the ACM, 34(7), 19–24.
Searle, J. R. (1971). What is a speech act. In J. R. Searle (Ed.), The philosophy of language (pp. 39–53). Oxford University Press.
Searle, J. R. (1979). Expression and meaning. Studies in the theory of speech acts. Cambridge University Press.
Searle, J. R. (1983). Intentionality: An essay in the philosophy of mind. Cambridge University Press.
Tsai, W. C., Rogers, W. A., & Lee, C. F. (2012). Older adults’ motivations, patterns, and improvised strategies of using product manuals. International Journal of Design, 6(2). Retrieved February 1, 2021, from http://www.ijdesign.org/index.php/IJDesign/article/view/1028/449
Uniwersytet Jagielloński. (2020, September 9). Procedury COVID-19. Uniwersytet Jagielloński. Retrieved February 1, 2021, from https://wnz.cm.uj.edu.pl/cm/uploads/2020/09/PROCEDURY-ZAJ%C4%98CIA-NAUCZYCIELE-I-STUDENCI.pdf
Valkova, S. (2013). Speech acts or speech act sets: Apologies and compliments. Linguistica Pragensia, 23(2), 44–57.
van Loggem, B. (2014, September 2–5). ‘Nobody reads the documentation’: true or not? In Proceedings of ISIC, the information behaviour conference, Leeds. Retrieved February 1, 2021, from http://informationr.net/ir/19-3/isic/isic03.html
Wierzbicka, A. (1985). Different cultures, different languages, different speech acts: Polish vs. English. Journal of Pragmatics, 9, 145–178.
Wierzbicka, A. (1999). Język—umysł—kultura. Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
World Health Organisation. (2009). How to Handwash? Retrieved February 1, 2021, from https://www.who.int/gpsc/5may/How_To_HandWash_Poster.pdf
Zinken, J. (2016). Requesting responsibility. The morality of grammar in polish and English family interaction. Oxford University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kodura, M. (2022). Health and Safety Discourse in Polish and English: A Pragmalinguistic Perspective of COVID-19 Communication. In: Federici, F.M. (eds) Language as a Social Determinant of Health. Palgrave Studies in Translating and Interpreting. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87817-7_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87817-7_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-87816-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-87817-7
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)