Zuzana Bohušová – Tenzie, dimenzie a bariéry zrozumiteľnosti
Zuzana Bohušová
Univerzita Mateja Bela Banská Bystrica, Katedra germanistiky, Banská Bystrica
Abstract
Tensions, Dimensions, and Barriers of Comprehensibility
The study briefly summarizes research on comprehensibility within Slovak linguistics and, to some extent, also translation studies. It emphasizes the gradual shift of certain aspects to the forefront, tracing tendencies from text comprehensibility to the standardization of plain language, and presents the tensions that research has brought to light. The focus then turns to four dimensions of comprehensibility as developed in the Hamburg Comprehensibility Model. The aim is to derive a categorization of barriers from these dimensions. The first block of examples—consisting of adapted websites in plain language, samples of intralingual translations into plain language, offers from translation and interpreting agencies, as well as an outline of a new international standard for plain language—serves as evidence of numerous modern efforts toward comprehensible communication. The second block of examples is used to explain the complex nature of comprehensibility as a potential quality based on barrier research. The perspectives of the topic lie in research on strategies and possibilities for barrier-reducing activities.
Keywords: comprehensibility, plain language, Hamburg Comprehensibility Model, barriers, intralingual translation
