Metaphorical Terms in the Latvian Translation Landscape

The focus of the present paper is the treatment of metaphorical terms in the Latvian term formation and translation practice, and the approaches to seeking Latvian equivalents for English metaphorical terms. The work undertaken in the development of bilingual dictionaries has brought to the fore the potential conflict between metaphorical terms and the strict prescriptivist rules that exist in Latvian term formation, that no ambiguity is permissible and metaphoricity should be ousted. Yet cognitive linguistics has unveiled the capacity of abstract thought and abstract reasoning in the formation of metaphorical terminology and that metaphor is at the basis of meaning formation. There are several approaches to seeking Latvian equivalents for English metaphorical terms yet in translation and interpreting practice loan translation still prevails. Over the recent years there has been evidence of a more determined return to metaphorical terms in Latvian as a significant element in the organization of the conceptual system of the language. Time will show, which trend will prevail though at present it seems that metaphorical terms in Latvian have come to stay.