Change of Dermatological Terminology in Korean Translation

Eun, Hee Chul

Abstract

Translation of terminology into Korean in the field of medicine has been one of the important tasks for the last several decades in Korea. Translation of medical terminology is deeply indebted to the Japanese scholars and direct adaptation of their work by the Korean scholars was the main trend since long time ago. This is because we share Chinese characters and the grammar structure. Although some modification and addition of new translation which is more suitable for the Korean language system has been tried in different aspects in the past editions of English-Korean medical terminology books, extensive works has been performed for the 4th edition which was published by the Korean Medical Association in 2001. The Korean Dermatological Association published the first editon of dermatology terminology book in 1983 and the 2nd edition in 1993. Many of them have been adapted in the 4th edition by the Korean Medical Association. However, many changes are noticed representing new trials with innovative ideas. This special article covers some changes of dermatological terminology between the old and new editions of terminology book published by the Korean Medical Association. Major examples are summarized in several tables.