Legal Language in an International Context: A Translation Proposal of a Contract for the International Sale of Goods from English into Italian

Translation is one of the oldest professions in the world, and over time two different activities have been identified: translating, which is the written activity, and interpreting, referring to the oral activity. Nowadays, translation has become a constant activity in any field, whether in business or education, to which any subject is exposed directly or indirectly. In particular, it has become a fundamental requirement in the business field, as through the development of globalization, international business transactions have increased and consequently so has communication between different countries. Since two different countries in most cases have two different native languages, communication takes place mainly in English, recognized as lingua franca, but often a translation into the native language of the trading countries is also required. The purpose of this dissertation is to trace the stages of the development of international trade and analyze the document used to complete transactions between different countries, namely the contract for the international sale of goods. This introduction is followed by an in-depth insight regarding the main features of the specialized translation used in this field, which is legal translation. These initial theoretical considerations aim to introduce the final practical part concerning the translation of an international contract for the sale of goods and the analysis of problems encountered during the translation.