Abstract
Lexical transfer operation as defined by Klaudy (2003) is a collective term for all the systemic and routine-like operative moves developed by generations of translators to handle the difficulties stemming from the different lexical systems and cultural context of the two languages functioning together in the process of translation. The paper deals with two lexical operations carried out by translators in Indo-European-Hungarian translation: narrowing (or specification, concretization) and broadening (or generalization) of meaning. The paper is based on a lecture held by the author in Maastricht (Klaudy 1996), and further developed in her book Languages in Translation (Klaudy 2003) looking at lexical specification and generalization from a new angle namely from the point of view of universals in translation (Baker 1993, Laviosa 1998).