Proper Names Translated into Russian.

by: mathewpetrenko
Total views: 32 | Word Count: 572

Interpreters into Russian are often heard say that proper names are often simply given letter by letter and there is no need to bother translating them from English. It is not surprising, as experience shows that it is actually practiced this way. Still, there is a particular type of proper names that this rule does not refer to or only refers to in a limited range.

There are particular word combination that are in part a sort of proper names and partially a sort of common phrases. Here we mean eponymic word set. Prior to going into this issue of eponymics any further, let us analyze a bit and find the meaning of the word eponym and its derivatives in the science of the language. All words inEnglish and Russian can be segmented into 2 separate groups: proper names and appellative names. The word "eponim" comes from the Greek language, where it meant "smth. or smb. giving the name". In thepast eponyms appeared from the names of people, war heroes or deities to be later used in the names of cities, local communities, objects and even governmental posts. At the same time the actual notion of "eponym" became more inclusive,as now it meant not only the personal name, but now it could be used to name animals or an objects.

Nowadays the term "eponym" is more often employed with reference to common phrases which have been chosen in a language on the principle of displacing a single lexical item from the category of proper names to the class of common words with an immediate attribution of metaphorical lexical meaning. Hence, we work with three separate components of an eponym:

1. being or object

2. proper name

3. common word.

Therefore, the Russian translators while working with eponymisms have to deal with the problem of creating an instant assumption about the encyclopedic knowledge of users of the English text and the users of its Russian translation. The implication of eponymism is created on stereotypical mental connections that deal with a concrete, certain eponym and having the character of encyclopedic connotation. As Russian and English languages have different cultural background, there are non-similar explanations of how proper namesturn into eponyms. The first important issue connected with eponymisms is the matter of their out-of-context transparency which is a discreet peculiarity that relies on the cultural competence and encyclopedic awareness of Russian native audiences. In that case there is a question: is it okay for a Russian interpreter to think over such issues? A number of eponyms have a joint etymological context which makes translators job easy, for example “superman” or “Lolita”.

If there is no transparency of the context among the people from the two cultures, then again the job of an interpreter is pretty easy. (e.g.: Adonis named after a attractive youth loved by both Aphrodite and Persephone and killed by a wild boar, or the game of badminton that got its name from Badminton in the South West of England, country seat of the Duke of Beaufort, where it was played). Nevertheless, the issue gets more sophisticated if a some eponymism is transparent in English, and hence it features a bit of symbolic connotation, and the case of Russian languge it does not excite any response from speakers who fail to connect the common phrase and its connotation with a suitable eponym. Obviously, not every eponimism causes troubles. There are a number of eponyms which are quite transparent to understand.

About the Author

Translation company TransNeed specializes in translations from English to Russian of any kind of documents. We render services in legal, economic, medical, literal and technical translations.   

More Articles from: Language