Articles

Untranslatable does not imply dead-ends in the process of translation. In fact, there are many translation strategies that can solve the problem. Non-equivalent words, idioms and special cultural expressions are often neglected in the field of translation. In this paper, we focus on the countermeasure for untranslatability in Russian-to-Chinese literary translation through the domestication, foreignization, interpretation and other translation strategies.

Mafia is used as a loan word in English and Russian alike. However, Italian mafia is a much more complex term with deep historical and cultural roots. The article discusses mafia-related terminology and ways to translate it into English and Russian. One of the best options is to use the so-called foreignization strategy, i.e. to retain the term in the source language while providing an appropriate explanation in the target language. To illustrate this point, the author defines the term omerta and suggests ways to translate it.

The article presents a view on translation as a complex and multidimensional phenomenon. Five aspects of the nature of translation are highlighted in regard to the lingual structure, culture, semiotics, sense (cognition) and communicative pragmatics. These aspects constitute different features of translation reality. Dealing with every aspect of translation, the article discriminates between translation and the usual behavior of a language sign in speech. Translation must be studied as a whole while taking into consideration all the aspects of its nature. The abovementioned aspects of translation, on the one hand, are interconnected, but, on the other hand, are opposed to each other. The language-related and cultural factors account for differences in translation, as the sense and communicative pragmatics represent the basis for achieving translation identity. The integrative approach to translation demands enhancing a static comparative text analysis with a dynamic view of translation as a semiotic phenomenon in the process of its development in speech. Methodologically, a dynamic view rests on the dialectics of philosophical categories of identity and difference, immobility (rest) and mobility (change). The contensive side of translation is formed by the opposition of sense and reference. This opposition accounts for the interpretative nature of translation. To prove the theoretical views, the article presents an analysis of English-to-Russian and Portuguese-to-Russian translation examples. The article may be useful to all those interested in general and specialized translation.

This article is an attempt to view translation as a decision-making process based on the concepts, categories and methods of the decision-making theory. The article presents the results of the experiment which made it possible to add new types of translation decisions and steps to existing ones as well as to analyze the notions of translation strategy and translation unit which are considered to be issues common to translation research.

The 1st International Forum “The Russian Language in the World Context and at International Organizations” took place from 28th of September to 3rd of October 2016 in Rome.

The present article is an analysis of the military lexis, its categorization and its presence in bilingual military dictionaries aimed at revealing general trends in the Russian lexicography and the lexicographical culture of specialized dictionaries, as well as advise on further development of the bilingual military dictionary format.

Double syntax constructions usually classified as ‘poetic license’ in a complicated text have been reviewed against the background of normal word order, inversion and dislocated syntax models in poetic translation from English into Russian. The constructions may be motivated by indefinite reference and referential conflict of pronominal substitution, anaphoric and cataphoric cohesion of the textual blocks. Under translation such constructions illustrated by examples from Emily Dickinson’s poetic texts and their translation variants by A. Gavrilov and I. Bliznestova are non-equivalent; the translation strategy is targeted at eliminating referential duality in the text.

The purpose of this article — to analyze what methods are used to obznacheniya symbolic expressions of Internet communication in Russian and Chinese. In this paper, we razlelyaem landmark designation at the numbers and emoticons. This study reflects the main current trends that need to be confirmed on a wide nabolee material: Chinese youth uses symbolic notation in Internet communication more and they have a broader semantic than Russian youth.

The article offers a comparative semantic analysis of the cluster “wild plants” in the Russian and Chuvash linguistic world images. The authors analyze both direct and figurative meanings of the Russian and Chuvash words and set expression, as well as free combinations of words from a given thematic group. Also analyzed are polysemy, metaphors, symbols, connotations of various Russian and Chuvash words, phraseology and set similes in the Russian and Chuvash languages. Special attention is paid to the Russian and Chuvash folklore. The Russian and Chuvash words from any given thematic group are part of the linguistic world images of the Russian and Chuvash ethnic groups. The analysis makes its contribution to the reconstruction of the integrated linguistic world image and helps to reveal some peculiarities of the national world perception.

The article studies the rational and emotional nature of the expressive means of language that form the basis for the comparative-stylistic analysis proposed by the outstanding Swiss linguist Charles Bally. Isolation, identification and the classification of expressive means of language aimed at determining the emotional component of speech are based on the method of comparison with the conceptual language of “pure ideas” reflecting peculiarities of the human psyche. The comparison may include languages united by a common psychological structure revealing the emotional side of language patterns that constitute the system due to the living language associations. The article also attempts to establish the origins of functionalism, which can be traced in the social aspects of language patterns that influence the parlance of a specific field as well as the functioning of language systems in similar situations of communication.

This article discusses possible consequences of the referendum on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (Brexit) for the European language system, as well as the training system in the language industry in both the EU and the UK. The referendum brought to the surface the previously hidden contradiction between the UK, France and Germany on the use of official and working languages in the European Union. However, the Europeans’ hope to oust the English language cannot be realized because of Ireland and Malta’s standing on this issue. The exit of the UK from the EU will have a negative impact on English language learning programs aimed at training language experts for the language industry, as living language studies are being somewhat neglected in the UK education system today.

There is a common misconception that technical documentation is, by definition, clear and hence easy to translate. The terminology is often naively said to be unambiguous and internationally standardized. Even if a term is used in a wrong way, the context will set it right as it eases the understanding and further communication. The article deals with examples which show perfectly how bewildering both specific professional terms and household technical realia might be for native speakers of different languages, which poses a real challenge in translating these apparently “simple” and “unambiguous” units.

The paper discusses the translations of Miguel de Cervantes’ interludes by Aleksandr Ostrovsky made through the use of the foreignization translation strategy that consists in preserving national and cultural features of the original. The authors show that literal translation and the strategy of “distancing” are characteristic of the Russian playwright’s translation method (although at the same time he tries to make the text clear to the Russian reader). Special attention is paid to Ostrovsky’s studies in the field of Spanish literature, culture and dance. Ostrovsky’s translation comments on Cervantes’ interludes are analyzed.

The article focuses on the peculiarities of translation of indoctrination materials (leaflets and radio broadcast programs) aimed at soldiers and the population of Nazi Germany during the Great Patriotic War. Based on the language and style analysis of original materials, we define grammatical, syntactical and stylistic transformations in translation intended to convey the meaning of combat documents which exert influence over different demographic and social groups. While analyzing the discourse of verbal persuasion in the armed forces of Wehrmacht through oral and printed propaganda, we emphasize the translator’s capability to use language means, particularly epithets, allegories, antitheses, metaphors, hyperbolae, inversions, etc., to affect soldiers’ feelings and emotional state. A thorough study of indoctrination documents allows the authors to suggest a set of necessary requirements for translators who work with leaflets and broadcast programs.

The article stresses the necessity to find appropriate ways of car brand slogans translation taking into account the fact that automotive companies convey an additional symbolic meaning to promotional items so as to establish an image-based communication. Considering linguistic and stylistic peculiarities of advertisements, we define means that ensure the invariant character of the target text, analyze car brand slogans translation from English into Russian and propose ways aimed at conveying a perlocutive effect of the original message. The author studies the capability of evaluation expressions to control the addressee’s actions indirectly through creation of incentives related to essential needs stressed in the advertisement.