Articles

The article investigates the potential value of the Russian National Corpus in teaching translation between Russian and Chinese in the digital age. Being an important language resource and a powerful search tool, the Russian National Corpus could be an effective assistance for translation teaching based on the notion of digitalized education. The paper discusses specific ways to use the Russian-Chinese parallel corpus and the multimedia corpus of the Russian National Corpus in teaching translation between Russian and Chiense, and emphasizes the role of corpus in the development of analytical, critical and creative thinking among students in the process of translation teaching.

In recent years, translation training in Chinese universities has developed rapidly. With regard to teaching Russian interpreting, considerable progress has also been made, this can be reflected in the creation of textbooks. This article studies 15 Russian interpretation textbooks compiled by Chinese specialists in Russian over the past 20 years. Such textbooks can be divided into 5 types according to their content and functions: (1) a model focused on language materials on various topics; (2) a model focused on developing the skill of interpreting; (3) generic type model; (4) a model focused on language materials in a special area; (5) a model focused on preparing for “China Accreditation Test for Translators and Interpreters” (CATTI). A description of the structure of textbooks and an analysis of their prominent features according to different types present the state and existing models of teaching Russian interpretation in Chinese universities. The result shows: (1) a certain system has been formed for teaching Russian language interpretation in Chinese universities; (2) textbook compilation is under development and follows two lines: language materials and interpreting skills; (3) among the five types of textbooks, one can choose an option in the process of teaching interpretation according to the purpose of training and the direction of training of translators in different universities; (4) of the two most typical interpreting textbooks, one covers relatively complete aspects of learning, whereas in the other texts take into account the peculiarities of oral speech and offer specialized knowledge.

The article outlines some reflections, findings and hypotheses after comparing synchronous face-to-face and distance ESP and Translation Studies teaching experience at technical and humanity universities before and during COVID-19 Quarantine, 2019–2020. The author offers several ideas for further discussion: distance learning has more benefits in ESP and TS teaching for particular students’ categories, specialties and subjects before face-to-face one, which reflects their different gender, psychology and behavior, technology skills and its availability, personal and group socio-cultural status, learning motivation, environment and other factors. Further research into the phenomenon is needed. The article suggests that it is not necessary for an educator with humanities or linguistic background to additionally learn a technical subject to teach efficiently technical and professional texts translation (at sight) or ESP and explains how a universal collaborative approach, such as collaborative wiki didactics, could assure that. The author considers it necessary to train all categories of students how to use Neuro Machine Translation (NMTs) for ESP texts translation and to obtain post-editing skills. The article mentions the importance of blended pedagogical methods in modern hybrid society; the perspectives of flexible and universal collaborative approaches in face-to-face, blended distance education.

The article is devoted to one of the most pressing language problems affecting the French language, namely calculus. The classification of cripples and their features is considered. Of special relevance is the question of the most harmful types of cripples that can have a negative impact on the state of the French language. According to linguists, the most destructive types of cripples are, above all, syntactic ones, since they can change the very structure of the language, i. e. its basis. However, over the past decades, their numbers have not increased enough to cause concern; nevertheless, caution should not be lost. No less serious is the question of semantic calculus, the number of examples of which causes some concern in view of the increase in the intensity of the appearance of new examples of their functioning in modern French. Based on the available data, it is concluded that it is necessary to continue the study.

The relevance of the paper is determined by the need to examine the features of PR abbreviations translation. At present, with the predominant role of English as the lingua franca, the role of translation is undeniable. Big Data require fast and high-quality translation of professionally-oriented information into many languages. This brings about the necessity to improve the quality of education of translators in the field of professional communication. One of the most popular professions is Public Relations (PR) councillors.

The research material comprises English PR abbreviations, functioning in English press releases. PR abbreviations are constantly updated, causing difficulties for PR abbreviations-neologisms translation.

The objective of the research is to highlight the most important issues related to PR abbreviations translation, as they are of particular difficulties for rendering into other languages due to the lack of PR abbreviations dictionaries.

The methods used to achieve the objective of the article, include the method of continuous sampling; the method of linguistic observation; the method of conceptual analysis; the method of distributive analysis and the method of comparative analysis of English and Russian abbreviations.

Results. The analysis of PR abbreviations translation has demonstrated the absence of universal strategies. PR abbreviations are transmitted into Russian by means of transliteration, calque, barbarisms, as well as hybrid strategies accompanied by interpretation.

Conclusions. The absence of a PR terminological base, as well as the entire conceptual apparatus in this field, requires introducing special algorithms to overcome the difficulties of PR abbreviations translation. The particularities of PR abbreviations translation are revealed. The article makes a certain contribution to the theory of translation.

The phenomena of intercultural asymmetry in the English version of “Navruz-name” by Omar Khayyam are analyzed. The asymmetry of grammatical features in the original text and in the translation are determined. The study of intercultural asymmetry in this paper is carried out from the perspective of intercultural and interlanguage features, confirmed by a lot of scientific examples and facts. It is established that the translation of culturespecific concepts, non-equivalent vocabulary, culturemes and other lexical units is carried out incorrectly. Special attention is also paid to the phenomena of interlanguage asymmetry in the lexical and grammatical aspects.

The author comes to the conclusion that in most cases the translation requires editing, there is an asymmetry of grammatical categories, syntactic constructions and phrases, nominal, verb and adjective phrases with English equivalents. Based on a comparative analysis of the Russian and English translations of “Navruz-name”, it can be argued that the English translation was made from the Russian version of the work.

The article aims at studying toponyms from the perspective of dialogue of cultures. It particularly focuses on the characteristics of Russian urbanonyms, used in the territory of France, as a special linguistic and cultural phenomenon whose role is essential both for linguacultural and translation research. This study is important due to the need for understanding and evaluating the impact of Russian culture and history on the French toponymic system. The research analyzes the concept of the term “urbanonym” within the toponymic terminology, identifies and systematizes Russian-language geographical names used in the territory of France. The urbanonyms were then classified according to the types of geographical objects as well as the territorial units and their semantic meanings. The research concluded that Russian urbanonyms are used for naming a variety of French urban objects (streets, bridges, restaurants, squares, museums, monuments, churches) and are culturally marked. The use of these urbanonyms implies deep links between the concepts of Russian culture and those of France. Thus, these concepts not only deliver a special meaning but also mark their native culture and indicate its integration into another.

The article dwells on an alternative approach to doing written translation powered by speech-to-text software. Triggered by a new trend in the professional community around the globe, it is mostly about replacing manual typing with a faster dictation coupled with special speech recognition technologies. The researches note that this entails swapping written translation with sight translation, a move fraught with greater difficulties due to time limitations and simultaneous perception, processing, translation and output of the target text. The paper focuses on major cognitive processes engaged in both types of translation. This has gone a long way in establishing hallmarks of the alternative approach and figuring out ways of optimizing the most complex aspects in sight translation to tailor it for a phase in written translation, providing faster input of the target text. The ultimate test of the compliance of the target text quality with the requirements for written translation comes in the form of an experiment encompassing adequacy, equivalence and pragmatic adaptation, provided by the conventional and alternative approaches. Based on the analysis of the two types of translation and experimental verification of the prompted hypothesis confirmed the feasibility of achieving better performance without compromising the quality of the target text by replacing written translation processes with some of those employed in sight interpretation. Though the approach is suitable for both young and experienced translators, the latter have better chances of achieving higher quality and productivity. Major constraints on the way of specialists with limited practice are the lack of sufficient number of ready templates and clichés, poor terminology base, and inadequate sight translation skills. Further attempts to expand the study of the speech-to-text powered approach to written translation may include dictation strategies and integration of the tool into the suite of modern translation software.

Dubbing demonstrates annoying explicit errors at the phoneticphonological level. The article analyzes phonological errors in dubbing. The article identifies accentuation errors at the word and the sentence levels alike. The paper identifies their causes and influence on the audience’s reception in interlanguage and intercultural contact. The work uses general scientific observations on empirical material based on logical methods of analysis and synthesis, generalization and abstraction, the method of quantitative analysis, as well as private scientific linguistic methods of descriptive, interpretive, comparative and contextual analysis. This methodological framework ensures the reliability of the results obtained. The empirical base consists of linguistic facts extracted from the British TV series “Agatha Christie. Poirot”. The article reveals errors in the phonological organization of sounding speech at the segmental and prosodic levels. The variability of localization of the verbal accent affects 4 linguistic units (anthroponyms and toponyms), represented by different versions, and violates the requirement of accuracy of interlanguage transmission of precision information. Prosodic organization is distorted and implemented as a shift in the localization of phrasal emphasis and deviation from syntagmatic division. The implicit transfer of these aspects of prosody in a written text leads to deviations from the expected communicative effect. The variability of verbal stress and phrasal accentuation leads to a distortion of the semantics, syntactic structure and pragmatics of the film text. Due to their explicit nature, these errors represent communication failures and complicate reception, requiring the viewer to make additional cognitive efforts to eliminate information interference. The analyzed errors are determined by the multisubjectivity and asynchronous nature of dubbing. Preventing such errors by taking some organizational measures (provided in the author’s recommendations) will improve the quality of dubbing. The terminological apparatus of translation studies is replenished with the promising concept of “pseudo-one-language communication”.

Within the framework of the audiovisual translation studies and in the contest of the Italian sociolinguistic situation, historically characterized by the presence of many dialects and regional varieties of the standard language, this article considers the translation of the film “Baarìa” (2009) directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. Original dialogues in the Sicilian dialect (contained word for word in the motion picture script by Tornatore published in Italy by Sellerio, 2009), their dubbing in standard Italian (released in Italy and worldwide as an official version of the film) as well as the Russian dubbed version are used as linguistic materials. The aim of the article is to compare these three versions in order tp explore and analyze the possibility and methods of conveying the Sicilian linguistic originality whilst translating from the Sicilian dialect into Italian and Russian.

The author begins from revealing some theoretical aspects of linguocultural transposition generally concerned with the aid of studies by Skoromyslova, Denisova, Snetkova. Hereafter the paper describes the linguistic context of “Baarìa” set in a small town of Bagheria near Palermo, that presents the local Baariotu dialect of Sicilian, the mother-tongue of Tornatore. As a result of comparing three versions of the film, it has been found that the most challenging moments for the translator related to the dialect are represented by the title (evidently given in the dialect intentionally), strong phonetic features, some typical grammar Sicilian forms (e. g. verbs: sic. amunì — it. andiàmo), lexical choices (as trademarks: sic. picciotti — it. ragazzi), especially personal names, including various forms of address (ron, mastru, zu’), and gastronomic culture-specific elements (mafàjda, minnulata). Summing up the results, it can be concluded that the standard Italian version of the film “Baarìa,” due to the historical and cultural proximity in some measure between two idioms under examination, succeeds in reproducing the richness of the dialect, meanwhile the Russian dubbed version loses the sociolinguistic connotations of the original text.

This article examines allusions and the most significant reminiscences found in the works by Joseph Brodsky. In the course of the research, we analyze Brodsky’s quotes, analogies, paraphrases and main references to the works authored by famous Russian and foreign writers, poets and cultural figures. A special place in the article is occupied by Brodsky’s allusions to the poetic activities of Alexander S. Pushkin. The use of allusions and open reminiscences is characteristic of postmodern literature. In Joseph Brodsky’s works, allusions allow one to show the evolution of concepts, heroes, scenes of action, or to look at any social or philosophical problem from the author’s perspective. Open reminiscences are usually combined with paraphrases and pastiches, with a deliberate change in the intention of the author or authorhero. Hidden reminiscences make it possible to create a dialogue between two authors within the framework of a poetic work. The Soviet period of Joseph Brodsky’s creative work is characterized by the presence of a large number of references to Russian poets. Brodsky analyzes the social problems they identified. These problems become the subject-matter of Brodsky’s heroes’ discussions. Within the framework of philosophical reasoning, Brodsky criticizes various aspects of modern society, sometimes Soviet society is directly criticized. The American period is most valuable for determining the nature of the influence of other poets and writers on Brodsky’s legacy. With a detailed study of the author’s poetry, you can see that his work was significantly influenced by such figures as: Homer, Guy Virgil Catullus, William Shakespeare, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, William Butler Yeats, Robert Frost, Wistan Hugh Auden, as well as Alexander S. Pushkin, Fyodor I. Tyutchev, Ivan S. Turgenev and Afanasy A. Fet. We set ourselves a task of showing the degree of influence of these authors on Brodsky’s work by analyzing the main reminiscences and allusions in his poetry.

This article presents a comparison and analysis of two translations of the story “Roadside Picnic” by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky into Serbian using the example of the translation of the working jargon of stalkers, which refers to artifacts and phenomena in the so-called Zone, where space aliens stopped for a halt in their travel and then went on, not wanting to establish contact with people from Earth. The introduction to the article deals with the science fiction work by the Strugatsky brothers, their style, in particular the story “Roadside Picnic”. The main part of the article is an analysis of translations of objects and phenomena left after visiting the aliens’ visit. Here, the author introduces two translators of the Strugatskys’ story into Serbian: Milan Čolić, who published his translation in 1979, and Andrija Lavrek, who published his translation in 2011. In the main part, a comparison and an analysis of the two translations is made; where a deeper analysis is needed, the translated words are checked against the dictionary of the Serbian language and their meanings are explained. Purpose of the work: to show to what extent the translators managed to translate into Serbian the special names of extraterrestrial artifacts and phenomena, most of which are listed here, as well as to explain their features. This work with examples is a contribution to the practice and style of translation of the works by the Strugatsky brothers. Here, for the first time, an analysis of the translations of their works into Serbian is conducted. It can be seen that the first translator, Milan Čolić, translated the jargon of the translators verbatim, whereas the second translator used the method of describing artifacts and phenomena on two occasions. There is no need for descriptions, because artifacts and phenomena from the Zone are described in the text itself.

The object of research of this paper is the characteronyms or “speaking names” in F.S. Fitzgerald’s novel “The Great Gatsby”. The aim of the research is to analyze the implicit connotative and symbolic meanings of the characteronyms and suggest their translation into Russian that would adequately convey the hidden implications. The methods employed are stylistic analysis, contextual analysis, lexicographical analysis, etymological analysis. The findings of the research prove that F.S. Fitzgerald’s choice of names is not coincidental, but dependent on a number of factors. Among these are: the linguistic aspects of the names in the American variety of the English language, the possible associations the reader could draw from the characters’ names, the presence of symbolic meanings, the etymology of the names, the possible onomatopoeia and phonetic properties of the names that could bear the additional meanings. This paper states the necessity of supplying the Russian edition of the novel “The Great Gatsby” with a commentary on the characters’ names.

The article deals with the markers of free indirect speech in English texts. The study is aimed at examining the markers and introducers of free indirect speech and their specific role in creating textual interference. The methods include lexical semantic, stylistic, contextual, and comparative analysis. Since free indirect speech as a stylistic device is based on the interference of the narrator’s text and the character’s text, it is characters’ peculiar speech patterns that it is highlighted by. Although free indirect speech is primarily grammatically and/or lexically marked, other means, e. g. italics, may also be employed to mark it in the text. Grammatical markers encompass a wide range of markers which fall into two groups, morphological and syntactic ones, with the latter being more relevant in English as it is an analytic language. Nevertheless, some instances of free indirect speech (especially those representing perception, with the highest degree of textual interference) lack concrete lexical or grammatical markers entirely, so that contextual cues appear to be the only means to determine whether or not a particular text fragment should be treated as free indirect speech. That is why it is often difficult to recognize free indirect speech in the English original and find adequate ways to render it into Russian. Another difficulty arises from typological differences between the two languages in question, with their different sets of grammatical markers. Therefore, detecting markers of free indirect speech in English texts and comparing them to those in original Russian texts are the first step towards discovering a correlation of syntactic patterns in the two languages in question — and achieving a proper translation equivalence. The results obtained can provide a basis for future research in the field of translation from English into Russian, of which the goal is to provide a set of recommendations for translators of literary texts.

The paper aims to account for gender as one of the pervasive forces driving transformation of the literary text structure in translation and to outline possible theoretical and practical benefits of approaching gender as a cognitive dominant shaping the internal structure of the translator’s perspective. The research belonging with the sociocognitive framework of Discourse Studies, gender is approached simultaneously as a function of the translator’s socially modulated self, a cognitive dominant driving the translator’s discourse and the translator’s practical concern. A number of English-Russian literary translations are discussed in order to illustrate that, in view of such complex nature, throughout the translation act gender modulates 1) the cognitive processes of enacting the phenomenological perspective, from which the translator mentally construes the literary text world, and 2) the discourse processes of reframing the narrative perspective, which is argued to be an adaptive instrument of the translator’s strategy. A number of cognitive and aesthetic modes of reframing gender are distinguished that have been revealed to be commonly present in English-into-Russian literary translations. The striking frequency of gender reframing evinces the urgent need for the translator to reflect on pervasive gender-driven differences in the way the world is perceived, conceptualized and categorized by different people and the respective differences in the structure of the narrator’s perspective and that of each fictional character, all of which have to be one way or another relayed in the translator’s text. In this respect it might be feasible for the translator to adhere to the performative concept of gender, which accounts for the inherent dynamicity, fluidity and multiplicity of gender identities ‘performed’ in different parts of the literary text and acknowledges an inevitable marked contrast between alternative profiles of seemingly one and the same gender. Overall, the research findings reveal the need for the translator to adopt and implement a gender-sensitive translation strategy, which is likely to considerably enhance the literary value of their translations.