Videogames’ archaic lexis. The sources of archaic lexis and its localization techniques

Abstract

Nowadays there is a significant number of video games are represented on the market of videogame software products, text materials of which contain archaic lexis. The aim of this paper is to analyze and interrogate the sources of archaic lexis in videogames, as well as to establish the main ways of the translation in localizations in other languages. Typological and comparativehistorical methods, as well as contextual analysis, became the main ones for this study. The article contains examples of videogame software products that have the most frequent types of archaic lexis with a different basis, and also states videogame setting as one of the main sources of archaic lexis. As a rule, the setting of a videogame software product is a determining factor for the usage of certain types of lexis, including archaisms. The videogame setting, being a reflection of the ideas of the developers, carries information about a specific time period or a religion which determines the plot of the videogame. In addition to the setting, an important role is played by the style guide of the text materials, which contains instructions on the use of archaic lexical units that meet the requirements of the setting. The localization of archaic videogame lexis contains significant challenges even for experienced videogame localization industry workers. According to the results of this study, there are several ways to localize archaic lexis. Among these methods, direct borrowing of a lexical unit, as well as transliteration and transcription, stand out. The choice of an appropriate method of localization of archaic lexical units directly depends on the source of such vocabulary, which, in turn, becomes the religious and historical-traditional component of the videogame setting. As a rule, archaic lexis that has a religious basis underneath, the most common localization method is direct borrowing from sacred texts. At the same time, vocabulary typical of a certain era or the traditional way of any geographical region is most often transliterated or transcribed when translated into other target languages.

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