It is often said that in the text of the Russian translation the proper names are not translated but transliterated. It may even be observed in real life. Still, there are quite a few proper namesthat seem to violate this rule of thumb.An example are word combinations thatare partially made of a proper name and there are also common words. Here we mean eponymous vocabulary. Before we go into this issue of eponymics any deeper, let us look and discover the meaning of the word eponym and its derivatives in linguistics. All words inboth English and Russian can be segmented into two separate chunks: proper names and appellative names. The word "eponim" originates from the Greek language, where it meant "smth. or smb. giving the name". In thepast eponyms came into existence from the names of real people, war heroes or deities to be later employed in the names of towns, tribes, objects and even positions of power. During this time the actual notion of "eponym" expanded, though it meant not only the personal name, but now it could be used to name animals or an objects.Currently, linguists employ the word “eponym” to refer to a word that has stopped working as a proper name and now functions as a simple regular noun. Therefore, we work with 3 individual elements of an eponym:1. being or object2. proper name3. common word.Therefore, the Russian interpreters while translating eponymisms face the problem of developing an instant hypothesis about the background knowledge of users of the English word and the audience of its Russian text. The connotation of eponym arises out of the cultural context. Variations between those implications in the English and Russian tongues predetermine a number of possibilities of appellativization of proper names. The primary question connected with eponymisms is the subject of their out-of-context transparency which is a secret peculiarity that depends on the cultural competence and background knowledge of Russian native audiences. There is a question here: in what way should an interpreter deal with eponyms? A number of eponyms have a common cultural context which makes which makes them easy to translate, for instance “superman” or “Lolita”.The same thing applies also to the eponymisms that have lost their transparency in both English and Russian. (e.g.: Adonis named after a beautiful young man adored by both Aphrodite and Persephone and killed by a boar, or the game of badminton named after Badminton in the South West of England, country seat of the Duke of Beaufort, where it was played). There is a problem only when an eponym is transparent in English, but means absolutely nothing to the Russian audience. However, not every eponimism causes problems. Those which are non-transparent, do not cause any difficulties in Russian translation at all.
By: Mathew Petrenko
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