მოლაპარაკე/ფუნქციური სახელები და მათი თარგმნის სირთულეები

Abstract

Scientific literature mentions several ways of transferring proper names from one language to another. These are transliteration, transcription, transposition, borrowings and calque (S. Vlakhov, I. Alekseeva, Kh. Beridze, A. Mumladze...). While discussing the peculiarities of transferring onomastic vocabulary from one language to another, translation theorist and translator G. Tsibakhashvili, in his book, “Issues of Translation Theory and Practice” (2000), distinguishes several groups of names: first names, surnames, pseudonyms, nicknames and functional names. Based on the translation practice, G. Tsibakhashvili points out that if the bearer of a name with a common origin is a historical or a real person, the name is transposed into the target language following the established norms. However, if the bearer of the name is a literary character, while transferring, the sound form of the original is kept. We disagree with this definition and believe that both types of names should be rendered in the target language by preserving the sound form and transcription/transliteration; for example, Ann- ენი and not ანა (Anna), Kate – ქეითი (and not ქეთი (Keti) or ქეთო ( Keto), Фёдор – ფიოდორ (Fyodor) and not თეოდორ (Theodor), Алекса́ндр ალექსანდრ (Alexandr) and not Alexander, etc. G. Tsibakhashvili also discusses the problems of translating pseudonyms, nicknames and speaking names with additional functions. According to his conclusion, a pseudonym should not be translated, whereas a nickname should. As for the speaking names (anthroponyms, toponyms), Tsibakhashvili maintains different approaches during translation: a speaking name is translated, but a surname is not. This is because, in the case of the translation of the latter, the nationalspecific image of the work changes completely. The speaking/functional name is mostly found in fiction (mainly, in children’s literature) and publicistic texts. It is a unique trope, is stylistically marked and serves to create the personality of the character. Thus, it has both semantic meaning and expressive-emotional parameters. To analyze the difficulties of translating speaking/functional names from one language to another, we chose T. S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats and its Russian and Georgian translations. It is noteworthy that there are many Russian translations of this book (incomplete: by S. Marshak, N. Goli, S. Stepanov, B. Letarov; complete by V. Betak, S. Dobovitskaya, A. Birger, A. Sergeev, I. Polyuakhtov and Y. Koval). The text was translated into Georgian by Z. Ratiani and A. Kopaliani. In 2021, Anna Kopaliani’s translation won the “Best Translation of the Year” nomination for the “Saba” literary award. Tomas S. Eliot began work on Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats in 1934-35. The book was fi rst published with the writer’s illustrations in 1939 by Faber and Faber Publishing House. Tomas S. Eliot’s book includes 15 poems. Each chapter has its own title represented mostly by speaking/functional names (author’s felinonyms or “variations on cats from famous poems and songs”): The Old Gumbie Cat, Growltiger’s Last Stand, The Rum Tum Tugger, Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer, The Song of the Jellicles, Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer, Old Deuteronomy, Mr Mistoff elees, Macavity: The Mystery Cat, Bustopher Jones: The Cat about Town... Each chapter of the book is both an independent poem and an integral part of the text structure. Comparing the speaking names of T.S. Eliot’s book Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats and their translations (Russian, Georgian) revealed that translators use different methods of translating names: transcription, transliteration (implicit information is lost, in such cases), partial and full calques (semes of the original text are preserved), contextual translation and also, neologisms are created. We think that when translating speaking/functional names, it is necessary to preserve the meaningful and expressive information embedded in them, preserving the national-cultural semantic components.