Features of translation of proper nouns on the basis of the book by J. K. Rowling Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

1. Features of translation of proper nouns on the basis of the book by J. K. Rowling Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Features of translation of proper
nouns on the basis of the book by
J. K. Rowling Fantastic Beasts and
Where to Find Them
Completed by A. A. Polonskaya
student, SP-433301
Research supervisor:
Lecturer
I. E. Kharlov

2. Goal

The aim of the study is to analyze the features of translation
of proper names and to investigate the problems that arise in
the translation of the names from English into Russian
Tasks:
• to consider ‘proper noun’ as a linguistic concept
• to study the principal types of translation of proper
nouns
• to investigate the ways of word-formation of proper
names in the original text
• to analyze methods of translation of proper names on
the basis of the book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find
Them

3. Material

The book by J. K. Rowling Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find
Them in the original and two existing translations of different
publishing houses «Росмэн» (2009) and «Махаон» (2015)
The reason of choosing this material is the recent screen version
of the book that became very popular and relatively recent release
of a new version of the book

4. Relevance of the study

• Presence of international relations
• A lot of books and films in fantasy genre which are full of
proper names
• A number of controversial opinions of fans and readers
concerning the variant of translation, including that of proper
names
• The need for studying proper names before they are created
and invented

5. Methods used in the research:

Methods used in the research:
continuous sampling method: 255 units were analyzed
comparative analysis
discriminatory analysis
statistical method
interview
Methodology:
The study is based on works of famous Russian and foreign
linguists L. S. Barkhudarov (2008), V. S. Vinogradov (2001), A. V.
Superanskaia (2009), D. I. Ermolovich (2001), N. K. Garbovskii
(2004), A. K. Matveev (2006), N. V. Podolskaia (1978, 2009), V. S.
Slepovich (2006), T. A. Kazakova (2006), A. D. Schweitzer (2009),
C. Hough (2016)

6. Main terms

• Proper name (by Russian dictionary of
onomastic terminology ) – is a word, phrase or
sentence, which singles out the naming object
among others, and serves for individualizing
and identifying this certain object

7. Main stages of the analysis

Collect the material
Establish words’ etymology
Establish the ways of translation
Compare two translations to the original text
Survey readers on their preferences

8. Research 1. The ways of word-formation of proper names in the original and their etymology

• From folklore: Troll, Fairy, Imp
• From antique cultures or derived from Latin or
Greek words: Phoenix, Centaur, Erumpent
• Names build by word-building (compounding):
Ashwinder, Flobberworm, Puffskein
• Compounding of words in a phrase: Chinese
Fireball, Hungarian Horntail, Peruvian Vipertooth

9. 2. The methods of translation of the proper names on the basis of the novel Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

In the first edition «Росмэн» the most frequent ways of
translation of the proper names used by translator are:
• transliteration: Grindylow – Гриндилоу
• tracing: Chinese Fireball – Китайский Огненный Шар
• translation by creating neologisms: Ashwinder –
Огневица
In the second edition «Махаон» the most popular methods
of translation are as follows:
• translation by creating neologisms: Erumpent – Сносорог
• tracing: Red Cap – Красношап

10. Conclusion

• etymology – the biggest group is folklore; then
Latin and Greek words; the rest is made of
word-compounding or phrase-compounding.
• the first edition – transliteration and tracing
• the second edition – translation by creating
neologisms
• the survey showed that respondents in most
cases (9 out of 12) voted for the first
translation («Росмэн» 2009) of the book

11.

Thank you for your attention!