مقاله ای به زبان انگلیسی در مورد ترجمه ی اسامی خاص The Translation of Proper Names

The Translation of Proper Names

Abstract

The present article deals with the translation of proper names in non-fiction texts. Starting with the delimitation of the category of proper names on a linguistic basis, it examines the various strategies of translating proper names. The effect of the communicative situation is an important factor in the choice of the appropriate translation strategy. Situational features of interest here include the purpose of the translation, the expected audience, the mutual distance of the source and target cultures, as well as the closeness or lack of it of the languages involved. After a formal categorization of name types on syntactic grounds, names are differentiated on the basis of their respective referents and the associated translation strategies are discussed.

Introduction

One of the problems any translator has to face, in all texts, independently of the theme or subject he/she be working on is the translation of proper names. When we mention this grammatical category, right away we think of anthroponomy (names of persons) and toponyms (names of places), although they are only a part of the whole problem. It is necessary, then, to show which are all the elements within that grammatical category and define the object of study of this paper.

The Dictionary of Spanish Use by M. Moliner says:

[Proper name is] the one applied to a certain thing to distinguish it from the rest of the same species. They are always written in capital letters. Truly, proper names are all the expressions which are denominations and particular titles of things, but they are only called proper names when they are formed by only one or several words that do not form a complete sentence.

A basic tenet in translation theory taught to first-year students is that what are translated are texts, not words. In the following, a more apt designation for translation of proper names would be handling of proper names in translated texts. In deference to traditional usage, however, the term 'translation' was retained in the title. More exactly, the present article deals with proper names in non-fiction texts. Basically, nouns are classified as common or proper. Common nouns refer to a class of entities (e.g. squirrel), while proper nouns have a unique referent (John, London).

Definition and Classification of Proper Names

Every proper name, such as those below, will be written with capital letters:

a) Names of persons, animals or singularized things. Examples: Peter, Albert, Plato.

b) Geographical names: America, Spain.

When the article officially forms part of the proper name, both words will start with capital letter: El Salvador, The Hague. The name that accompanies proper names of place when they are part of the toponym: Mexico City; Sierra Nevada.

c) Last names: Smith, Brown.

d) Constellation, star or planet names strictly considered as such.

e) Zodiac sign names: Aries, Taurus, Libra.

f) Cardinal point names, when we refer explicitly to them.

g) Civil or religious feast names.

h) Divinities’ names.

i) Sacred books.

j) Commercial brands.

Trying to offer a closer approach to the concept of proper name, we present the considerations of an English speaking author, who establishes the following classification criteria:

ORTHOGRAPHIC:

- Proper names are capitalized.

MORPHOSYNTACTIC:

- Proper names have no plural forms.

- Proper names are used without articles.

- Proper names do not accept restrictive modifiers.

REFERENTIAL:

- Proper names refer to single unique individuals.

SEMANTIC:

- Proper names do not impute any qualities to the objects designated and are therefore meaningless.

- Proper names have a distinctive form of definition that includes a citation of their expression.

Grammatically, proper nouns behave very much in the same way in the sentence as common nouns. There are, however, well-known co-occurrence restrictions that distinguish them from common nouns. The most important among them are:

1. Proper nouns (PN) do not accept demonstrative pronouns as determiners. One would not normally say this John just bought a car. However, supposing there are several Johns out of whom you wish to single out a particular one, you are already using John as a common noun meaning 'any person called John.'

2. PNs do not accept restrictive adjectives or restrictive relative clauses. In the sentence the Old Shakespeare felt the closeness of his death one is implicitly comparing one of several manifestations in time of the person called Shakespeare with the rest, therefore, one is using the word as a common noun in the grammatical sense

3. Opposition between definite and indefinite is neutralized in PNs (a given PN either invariably takes zero article as in John, London, or invariably takes the definite article as in the Strand, the Haymarket, the Queen Elizabeth). A seeming counterexample such as that is not the John I was talking about is an instance of John being used as a common noun as seen above. In other words, a noun's status as either common or proper is ultimately determined by situational factors. If in a given speech situation, there is a possibility of what looks like a proper noun having multiple referents (this John, two Johns) we have to do with a common noun homonymous with a proper noun.

All of the above features derive directly from the fact that PNs refer to unique referents. In Randolph was a true Churchill the surname is being used in the sense 'a member of the Churchill family', that is, as a common noun. Whether a given noun is common or proper is not always easy to decide. There are borderline cases that could be classified either way. Also, a given noun may change category depending on how it is used. For instance, a common noun referring to a given landscape feature may turn into a proper noun with a unique referent.

Personal proper names used metaphorically may turn into common names: He thinks he is a Napoleon. On the other hand, surnames such as Smith, Fletcher and Seppä 'smith' have their origin in the trade of the first bearer or rather that of the father of the first bearer.

Causes of the confusion

The great confusion comes from (1) the transliteration of all proper names from the English spelling and English pronunciation, (2) the variation in the spoken sound of the TL characters used in the translated names, (3) the great number of homonyms in TL, and (4) the mixed use of the old and new translated names.

Dealing with proper names in translation

Authors such as Newmark (1986) have established different classifications of translation strategies in general terms, applicable, therefore, to the category of “proper names”. We will present here Theo Hermans’classification (1988) since it is “probably the one that fits best the actual tendencies on translation studies since it intends to establish all the real possibilities.”

Theoretically speaking there appears to be at least four ways of transferring proper names from one language into another. They can be copied, i.e. reproduced in the target text exactly as they were in the source text. They can be transcribed, i.e. Transliterated or adapted on the level of spelling, phonology, etc. A formally unrelated name can be substituted in the TT for any given name in the ST and insofar as a proper name in the ST is enmeshed in the lexicon of that language and acquires ‘meaning’, it can be translated. Combinations of these four modes of transfer are possible, as a proper name may, for example, be copied or transcribed and in addition translated in a (translator’s) footnote. From the theoretical point of view, moreover, several other alternatives should be mentioned, two of which are perhaps more common than one might think: non-translation, i.e. the deletion of a source text proper name in the TT, and the replacement of a proper noun by a common noun (usually denoting a structurally functional attribute of the character in question). Other theoretical possibilities, like the insertion of the proper name in the TT where there is none in the ST, or the replacement of a ST common noun by a proper noun in the TT, may be regarded as less common, except perhaps in certain genres and contexts.

Hermans talks about four basic strategies to use in the translation of proper names, all of which can be combined to produce new methods of transfer, considering as strategies the possibility of omitting the proper name in the translated text or incorporating it when there is none in the original text. It is, from our point of view, a classification that, despite being concise, includes all the possible options the translator may have.

Proper names to follow the pronunciation of their owners

It is unquestionably true that all the proper names should be transliterated from the correct pronunciation of their owners. E.g. The French names should be transliterated directly from the correct French pronunciation. The Chinese translations of “England, France, Germany, Italy, London, Paris, Berlin and Rome” are correct ones according to this rule.

To adopt the established popular translated names

Some places have ancient and modern translated names. Many proper names have been well translated, but there are also some persons and places mistransliterated. E.g.Oxford,Cambridge,Bethune.

The translation of technical terms and other common nouns

Nothing gives the translator more trouble and more perplexity than the translation of technical terms of social, natural and military sciences. Technical terms, especially those of natural sciences, were generally introduced to us first through transliteration and later, some have been substituted by their semantic translations such as telephone, penicillin, bourgeois, etc. Others which can hardly be translated semantically in a few Chinese characters retain their transliterations. They are: Soviet, radar, engine, etc.

Most of the technical terms, especially those of military and social sciences, are translated semantically, such as jet plane, submarine, machine gun, guided missiles. For those nouns which denote things of foreign origin, there are five distinct ways of translation.

?Should proper names be translated or not

One of the questions which usually arise in relation to proper names in any language is if these should be translated or not. As a translation teacher we also have to face this question asked quite frequently by the students who usually prefer a general answer that allows them to solve a problem present in every text they have to translate, whatever the topic or the subject. Unfortunately, such an answer does not exist since the macro and microstructures of each text will require different decision making. As a matter of fact, the same text, just intended for a different audience, may require the translation of proper names in one case and the conservation of them in another. For Franco Aixelá “asking oneself ‘if proper names should be translated or not’ is a case of unproductive speculations, since we have the possibility to study how and why they are translated, as in fact they are” (2000: 222-3). These assertions are based on an exhaustive analysis of more than 10 000 proper names from English texts translated into Spanish (including Children’s literature) during the last 75 years of the 20th century. Therefore, if a first conclusion can be inferred, that is that proper names are translated.

Types of Proper Names

1. Names of persons 2. Names of places 3. Names of organizations 4. Names of works

Place names:

Names of countries and regions

Names of countries seldom pose a problem to the translator. There are lists of the official names of countries in English that should be consulted. In a few cases, variation does occur depending on the degree of formality involved. The official name that would be de rigueur in a diplomatic note or the text of an international treaty would be stilted in personal correspondence. For a translator from or into Finnish, Närhi 1994agives the official names of countries in Finnish, Swedish, English, German, Russian and French.

Settlement names

Names of towns, municipalities and villages are examples of settlement names. There is no problem with names of relatively unimportant settlements that are carried over unchanged in translation. The town of Rauma does not change its name, nor does London, Ontario. With smaller places, however, a gloss is often in place to give the reader an indication of the type of place concerned: Kuusamo might become 'the North-East Finnish town of Kuusamo' etc.

At the other end of the scale, larger cities often have conventional names used in foreign languages. København becomes, Kopenhagen, کپنهامetc. Depending on the language. On occasion, the conventional name changes almost beyond recognition, when for instance København becomes کپنهام in Persian. A special problem is constituted by names of towns in bilingual countries like Finland and India.

Names of buildings and streets and subdivisions of towns

As for names of buildings and man-made structures in the form of EPNs, the general rule applies according to which the descriptor part is translated.It is obvious that street names are handled differently depending on the communicative context in which they are mentioned. To take a trivial example, when writing to the country where the street is situated it is not only courtesy but plain common sense not to tamper with the address in any way. On the other hand, when giving the street address of the birthplace of a celebrity in a translated biography, there is no need to stick to the number + street order of the original English.

A further complication is street names used in contexts that do not allow the reader to infer that a given name is a street name. Supposing a Finnish text says that at such and such a time, a certain person lived Katinkujalla 'in Katinkuja'. A non-Finnish reader with no previous knowledge of the geography of the region would wonder how accurate the description is. Is the writer giving the name of a house, street or even a whole village? By tagging on a descriptor such as 'Lane' the translator will give the readers of the translation the necessary background information that will help them to form an appropriate picture of the world of the text.

Names of well-known buildings and other man-made structures usually have conventional names in foreign languages. By way of example, la Tour Eiffel becomes the Eiffel Tower in English. The name of the Statue of Liberty, constituting a descriptive title as a whole, is translated as a whole.

Personal names:

The basic rule concerning personal names is that they are left untranslated. In some cases, transliteration or transcription may be needed depending on the language. There are however, exceptions to this basic rule. A trivial one is that in certain languages (Chinese and Japanese, for instance) the order of a person's first and last name is the opposite to the most common Western order of first name + last name. In Europe, Hungarian last names come before first names.

Like names of countries and large cities, well-known historic figures have conventional names used abroad: William the Conqueror, Charlemagne, James II. With improving communications and increasing knowledge of foreign languages, this practice may be becoming outdated.Similarly, the present king of Spain is called Juan Carlos II. However, popes still have their names modified according to the language: the current (2003) Pope Giovanni Paolo II becomes Jean Paul II, John Paul II, or, more officially, Ioannes Paulus II, depending on the context.

There are also changing fashions in selecting this or that name form for a well-known historical figure. Knowledge or lack of knowledge of the foreign language obviously plays a role here. The French Louis XIV and his namesakes with other ordinals are known in Finland under their Swedish name Ludvig, while they keep their French names in Britain. For more examples on translation of names of historical figures, cf. Albin (2003).

In actual fact, the concept 'official name' is meaningful only in the context of modern name laws. One can sum up the situation by saying that the same person could be variously addressed by different names by various agents, whether census officers, the law courts, or his family and neighbors.

Other names:

Names of works of art including book titles:

The first pragmatic consideration is finding whether or not the book has been translated into the TT language. If so, use the title of the translation. For major European languages, Room (1986) can be consulted for translated names of works of art, both literary and non-literary. Retaining the name of the original shows that no translation exists.

Names of musicals, operas and ballets are sometimes retained in translation. My Fair Lady, West Side Story and Così fan tutte are known all over the world by the original names, a notable exception being Russia, where only translated name are used. Similarly, titles of Russian operas (The Swan Lake) etc.are normally translated, with the not surprising exception of names consisting of a personal name only (Boris Godunov, Yevgeni Onegin).

Names of organizations and institutions:

Names of international organizations normally have translation equivalents in the member countries: the International Red Cross "صلیب سرخ جهانی". In major languages, the acronym of an international organization is formed from the national name of the organization (e.g. French OTAN for English NATO). In languages of limited distribution like Finnish, only the most important organizations have acronyms based on the national-language name of the entity (YK 'UN', PN for Nordic Council etc.)

As regards the names of Finnish institutions in other languages, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Prime Minister's Office published two glossaries,(Glossary of Goverment in English) and(Glossary of Government in German)with the stated aim of harmonizing the English and German job titles and names of the various organs of central government in Finland.

Some special problems:

. Extended proper names in translation:

A problem point in the translation of EPNs is whether or not to translate the appellative part. Should it be left in the SL form with a second descriptor added in the TL: 'the River Kemijoki' or should the original descriptor be stripped: the river Kemi? Usage varies here from one translator to the next. The choice is partially dictated by how likely the TL reader is to understand the SL descriptor in the TL equivalent. The less well-known the SL is in the target culture, the more likely it is for a SL descriptor (not recognized as such) to be retained in translation in addition to the TL translation of the same:'River Oulujoki' (BrE)/'Oulu River' (AmE).

. 'Second-hand' names:

The term 'second-hand' name is used here to refer to source-text names from outside the source-text culture. An example would be a Russian name in an English-language text. Foreign names, that is, names foreign to the source text culture in the ST should always be tracked to the original language and translated directly from that. Failure to do so can be construed as ignorance at best and as a political statement at worst.

Adding a clarification:

Like cultural allusions unlikely to be comprehended by the TL audience, names that may be well-known in the SL culture, often need to be provided with an explanatory comment. Sotkamon Jymy (a well known sports team) or Per Brahe (17th century governor general of Finland) probably mean nothing to most foreigners. Similarly, small natural features need a descriptor as opposed internationally known places like the Amazon, the Atlantic, or Antarctica. Even with smaller features, after a descriptor has been used once, it is often more natural to leave it out in the continuation.

Transliteration of names:

Looking at the number of translation errors actually occurring in texts, a more frequent problem is that of the translator not paying attention to transliteration rules. This is more likely to happen if the source text using the Roman alphabet mentions place names from countries using a non-Roman script (say, Russian or Japanese). Since the rules of transliteration vary from one language to the next, retaining the English transliteration form of a Russian name in a TL text may result in an altogether unrecognizable name. The same is true of Ukrainian names in a Russian text.

Translating proper names in children literature

A fairy tale, a science-fiction novel, an adventure novel, a play, etc. are some of the genres and subgenres to be translated for children. All of them are full of proper names, although obviously they are not going to be treated in the same way, even if all of them are Children’s Literature. We are going to approach the fairy tale and the fiction subgenres as the ones in which proper names are usually most frequently translated. The fairy tale, due to the kind of addressee it is written for, has traditionally translated its personal names.

Some of the most popular fairy tales around the world contain personal names within the title. Of the examples we are going to present, some were written by the brothers Grimm, some are traditional tales recounted by Perrault and later by the brothers Grimm, one belongs to Lewis Carrol and one to an unknown author.

In the case of names containing a meaning, this has been transferred:

Ø Cendrillon

Cinderella

سیندرلا -

Ø Alice ou pays des merveilles

Alice in Wonderland

آلیس در سرزمین عجایب

Ø Blanche-Neige et les sept nains

- Snow White and the Seven Dwarves

سفید برفی و هفت کوتوله -

A whole range of names that, without ever being explicitly commented upon, indicate the main characteristics of their bearers all these names underline but do not create the impression the reader gets from the text about the heroes. If he does not notice the connection he does not miss very much, except the feeling of being an insider. Translators, not surprisingly, do not try to translate the revealing names and keep the original forms in their translations.

Conclusion

To sum up, PNs can be treated in a number of ways in translation:

1. They can be imported unchanged from the SL text;

2. They can be modified to fit the phonological/graphological system of the TL. This, of course, is something that has or has not been done for the translator by his/her speech community in the case of conventional place names like Prague, the Hague, Rome etc.;

3. They can be expanded with a gloss to make up for the TL reader's lack of world knowledge in the target culture;

4. On occasion, they might be omitted altogether (perhaps replaced with a paraphrase) if considered peripheral in terms of the central message of the text or if retaining them would be more likely to cause the reader to pause in puzzlement. True, this would be more likely to happen in interpretation, but could not be ruled out altogether in translation, either;

5. In rare cases, they might even be introduced in the TL text where, instead of a proper name, the SL text contains a cultural allusion unlikely to be understood by the TL reader. The choice between the various alternatives will be determined by pragmatic factors, paramount among which are the overarching purpose of the text and the translator's assessment of his/her intended audience.

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