The Peculiarities of Translation of Kalmyk Non-Equivalent Vocabulary into German (Evidence from Kalmyk Fairy Tales Recorded by G. J. Ramstedt)

The article analyzes the non-equivalent vocabulary of the fairy tales recorded and translated into German by the Finnish scholar G. J.  Ramstedt. The choice of the genre is determined by the fact the  language of fairy tales most completely reflects ethnic culture and  traditions containing the largest bulk of culture specific lexis. The  paper classifi es and distributes the words designated as  nonequivalent among the 16 groups as follows: household utensils;  fauna; religious lexis; home; flora; kinship terms and those  denoting surroundings of a person; food and beverages; mythical  and fairy tale creatures; clothes; different social strata; administrative territorial division; landscape elements; occasional  lacunae; measures of length; addresses; natural phenomena. The  analysis of the vocabulary has shown that the largest groups of Kalmyk culture-specifi c lexis are constituted by words denoting household utensils (22 and 31); elements of fauna (18 and  21) and religion (13 and 25). All the mentioned indicators are  considered in the context of separate groups of non-equivalent  vocabulary. It is noteworthy that the wide range of synonyms  selected by G. J. Ramstedt in his German translation do not always  express the actual meanings of the source words. As for the  frequency of use of nonequivalent lexis, groups as follows can be identifi ed: kinship terms and those denoting surroundings of a  person (186); different social strata (172), and religious lexis (150). The total amount of non-equivalent words has been revealed  as well as the amount of nonequivalent words with due regard to  their synonyms and frequency of use. The paper also discusses the  means of translations of culture-specifi c vocabulary: approximate  and descriptive translation, transcription / transliteration and loan  translation. The non-equivalent vocabulary has been analyzed by types of translation in various groups which revealed the most frequently used types: loan, approximate and descriptive methods of translation amount to 85 % of the translated culture-specific lexis.

1. Barkhudarov L. S. Yazyk i perevod (voprosy obshchey i chastnoy teorii perevoda) [Language and translation (questions of general and special theory of translation)]. Moscow, Mezhdunarodnye Otnosheniya Publ., 1975, 240 p. (In Russ.).

2. Bayanova A. T., Butaeva A. O., Goryaeva B. B., Kukanova V. V. Sistema i struktura onimov v kalmytskoy skazochnoy traditsii (na materiale zapisey G. Y. Ramstedta) [The system and structure of onyms in the Kalmyk fairy tale tradition (evidence from G. J. Ramstedt’s records)]. Vestnik Dagestanskogo nauchnogo tsentra [Herald of Daghestan Scientifi c Center], 2015, No. 59, pp. 54–63 (In Russ.).

3. Bitkeeva A. N. Natsional’noe svoeobrazie v perevodakh khudozhestvennogo teksta v angliyskom i kalmytskom yazykakh [Ethnic peculiarities in translations of literary texts in the English and Kalmyk languages]. Gegӓrlt, 1998, No. 3, pp. 33–42 (In Russ.).

4. Vereshchagin E. M., Kostomarov V. G. Yazyk i kul’tura: lingvostranovedenie v prepodavanii russkogo yazyka kak inostrannogo. Izd. 2-e, pererab. i dop. [Language and culture: Russia’s regional geography through language for foreign students. 2nd ed., rev. and suppl.]. Moscow, Russkiy Yazyk Publ., 1976, 248 p. (In Russ.).

5. Vereshchagin E. M., Kostomarov V. G. Yazyk i kul’tura: lingvostranovedenie v prepodavanii russkogo yazyka kak inostrannogo [Language and culture: Russia’s regional geography through language for foreign students]. Moscow, Russkiy Yazyk Publ., 1990, 246 p. (In Russ.).

6. Vlakhov S., Florin S. Neperevodimoe v perevode [Translating the untranslatable]. Moscow, Mezhdunarodnye Otnosheniya Publ, 1980, 342 p. (In Russ.).

7. Goryaeva B. B., Bayanova A. T., Butaeva A. O., Kukanova V. V. Freymtariy personazhey

8. almytskoy skazochnoy traditsii (na primere skazok, zapisannykh G. Y. Ramstedtom) [The characters in the frame story of the Kalmyk fairy-tale tradition (the case study of tales recorded by G. J. Ramstedt)]. Vestnik Kalmytskogo instituta gumanitarnykh issledovaniy RAN [Bulletin of the Kalmyk Institute for Humanities], 2015, No. 2, pp. 128–140 (In Russ.).

9. Egodurova V. M. Lingvokul’turologicheskoe opisanie bezekvivalentnoy leksiki v sostave regional’nogo russkogo yazyka [Linguistic and culturological description of non-equivalent Buryat vocabulary in the regional Russian language]. Vestnik Buryatskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta [Bulletin of the Buryat State University], 2014, No. 10 (30), pp. 10–13 (In Russ.).

10. Zamaletdinova G. F. Realii kak otrazhenie samobytnosti tatar [Linguistic realia as a refl ection of the Tatar identity]. Filologiya i kul’tura [Philology and Culture journal], 2014, No. 4 (38), pp. 101–105 (In Russ.).

11. Ivanov A. O. Bezekvivalentnaya leksika [Nonequivalent vocabulary]. Saint Petersburg, Faculty of Philology, St. Petersburg State University Press, 2006, 192 p. (In Russ.).

12. Karamzin N. M. Pis’ma russkogo puteshestvennika: povesti [The Russian traveler’s letters: novels]. Moscow, Pravda Publ., 1982, 608 p. (In Russ.).

13. Komissarov V. N. Teoriya perevoda (lingvisticheskie aspekty): ucheb. posobie dlya in-tov i fak. inostr. yaz. [Theory of translation (linguistic aspects): a study book for foreign languages institutes and faculties]. Moscow, Vysshaya Shkola Publ., 1990, 253 p. (In Russ.).

14. Nelyubin L. L. Vvedenie v tekhniku perevoda: uch. posobie [An introduction to translation techniques: a study book]. Moscow, Flinta Publ., 2009, 216 p. (In Russ.).

15. Nurtdinova G. M. Tatarskie realii na fone angliyskikh ekvivalentov (na primere tatarskikh narodnykh skazok) [Tatar lexemes presented by lexical gaps in English]. Vestnik Chelyabinskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta [Bulletin of Chelyabinsk State University], 2014, No. 16 (345), pp. 102–107 (In Russ.).

16. Olyadykova L. B. Bezekvivalentnaya leksika i frazeologiya v poeticheskoy kartine mira Davida Kugul’tinova (na materiale proizvedeniy v russkom perevode) [Non- equivalent vocabulary and phraseology in David Kugultinov’s poetic picture of the world (evidence from Russian translations)]. Elista, Dzhangar Publ., 2007, 384 p. (In Russ.).

17. Pan’kin V. M. Yazykovye kontakty: kratkiy slovar’ [Language contacts: a brief dictionary]. Moscow, Flinta–Nauka Publ., 2011, 160 p. (In Russ.).

18. Pyurbeev G. Ts. Tolkovyy slovar’ traditsionnogo byta kalmykov [Definition dictionary of the Kalmyks’ traditional household activities]. Elista, Kalm. Book Publ., 1996, 176 p. (In Russ.).

19. Retsker Ya. I. Teoriya perevoda i perevodcheskaya praktika [Theory and practice of translation]. Moscow, R. Valent Publ., 2007, 244 p. (In Russ.).

20. Salimova R. I. Bezekivalentnaya leksika Severa kak odin iz sposobov zaimstvovaniy v angliyskiy yazyk [Non-equivalent lexis of the North as a means to introduce loan words into the English language]. Severo-vostochnyy nauchnyy zhurnal [North-Eastern Scientifi c Journal], 2007, No. 1, pp. 7–10 (In Russ.).

21. Tyurkan E. A. Nekotorye problemy perevoda natsional’no-kul’turnoy leksiki (na primere perevoda nazvaniy natsional’no-kul’turnykh realiy saamskogo yazyka) [On some problems of translation of ethnic and cultural lexis (evidence from translated names of ethnic and cultural realia of the Sami language)]. Natsional’no-kul’turnye realii saamskoy kul’tury: perevodcheskiy aspekt [Ethnic and cultural realia of Sami culture: the aspect of translation]. Murmansk, Murmansk State Humanities University Press, 2015, pp. 142–150 (In Russ.).

22. Fedorov A. V. Vvedenie v perevodovedenie: uchebno-metodicheskoe posobie dlya vuzov [An introduction to theory of translation: a study book for university students]. Voronezh, Voronezh State University Press, 2010, 51 p. (In Russ.).

23. Fedorov A. V. Osnovy obshchey teorii perevoda (lingvisticheskie problemy): uch. posobie. Izd. 5-e [Fundamentals of the general theory of translation (linguistic issues): a study book. 5th ed.]. Saint Petersburg, Faculty of Philology, St. Petersburg State University Press; Moscow, Filologiya Tri Publ. Ltd., 2002, 416 p. (In Russ.).

24. Shveytser A. D. Perevod i lingvistika (gazetnoinformatsionnyy i publitsisticheskiy perevod) [Translation and linguistics (translation of materials for newspapers and journals)]. Moscow, Voenizdat Publ., 1973, 280 p. (In Russ.).

25. Kalműckische Sprachproben. Gesammelt und herausgegeben von G. J. Ramstedt. Erster Teil. Kalműckische Märchen. Helsingfors: Societe Finno-Ougrienne, 1909, 154 p. (In German).

26. Kalműckische Sprachproben. Gesammelt und herausgegeben von G. J. Ramstedt. Zweiter Teil. Kalműckische Märchen. Helsingfors: Societe Finno-Ougrienne, 1919, pp. 155–237 (In German).