8.3. Problems of translating neologisms

Neologisms at the time of their appearance in SL are treated as words having no ready correspondences in TL, although with time due to intense international contacts they are rendered in different ways which become established as translation correspondences.

Neologisms are defined as new lexical units used to name new objects or phenomena of reality, or new meanings of already existing words, or new names which are given to familiar notions and objects (I.V.Arnold, R.S.Ginzburgh, Ye.V. Rozen, etc)]. A translator is confronted most often with neologisms dealing with the following materials:

• publicistic and newspaper materials,

• scientific and technical texts,

• colloquial speech.

In publicistic and newspaper texts neologisms appear in a nominative function in respective materials which cover the latest news;

in scientific and technical texts they usually perform a terminological function and

in colloquial speech their use is connected with emotional, evaluative and other connotations.

The fate of new words is hard to predict because some of them are short-lived, as they are created for a special occasion while others thanks to repeated use come into general use and become registered first in special dictionaries of new words or addenda in dictionaries [The LRNW 1990; LDCE: New Words, 2002]; then they find their way into parallel (translation) dictionaries [Гальперин 1980; Новый русский лексикон 1999; Палажченко 2003; Трофимова 1993].

The greatest difficulties arise when a new word is not registered anywhere yet. A translator then has to solve two tasks:

1. to make out the meaning of a new coinage,

2. to make the correct choice of the appropriate way of translating it into TL.

The first task is solved differently in regard to different types of new units. Out of various classifications of new words the one suggested by Ye.Rozen is the most convenient to use for translation [Розен 1976]. She takes into account the criteria of form and content and on this basis the author establishes three groups of new words:

neologisms proper, i.e. words and word-combinations which are new both in form and content;

semantic innovations, i.e. new meanings of already existing words and word-groups;

transnominations, i.e. new names that are given to familiar notions.

In each case it is convenient to rely on a particular type of analysis to make out the meaning of a new coinage. There are three types of analysis which may be useful when dealing with different kinds of neologisms:

1. derivational analysis is best in regard to neologisms proper which have been created after active patterns of a SL. The knowledge of the meaning of a pattern and the meanings of its structural elements may help to guess the meaning of a neologism, e.g. netizen (blending), gamer (suffixal derivative), L-driver (compound shortening), no-brainer (derivational compound), skategate (compounding on analogy with the new meaning of ‘gate’ – a public scandal which is realized in similarly patterned words: Watergate, Irangate, Monicagate) which was coined to refer to a scandalous episode in figure skating competitions during the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City in the USA.

2. Semantic analysis works best in cases of semantic innovations as it reveals certain links that can be established between familiar meanings and new ones, e.g. visitation has three meanings registered in Longman Contemporary Dictionary which help to guess a new meaning it has acquired recently, cf. visitation is used in a situation where parents are divorced, an occasion when one parent is allowed to spend time with their children who are living with the other parent or the right to do this, e.g visitation rights.

3. Contextual analysis is helpful in regard to any neologism supplying an additional clue to understanding a new unit in an environment, e.g. A zombie bank is a financial institution that has an economic net worth less than zero but continues to operate because its ability to repay its debts is shored up by implicit or explicit government credit support. The term was first used by Edward Kane in 1987 to explain the dangers of tolerating a large number of insolvent savings and loan associations and applied to the emerging Japanese crisis in 1993.

Very often the meaning of a neologism becomes transparent when there is visual support.

The second problem is associated with the proper choice of translation means which are available in TL. The analysis of translation practice shows that there are various means used in parallel dictionaries of neologisms that can be used in translating new coinages in a TLT. They include the following:

transcription or / and transliteration, e.g. futures – фьючерсные сделки , overdraft – овердрафт , spot prices – спотовые цены.

loan – translation, e.g. microbeam – микропучок, bedroom community / area – спальный район.

analogues, e.g. cosmetic – прикрасы, ~ лакировка действительности, marching orders – ~ от ворот поворот , lead-footed - ~ тугодум.

periphrastic or descriptive translation, e.g. jingle – рекламная передача с рекламным сопровождением, double dipping – двойной источник дохода .

combined translation, e.g. day of infamy – день бесчестья (loan translation), позорный день (analogue); time share – таймшер (transcription+transliteration), сезонная аренда какой-либо недвижимости за рубежом (periphrastic translation).

translation supplied with a comment, e.g. happening – хэппенинг (transcription + transliteration). Род авангардистского драматического представления, часто с привлечением зрителя (translator’s comment).

The choice of the proper way of translating a neologism depends on several factors: the kind of text where a neologism is used, the addressee for whom the text is intended, the kind of a new coinage itself.

The choice of translation correspondences is problematic because each of them has their own merits and demerits.

The comparison of translation dictionaries of neologisms compiled by different authors and those available in E-form reveals some differences in the choice of translation solutions. It is possible to point out a number of features of electronic E>R dictionaries and data available on the Internet : (a) they tend to give a great variety of TL correspondences that allow a translator to choose a proper one for a given context; (b) they offer relevant cultural information which gives a clue to adequate understanding of a given unit; (c) they show a chain of new coinages related to one another that makes it easy to understand them. E.g. town-house – городской дом, дом городского типа; 2. городская квартира в отличие от загородного дома; 3. дом ленточной застройки, стоящий в ряду одинаковых домов с общими стенами.

Of recent origin are a number of units containing the word toxic: toxic mortgage > toxic assets > toxic debts. The word develops a number of new meanings that are connected with one another and help to reveal their origin: showing significant fall in value, at significantly reduced prices to the holder; have no functioning market.

In view of this diversity, a translator has to make a solution that best suits a given context and a situation.