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On the Peculiarities of Translation from Scots into Russian
The article deals with the issue of indeterminate status of Scots and the problems of translation which stem from it.
The author analyzes the Russian translations of R. L. Stevenson’s works and compares and assesses different approaches used in them. While analyzing it is taken into consideration that in some works Scots can be used in the dialogues only and in some – both in the dialogues and the narration. The author points out an extensive usage of compensation technique which is realized in the usage of various colloquial forms at the levels of lexis, morphology, syntax. It supports the initial idea that translators treat Scots not as an independent language, but as a dialect of the English language, some kind of violation of the literary norm.
At the same time usage of compensation technique turns out to be inconsistent both among different translators and within one particular translation: the language of some parts of translations is absolutely colloquial, while the
language of the others is neutral. In conclusion, the author states that due to indeterminacy of Scots status each translator before taking up the translation of the Scots text should make a decision, whether it is a dialect of the English language or separate Germanic language, otherwise inconsistency is inevitable.
The author analyzes the Russian translations of R. L. Stevenson’s works and compares and assesses different approaches used in them. While analyzing it is taken into consideration that in some works Scots can be used in the dialogues only and in some – both in the dialogues and the narration. The author points out an extensive usage of compensation technique which is realized in the usage of various colloquial forms at the levels of lexis, morphology, syntax. It supports the initial idea that translators treat Scots not as an independent language, but as a dialect of the English language, some kind of violation of the literary norm.
At the same time usage of compensation technique turns out to be inconsistent both among different translators and within one particular translation: the language of some parts of translations is absolutely colloquial, while the
language of the others is neutral. In conclusion, the author states that due to indeterminacy of Scots status each translator before taking up the translation of the Scots text should make a decision, whether it is a dialect of the English language or separate Germanic language, otherwise inconsistency is inevitable.
Scots, Scottish English, literary tradition, translation studies, compensation, dialecticism