Charactonyms: how to keep imagery in translation

The fantasy genre is represented by a large amount of literary and artistic works, and the ones discussed in this article are well-known far beyond the author’s homeland and are not limited to Englishspeaking readers and cinema audience. This is definitely a result of a hard and painstaking work of the translators who employ their skills and talent to let many people all over the world become fascinated by the magic world of these masterpieces. However exciting the translators’ task may seem, it takes a great effort to prepare other language speakers’ escape from reality that is anticipated when their ear catches the beep of a bookstore checkout. The universes where fantastic creatures, kings and queens, knights and wizards, dragons and unicorns, princesses and warriors, ordinary people with extraordinary skills and talents are referred to by common nominations or popular names would be considerably deprived of their absorbing potential.

Sometimes a character’s name can be a literary masterpiece itself. Thus, there will always be the questions of how to and whether to translate them.

The subject of this study is character names taken from the fantasy film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them-1 and a short stories collection Tales of the Peculiar^1,2,3 . These works are replete with proper names, which we refer to as “speaking names” or charactonyms. We attempt to study the names themselves and the authors’ motivation to give such unusual names with a specific focus on the basic principles of charactonym creation.

When compared to ordinary human and geographical names, the author-invented names, given to certain characters, are called charactonyms . As the term makes clear, such a name is intended to be used for additional characterization. That means such a name performs several functions at once: in addition to the nominative, identifying and characterizing functions, charactonyms also perform stylistic and literary functions. As lexical units, charactonyms often have more complicated word structure: they usually have more than one stem and affixes that usually provide

• ¹    Riggs R., Tales of the Peculiar. United Kingdom: Penguin Random House Children's UK. 2016. 208 p.

• ²    Riggz R., Skazki o strannykh [Tales of the Peculiar]. Kharkiv, 2017. 192 p. (in Russ.)

• ³    Riggs R., Contes des Particuliers. Vanves, 2018. 225 p.

(in French)

further details and meanings. Nevertheless, not all charactonyms can be described in this way, so further investigation is required to precisely understand how to render the names in translation.

Discussion

Along with expressive names, names of disguised significance, names of famous persons and fictitious characters, charactonyms represent the kind of names highly relevant in translation. To render a fantasy book by means of another language, a translator needs profound knowledge and mastery of translation tools.

There is a need to distinguish between anthroponyms formed on the characteristics of a person, which are primary and objective, in order to draw attention to the nickname, to the features of the external appearance and character of its bearer. The objective basis of object-related origin, belonging to a class, activity, or position is a geographical, toponymic, or class-official nickname. The components of any national language system tend to interact with each other through a few historical anthroponomic channels, synchronizing their connections. To describe anthroponyms, they usually resort to various classifications such as: subject-logical (etymological-logical meaning of the basis of the surname); linguistic (derivational, phonetic, grammatical features); socio-historical (the class-historical types of surnames are distinguished), genetic (the type of the initial basic nickname is highlighted). With the help of these classifications, one can directly identify the charactonyms and surnames of literary characters, as native speakers of the language, in literary texts of fiction writers of the 19th-20th centuries. And to prove that they are one of the active artistic language techniques in the work of Russian classical authors [3].

Proper names, we mean charactonyms, play a very important role. They do not just name the bearer’s name but also perform a characterizing function. That is, the name may contain complementary characteristics that help to understand the character’s nature better. In addition, character names do not only name and characterize a unique character, but also serve as cultural markers, that is, they can be a direct indication of a character's belonging to a particular linguistic culture [14].

When creating a name, the author takes into account the morphemic composition of the name, since through its use it is possible to convey additional emo- tional and expressive shades. At the same time, the author takes into account the existing rules for the formation of names adopted in the culture. Names can be used to convey a whole range of information, such as nationality, age, and social status... At the same time, the name can also carry additional information about the advantages and disadvantages of the character, features of behavior and speech [13].

Anthroponyms are generally a vivid example of untranslatability [3], but that’s what the art of translation is – to cross the border of the impossible. “The translators must strike the delicate balance between staying faithful to the source text and making the translated names comprehensible to the target audience” [10].

But according to S.J. Levine, even the best translation is always a significant transformation. Depending on the content and structure of the book, the author may still appear to the foreign reader as a rebel, but at the linguistic level the individual element in his work is lost. So for a reader in the target language, translation still can contribute to a disturbing phenomenon in modern culture [7].

It definitely requires a great creative effort to make up an original story, a whole alternative reality with dozens of characters, locations, details and actions. But it is probably just as difficult to prepare it for consumption in another language.

T. Parks criticizes the use of general or abstract-theoretical approaches to translation, he insists that with the help of a detailed analysis it is possible to demonstrate what a literary style translation really is [11].

Charactonyms are specific to a character or a trait only for English-speaking audiences. When translating a charactonym without transformation, these names do not make any sense to native Russian speakers. This is the wrong approach, because the author always puts additional, hidden meaning in such names. Otherwise, the characters could have ordinary, common names. The author invents the name creatively.

Thus, the creative form can be replaced by a more standard one, although the humor and disparaging tone of the original are reproduced in the translation [5].

In linguistics, there is an opinion that all proper names should be translated by means of transcription [13], but in this case, charactonyms with internal meaning remain non-equivalent vocabulary in onomastics [8].

It is clear from many examples that lexical creativity is often associated with imaginative representations of the world, and this is reflected by their inclusion in lexicographical sources, and/or frequent collocation in corpora [5].

According to Landers, there’s perhaps no aspect of translation that is simultaneously more frustrating and potentially more rewarding than metalanguage. Nowhere do the joys and travails of translation coexist as visibly as in the close combat between a translator and a play of words [6].

To render charactonyms into another language, a wide set of transformations are available: constriction, or specification, when the semantics of the word becomes limited when compared to the original one; compensation when the general positive or negative characteristic of the character is saved; compensation when the meaning is broadened when compared to the authentic name; formal conveying of the proper name (transcription or transliteration) with additional information given in a footnote; replacement of the authentic name by an appellative; calque; semi-calque; creation of a neologism in the translating language; similizing translation; descriptive translation. When choosing a transformation to employ, the translator’s main task is to let the readers he is translating for get the same impression of the character as native speakers of the author’s language, understand the characto-nym’s meaning and additional information the author put into it. It requires translation of the author’s words, language, culture and context [4, 9].

Apart from the characterizing components of the name’s meaning, euphony, and national-linguistic affiliation, it is also necessary to consider the wide context of the entire novel and even the cycle, the degree of influence of the character on the unfolding of the storyline, the principle of maintaining integrity in conveying a proper name within a series of novels, and saving the recognizability of the character’s name in other works of the same author’s cycle or series [12]. When translating charactonyms, the priority is to “show” the value contained in them. That is why many translators reject the transcription and transliteration of semantic names and more often turn to contextual translation, calculus and the creation of neologisms [2].

Researchers propose various types of translation that they find best applicable for the translation of charactonyms formed according to certain characto-nym formation models. But none of them, as comprehensive as it may be, is exhaustive and applicable in one hundred per cent of cases, which leaves the translator the right to choose his tools considering not only the peculiarities of the translated text but also the de- tails of the situation where a certain translation is prepared.

Groups of charactonyms obtained as a result of the analysis

Based on the list of proper names selected from the above-mentioned works, we suggest organizing them into 6 groups based on their morphological structure and typical ways of their translation.

Group 1 – Regular anthroponyms and toponyms

Writers and filmmakers often give regular human names to their characters. Beyond that, the most common option of naming characters in the chosen literary works are anthroponyms – popular human names that do not have a complicated structure: a base morpheme or stem with a gender affix or a stem only. Among anthroponyms we can find such names like João, Hildy, Edvard, Erick, Ollie, Fergus, Cuthbert, Titus Smith, Zheng, Ai, Liu Zhi, Xi Pen, Deng, Glen, and Asgard – however non-fantasy they are, such names also contribute to the magic atmosphere of the stories that might take place anywhere in the world. This is an easier task for the translator, and those particular names of Ransom Riggs characters were left unchanged in the French version and were transliterated in Russian: Жоао, Хильди, Эдвард, Эрик, Олли, Фергус, Кутберт, Титус Смит, Чжэн, Аи, Лю Чжи, Ши Пен, Денг, Глен, and Асгард respectively .

Along with regular human names, authors often use real geographical names or toponyms to name the localities where actions take place. An interesting example is found in The Fork-Tongued Princess tale. Originally, the location of Galatia was an ancient area in the highlands of central Anatolia, roughly corresponding to the provinces of Ankara and Eskişehir in modern Turkey. This toponym was translated without any changes to its historic form as la Galatia in French and Галатия in Russian. For Frisia – a cultural region in Germany and the Netherlands traditionally inhabited by the Frisians, a West Germanic ethnic group – French and Russian translators also kept its historic name : la Frisia and Фризия . The third location of the tale was named after a real geographical and historical region – the kingdom of Thrace, the territory in Southeast Europe now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey. Only the French translation sticks to the historic option – la Thrace, but in Russian instead of Фракия appears the name королевство Трейс : the translator used the transcription technique.

Group 2 – Monomorphic (root-words) words with a root and an affix

Movie characters in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them are named as Credence , Modesty , and Chastity . These names are borne by the adopted children of Mary Lou Barebone, who led the anti-magic society. She is strict with her adopted children, and she gives them names that demonstrate her own life principles and values. In this case, the characters are described or characterized indirectly and associatively through their names.

Mary Lou Barebone’s daughter named Chastity is the eldest of the adopted children. The name has a direct meaning: purity, innocence, as well as strictness. The girl is in solidarity with the beliefs of her caregiver, and through her solidarity she demonstrates the purity of her views, and strictness is manifested in following the rules established by the foster mother. Thus, the name of this character is based on association by similarity. The name is transliterated into Russian as Частити .

Modesty Barebone is the youngest adopted daughter of Mary Lou Barebone. The girl’s name is also a charactonym that characterizes the person. The direct meaning of the name is " humility, moderation.” However, the girl is not so simple, and she can be described by the famous English phrase “to show false modesty”, which refers to her behaviour, which only seems modest, but in reality it is understood to be fake and unflattering. This set phrase is perfectly suited to the girl, as she manages to show complete obedience to her mother, and the lack of it in her absence. For example, Modesty throws away the flyers she was supposed to be handing out, she keeps a magic wand under her bed, and she knows that her foster mother heads an anti-magic society. That is, both in the character and in her name, there are two different associations based on similarities: the girl is modest and obedient in public and, on the contrary, she demonstrates complete disobedience when her foster mother is not watching her. The name was translated into Russian by means of transliteration as Модести .

The name Credence was translated into Russian by the traditional method of transcription as Криденс . The word “credence" itself means “trust, faith” in English. Trust is one of the main characteristics of the boy, and at the beginning of the film he could be described as a shy and trusting young man. The foster mother obviously notices the difference between her adopted son and other children. The mother’s abusive attitude towards her son affected his personality. Up to a certain point, he shows extreme shyness and weakness compared to his sisters. Credence bravely endures all the beatings from his mother, but the turning point is the scene when Mary Lou punishes her youngest daughter for disobedience. It is at this point that the character’s true identity is revealed. Credence is the Obscurus, possessing an uncontrollable magical potential (translated into Russian as Обскур ). The meanings of the word imply what might happen to the Obscurus. In English, it means both “obscurantist who misleads”, and “one who obscures the essence of the matter” in both literal and figurative sense. This word also means “a type of ammunition for setting up an aerosol screen or cloud to impede observation”. When the Obscurus loses his temper, he turns into a black cloud (aerosol) of destructive power, which crushes everything on its way. At the same time, the obscurus is a powerful weapon in skilful hands. Thus, this character also reflects two associations: trust based on similarity, and distrust based on contrast – he does not fully believe in other people.

Among other charactonyms that fall into this category, there is Eustache Corncrake. He is a young man with the ability to turn people inside out. In the world of peculiars, he comes from a smaller community of birds that can assume a human appearance. In the French version of the book, his name was retained – Eustache Corncrake, and for the Russian one it was simply transcribed – Юстас Корнкрейк . Along with that, there’s another character from the same tale, Miss Kestrel, who is a kestrel that is able to take the form of a human female. However, in the French version, the name is translated, not transcribed, as Miss Crécerelle , and it is the same way in the Russian translation – Мисс Пустельга .

Not only characters have creative charactonyms, but locations can also be named like this. Thus, the seamstresses’ village Stitch bears the same name in the French version while in Russian it was translated with an attempt to retain the initial meaning – Стежок .

Group 3 – Charactonyms derived from phrases or polyword names with or without a preposition There are charactonyms based on phrases as well as names that consist of two or more words that can be connected by a preposition.

The whole family in the film bears an ambiguous name Barebone . A bone with almost completely removed flesh or skeleton implies a skeleton in the family’s cupboard as this phrase means “a carefully protected secret, usually of an unpleasant nature”. All the film’s characters have and keep their own secrets.

Gellert Grindelwald also keeps his secrets as well as his name. There is no consensus on the meaning of his name. One version is considered to be the Welsh legend about a dog named Gelert, which belonged to a prince. This legend tells the story of a devoted dog, a friend, whom the owner killed by mistake, not understanding the situation. After returning from hunting, the prince, who left his dog with his young son, found an empty cot and the dog with bloodstains on its body. The prince thought that the dog was to blame for the death of the child and hacked the dog to death. But then he heard the child's scream, and found him alive and well next to the dead wolf. Since then, the prince was not happy. In this legend, we can draw a parallel between the relationship between the prince and his faithful dog and the relationship between Grindelwald and Dumbledore. It hides the betrayal of a friend, the death of a family member, events that forever deprive their lives of happiness. There is another version with Hungarian roots, and its meaning is “spear”, and in a figurative sense – “brave, hardy". In Budapest, the Hungarian capital, there is a mountain Gellert, named after a saint who was martyred by falling off the mountain. Obviously, there is an association here with the fall of Grindelwald from the heights of his dream of dominating the whole world. Quite often proper names are allusions to other literary works, geographical objects, personalities or events. The name Grin-delwald can be considered as an allusion to the famous character of the Anglo-Saxon epic poem “Beowulf”,

Grendel, a monster that devours people. Grendel was killed by Beowulf, and here’s another allusion: one of Dumbledore’s names is Wulfric, which is consonant with Beowulf.

In the Russian version the wizard’s name has a similar graphic design to the Russian version of Voldemort’s name ( Волан-де-Морт ): Grindelwald is written as Грин-де-Вальд . We believe this was done intentionally to single out the most dangerous wizards. In the wizard’s full name, Gellert Grindelwald, alliteration is used: both elements of the name begin with the same consonant. As it is universally known, alliteration is a striking stylistic device that performs a set of functions in the text: firstly, it attracts the reader’s attention, and secondly, it serves as a close link between the components of the utterance [12].

Group 4 – Derivative names or charactonyms that have a root morpheme with affixes

There is a group of charactonyms formed by derivation, i.e. by adding an affix to the root morpheme. The suffix - shire is a traditional English term for a territorial unit. From one tale to another, we find several toponyms formed according to this model: Oddforshire, Wontshire, Therefordshire, Peacewickshire . In the French version we find only definite masculine articles added to the original names: l’Oddforshire, le Wontshire, le Therefordshire, le Peacewickshire accordingly. But in the Russian version the translator transcribed the affix -shire and translated the root morpheme: Страннфордшир, Небудушир, Тамфордшир, Покойвикшир. The translator’s choice here seems perfect for several reasons. Firstly, it intensifies the impression that the events described in the tales take place on the British Isles while keeping the fantasy atmosphere of the text. Secondly, Russian-speaking readers can immediately understand the meaning the author attributed to the locations’ names: Страннфордшир – the place where peculiar people aren’t uncommon; Небудушир – the place where peculiar people won’t be abused; Тамфордшир – the place which can be chosen subsequently if the previous two options are declined; Покойвикшир – and the place free from disturbance and violence.

Group 5 – charactonyms formed by word compounding

Charactonyms of this type have several root morphemes. For example, the village Swampmuck is formed by two recognizable stems. Based on similarity, this is the name of a village surrounded by swamps. Then the contrast becomes evident, because the village was full of bountiful gardens, the water in the streams was clean, and peculiar people had humble homes and were very modest and nice. And once again we can see the contrast between the idyllic scenery of villagers’ life and the fact that when goodlooking, well-dressed splendid cannibals arrive to settle there, as they need specific nutrition, the villagers decide to feed their own body parts to the cannibals, because their peculiarity allows them to grow back the lost arms and legs. In the French version Swampmuck retains its original form, and in the Russian one the name of the village is transcribed into Свомпмак with a footnote stating that it’s derived from the English words swamp and dirt.

Group 6 – charactonyms formed by word compounding and derivation together

The central figure of the film “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” is the English magician, magizoologist Newt Salamander, whose name is also in the focus of attention. The full name of the character is Newton Artemis Fido “Newt” Scamander, the analysis shows that the components of the name are words of English, Greek and Latin origin. The first component, Newton, is usually used as a surname or family name, and one of the most famous bearers of it was the British scientist Isaac Newton, who is believed to have been interested not only in mathematics and physics, but in alchemy as well. This name is of Old English origin, and has the meaning “new town”. The character’s middle name is an allusion to the name of the Greek goddess of hunting, wild animals and vegetation, Artemis. The described character also “hunts” rare animals in order to save and protect them. The character’s third name, Fido, is the Latin tense form of the verb, which is literally translated as “I believe, I trust.” The character’s fourth name, Newt, looks like an abbreviation of the word Newton, and in the film this name is used as a nickname, but etymological analysis shows that this is an independent word meaning “salamander”. The character’s surname, Scamander, is a clear allusion for this character; the surname is related to the animal salamander, which in the world of magic is revered as a magical beast due to its ability to come out alive from the fire. Obviously, the author wanted to emphasize the amazing abilities of the character to get out of any difficult situations that he finds himself in throughout the film. In addition, in the Middle Ages, the salamander beast was an alchemical symbol, the embodiment of the Philosopher’s stone, which, according to the legend, was sought by the real Newton. In the Russian release of the film, the name is transcribed as Ньютон Артемис Фидо «Ньют» Саламандер, which does not give a complete understanding of the meaning of the name.

Conclusion

The author invests a deep meaning in choosing the names of both the main characters and the minor ones. We can repeatedly observe the use of allusion and wordplay, and the author does this intentionally, so the translator should not ignore such stylistic techniques when translating. All names have a certain meaning, each of them has a deep meaning, intentionally laid down or reinforced by the author, and it would be a mistake to simply convey them using traditional transcription.

The materials studied allow us to distinguish six groups of charactonyms based on models of name formation. It is clear that the most frequent way to translate charactonyms is to render the inner form of an English name by linguistic tools available in Russian. But along with that, there are numerous cases of morphological translation, transcribing, etc. They may not convey the whole meaning with disguised details, but still provide the general impression of the name, its humour, irony, and even emotional connotations and opinion hidden in the charactonyms. Not all transformations have succeeded in exactly rendering the author’s ideas, but many of them have. Every successfully translated charactonym is an accomplishment as sometimes it is way more than simple translation regarding the necessity to define the author’s motivation to connect certain fragments of meaning while maintaining both the fantasy atmosphere and the balance where a reader consumes translation and still feels that this is an artwork originally created in the English language.