Multiplicity of verbal sign interpretation as a phenomenon of language, cognition and translation

The paper considers peculiarities of a verbal sign as a result of mental processing by a bilingual person in the course of translation from a foreign language (English) into native language (Russian). Mechanisms of the initial sign transformation and deformation are analyzed from the viewpoint of F. Bacon’s idols of the mind and V.V. Nabokov’s concept of translator’s mistakes. Decyphering fragments of the worldview inherent in a different culture and reconstruction of translation strategies proves instrumental in revealing characteristics of concept structuring in the course of foreign language signs interpretation. Individual translation solutions are considered with the view to identify and compare methods of transfer of implicit connotations within the sign semantics. The source text is a fragment of authentic article containing culture-specific anthroponym Horatio Alger. Most of translations analyzed prove to be biased towards domestication, which exhibits prevalence of pragmatic adaptation over attempts to secure the source text spirit.