Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1998. Vol. 2. Eger Journal of English Studies.(Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 26)

Studies - Albert Vermes: Proper names in translation: a case study

reason to exclude any possible class of referents, living or inanimate, concrete or abstract, real or imaginary. The point is that a name, in a given utterance and context, singles out one unique entity or one unique class of entities which is to bind the variable represented by the name in the propositional representation of the utterance. In theory, we may distinguish as many types of proper names as many classes of entities we can discern in the world. For instance, at first glance it may seem weird that computers should have names but in actual fact they do, since the dawn of computer networks. Thus, if we find it necessary for some reason, why not set up a separate category for the names of computers? 4 The hypothesis It is expected that names with an empty logical entry (stock names like John, for instance) are normally simply transferred, unless the encyclopaedic entry contains some assumptions that may be needed as part of the context, in which case the name is likely to be modified, depending on the context and the available options. Names with a filled-in logical entry would normally undergo translation, unless the encyclopaedic entry again contains some assumptions that may be needed as part of the context, which would make necessary the modification of the name in the TL. The presence of an established conventional TL correspondent would seem to generally pre-empt any other option, requiring the substitution of this correspondent for the SL name but may be overriden by the other processes if the translator considers it inadequate in the given context. 5 Materials and method In this study I used a recent British edition of Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five and a Hungarian translation by László Nemes (see Primary sources). First all the different proper names were looked up in the original text and matched with the corresponding expressions in the translation. For each name, only the first occurrence in the text was recorded. The original names were then sorted out into four groups according to the operation the translator used in dealing with them. Four operations are distinguished: transference, substitution, translation and modification. By transference we shall mean the process of rendering the name in the TL in the original form. Substitution is replacing the SL name by a conventional TL correspondent. Translation means rendering the SL name, or at least part 168