Methods of translating nonequivalent units in the Russian-English Dictionary of Phraseological Euphemisms

Abstract

This article explores the problem of adequate translation of English equivalents of the Russian phraseological euphemisms in the compiled by the authors “Russian-English Dictionary of Phraseological Euphemisms” – the first bilingual dictionary of euphemisms. Special attention is given to preservation of the significative and denotative component of the meaning of Russian phraseological euphemisms in their translating into English. The subject of this research is the methods of adequate transmission of the semantics of nonequivalent reinterpreted Russian euphemisms. The goal lies in the description of possible methods of translating nonequivalent Russian phraseological euphemisms into English: the right part of the dictionary entry is still under study. The novelty of this research lies in the discussion of possible methods of translating nonequivalent phraseological euphemisms that combine the characteristic features of both phraseological and euphemistic nominations. These typical characteristics are reflected in the right part of the dictionary entry. The acquires results prove that existence of four methods of translating nonequivalent phraseological euphemisms: using loanwords, lexical, descriptive and compound translation; the letter is crucial in delivering necessary information on the Russian phraseological euphemisms. The conclusion is made on the need to include additional information on the peculiarities of euphemistic nomination of the Russian phraseological euphemisms in form of descriptive translation into English, as opposed to the method of translating nonequivalent phraseological units in the existing bilingual phraseological dictionaries.