Abstract

Vita di Pietro is a work authored by the Greek Antonio Catiforo in Italian and published in Venice in 1736. A Greek version was published a year later, also in Venice, by Alexandros Kankellarios. The work is comprised of six books and synthesizes information from various sources relating to the age and personality of the Russian tsar. It was translated several times into Romanian in the mid and late eighteenth century, in all three of the Romanian provinces. The large number of copies is evidence for the interest it aroused during that period. This paper describes several particulars regarding the transfer of the proper names from the source language to the target language. I have analysed four types of proper name: the choronym Moscovia and its relating ethnonym, Western choronyms, Russian anthroponyms, and anthroponyms of other origins, noting how the translators employ their source and the ensuing differences among the versions.

Highlights

  • In 1736, in “Novelle della repubblica letteraria” a note was made of the publication of Vita di Pietro il Grande Imperador della Russia estratta da varie memorie pubblicate in Francia e in Olanda, per opera dell’abate greco Antonio Catiforo, a six-book account of the life of the Russian tsar, preceded by a short survey of the Russian history before his reign

  • Some proper names have been transferred through transliteration, while others show that the translator used the forms already known by him

  • The translation of proper names or ethnonyms preserved the genitive or the accusative suffix from the source language

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Summary

Introduction

In 1736, in “Novelle della repubblica letteraria” a note was made of the publication of Vita di Pietro il Grande Imperador della Russia estratta da varie memorie pubblicate in Francia e in Olanda, per opera dell’abate greco Antonio Catiforo, a six-book account of the life of the Russian tsar, preceded by a short survey of the Russian history before his reign. 73) showed that the statements in the title and preface are true, as the original was the Greek version of this work, which the Romanian translator used selectively, choosing to omit some of the interventions of its author. The Book of the Russian State and the heroisms of the Russians, of the monarch Peter and of other emperors and sovereigns These histories were translated from the Russian language into the Romanian language by the Honourable Mr Rodion Popovici, professor in the city of Corona]), ms. The title pages of the copies indicate that a Russian edition acted as an intermediary; the textual comparison showed, that this Romanian version too was made from the Greek version (as indicated by the contextual loans) The comparative study of the three concurrent translations with the same source may offer new data for historical dialectology and the history of the Romanian language, and interesting information concerning the approach to translation or the weight of the cultural tradition in transmitting the proper names into the target language

General issues
Applications
Western Choronyms
Russian Anthroponyms
Anthroponyms of other origins
Conclusions
Sources
Secondary literature
Full Text
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