Abstract
The research focuses on analysing the function of slang in modern cartoons (Madagascar 2, Kung Fu Panda, Shrek, Open Season, Cars) as well as translation strategies used to convey accurate meaning. Our data from film scripts (163 examples containing slang terms) has proved that slang, as an important part of cartoons’ verbal component, should be and mainly retained in translation. Excerpts from original cartoons scripts show slang use, that may function both for the protagonists’ characterisation and for the mapping of humor (carnivalesque) world picture. Componential analysis of meaning – breaking down the sense of slang terms into their minimal distinctive features – was used to determine the meaning of lexemes and reconstruct semantic domains actively verbalised by slang.
 The assumption has been made that due to the universality of domains slang can be potentially translated in most cases. Componential analysis is particularly applicable to semantically related lexemes (in one language or comparable ones).
 A thorough analysis of slang translation showed the employment of the following strategies: stylistic compensation (50.3%), literal translation (44.7%), omission (4.9%) and cultural equivalence (0.1%). As seen, a substantial proportion of the slang words can be translated from English into Ukrainian without significant loss of meaning. The neutralisation of slang appears to be inevitable in some cases.
Highlights
Slang is often seen as a linguistic phenomenon that is unsuitable for translation
The body serves as a universal domain for carnivalesque as such, and the slang terms nominating body and its functions are present in every living language
Slang has always been one of the most challenging linguistic phenomena for audiovisual translation since slang has always been linked to society and its verbal manifestation
Summary
Slang is often seen as a linguistic phenomenon that is unsuitable for translation. Due to sociolinguistic variables and pragmatic functions slang terms are often thought of as belonging to a restricted group that shares a common experience (Balabin 2002; Hudmanyan, Pletenets’ka 2014). Newmark’s idea was that the translator should decide how much attention he has to pay to the target language readers This attention can partially be explained by the function of the text: the expressive, the informative and the vocative. To achieve the research aims, all slang words and phrases from Madagascar 2, Kung Fu Panda, Shrek, Open Season, Cars scripts (163 examples containing slang terms) were defined with the help of The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (Partridge 2006). They were classified according to shared and differentiating features (semes). The slang expressions are marked, classified according to semantic ideographic principles, selected and analysed with regard to slang theory and translation strategy theory (Ulvydienė & Abramovaitė 2012)
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