The linguistic landscape of the Neryungrinsky district of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia): an analysis of bilingual signs of educational institutions

Abstract

According to Article 35 of the Law on Languages of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), state and municipal institutions are required to have official signs for both official languages of the Republic, Yakut and Russian, and for districts densely populated by indigenous northern minorities, for their languages, which are defined by the law as official languages. The aim of this research is to analyse the errors made in translating the official signs of educational institutions in the Neryungrinsky district of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). To accomplish this objective, the following tasks were carried out: 1. Collecting and sorting photographs of signs of educational institutions; 2. Analysing the source text in Russian, i.e. highlighting the order of presentation of information about the institution; 3. Analysing the translated text, i.e. evaluating the accuracy of the translation and identifying translation errors; 4. Categorising translation errors into five groups: graphic errors, spelling errors, errors in translating abbreviations, word order errors and grammatical errors; 5. Linguistic analysis of the identified errors; 6. Development of the correct version of the translation of the signs. The research uses statistical counting and comparison methods to identify the schemes of presentation of information about institutions on signboards, methods of observation and comparison of signboard texts to develop the most optimal translation option in the presence of several translation options for the same information, and methods of analysis and synthesis to describe translation errors and justify the correct translation option. Practical recommendations in the form of schemes and vocabulary developed in the course of this study are universal and can be applied to other organisations of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia); this is the reason for the relevance of the study. The analysis outputs are applicable for training translators at M.K. Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University, citing the scientific, practical, and linguodidactic potential of this work.