Abstract
In our paper we focus on the translating practice and translatability of surnames used in Hungarian, from the problems of translating the immediate predecessors of surnames to the questions of translating surnames today. Our main interest is in how multilingualism, language contact situations, language prestige considerations, customs, fashion and other potential factors affect the use of these names in different languages, and the translatability in a wider sense in the actual practice in Hungary and other countries. We shall look at name translation practice in medieval documents, the relevant questions of spontaneous and conscious surname changes, the changes of Hungarian surnames used outside of Hungary, and finally the questions of translating surnames occurring in fiction.
Highlights
In our paper we focus on the translating practice and translatability of surnames used in Hungarian, from the problems of translating the immediate predecessors of surnames to the questions of translating surnames today
Our main interest is in how multilingualism, language contact situations, language prestige considerations, customs, fashion and other potential factors affect the use of these names in different languages, and the translatability in a wider sense in the actual practice in Hungary and other countries
From the early sixteenth century on there are examples for the conscious differentiation between the inheritable and non-inheritable name types in tax registries using linguistic means, with Christian names given in their Latin equivalent, while family names originating in Christian name would as a rule be given in Hungarian
Summary
In our paper we focus on the translating practice and translatability of surnames used in Hungarian, from the problems of translating the immediate predecessors of surnames to the questions of translating surnames today. Our main interest is how multilingualism, language contact situations, language prestige considerations and trends, and other factors have affected and continue to affect the use of these names in different languages, and the translatability in a wider sense in the practice in Hungary and other countries throughout their history, including the names of fictitious characters used in literature.
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