The question of translatability and translation of „meaningful names“ in Witkacy’s Plays. In the plays of the Polish dramatist, writer and artist Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz („Witkacy“) the characters normally bear „meaningful names“. These can but need not necessarily serve the characterization of the respective figure. They are often just a mere play on words, achieved through usually applying the techniques of shifting and compaction. Translating the names requires to transfer this play on words into the target language in a way, that as few aspects of the original as possible, get lost, though this cannot always be achieved completely. The essay examines in a vast number of examples, how the creation of the names was done in the Polish original, and if and how Makarczyk & Schuster succeeded in translating the plays. (Translated by Karl-Heinz Förster)

The submitted article deals with following question: which translation procedures are used in translation of literary names and in what scope. We offer the answer based on the analysis of 4632 names from slovak translations of german literary works. In the analysed corpus we detected 9 procedures which we describe in closer detail. Subsequently we make provision also for the time aspect of origination of translation and statistically verify thesis that comtemporary translations are characterized by exotisation, whereas the translations from sixties and seventies of the twentieth century naturalized in a greater extent. In the article we interconnect the knowledge from literary onomastic and translatology, we describe in a closer detail individual phases of translation process, as well as the analysis of proper names.

This study combines two aspects of particular interest in the field of translation: the study of proper names, which, having a particular idiosyncrasy, make for especially interesting analysis in an interlinguistic context, and audiovisual translation, which, on account of the inherent restrictions governing a text of this nature, has particular characteristics. The precise aim of this study will be to analyse how proper names are dealt with in the two most established forms of audiovisual translation – dubbing and subtitling – using the German film Berlin is in Germany as an object of study. The Spanish dubbed and subtitled versions of the original German text will be analysed to determine the extent to which these two techniques may influence the final result, given the specific limitations of each form.

The article sets out to discuss Victor Klemperer’s use of proper names in his documentary work LTI – Lingua Tertii Imperii. Notizbuch eines Philologen (1947), which is based on his diaries on the Third Reich 1933–1945. Emphasis is placed on a set of problems facing the English translator Martin Brady (2000) in providing additional background information on a particular name for an anglophone readership. As a chronicler of the 20th century, Victor Klemperer abides by ’the principle of exactitude’ – in terms of a precise observation and detailed description of political events in time and space, and the minute recording of Nazi jargon in everyday communication. Attention is focused on the names of political and military organisation and their representatives; of institutions and their official buildings; the names of towns linked with a propaganda epithet; the names of foreign areas occuppied by German troops in World War II, and popular bynames given to Nazi leaders, including Victor Klemperer’s own onymic punning with personal names. Martin Brady, as a knowledgeable germanist and well-read in Jewish literature, applies different translation techniques in choosing functionally adequate English equivalents for the German names in their respective textual setting.

The present paper deals with the transcription issues of personal names in the intercultural communication and the East – West migration within Europe, especially after 1990. The difficulties in the area result from the various spelling systems, especially between the Latin and Cyrillic script, but also from the usage of various national norms of practical transcription or transliteration. In the Slovak Republic, in official communication and documentation (birth certificates, ‘Abitur’ certificates, diploma certificates, etc.) transcription following the guidelines of the Ministry of Culture of SR using the letters of the Slovak alphabet is required; which, however, does not correlate with the English transcription. Thus, it is difficult for translators to reproduce the documents originally written in the Cyrillic script in such a manner, which would not cause miscommunication, because a migrant’s first official document is a passport, using the transcription of personal names based on the English spelling norm. A specific problem lies in the transcription of Hebrew anthroponyms from Cyrillic to Latin script, as that can result in phonetic dissonance.

“Translating Geographical Names (Hungarian-German)”. Translating proper names (nomina propria) is an often debated question in Translation Studies. The translability of names is, by all probability, in close connection with the semantic structure and the invariance of their meaning. The opinions vary from total denial of translability to presentation of differentiated translation methods. The present study deals with the translation of geographic names from Hungarian to German. It shows different strategies from unaltered loanwords to interlingual allonyms, and to real translations. The translation strategies of names in case of Hungarian-German relation is obviously in close connection with the strong linguistic and cultural bonds between the two languages, the familiarity and importance of the denotatums. As it can be seen, the translation of geographical names in in the junction of linguistic, cultural, pragmatics and language policy considerations.

The city of Freiburg/Fribourg in western Switzerland has since its foundation in 1157 always been situated on the limit between the french and the german language. This fits also the canton of Fribourg, which counts one third german and two thirds french speaking inhabitants. The street and familynames as well as the geographical names are therefore mostly bilingual. Nevertheless the officially leading language could change during the centuries. The origin of the names went according to different scenarios: Immediate or later translation, borrowing and adaptation or sometimes one single name für both communities. Political motives made noble families translate their names whereas the generalisation of exonyms was due to the sens of order of ancient administration.

The name of the river Lambro/Lambrus near Milano (Italy/Roman province Gallia-Transpadana) will be reconstructed as indoeuropean *h1lṇgwhró-s ‘quick’. Compared with other geographic names it will be supposed, that Lambrus is a celtic relict name. The problem is, in which way celtic labiovelars, e.g. /gw/, are integrated in the post-celtic languages.

Slavic nobility, language and names between the rivers Saale and Elbe (10th-13th centuries) – In 2018 the archbishopric Magdeburg will celebrate its 1050th anniversary of existence. Therefore several questions in connection with interethnic relations between Slavic population and German governers are treated. From 930 up till 1150 a. Chr. a Slavonic majority was dominated by a German minority in all districts between the rivers Saale and Elbe. The author gives different answers and arguments by linguistic material to demonstrate mutual acknowledgement and tolerance by two different ethnics. The historical view allows results about interethnic communication since the 10th century. Furthermore an important fact can be made evident: German government accepted and preserved the old Slavic castles, regional names and lots of toponyms as signs of the former structure of the Slavic territory. The article offers special attention to the members of Slavic nobility. The author verifies about hundred persons with their names as examples of Slavic noble born representatives. Historical documents explain these persons’ duties as well as their secular and clerical charges in the time of Middle Ages. Some can be shown in top functions near to the German king or his margrave. German representatives apparently used the so called lingua Slavica misssionarica not only as language of Christian conversion, but also when it was necessary to discuss and to treat themes of administration.

The study concerning the Slavic district Neletici on the Mulde River follows up on the research done on the Slavic settlement of the Leipzig Land and also of the pagus Quezici (around and to the west of Eilenburg) and is based on the same methodical principles. Taking into account relevant research done by Horst Naumann and Ernst Eichler 96 Slavic place names are again analysed in regard to etymology, formation und meaning. Accordingly, the use of two multi-colored maps aid in illustrating the area settled by the Slavs who immigrated from Bohemia. The core area of the regio Neletici is not the territory directly around Wurzen but lies to the north between the Mulde an the Lossabach. The borders of Neletici are distinctly established by the Slavic districts Chutici and Quezici in the west and northwest and by the Slavic settlements on the Elbe River. The border to the south could be determined even more precisely by analogical research.