Though Ukrainian proper names of people and family names are mostly conveyed on the basis of their phonemic/orthographic structure = are transliterated in English ( Antonina; ³ Vira; Lavrin; Roman; Avramenko).
!!!!! Not all Ukrainian proper names can be conveyed by way of literal translating because some of our vowels and consonants have no equivalent sounds/phonemes in English and must be substituted for approximately similar sounds.
Among these Ukrainian sounds and sound combinations are first of all those ones, which are rendered with the help of the letters or letter combinations , , , , , , , , or partly through the letters , , , , and palatalized consonants.
Ukraine as a newly independent state makes efforts to get rid of her former colonial past. One of the ways to assure this internationally was the adoption by the Verkhovna Rada of the Romanization System which enabled the conveying of our personal names, family names (onomastics) and also all Ukrainian geographical names (toponymy) in accordance with some rules.
Their system practically does not contain diacritics, i.e., different signs over or under the letters, like in German, Turkish or French. The only sign of the kind is the sign ' for palatalization (cf. Shcherban', L'viv) which is not difficult to add to the right top of a letter.
The adopted Romanization System will also serve well as an aid to correct pronunciation of Ukrainian proper names by the foreigners, capable of reading the Roman letters, which more or less correctly convey the sounding forms of any Ukrainian name. The adopted Romanization System is internally consistent and based on sound linguistic principles. It is to be strictly observed by the students of foreign languages and the people responsible for its absolute implementation in this country and abroad.
Have a look at the system.
A practical realization of this system can be illustrated on many Ukrainian names with the following substitution of Ukrainian letters (and sounds) for the completely, approximately or similarly corresponding English letters or letter combinations.
1) // as : Kyrylo, Maryna, Brovary, Sumy.
2) // as ii, or yi. The choice of a letter/letter combination in English to Romanize the sound is predetermined by its environment and position in the Ukrainian name/surname:
A) When preceded by a vowel, the sound /j/ is to be conveyed by the letter (as in naive): Zaika/Zaika, Ukrainka, dz Zinaida/ Zinai'da,
B)When the Ukrainian letter initiates the proper name/surname, the sound expressed by it has to be conveyed through the yi letter combination: Yivha, Yizhakevych.
3) // is also to be conveyed through the letter : Yosyp, venk, Boychenko.
Very often the // sound in Ukrainian is used with the preceding /i/ or // sound.
A) When preceded by the /i/ sound it is conveyed in English as ii or iy: Andrii/Andriy, Hafiika/Hafiyka, Matviichuk/Matviychuk
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B) When the // sound is preceded by // it is to be conveyed as yi: Horovyi, Hulyi, ѳ Siryi, Kolomyichenko, Hnidyi.
4) As to the sounds expressed by the Ukrainian letters , , they are to be conveyed through the English letter combinations ya, yu, ye or through ia, iu, ie: Yakym, Yarema, but: Zabiyaka/Zabiiaka, Musiyaka/Musiiaka.
The sound expressed through the Ukrainian letter in the final position of a word or traditional proper name can sometimes be conveyed in English by the ia rarely ya letter combinations ( - Mariia, - Sofiia, -Yulia, - Yugoslavia, - Malasia, but: Kenya. Some common in English and Ukrainian proper names and also foreign place names may have for the ia letter combinations as well: Maria /, Malaya )
Present-day English despite the existence of some less hard consonants like the /l/ after the l\l, I'v.l and /ai/ sounds (cf. little, leave, like, controlling, etc.) is practically devoid of palatalization. As a result, all Ukrainian palatalized consonants usually obtain a hard pronunciation in English: Alvina, Bened. So in linguistic papers these and the like proper names may have a sign for palatalization ('): Al'vina, Kost', Red'ko, Bened', Vlyz'ko, Luts'k, Lots', Kozlovs'kyi, Koval', Mel'nyk, etc.
As to the Ukrainian consonant phonemes, which have no direct equivalents in the English language, they can mostly be conveyed through analogous English sounds, sometimes formed by different letter combinations.
Thus, the Ukrainian // sound is to be conveyed through the similar though not identical voiceless English /h/ phoneme: Havrylo, Hryhir, Haydai, Hryhorash, Hromak, Hmyrya. This sound is also observed in such nouns/proper names as hobby , maharajah , Hyderabad , Huxley , etc.
The Ukrainian // phoneme is conveyed with the help of the zh letter combination: Zhuk, Zhanna, Bozhiy, , Zhuravel', Zhuikhlib, Zhenchenko, Zhurba, Neyizhmak, Vrazhlyvyi.
The Ukrainian /x/ sound is conveyed in English through the kh letter combination: Lakhno, Ostakhiv, Khoma, Khymych, Kharkiv, Khovrakh, .
As to the similar in the Ukrainian and English languages // sound it may be conveyed in two ways. Traditionally the letter combinations ch or tch are used for the purpose: Kachaniv, Klochko/Klotchko, Kostyuchenko/Kostiutchenko, Kochur/Kotchur, Chemushenko/Tchemushenko, Chornyi/Tchomyi. Though the tch letter combination is less and less often used at present in front and mid position, but often in final psition Kortch.
Recently, however, in accordance with the internationally agreed upon rules (UNESCO) our // sound in proper nouns is often conveyed via the c sign and the // sound via the s sign: Chastii/Castiy, Chernysh/Cernys, Kucheryavenko/ Kuceryavenko, Topcii/Topchiy, Bohatch/Bohac, Shovkun/Sovkun.
Similarly with the Ukrainian / / sound which has no equiva-lent in English. Traditionally it was conveyed in English through the letter combination shch (sh+ch) or sch. Nowadays the sign sc is sometimes used for the purpose too.
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Hence, the Ukrainian proper nouns and especially geographical names and names of public bodies containing can be conveyed as follows: as Shchadenko or Scadenko, as Shcherbak or Scerbak, as Bezposhchadnyi or Bezposcadnyi, as Vereshchak or Verescak, as Yushchuk or Yuscuk.
For all other Ukrainian consonant phonemes there are corresponding letters and letter combinations in English which convey more or less similar sounds.
Only approximate similarity can also be observed in most cases between the Ukrainian // phoneme which is much closer when used in the initial position to the English /w/ than to its traditional substitute (in translations from the Ukrainian) /v/ phoneme as in the proper nouns like: Volodymyr, Vovchok, Dobryvechir, Ubyivovk. But ³, of course, must be only Will. Consequently , may also be Wowchenko, Warenyk and also Wowchok.
When in the position between two vowels or between a vowel and a palatalized consonant, the Ukrainian // sound somewhat resembles the English /v/ phoneme, however: Syvachenko, Vynnychenko, Yavorivskyi, Shvaika/ Shwaika.
Undoubtedly the closest to the English consonant phonemes are the Ukrainian //, // and // phonemes. Cf.: Kavun, dz Zinaida, Zaichenko, Gudziy/Gudzii.
But there are no similar substitutes in English for our palatalized // sound which will be read by the English native speakers as /dz/ only as in Gedz', Gudz', Dzendzelivskyi and others.
There is very little similarity between the Ukrainian vibrant /p/ and the English /r/ phoneme belonging in both these languages to different articulatory zones. Nevertheless the English /r/ is always used in translations of proper names to substitute the Ukrainian /p/ and vice versa: Barbara , Robert , Rupert , Roman, Novodvors'kyi, Cherkasenko, Hryhir, Rudchenko.
The methods of conveying English vowels in Ukrainian are also different. The choice of them and the sphere of their use may be predetermined by some lingual as well as extralingual factors.
These are as follows:
a) the position of the phoneme in the English word/proper name;
b) the environment of the phoneme;
c) the origin of the proper name;
d) the tradition (if any) of conveying the name in Ukrainian, when the name is common in the two languages.
As to the possible substitutes for similar and divergent English vowel phonemes, some variants may be suggested in Ukrainian for short monophthongs formed at different tongue positions. The most common/traditional substitutes for English short monophthongs in Ukrainian the following vowel phonemes have to be investigated:
/ae/ for /a/ and lei: Angela /, Andy / , Amanda /, Patrick /, Allison , ;
// for //, // or even /o/: Ulrica (/), Doug , Justin , Sudbury /, Ulster ;
/ / standing in English for any vowel phoneme in unstressed positiorecan be substituted in Ukrainian for the corresponding lettered vowels too: Ada , Alaska , Virginia ³, Rebekka , Theodore , Salisbury ;
/ / for /o/: Dolly , Olive , Oskar , Oxford ;
//for//: Iraq , Isabel (), lsolda/e , Islam Missouri ̳, Paccadilli ϳ;
lei for lei: Ebrington , Eckersl(e)y , Edinburgh , Eleonora , Ellis ().
It is common knowledge that either of these sounds may also convey other sounds in seemingly the same sounds environment. Cf.: Iden , Ikey , or: Ede , Eden , English (family name) .
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Long vowel phonemes in all English proper names like in other words are substituted in Ukrainian for their corresponding short vowel phonemes:
/a:/ for /a/: Art , Bart , Clerke , Mark , Carnegie 崳, Gaby ; but Derby/da:bi/;
/:/for//: Allcorn , Aubrey , Austin , Paola , Cornell , Monro(e) ;
/u:/ and sometimes /ju:/ for ///: Cooper Kynep, Judy , Muriel '(), Oona , Ouse p. , Hecuba , Purim , Rubens , Uniat, UNESCO ;
/i:/for/i/: Aberdeen , Celia ѳ, Easton , Eton , Deakin ij, Edie , Dundee ;
/:/ for lei or even for III: Earl , Herbert , Irvin / ; bat: Pearl Harbor -/ϳ-, Burton , Burma , Bert , Burch .
English diphthongs are usually substituted for corresponding Ukrainian vowel combinations, though not without exceptions:
/ai/ for //: Brighton , Idaho , Ike , Mike , Pyke ; but Miami ;
/au/for/ay/: Down , Howard /, Howell , Mowgli ;
/ei/for//, /a/: Ada , Mabel , Mamei , Paisley ;
/ / for //: Croydon , Joyce , Roy but: Troy , ;
/ u/ for /oy/: Mo Moy, Owen , Rose , Snow , Sofia(Balgaria) .
Several English proper names containing the diphthong /ou/ have no /oy/ substitution for it in Ukrainian, however: Bruno , Buffalo , Toronto , Longfellow , , Sophia but Snow , TowcesterToycTep;
/ / is substituted for lei or /a/: Ayrshire , Dataware Fairbanks ., Gary . , but: Ontario , Bulgaria ;
/ /for//, //, //: Cheeryble ׳, Madeira - , Nigeria (ͳ, Victoria ³, Virginia ³, Julia , Juliet .
It is not always easy to select appropriate Ukrainian substitutes for some English consonant phonemes either. That is partly because some consonants may realize their meanings depending on their environment or position in the word (proper name). Besides, the selections of a substitute for an English consonant phoneme may sometimes be predetermined in Ukrainian by the established tradition: so /6/ is substituted for //, // or the sound //: Carmarthenshire , Caruthers /, Brothers ;
// for hi or Id sometimes // (in Greek names): Bath . , Faith /, Dartmouth , but: Athos , Carthage /, Korinth .
// for /: Arlington , Bundung , sterling ", Darlington , Long , Goulding , Springpark ;
// for //: Bronx , Sinclair ѳ, Sprink , Winkie ³;
/l/for///'/: Larry /, Lotta , Noll , Percival (), Charles /, William ³, Clinton , UnderhillAHfleprin.
Some componental phonemes may have traditionally estab-lished substitution in separate nouns. Thus,
/w/ may be // or /y/: Washington , Wales , Westminster , Wilde , Bowyear ', Bristow , Shaw , Snow , Mark Twain .
When used in various combinations, these and other English vowel and consonant phonemes are mostly conveyed in Ukrainian in accordance with the above-given reading rules. As a result, English proper names are either transcribed or transliterated (or partly transcribed and partly transliterated) in Ukrainian. Mostly transcribed are names/surnames containing specific English vowel phonemes which are usually formed by different sound/letter combinations: Abe , , Bab , Eli , Lewie /, Queenie , Raiph , Russel , Theobald ҳ/.
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Irrespective of the considerable divergences existing between the phonemic systems of the two languages, a number of English proper names are rendered into Ukrainian by way of transliteration only: Barbara , Norman , Rita г, Tristram , Victor ³, Adams , Barker , Collins /, Clark , Cronin , Wilson ³ or ³, Nelson , Robert Frost etc.
A few English proper names are transliterated with the omission or addition of a letter or two in Ukrainian. This kind of rendering becomes necessary when dealing with specifically English spelling forms of proper names and to avoid the violation of the traditionally established spelling rules of the Ukrainian language: McDonald , Macintosh , McEnroe , Dinah ij, Jupiter , Judah , Longfellow , Williamson ³.
Some other English proper names of people and geographical names are rendered into Ukrainian partly through transcription: Brooking , Huntington , Liverpool ˳, Newton , Jackson , Aberdeen , Melbourne , Valentine .
Besides, the exactitude of conveying English proper names in Ukrainian may be predetermined by some lingual and extralingual (actors. The main of them are: absence in Ukrainian of corresponding phonemes and orthographic means to substitute some particular English sounds/letter combinations or the established tradition according to which some names are translated. It can already be seen on the following examples: Thome , Ethan , Faith /, Fitzclarence Գ, Graham (), Galsworthy , Goorka , Hugon , Hutchinson /, Ptolemy , Whistler ³(), Wriothesley , and sevral others.
The bulk of all other English proper names, however, are also rendered into Ukrainian with the help of phonetical/phonological level units, i.e., either transcribed or transliterated. The degree of exactitude of their rendering depends on the existence/non-existence of appropriate or similar sounds in the target language. Care should be taken in order to avoid the influence of both the lingual and extralingual factors. For example, the well-known names as Adam, David can be translated into Ukrainian as and (Biblical or historical) or as and (common people's names). Similarly with Matthew, Paul, Rachel and some others which can be correspondingly rendered either as /, , or as , , (), Pope John Paul II , etc.
Mostly translated, however, are the names of kings, queens, princes, princesses, tsars and tsarinas. These exceptions from the general rule are observed in the following names: King Charles/George, Henry /, ; Queen Elisabeth/Mary Stewart / ; King James I (John, William) (, ³); Princess Ann/Margaret /; Prince Charles (Arthur, Philip, George) of Wales. // Tsar Alexander/Nicolas/Paul.
Among the names of kings, queens, tsars, etc. are also some which are transliterated in the target language. These are mostly peculiar national names with no corresponding equivalents in other languages: King Horn ; Prince Robert ; / Tsar Boris/Ivan; King Boleslav, Prince Mstyslav.
[ Nicknames of people are almost always translated irrespective of the language they come from:
King Charles the Great ;
King Richard the Lionheart/Lionhearted г ;
Prince William of Orange ³ ;
Prince Yaroslav the Wise
Tsar Ivan the Terrible.
Contrary to this rule is the wrong translation in our mass media of Prince Charles of Wales as , instead of (according to the historically established tradition) for translating the names of kings and princes.
[ Indian chiefs' names and family names of American Indians, which became known mainly from J.F.Cooper's novels are translated, as a rule, too:
(the) Arrowhead ;
Dew of June, ;
Chingachgook the Big Serpent ׳ ;
the Deerslayer (the Pathfinger) (, );
the Leather Stocking, Hawk's Eye , ;
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John Running Deer, ;
[The so-called generalizing or characterizing names used by many authors in their belles-lettres works to point out some determinant (usually negative) feature of their characters are mostly not translated but only transcribed or transliterated:
Mrs. Porkenham (cf. pork and hem / , , );
Doctor Slammer (cf. to slam the door / );
Tracy Tupman (cf. tup-male sheep, ram , ) ;
Nathaniel Winkle (cf. winkle sea snail used as food) ³;
Miss Witherfield (cf. wither, fade) ', (' ) is simply ̳ ³/³.
Some nicknames of this kind may naturally be translated, especially when used in humorous stories as, for instance:
Carlo the Corkscrew ,
Beowulf the Bradawl ,
Conrad the Coconut .
But: Mrs. Afterthought and not .
It must be emphasized that in recent decades there has been a general tendency in translation practice to transcribe or transliterate foreign proper names and not to translate them. In conformity with the tendency some proper names of people and place names which had hitherto been translated are now transcribed or transliterated. So Michael Faraday is no more but ; George Washington is (and not ) ; Alessandro Volta is no more but ; Salt Lake City Is no more but -ѳ; Hull is no more but , etc.
A considerable number of English geographical names are also rendered into Ukrainian by way of transcription only: Buckinghamshire , Capetown/Ohio /, Dashwood , Dundee , Freetown , Newfoundland , Seattle ѳ, Sutherland , Greenfield , Hull , Leeds ˳.
A few geographical names and some proper names of people have a traditionally established orthographical form which does not reflect in any way their pronunciation or their real orthographic form in the English language: the Arctic Ocean ϳ ; Maine ( ); Mexico ; New Orleans ; Ulster ; Texas Texac ( ), Lake Superior .
Names of seas, oceans, bays, archipelagos, isthmuses, straits, channels, administrative territories and compound names of countries having the structure of word-combinations are always translated:
the Atlantic/Pacific/Indian Ocean // ;
the Grampians (Appalachians) () ;
the Gulf of Mexico (Salonika) () ;
the Isthmus of Suez/Panama () ; New South Wales ϳ ();
Strait of Magellan/Gibraltar / ;
/ the Carpathians/Carpathian Mts.);
Transcarpathia (Transcarpathian Region of Ukraine);
/ Sea of Azov, the Caspian Sea.
The geographical names formed on the basis of common nouns which acquired the status of proper names are generally translated from English into Ukrainian and vice versa:
Cape of Good Hope - 䳿,
Cape Verde Islands - - ;
Golden Gate - ;
Grand Bank(s) - ̳ ( - );
Great Slave Lake ;
the Rocky Mountains / the Appalachians - // .
Still other geographical names having single word and word-combination structures require some identifying element in the target language (an appositional noun, an adjective, etc.). These elements explain the nature and the real meaning of the geographical name in the target language:
the Azores/the Seychelles - / ;
Idaho Falls - -;
New England - ,
Massachusetts - ,
Rhode Island - () -,
the Saint Lawrence - p. ;
// - the Buh/the Desna/ the Ros' (rivers in Ukraine);
Verkhovyna (in Ukrainian Carpathians);
- Donets Basin/Donets coal field(s);
Podil (lower part of Kyiv city, a city district);
// Kherson/Lviv/Poltava region/ now more often oblast.
Ukrainian geographical names should be translated into English as close to their source language form as possible unless other their forms are historically or traditionally established:
- Bohuslav;
- Vynohrad;
- Moryntsi;
- Zaporizhia/Zaporizhya;
' - Kamianyi/Kamyanyi Brid;
- Zhuliany/Zhulyany;
Chenihiv;
- Khutir Mykhailivskyi.
The students must bear it in mind that some geographical names have in English their historically established forms/variants too:
- Kola Peninsula,
- Ladoga,
- Onega,
- Asia Minor,
- Central Asia,
- Naples,
Hebrides - ó/ó (also Western Isles), etc.
