METHODS AND WAYS OF TRANSLATING VARIOUS PROPER NAMES

There are no finally established rules yet as to how different kinds and types of English
proper names should be translated into Ukrainian, though Ukrainian proper names of people and
family names are mostly conveyed on the basis of their phonemic/orthographic structure, i.e., are
transliterated in English. E.g.: Vira; Roman; Avramenko;
Panibrat; Ivan; Tamara; Semen; Petro, etc. Not all Ukrainian proper
names can be conveyed by way of literal translating, however.
The adopted Romanization System is internally consistent and based on sound linguistic
principles. 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:
// as : Kyrylo, Mykyta.
/i/ 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. When preceded
by a vowel, the sound /i/ is to be conveyed by the letter (as in naive): Zai'ka/Zaika,
Ukrainka; /i/ initiates the proper name/surname, the sound expressed by it has to be
conveyed through the yi letter combination: Yizdets.
The voiced // sound is also to be conveyed through the letter : Yosyp,
Boychenko. Very often the // sound in Ukrainian is used with the preceding // or // sound.
When preceded by the // sound it is conveyed in English as ii or iy: Andrii/Andriy,
Hulii/Huliy. When the // sound is preceded by // it is to be conveyed as yi: Horovyi,
Hulyi.
As to the sounds expressed by the Ukrainian letters , , they are to be conveyed through
the English letter combinations ya, yu, ye respectively or through ia, iu, ie Cf.: ya: Yakym,
Yarema, but: Zabiyaka/Zabiiaka. 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. It is mostly observed in traditional proper names
like Maria, Sofia, Yulia, but: Kenya.
The Ukrainian // sound is to be conveyed through the similar though not identical voiceless
English /h/ phoneme: Havrylo, Hryhir.
The Ukrainian // phoneme is conveyed with the help of the zh letter combination:
Zhuk, Zhanna, Bozhiy.
The Ukrainian // sound is conveyed in English through the kh letter combination:
Lakhno, Ostakhiv.
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 always were and are still used for the
purpose: Kachaniv, Klochko/Klotchko.
Similarly with the Ukrainian // sound which has no equivalent 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. Hence, the Ukrainian proper nouns and especially
geographical names and names of public bodies containing can be conveyed as follows:
as Shcherbak.
The Ukrainian // and // phonemes are substituted for the English plosives Ibl and //:
Borys, Boitchuk, Petro. The consonant phonemes //, /, //, //, //, //
and their palatalized variants /'/, /7, /'/, /'/, //, // are substituted respectively for the English alveolar /d/, /t/, /n/, /I/, Isl, /ts/, /ts/ though the latter, which is common knowledge to
everybody, differ greatly by their articulatory characteristics from the Ukrainian phonemes. Cf.:
Dorosh, Tkachenko, Nimenko, Tsipko, Ts'virkun.
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. 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.
The closest to the English consonant phonemes are the Ukrainian //, // and // phonemes.
Cf.: Kavun, Zaichenko, Gudziy. 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 Gedzf, Gudz'.
There is very little similarity, however, between the Ukrainian vibrant // and the English //
phoneme belonging in both these languages to different articulatory zones. Nevertheless the
English // is always used in translations of proper names to substitute the Ukrainian // and vice
versa: Roman, Cherkasenko.
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 e.g. of Biblical origin.
English vowel and consonant phonemes, used in various combinations, 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 , Aileen , Bab .
A number of English proper names are rendered into Ukrainian by way of transliteration
only: Barbara , Norman , Tristram .
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 . Some other
English proper names of people and geographical names are rendered into Ukrainian partly
through transcription: Brooking , Huntington , Liverpool . Besides,
the exactitude of conveying English proper names in Ukrainian may be predetermined by some
lingual and extralingual factors. 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 . 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. 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 / .
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 Edward the Confessor
.
The so-called generalizing or characterizing names used by many authors in their belleslettres works to point out some determinant (usually negative) feature of their characters are
mostly not translated but only transcribed or transliterated. Such are the characters, for example,

from Ch. Dickens' works: Mrs. Porkenham (cf. pork and ham / ,
, ); Some nicknames of this kind may naturally be translated, especially when used in humorous stories as, for instance, in Stephan Leacock's Guide the Gimlet
of Ghent: A Romance of Chivalry: Carlo the Corkscrew , Beowulf the Bradawl
.
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
. This tendency should also be observed when dealing with some other proper names,
including geographical ones. The latter, as may have been noticed, are conveyed in
Ukrainian/English in the same way as the proper names of people, i.e., they are traditionally
transliterated or transcribed: Arkansas () but ();
Belfast/Chicago / , Dublin/Ottawa /, San-Francisco , Bakhmach, Brovary. A considerable number of English
geographical names are also rendered into Ukrainian by way of transcription only: Buckinghamshire , Capetown/Ohio /, Dashwood , Dundee ,
Freetown , Newfoundland . 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 ; Maine ( ); Mexico ; New
Orleans ; Ulster ; Texas ( ), 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 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/Cape May / -, Cape Verde Islands - ;
Golden Gate ( .- ); 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
/ -; Some geographical names have in English their historically
established forms/variants too: Kola Peninsula, Ladoga,
Onega, Asia Minor, Central Asia, (It. Napoli)
Naples, Hebrides / (also Western Isles).
CONVEYING THE NAMES OF COMPANIES, CORPORATIONS, FIRMS
Traditionally, most names of companies (corporations, firms, etc.) are transcribed or
transliterated and shortly explicated at the same time. This method is also employed when
rendering the names of publishing houses, titles of most newspapers and magazines or journals,
and of some public bodies. The translation may be performed either with the employment of a
shorter or more extended explication. The former is practised when the name of the company
(corporation, firm) is well-known or when translating at language level; the latter is resorted to
when translating at speech/text level: Associated Biscuit Manufacturers
; T.Wall & Sons Co. Ltd.
' .
, but: General Motors/ Standard Oil
/ .
Ukrainian companies, firms and other state and private bodies performing the same or similar
functions are translated according to the same rule (they are transliterated or transcribed and
explicated at the same time). For example: Kyiv Svitanok civil

services firm; Ukrainian Ukrhazprom natural gas importing and extracting body;
Bilychi Joint-Stock Furniture Factory
Association;
Translation of the names of British/American publishing houses is performed according to
the same rules: Associated Book Publishers -
; Cambridge University Press

; Names of Ukrainian publishing houses are rendered into English similarly: with the
corresponding identifying noun Publishers or Publishing House added to it:
/ Kyiv/ Ukrains'kyi Pysmennyk/Dnipro Publishers
(Publishing House): Muzychna Ukraina (musical works and
notes) Publishers/Publishing House; Transcribed or transliterated and mostly shortly explicated
in the target language are also the names of news agencies: (the British) Reuters (News Agency)
;
Names of theatres, cinemas, hotels are also mostly reproduced through transcription or
transliteration and explication at the same time: Comedy Theatre ; Commercial
Theatre ( );
Names of hotels are translated in the same way as the names of cinema halls. When the
names originate from common nouns (or word-combinations) they may be transcribed,
transliterated and explicated or translated: the Royal Court Hotel ;
Names of newspapers, journals, and magazines require a special approach on the part of the
translator. The thing is that in English some more extended explication may be needed for a particular foreign newspaper (magazine, journal) than in Ukrainian: the
Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada Holos Ukrainy newspaper; Very often the body to which the paper
belongs or which sponsors its publication may be indicated too:
Ukraine's Ministry of Public Education and Culture Osvita
weekly;
Names of Ukrainian journals (magazines) are translated in the same way as the titles of
newspapers: Ukrainian writers' Vitchyzna (Fatherland) literary journal;
Ukrainian humorous and satirical Perets (Pepper) weekly magazine; The
titles of English newspapers, journals and magazines are traditionally less explicated in
Ukrainian translation: the New York Times - ; Observer
- ;
Translation of the names of streets, avenues and squares is predetermined by several factors.
Alongside the established tradition, the most important of these factors is the meaning of the
component parts making up the name. When used in contextul environment, the names of streets,
avenues, roads, and squares may often be simply transcribed or transliterated, since the nouns
street, avenue, road or square are familiar to many Ukrainians: Dean Street ; Milton Street/Oxford Street /-; Wall Street/Fleet Street
-/-; Farringdon Road -. Ukrainian names of streets
(roads, avenues) are translated according to the common rule, the proper name being
transliterated (rarely transcribed) and the explaining common noun , , is
translated: / Andriivska/ Polyova Street;
The names of streets and squares given in honour of social, political or historical
events/personalities, along with the names formed from regular common nouns, qualitative or
relative adjectives, are mostly translated. This way of translating is especially common in written
language when it is not connected directly with oral communication:
The Friendship of Nations (Peoples' Friendship) Avenue/Boulevard;
/ Verkhovna Rada/Hrushevs'koho Street/vulytsia (in English newspapers
published in Ukraine).
The names of English squares are also mostly transcribed and explicated (by adding )
whether the noun square is mentioned or not: Clerkenwell Green/Percy Circus .

-/ -; Some names of squares may be either transcribed/transliterated

or translated from the English language as well: Parliament Square . -/
; Trafalgar Square . -/ ;
George Washington Square . / .
Names of Ukrainian squares are rendered in a similar way though they are more often translated
into English. It happens when the name of the square originates from a common noun or is a
stable word- combination denoting some historical or revolutionary event:
/ Bohdan Khmelnytskyi/Tolstoi Square/Ploshcha;
Kontraktova Square/Ploshcha;
Certainly of interest might be the rule of translating such peculiar notions as
and in a city. Thus, / is
Vasyl'kivs'kyi/Yahotyns'kyi district/rayon, . is Shevchenkivs'kyi
district of Lviv. Any in any city is always a residential area: (the)
Syrets/Nyvky residential area in Kyiv Shevchenkivs'kyi district.
Names of public bodies, however, are mostly translated. These include political parties, trade
unions, national and international bodies of different rank and functions: the British
Conservative party ; the Democratic (Republican)
party () , the Labour (Liberal) party
() ; - the Christian
Democratic Party of Ukraine or the Ukrainian Christian Democratic Party/Ukrainian Christian
Democrats.
Similarly treated are also various names of English/American trade unions which may
sometimes go under the names association, society, organization, brotherhood or
simply union, which should always be translated as : the AFL-CIO (American
Federation of Labour - Congress of Industrial Organizations) - (
- ); Names of Ukrainian trade unions are
translated in the same way as the English (or American) ones. They may also be rendered in their
full official wording or somewhat shortened (without using the words trade union):
Ukrainian Mine Workers
Union or Ukrainian Miners;
Special attention should be paid to the translation of the names of institutions, enterprises,
geographical objects, etc., bearing honorary names. In English the honorary name precedes the
enterprise/body which bears it, whereas in Ukrainian it always follows the name of the
enterprise/body: Humboldt State College . ; George
Washington Library . ;
Names of literary and scientific/peace prizes are mainly translated in two ways with the
preservation of the name which the the prize bears or with the transformation of the noun into a
corresponding relative adjective: Nobel Prize ( );
Pulitzer Prize ( . );
English honorary names, therefore, are mostly transformed into relative adjectives in
Ukrainian, whereas Ukrainian relative adjectives must be translated, where possible, as
corresponding English nouns. This rule should also be observed when translating the names
which contain the often used adjective . The latter, however, may sometimes be
omitted in English, which should not be treated as a translator's mistake. The thing is that
belonging of important institutions to state property in all countries is considered self-evident. As
a result, two faithful translations of this kind of names are possible:
. ., Kyiv State Dovzhenko Film Studio, 2. the Kyiv Dovzhenko Film
Studio.