6533b86efe1ef96bd12cc77d

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Pragmatic aspects of the translation of slang and four‐letter words

subject

description

Abstract The article discusses linguistic and societal attitudes to slang in Latvia and their relevance to its rendition in Latvian translations. For historical reasons, there is a wide gap between spoken and written colloquial layers in Latvian. Slang, and especially four‐letter words, function differently in Latvian compared to English, where they are used much more frequently and have lost their disturbing connotations. Accordingly, in Latvian translations they must be softened to achieve ‘similar effect’. Today, however, there is a clear‐cut tendency to liberalize the attitude towards slang and taboos, which can be explained by the recent radical changes in Latvian society. Direct transfers are often found appropriate to render the formerly scorned substandard language. Changes in culture situation modify the expectations of the recipient, translation skopos, and old translation conventions, replacing them by new ones. Training of cross‐cultural awareness is an essential part of translation teaching. ...