CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
ENGLISH-RUSSIAN DICTIONARY
OF CONTACTS WITH EAST-ASIAN CULTURES
ZOYA G. PROSHINA,
LOMONOSOV MOSCOW STATE UNIVERSITY, RUSSIA
Globalization, which has been spoken of so much today, raising
different, sometimes opposite attitudes, has embraced not only politics and
economy but also language and even culture. Language globalization can
be seen in the so-called global English that has been functioning as a
mediator among diverse cultures. Owing to this role of English,
achievements, heritage, and values of many ethnic cultures prove to be
known globally, with the specifics of each culture reflected not only in the
indigenous language, underpinning this culture, but also in global English.
A. Pakir (1999) named this phenomenon as linguistic and cultural
glocalization. Thus, glocal English spreads local and regional cultures,
thanks to which people, not knowing local languages of other ethnicities
and unable to read their scripts, have a chance to broaden their cultural
horizon, learn about new cultures, and get prepared for intercultural
communication.
It is only but natural that lexicographers could not stand aside from this
process. A number of English dictionaries reflecting local cultures have
been published. These include dictionaries of India (Yule, Burnell, 2006),
Singapore (Goh, Woo, Choo, 1990), Ghana (Blench, Dendo, 2006),
Nigeria (Blench, Dendo, 2005), Russia (Kabakchi, 2002), China (De
Mente, 1996; Fischer-Schreiber, 1996), Korea (De Mente, 1998; Song,
1995), Japan (Cannon, 1996; De Mente, 1994, 1997; Evans, 1997; Honna,
Hoffer, 1986, 1989; Perkins, 1991) and others. Almost all of these
dictionaries are monolingual (with the exception of The Dictionary of
Russia). However, today the majority of English language
communicators—74%, according to D. Graddol (2006, 29) are non-native
speakers with different levels of proficiency. They need bilingual
(English-national) dictionaries to successfully communicate across
cultures. Therefore, the demand for translated dictionaries is growing. A
special feature of this type of dictionary is that they help in translating
from a variety of English (a world English) rather than from British or
American standard English and, therefore, they contain a vocabulary that
may have some distinctive linguistic features.
Generally, translated dictionaries provide direct translation from
English into an ethnic language. In translating from English as a lingua
franca, we should follow regularities of intermediary, or indirect
translation (Proshina, 2005). The direct translation usually deals with two
languages, for example Chinese–English, or Japanese–English (or
Chinese–Russian and Japanese–Russian, correspondingly). The
intermediary translation includes three participating languages, two ethnic
languages and English as a link between them (e.g., Chinese–English–
Russian or Japanese–English–Russian). The English variety represented in
this case is, in fact, China English or Japanese English used for
intercultural communication. Translators, in this case, can face a number
of challenges that may take them aback unless they are prepared.
The challenges of the intermediary translation from East-Asian
Englishes include the following:
1) Non-traditional correlation of the Cyrillic and Roman scripts.
The differences between traditional and non-traditional correlations
emerge due to the differences in traditions of direct translations from an
Asian language into English and the same Asian language into Russian.
This translation is usually based on transcription principles, i.e. Asian
words in English and Russian receive a form similar to the sound form of
the original. The phonemic systems of the three languages do not coincide.
Some Asian sounds have been transcribed differently by English-speaking
people (the British and Americans) and Russians, each side approximating
Asian sounds to their phonemic system. Then what was heard in an Asian
language was put down in the Roman or Cyrillic script. It is these cases of
fixing Asian sounds, differently heard, by letters of English and Russian
that present major difficulties in the intermediary translation.
Non-traditional correlations are quite numerous for Chinese words
written in English and Russian:
English
letter
c
China English (Pinyin)–
Russian correlation
ц
Сizhou—Цычжоу
j
-n
-ng
-ong
q
r
Traditional English–Russian
correlation
к/с
Cardiff—Кардифф
Cinematograph—
синематограф
дж
jumper—джемпер
н
Ben—Бен
-нг
King—Кинг
-онг ping-pong—пинг-понг
к
quest—квест
р
rugby—регби
wu
x
z
ву
кс
з
woman—вумэн
Xerox—ксерокс
zebra—зебра
у
сь
цз
zh
ж
Zhukov—Жуков
чж
цзь
-нь
-н
-ун
ць
ж
Jinan—Цзинань
yin—инь
yang—ян
long—лун
qigong—цигун
Renmin Ribao—
Женьминь Жибао
wu-shu—ушу
Xianggang—Сянган
Mao Zedong—Мао
Цзэдун
Zhou Enlai—Чжоу
Эньлай
Table 24-1: English-Russian Correlations for Russian and Chinese Words
Non-traditional correlations, though quite few, occur in Japanese
words as well:
English
letter
ch
j
sh
z
Traditional English–Russian
correlation
ч
Сhesterton—Честертон
дж
jumper—джемпер
ш
shilling—шиллинг
з
zebra—зебра
Japanese English–Russian
correlation
ть
chanoyu—тяною
дзь
judo—дзюдо
сь
Shinto—Синто
дз
Zen—дзэн
Table 24-2: English-Russian Correlations for Russian and Japanese Words
Korean words, when translated to English and Russian, also differ in
some letters:
English
letter
ŭ
ch'
k‘
p‘
Traditional English–Russian
correlation
u=у
pussy—пусси
ch = ч chip—чип
k=к
kilt—килт
p=п
poet—поэт
t'
t=т
tour—тур
-l
eu
eo
-л
эв | ев
эо/ео
-ng
sh
-нг
ш
radical—радикал
eunuch—евнух
deodorant—
деодорант
King—Кинг
shilling—шиллинг
Korean English–Russian
correlation
ы
hangŭl—хангыль
чх
chuch’e—чучхе
кх
k’okul—кхокуль
пх
p’ansori—
пхансори
тх
t’aekwondo—
тхэквондо
-ль
ondol—ондоль
ы
hangeul—хангыль
о
Joseong—Чосон
-н
сь
sangbok—санбок
Shilla—Силла
Table 24-3: English-Russian Correlations for Russian and Korean Words
2) Co-existence of parallel Romanization systems for East-Asian
words. China introduced the phonetic alphabet known as Pinyin in 1958.
However, because of the Cultural Revolution and the Bamboo Iron it was
not until 1977 that Pinyin was adopted by the U.N. as a standard for
geographical names. Still, the United States and many European
publishers continued to use the Wade-Giles, an older system of
Romanization, to feature Chinese loans. Only in 2000, the U.S. Library of
Congress decided to transfer all its Chinese catalogues to Pinyin.
However, the two systems still co-occur in English texts, especially in
proper names. The main difficulties are caused by the following letters:
Pinyin
c
g
j
b
q
r
d
x
z
Zh
caoshu
gaoliang
jia
bai
qi
ren
Dao
xiao
zou
Zhou
Wade-Giles
ts’/tz’
k
ch
p
ch’
j
t
hs
ts/tz
ch
ts’aoshu
kaoliang
chia
pai
ch’i
jen
Tao
hsiao
tsou
Chow
Russian
transliteration
цаошу
гаолян
цзя
бай
ци
жэнь
дао
сяо
цзоу
Чжоу
Table 24-4: English-Russian Correlations for Chinese Words Written in
Pinyin and Wade-Giles Romanizations
Some words were borrowed into Russian long ago and correspond to
the Wade-Giles form in English—e.g., кунфу—kungfu (cf. gongfu in
Pinyin).
Many problems for Russian users of English are encountered in
reading and translating texts about Korea. Until recently Korean loans in
English were transliterated by the McCune-Reischauer system. Since
2000, a new system has been decreed in Korea, which rejected all
diacritics and introduced voiced consonants in the beginning of syllables.
Thus, the major differences in the two systems can be summed up as
follows:
McCune-Reischauer
K
Kwangju
P
Pusan
T
Taegu
K’
k’okul
P’
p’ansori
T’
t’aekwondo
CH
Chosŏn
CH’
аch’imgŭl
SHI
Shilla
Ŭ
hangŭl
Ŏ
Chosŏn
G
B
D
K
P
T
J
CH
SI
EU
EO
New system
Gwangju
Busan
Daegu
kokul
pansori
taekwondo
Joseon
achimgeul
Silla
hangeul
Joseon
Russian
Кванджу
Пусан
Тэгу
кхокуль
пхансори
тхэквондо
Чосон
ачхимгыль
Силла
хангыль
Чосон
Table 24-5: English-Russian Correlations for Korean Words Written in Two
Systems of Romanization
3) Diacritics relevant for reading and pronunciation are sometimes
omitted in a written text. Diacritics were used for Chinese and Korean
loans in older systems of transliteration (Wade-Giles and McCuneReischauer). Their usage had an impact on the phonetic value of the word
in English and its form in Russian translation. For example, the Korean
t’aekwondo corresponds to тхэквондо, while its parallel Russian form
тэквондо is explained by the Romanized form without the apostrophe
(taekwondo). Loss of the diacritic sign results in different forms translated
from Romanized English to Cyrillic Russian.
4) Various translation techniques are used in rendering Asian
words. Some words are borrowed through transcription, a technique that
tends to retain the sound form of the source word (e.g., taekwondo—
тэквондо), others via transliteration, a technique that tends to transfer
letter by letter (taekwondo—таэквондо). Nowadays most of the borrowed
words come into a receiving language through a written form of speech,
that is why transliteration is a dominant way of transferring the form of a
borrowed word. The global spread of English and its enormous influence
on indigenous languages (in our case, Russian) results in a great impact of
English on the newly borrowed words. Thus, the English influence is
evident in Japanese loans in Russian, such as суши (sushi), тамагочи
(tamagochi), and others.
5) Uncommon pronunciation of East Asian words in English. Some
letters in Romanized Asian loans acquire a specific phonetic value as their
pronunciation balances between that in their donor-language and English
adaptation. This causes particular problems in oral speech and oral
translation.
For example, if an English listener is not prepared for dealing with
Asian loans, the pronunciation of the following Chinese words: qigong
[‘chigong] or [jigong] (the first consonant like in chick or jam); Xianggang
[shianggang], cai [tsai] is obviously challenging their intelligibility. The
pronunciation of originally English words with these letters would be
different: q (quick), x (axis, Xerox), c (cat).
In Korean loans, the vowel digraph ae is pronounced as [ai] in open
syllables (taekwondo [taiKWONdou]), with the second syllable stressed,
but in closed syllables it sounds as a monophthong like in cat.
Many words ending in a vowel letter are pronounced as if the word
were of French origin (Ch. feng shui [feng shwei]; Jap. sake [sakei]). The
final –e is also usually pronounced: Jap. kamikaze [kamikazi].
6) Russian spelling of loanwords is unstable. When translating
English loans of Asian origin into Russian, translators get into trouble in
several cases.
Firstly, because of the variation of е/э after non-palatalized consonants.
According to Russian orthography, the letter e should be written in foreign
loans but for three words of English origin (сэр, пэр, мэр). However, the
application of this rule leads to mispronunciation of loans, i.e. their
palatalization (ikebana—икебана). That is why direct translators from
Asian languages into Russian insist on using the letter э in order to avoid
palatalization. Meanwhile, variations resulting from English translation
have been fixed in dictionaries of foreign terms: karate—карате/каратэ.
Another problem concerns double consonants—there is a trend in
Russian to omit double consonants in loans (Grinjov, 1982, 133), thus
simplifying the words—e.g., Jap. hakkama—хакама/хаккама; Kor.
ddol—доль/ддоль.
There are competing trends of translating syllabic vowels (ya, yo, ye,
yu) in Russian: the outdated way of transliteration is characteristic of
toponyms (Tokyo—Токио), while transcription is dominant in current
loans (Jap. yokozuna—ёкодзуна rather than йокодзуна), though
sometimes the two forms compete (Toyota—тойота/тоёта).
Graphic variants can also result (due to the usage of a hyphen, or
writing syllables of a word together) in a single word or separately: taji
quan—тайцзицюань/тай-цзи цюань/тай цзи цюань. Of the three ways,
uniting syllables in one word that expresses one notion (the process known
as lexicalization) seems to be dominant in Russian.
7) Semantically similar loans of different origin are borrowed to
Russian. Words from close cultures are sometimes borrowed and co-exist
in different forms, e.g., Ch. qi—ци and Jap. ki—ки “vital energy”. Owing
to the popularity of Chinese and Japanese martial arts, the words are
redundantly used in a parallel way, which can also challenge the translator.
8) English translators lack knowledge of Asian cultures. Translators
from English, as a rule, are graduates from English departments that are
mostly oriented towards Western cultures and do not pay sufficient
attention to studying other civilizations. The Federal Educational
Standards in Foreign Languages (and English is one of them, studied as a
discipline at school), as well as school syllabi, set an objective of learning
a foreign language as developing a communicative competence in a
foreign language, i.e. developing students’ ability to communicate with
and achieve mutual understanding with native speakers (cursive is mine,
Z.P.) (Primernye programmy… (Sample Syllabi … ), 2011, 2). This
accounts for disregard of other culture studies in English.
These challenges have stimulated our efforts in compiling a bilingual
dictionary of Asian cultures in contact with English and Russian
(Proshina, 2004). The dictionary is intended to help English language
students and graduates to deal with East Asian cultures. The characteristic
feature of this dictionary is that it reflects several adjacent cultures through
a prism of a contrasting culture. The dictionary is focused not only on
culture-loaded words. No less attention is paid to culture code words
representing key concepts of ethnic groups in contact.
Contact studies is a recent linguistic discipline that forms a hub with
culture studies, general linguistics, areal typology, contrastive linguistics,
sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, and ethnolinguistics. It studies
interaction of contiguous languages and cultures.
The first idea of compiling a dictionary of cultures in contact was
implemented by a group of Russian linguists under V.M. Pankin, who
researched into and described the results of contacts of the Russian
language with Russian Federation northern languages (Pankin, 1994).
A bilingual dictionary of culture contacts is a new attempt. It combines
two approaches to language description: linguacentric and anthropocentric.
The linguacentric, or descriptive and classifying approach regards
language as what is fixed in speech acts and texts. Most of the words are
supplied with citations files, “a selection of potential lexical units in the
context of actual usage, drawn from a variety of written sources” (Landau,
2001, 190). These illustrative quotations, on the one hand, serve as a
documentary proof of the word’s existence in English and, on the other
hand, extend the interpretation of, and add to, the word meaning. For
example:
genin [`genin] n pl genin [яп.] (ист.) гэнин, ге-; полевые агенты, самый
низкий ранг у ниндзя; ср. chunin; jonin
1980 S.Hayes, Ninja: Spirit of the Shadow Warrior, vol. 1, p. 21:
Men and women possessing a wide range of espionage and combat
skills, the genin were the ones responsible for getting the actual work
accomplished. ■ Гэнин, мужчины и женщины, обладающие
разнообразными разведывательными качествами и навыками боя,
были непосредственными исполнителями.
A lexicographer follows real, live language facts and fixes them as
they are, without imposing any prescribed rules of correctness. That is
why the dictionary contains language variants, both standardized and
informal, even obscene words that reflect ethnic relations in certain
historical periods and that may become a taboo impeding intercultural
communication.
The corpus of the dictionary contains: a) phonetic and semantic loans
expressing culture-loaded words of various degrees of assimilation in
English, (Ch. bai bai, Four Gentlemen; Jap. futon, capsule hotel; Kor.
aboji, bamboo wife); b) loans of non-Asian origin, naming East Asian
phenomena (pagoda, amah); c) Asian English home-made words
(Walkman, salaryman); d) “returned” loans, i.e. words that were borrowed
from English by Asian languages, altered their forms and meanings and
later were borrowed back by English (anime, apato); e) pidginized forms
that were formed in the Asian context and are now functioning in English
(hunky-dory, Gooks); f) English words used to denote phenomena related
to Asian history and cultures (ABCs, Chinese boxes, Japanese cherry).
Besides semantic and contextual description, the dictionary entry
provides for grammar information, pronunciation, origin of the loan (its
etymology and approximate date of loan, if known), and a field of usage —
e.g.:
sabi [sa:bi] n [с20; яп. «одиночество, элегантная простота»] (эст.)
саби; изящная простота, утонченность и намек на скрытый смысл,
гармоническое слияние простого и изысканного, печального и
спокойного, несущего как бы патину времени; простота и мягкая
красота как отражение духовного одиночества и спокойствия; употр.
в японской живописи, (принцип, разработанный в XV в. философией
дзэн-буддизма); печаль, грусть, старина; ср. wabi
1997 De Mente, NTC’s Dictionary of Japan’s Cultural Code Words, p.
309:
Like the terms shibui,… which refers to a restrained beauty, and wabi,
which denotes a harmonious tranquility, sabi is a key word in the
aesthetic vocabulary of Japan—the third leg in a triad of aesthetic
principles. ■ Как и термины «сибуи», относящийся к сдержанной
красоте, и «ваби», обозначающий гармоничное спокойствие,
«саби»—это ключевое слово японского вокабуляра, связанного с
темой «эстетика», третья часть триады эстетических принципов.
The anthropocentric approach focuses on the effective use of the
dictionary and on arranging the interaction between language and human
being (Morkovkin, 1990). Ethnic culture is interpreted through language
fixed in the dictionary. The English-Russian dictionary of contacts with
East-Asian cultures is aimed, firstly, at familiarizing the reader with cultureloaded concepts of East-Asian cultures and with the results in the culture
contacts with Western European civilization and, secondly, at facilitating the
reader’s intermediary translation of Romanized Asian words into Russian,
which uses the Cyrillic script. Since the dictionary is aimed at a Russian
reader, the explanations are given in Russian. To be user-friendly, the
dictionary is constructed in alphabetic order. Since Asian words are often
represented syllabically in texts, the letter-by-letter principle of construction
is preferred to the word-by-word principle, which, for example, makes the
word Kaifeng precede the word kai gwa.
The dictionary under description is a non-traditional dictionary of a
comprehensive type that combines features of an explanatory dictionary, a
dictionary of new words and a dictionary of foreign terms semanticizing
lexemes, as well as an encyclopedic dictionary describing culture-loaded
concepts.
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