Acta Universitatis Palackianae Olomucensis – Geographica, Vol. 43, No. 1, 2012, pp. 51-60 51

RESEARCH REPORTS

Slovak geographical names translation process can be described as decoding and the translation traps the meaning of the source text, and re-encoding or translating this meaning in the target language. Translation covers not literal (word by word) trans- Abstract lation but also many other factors depending on the The role of English has increased in the recent concepts of languages. The bigger the gap between years more than ever before. Effective mastering of the SL and the TL, the more diffi cult the process of the language, the ability to publish and lecture in transfer will be. it is very topical for the academicians. Geography- related texts are typical of using the geographical A good translation is (Wrede 2000): names – geonames or place names the translation • grammatically correct; of which has many imperfections. It is therefore • communicative; necessary to adopt basic procedures in translating • interculturally understandable. the geographical names. The paper gives the brief introductory to geographical names, points at how It is such a kind of interdisciplinary fi eld of research, Slovak geographical names were found to be trans- where besides geographers, linguists, cartographers, lated in geographical texts and fi nally, proposes historians and other are involved. or discusses standardised forms of some Slovak geonames. Geographical names – geonames

Key words: geonym, geographical names, standardisa- English has revolutionized in geographical works as tion, translation, well. Production of academic texts written in Eng- lish by Slovak geographers has considerably risen in recent years. Geographical texts are typical of using Introduction geographical names – geonames the translation of which has many imperfections. Many times, the The English language is widely spoken international translations of geographical texts include mistakes language. It has become the working language at and are inaccurate. We decided to deal with trans- the conferences, congresses, research projects not lating the geographical names from the Slovak lan- only in foreign countries but also in homeland non- guage to the English language so that we see how English institutions. In terms of scientifi c research the translations can be misleading. at universities, the outreach of research fi ndings to abroad is higher provided they are published in a Up to now, there have been only few materials foreign, most commonly English language. concerning the translation of geonames from Slovak to English. The handbook on academic Traditional understanding of mastering the language English for geophysicians and geologists by includes two receptive competences (reading and Pašteka, Dugovičová (1998), the scriptum for the listening) and two productive competences (writ- students of public administration by Cihová et al. ing and speaking). Wrede (2005) considers trans- (2005) become the good inspiration. There are lation the fi fth competence inevitable for transfer many secondary school internal materials (geo- the information from the source language (SL) to graphical dictionaries, maturity leave handbook) the target language (TL). According to linguists not publicly published that we have come across

AUPO Geographica Vol. 43 No. 1, 2012, pp. 51-60 52 Research reports during the research. Geographers published the An exonym is a toponym bestowed from the out- brochure Geography of the Slovak Regions side, and in the language from the outside. Exonyms (Tolmáči et al. 2007) and the Geographical Diction- are usually the products to render foreign toponyms ary for the participants of Geographical Olympiad in a manner and spelling suited to the characteristics (Majerová 2006). Gercsák (online) pays attention of the receiver the language. Many exonyms are, to exclusively to the use of Hungarian geographical a greater or lesser degree, recognizable as forms of names in foreign language literature. At our Insti- the original endonym. Their translation needs to be tute of Geography, the graduate Eva Šostáková handled with sensitivity. (2012) wrote her diploma thesis on the translation of geonames to English and the methodological Standardisation of geographical names in the world application to geography teaching. Some of her and in the Slovak Republic results are presented later in the text. Geonames refer to the proper nouns of landscape Geonames can be attributed three basic functions: objects and phenomena on the Earth and objects they refl ect spatial characteristics, contribute to the created by humans in the landscape. Geonames shaping o space and contribute to identifi cation of are apparent in tourism, cartography, international people with place. Geographical names (geonames) trade, transport, telecommunications, statistics, can be, in general, divided into: natural environment etc. (Miklušová 2010) and as a. generic – river, forest, desert, cave. They are used Jordan (2009) says they are important parts of cul- not only by geographers but also by the wide tural heritage. public, b. specifi c – metropolis, agglomeration, life expect- At the global level, the United Nations established ancy. They are used predominantly by geo- the United Nations Group of Experts on Geo- graphers (or other scientists). graphical Names (UNGEGN) in 1959. It gave rise to the United Nations Conferences on the Stand- From the linguistic point of view, one can ardization of Geographical Names (UNCSGN) distinguish: with the main need for global standardization of a. common names – they name people, places, things geographical names. UNGEGN promotes the or ideas that are not specifi c, recording of locally-used names refl ecting the lan- b. proper names – they name the specifi c person, guages and traditions of a country. Its goal is for place, thing or idea and are capitalised in the every country to decide on its own nationally stand- text. ardized names through the creation of national names authorities. The UNCSGN is held every fi ve It is important to differentiate the geographical years, this year in New York (2012). names, according to how they are used in a particu- lar state: In the Slovak Republic, the geographical names a. exonym – is a name for a place or a personal are in charge of the Ministry of Interior and the name that differs from that used in the offi cial Offi ce of Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre of language within that place or for that person the Slovak Republic in . Last year, it by the local inhabitants (in Slovakia it means arranges the seminar on the topical issues titled the names of foreign places outside Slovakia – “Standardisation of Geographical Names”. The Paríž, Londýn, Moskva adopted to the Slovak Terminology Authority, established in 1970, as the language). Exonyms are therefore of interest to advisory body at the Offi ce of Geodesy, Cartog- representatives of many disciplines. raphy and Cadastre of the Slovak Republic stipu- b. endonym – the names used by the people or local lates the standardised, offi cial geographical name themselves (in Slovakia it means the names of of individual toponyms which are obligatory for places within Slovakia in the – publishers of cartographical works, scientifi c pub- Slovenský raj, Spišský hrad, Slovenský kras). lications, in mass media communications and in

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Table 1 English variants of selected geomorphological units of Slovakia. Malé Karpaty Vysoké Tatry compiled by author and Fičor (2010) compiled by author Malé Karpaty (the Little Carpathians) the Tatras the Small Carpathians the Vysoké and Nízke Tatry Mountains Malé Karpaty Mountains Vysoké Tatry Mts. the Small the Tatra Mountains the mountain range Malé Karpaty the High Tatras Small-Carpathian High Tatra Mountains the Little Carpathians High Tatras Mountains the Low Carpathian Mountains High Tatras Range the Little Carpathian mountains the Malé Karpaty - the Little Carpathians Malé Karpaty Mts. (Little Carpathians) the Malé Karpaty (Little Carpathians) administrative places. It works out the Conception who hardly recognise what landscape region or hill of Standardisation of Geographical Names in the they are reading about. This problem is even more years 2006-2010. complicated when the reader works with a map, a table or an accompanying text and there are more As declared in 2010, one of the expected account variations of one landscape feature. of the Offi ce to be published was “The Rules to use Slovak geographical names in foreign texts pub- Gercsák (online) writes on the recommendations lished in the Slovak Republic”, however, the publi- how to proceed when translating from Hungarian cation has not been published yet. to English. Some rules are likely to be adapted to Slovak as well: Slovak geographical names in translation 1. Those few Slovak geographical names that have their widely accepted English equivalent are Firstly, we compiled many examples from academic, recommended for use without any restriction popular and tourist-related materials where trans- in running text and in professional publications lated Slovak geonames occurred. On the basis of The Danube, the High Tatras, the Low Tatras, what has been collected we pointed out the incor- the Slovak . In this case, we recommend to rect and insensitive translations of geomorphologi- use them respectively. cal units of Slovakia and some geonames on the 2. The generic term of the Slovak geographical administrative division of Slovakia to illustrate the names (always placed after the specifi c element) problem. A good example to show the translation should be translated into English (f. ex. Výcho- variations is “the geomorphological unit of the doslovenská nížina lowland, Slovenské Rudo- Malé Karpaty Mountains”. We have collected as horie Mountains). many as twelve variations (Table 1). For the High 3. All those Slovak geographical names (mostly Tatras as most commonly known tourist mountain ethnographic and landscape regions) that are regions the eight variations were found. The adjec- compound names and conventionally written tive “malé” was translated to small, little or low, the in one word should not be translated into Eng- proper noun “Karpaty” has many variations and lish (e.g. Hornonitrianska kotlina – not Upper Vysoké Tatry varied as well. They may obviously Nitra Basin, Spišská Nová Ves – not Spiš New cause ambiguous understandings to foreign readers Community).

AUPO Geographica Vol. 43 No. 1, 2012, pp. 51-60 54 Research reports author. ed by fi ubovnianska vrchovina Upland vrchovina Ľ ubovnianska 25 Mts. Vihorlatské vrchy 23 medzihorie Mts. Spišsko-šarišské 24 Horehronské podolie Basin 16 Mts. Starohorské vrchy 18 Mts. Skorušinské vrchy 15 Hornonitrianska Basin kotlina 22 20 Upland Šarišská vrchovina 21 Mts. vrchy Zemplínske ň Mts. Geomorfologické pomery Geomorfologické SR, 1 : 500 000, Atlas krajiny SR. ské vrchy Mts. ské vrchy č ovské vrchy Mts. vrchy ľ ovské Base map: 9 Cho 8 Bachure 10 brázda Furrow Podtatranská 17 Basin kotlina Oravská 12 pahorkatina Hills Myjavská 19 Mts. chrbty Kozie 14 Žiar Mts. Geomorphological units of proposal of Slovakia, (2012), modi Source: Šostáková standardised endonyms. Figure 1 avská kotlina Basin kotlina ň avská 13 Basin Žilinská kotlina 1 Burda Mts. 2 Mts. Inovec Pohronský 3 Basin Žiarská kotlina 4 Basin kotlina Pliešovská 11 Sú 5 Bodvianska Hills 6Rož 7 Mts. Branisko

AUPO Geographica Vol. 43 No. 1, 2012, pp. 51-60 Research reports 55

Base map: Územné a správne usporiadanie SR, 1 : 500 000, Atlas krajiny SR. Notes: The word ‘region’ may be substituted by ‘self-governing region’. Bratislavský kraj region or Košický self-governing region is also an acceptable alternative.

Figure 2 Administative regions of Slovakia, proposal of standardised endonyms. Source: Šostáková (2012), modifi ed by author.

4. Slovak geographical names containing personal One more thing needs to be mentioned regarding names (including the names of saints) should the use the geonames in the text and on the maps. not be translated (on maps Svätý Anton, ul. The grammar of English states some basic rules on Protifašistických bojovníkov Street, Gerlacho- using the articles with geographical names. There is vský štít peak, in the text the village of Svätý usually little space on the maps (pictures, graphs etc.) Anton, the Protifašistických bojovníkov Street, so that no articles are added to geonames. Contrary to Gerlachovský štít peak). that, in the text (sentences) one has to use the articles according to basic rules stated below. Referring to Due to many variants found in the texts we con- geographical names or areas, we tend to use the structed the map of geomorphological units in defi nite article with: seas, mountain ranges, island Slovakia (Figure 1) and suggested the standardised groups, areas, rivers, deserts, hotels and pubs, forms of geonames. cinemas and theatres. We generally use no articles with continents, counties and countries, towns and There are many variants how to translate the principal buildings, lakes, mountains and volcanoes. administrative levels of Slovakia. We suggest that the lowest level should be named community or Conclusion munici-pality (obec). The difference between them origins in semantic notion (municipality is The use of the English language is required in many the lowest level of self-government in many west- fi elds of business, media, sport and science as well. European countries, usually larger than commu- Even in the countries where English is not the coun- nity), the middle tier should be named district try’s primary language, a basic knowledge of English (okres), e.g. the district of Košice-okolie , region is generally required. That implies to the academic (kraj), e.g. the example is the Košický kraj region fi elds too. Geography as a scientifi c discipline much or the Košický region (Figure 2). It is also mistake more than others uses geonames (place names) to ignore the diacritical mark which might unwill- in the scientifi c papers. Using locally or regionally ingly create a separate genuine toponym – Košice, known Slovak geonames in English written paper not Kosice. by Slovak translator may cause misunderstanding in

AUPO Geographica Vol. 43 No. 1, 2012, pp. 51-60 56 Research reports addressing the geographical feature. We collected Fičor, D. 2010: Zásady používania sloven- the list of geonames of Slovak endonyms translated ských endoným a cudzojazyčných exoným to English and found many confusing translations. v cudzojazyčných textoch. In Štandardizácia geografi ckého názvoslovia. Zborník materiálov zo We started to think about a certain kind of stand- seminára konaného dňa 17. júna 2010 v Bratislave. ardisation in translation process to preserve Úrad geodézie, kartografi e a katastra Sloven- the ability of the foreign reader to address the skej republiky, Bratislava, 60-69. geographical object on the map meaning what the Jordan, P., Adamič, M. O., Woodman, P. eds. common name besides the proper name means Exonyms and the Standardisations of Geographical (kotlina – basin, tiesňava – gorge, rieka – river Names. Approaches towards the Resolution of an etc.). In the Slovak Republic no conventional Apparent Contradiction. Wiener Osteuropa Stu- list of geographical names has been released so dien 24. LIT Verlag, Vienna. far. According to Fičor (2010), it is high time to Jordan, P. 2009. Landscape and names. The role of eliminate the foreign language variants which are geographical names in space and space-related negatively perceived in the popular or academic identity building. Folia Geographica 16, 47-52. texts. Since much is being published in English in Kačalová, E. Používanie geografi ckých názvov z pohľadu Geography fi eld in these days, we decided to pro- zákona o štátnom jazyku. Referát prednesený vide the proposal of translation of some most fre- 17. júna 2010 na Seminári o štandardizácii quently used administrative and geomorphological geografi ckého názvoslovia, Úrad geodézie, kar- geonames (Figures 1 and 2). We do not consider tografi e a katastra SR. the proposed translation the fi nal product and we Majerová, Z. 2006: Geografi cký slovník pre riešiteľov are open to further discussions and refi nements. Geografi ckej olympiády. Iuventa, Bratislava. The list of geonames is never ending. Pašteka, V., Dugovičová, Š. 1998: Príručka odbornej angličtiny pre geofyzikov a geológov. Prírodovedecká Note: By the time the research review will have fakulta Univerzity Komenského, Bratislava. been released, the Rules for use of the names of Šostáková, E. 2012. Preklad slovenských geografi ckých geographical objects in foreign language text of názvov do anglického jazyka a metodická aplikácia publications published in the Slovak Republic were do vyučovania geografi e. Diploma thesis. Ústav launched by the Offi ce of Geodesy, Carthography geografi e, Prírodovedecká fakulta UPJŠ v and Cadastre of the Slovak Republic. We will focus Košiciach. on them in the forthcoming papers. Swan, M. 2006: Practical English Usage. Oxford Uni- versity Press, Oxford. References Tolmáči, L., Lauko, V., Gurňák, D., Majer- ová, Z. 2007: Geography of selected Slovak regions. Cihová, J. et al. 2005: English for Students of Pub- Iuventa, Bratislava. lic Administration, Regional Development, European Štandardizácia geografi ckého názvoslovia, Úrad geodézie, Integration. Geografi ka, Bratislava. kartografi e a katastra SR. Clark, A. N. 1998. Dictionary of Geography. Penguin Wrede, O. 2005: Preklad a jeho postavenie v kontexte Reference. vzdelávania odborného cudzojazyčného vzdelávania. Collins, T. 2008. Correct Your English Errors. online (www.fem.uniag.sk/uveu2005/zbornik/ McGraw-Hill. zbornik/sekcia.../wrede.pdf), accessed Decem- Dugovičová, Š., Cihová, J., Ostrožlíková-Waters, ber 2009. I. Angličtina pre geológov a geografov. Univerzita Komenského, Bratislava. Stela Csachová 1 Gerscák, G. Hungarian Geographical Names in English Language Publications (online) 1 Institute of Geography, Faculty of Science, University of (http://lazarus.elte.hu/hun/digkonyv/sc/ P. J. Šafárik – Jesenná 5. 040 01 Košice, Slovakia. sc12/15gg.pdf), accessed November 2009 E-mail: [email protected]

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