Translation Properties of Vulgar and Invective Vocabulary in Political Media Discourse

Abstract

The present research is an attempt to specify vulgar and invective vocabulary in modern political media discourse and to determine their translation properties (from English into Russian and Armenian, from Russian into English and Armenian, from Armenian into English and Russian) within the frames of pragmatic and socio-cultural discourse analyses. The article aims at indicating the language code differences in terms of cultures. Such analysis fosters also the determination of ways and methods of transmitting discrepancies between positive and negative connotations of various language units and to create the balance of emphatic equivalence when translating from source languages (SLs) into target languages (TLs). Invectives contain universal cultural values, they indicate aggression, anger, hostility and indignity. To translate invective proverbs, aphorisms, jargon, obscenities, the translator uses various transformations to pragmatically adapt them for the target cultural environment, since the source culture cognitive principles do not always coincide with those of the target culture.

Keywords

• political media discourse
• vulgar and invective vocabulary
• cultural code
• pragmatic adaptation