Oriental Studies (Apr 2021)
Semantic Features of the Kalmyk Color Term улан ‘Red’ and Its German Translation Equivalents: A Case Study of Kalmyk Folktales Recorded by G. J. Ramstedt
Abstract
Introduction. Color terms constitute a most archaic lexical stratum of any language. Being characterized by vivid ethnocultural specifics, those serve as important elements to the linguistic view of the world. Goals. The paper seeks to analyze semantic features of the Kalmyk color term улан ‘red’ and its German translation equivalents. Materials and Methods. The work explores Kalmyk folktales recorded by the Finnish scholar G. J. Ramstedt during his 1903 scientific expedition to the Kalmyk Steppe. The analysis of the color term comprises both general research methods and specifically linguoculturological ones, such as linguoculturological and conceptual insights into folklore texts. Results. Impacts of color in world perception of the Kalmyks — just as for any other nation — are diverse enough. The folktale texts recorded by G. J. Ramstedt contain a total of five shades of the color, the lexeme улан ‘red’ being largely characterized by positive semantics. German translation variants are not always complete semantic equivalents of the color term which results from that color denoting lexemes — and those of red in particular — are integral to a certain ethnic worldview, this leading to some ambivalence of the color under study. Conclusions. The lexeme улан ‘red’ in its first nominative meaning denotes a color of an object, e.g., red proper, scarlet, ruddy, etc. In the Kalmyk language, it also serves to denote the prototypic color of blood and is often used to describe animal coat colors. The Finnish scholar employed different German translation means. In most cases, the selection of translation equivalents depends on the translator’s associative/visual thinking and perception of the world, as well as on lexical, semantic and morphological patterns of Kalmyk and German. Folklore texts are structured specifically, and a translator needs utmost attention and linguistic intuition to avoid any inaccuracies when communicating a color paradigm from the original text. The challenge be tackled by a translator of color terms in a folklore text is that he/she is supposed to bear both the linguocultures examined.
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