Geographical names in

Ukrainian – English
Presentation by Victoria Shvets
 Вступ

• All proper names carry some information about an object or its

properties. This information may be known to varying degrees in
different areas of communication.
Вступ

• If this information becomes widespread on the scale of the entire

language collective, it means that the information about this subject
is part of the linguistic meaning of the proper name.
Вступ
• When translating proper names, special attention should be paid to
the translation of proper geographical names, because it is precisely
when transferring proper names and geographical names that the
tendency to establish equivalents is most clearly manifested.
Вступ
Traditionally, most English geographical proper names are translated by
transcription

But also many English proper names are transmitted by transcription

and partly by transliteration.
• The names of seas, oceans, gulfs, archipelagos, isthmuses, straits,
canals and administrative territories that have the structure of word
combinations are always translated.
Атлантичний/ Індійський океан; the Atlantic/Indian Ocean
Азовське/Каспійське море Sea of Azov, the Caspian Sea
Грампіанські (Аппалацькі) гори the Grampians (Appalachians)
Карпати/Карпатські гори the Carpathians/ Carpathian Mts.
Мексиканська (Салонікська) затока
Суецький (Панамський)
перешийок
Магелланова/ Ґібралтарська
протока
Керченська Протока/Карські
Ворота
Південо-український
зрошувальний канал
the Gulf of Mexico (Salonika)
the Isthmus of Suez/Panama
Strait of Magellan/Gibraltar
Strait of Kerch/Kara Strait
the South Ukrainian Irrigation
Canal
 Transcarpathia (Transcarpathian
Закарпаття Region of Ukraine);
Курільські/Оркнейські о-ви Kuril(e) Islands/Orkney Islands
• Geographical names formed on the basis of common nouns that have
acquired the status of proper names are usually translated from
English to Ukrainian and vice versa.
Cape of Good Hope/ Cape May мис Доброї Надії/мис Кейп-Мей, Саре
Verde Islands O-ви Зеленого Мису; Golden Gate Золоті Ворота
(протока поблизу м.Сан-Франциско);
• Grand Bank(s) Велика Мілина (поблизу о-ва Ньюфаундленд); Great
Slave Lake Велике Невільничне озеро; Northern Highlands Північне-
шотландське нагір'я; the Rocky Mountains/the Appalachians
Скелясті гори/Аппалачі/Аппалацькі гори.
Nevertheless, other geographical names consisting of one word and
word combinations require defining elements in the language into
which the translation is made (noun, adjective, etc.). These elements
explain the nature and real meaning of the geographical name in the
target language
Буг/ Десна/Рось the Buh/the Desna/the Ros' (rivers in Ukraine);
Верховина Verkhovyna (upland pastures in the Carpathians); Поділ
Podil (lower part of Kyiv city, a city district);
• It is also necessary to remember some geographical names that have
a historically established form in the English language.
• Ладозьке озеро Ladoga, Онезьке озеро Onega, Мала Азія Asia
Minor, Середня Азія Central Asia
Some proper names consist partly or entirely of common words, e.g :
Red Sea - Червоне море, Pacific Ocean - Тихий океан.
 Rivers
• The Amazon River– Амазонка
• The River Nile– Ніл
• The Mississippi River– Міссісіпі
• The Missouri River– Міссурі
• The Thames River– Темза
 Seas
• The Mediterranean Sea – Середземне
море
• The Caribbean Sea – Карибське море
• The Caspian Sea – Каспійське море
• The Baltic Seа– Балтійське море
• The Barents Sea – Баренцове море
• The Sea of Okhotsk – Охотське
 • It should be recognized that the transfer of traditional
correspondences is not an easy task. For example, the name of one of
the German lands in English is Rhineland-Palatinate, but this name
does not fully correspond to the proper German name, which can be
established according to English dictionaries, which leads to its own
geographical names in their original form, - Rheinland-Pfalz, thanks to
which it is transferred into Ukrainian
like – Рейнланд-Пфальц.
• Proper geographical names have one feature, which is that many of
them contain a nominal element. As a rule, this word corresponds to
its equivalent in Ukrainian, for example Straits of Florida -
Флоридська протока, Isle of Man - острів Мен, Lake Huron - озеро
Гурон.
• However, sometimes such a word is transcribed, e.g, Malin Head-
Малин-xeд, Long Island - Лонг-Айленд. There are often variants
where the nominal element is both transcribed and translated, for
example, мис Малин-xeд, острів Лонг-Айленд. Such duplication
seems excessive, but in some cases it has already entered the
tradition.
• When translating from English to Ukrainian, the English pronunciation
is most accurately conveyed by the letters of the Ukrainian alphabet.
However, the translator must take into account the outdated tradition
in relation to historical proper names and geographical names. For
example: порт Hull - Гулль ( and not Халл), річка Hudson - Гудзон
( and not Хадсон)
Tracing of geographical names
• Intermontane Plateaus- Міжгірські плато (калькування)
• the Columbia Plateau- плато Колумбія (калькування)
• the Colorado Plateau- плато Коллорадо (калькування)
• the Grand Canyon- Великий Каньйон (калькування)
• the Great Basin- Великий бассейн (калькування)
• the Death Valley- Долина смерті (калькування)
• Less well-known geographical names do not always have constant
counterparts or even no counterparts recorded in translation
dictionaries. In such cases, it is recommended to use the method of
practical transcription with elements of transliteration, which allows
for fairly accurate identification of the original graphic form of the
geographical name : Galway - Гелвей, Alverno - Алверно, Ithaca -
Ітака, Richfield - Річфілд, Wood-Lake - Вуд-Лейк, Dirty Devil - (річка)
Дерті Девіл тощо.
• So, the translation of geographical names from Ukrainian to English
has many peculiarities. Only after carefully researching this or that
feature, we will be able to translate a certain word correctly. In order
to correctly write foreign names in Ukrainian, knowledge of the
relevant rules and principles is necessary. However, correctness is
something relative, changing with the appearance of new norms and
orders, instructions, etc. It is also necessary to imagine how to act if
the literally applied rule does not appear.
 Дякую за увагу!
Thanks for attention!