Seminar 1

Linguistic Worldview and Translation

1.1. Examples of linguistic determinism from different linguistic
cultures
Linguistic determinism can also be evident in situations where the means of
drawing attention to a certain aspect of an experience is language. For example, in
French, Spanish or Russian there are two ways to address a person because those
languages have two second-person pronouns – singular and plural. The choice of
pronoun depends on the relationship between the two people (formal or informal)
and the degree of familiarity between them. In this respect, the speaker of any of
those languages is always thinking about the relationship when addressing another
person and therefore unable to separate those two processes.

Other studies supporting the principle of linguistic determinism have shown that
people find it easier to recognize and remember shades of colors for which they
have a specific name. For example, there are two words in Russian for different
shades of blue, and Russian-speakers are faster at discriminating between the
shades than are English-speakers

Pinker criticizes this argument for linguistic determinism as well. He points out
that although a plethora of languages label colors differently, this variation in
language cannot change the human biological process of color perception; he also
notes that there are universal tendencies in the color labels that languages possess
(i.e. if a language has two terms, they will be for white and black; with three terms,
add red; with four, add either yellow or green).

Pinker thinks everybody thinks in the same language known as Mentalese and
knowledge of a particular language constitutes the ability to translate this
Mentalese into a string of words for the sake of communication.
 Practical Assignments:
1. Offer your explanations for the following allusive names (antonomasia)
as symbols of American worldview: Rockefeller, Abraham Lincoln,
Benedict Arnold, Marylyn Monroe.
Abraham Lincoln, byname Honest Abe, the Rail-Splitter, or the Great
Emancipator, (born February 12, 1809, near Hodgenville, Kentucky, U.S.—died
April 15, 1865, Washington, D.C.), 16th president of the United States (1861–65),
The substitution of a personal name for a common noun to designate a member of
a group or class, as in calling a traitor a “Benedict Arnold.”

3. Find the equivalents for the following toponyms: The Emerald Isle, the
Empire City, the Big Apple, the Windy City, the Land of Cakes, Magnolia
State, Sunshine State. Explain how you would translate these proper names.

Emerald Isle is the poetic name for Ireland due to its green countryside, first
referred to in print by William Drennan in his poem "When Erin first rose".
"Empire City" is a common nickname for New York City. The name has been used
for many other fictional cities based on or referencing New York.
The Big Apple" is a nickname for New York City. It was first popularized in the
1920s by John J. Fitz Gerald, a sports writer for the New York Morning Telegraph.
Its popularity since the 1970s is due in part to a promotional campaign by the New
York tourist authorities.
The origins of Chicago’s famous nickname are not entirely clear. The most
obvious explanation is that it comes from the frigid breezes that blow off Lake
Michigan and sweep through the city’s streets.
Scotland is called the land of cakes. It is famous for the oatmeal cakes. In the
ancient days oatmeal cakes are made only in Scotland.
The official nickname for Mississippi is The Magnolia State. The magnolia is also
the state flower and the state tree of Mississippi.
The official nickname of the U.S. state of Florida

4. The city of a Lion -The founder of Lviv, King Danylo, named the city in honor
of his son, Prince Lev Danilovich.
City of chestnuts- Kyiv.

5.African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans or Afro-Americans) [3]

are an ethnic group of Americans with partial or total ancestry from any of the
Black racial groups of Africa. The term African American generally denotes
descendants of enslaved Africans who are from the United States, while some
Black immigrants or their children may also come to identify as African-American.
Native Americans, also known as American Indians, First Americans, Indigenous
Americans and other terms, are the Indigenous peoples of the United States;
sometimes including Hawaii and territories of the United States, and other times
limited to the mainland.
An economically disadvantaged individual is a person whose ability to compete in
business has been impaired due to diminished capital and credit opportunities, as
compared to others in the same or similar line of business who are not socially
disadvantaged.