Page 200 [200]
HUNGARIAN-ENGLISH LINGUISTIC CONTRASTS. A PRACTICAL APPROACH
translation is possible, but some texts are easy, and some are difficult to trans¬
late, and there are some texts (puns, jokes, advertisements, slogans, poems)
that cannot be translated at all. Consider the following:
— Mi a különbség Spanyolország és Magyarország között?
— (Nem tudom.)
— Semmi: nálunk is Lopez, meg Lopaz, mégis minden frankó.
Clearly, this joke cannot be translated into English; it can only be replaced by
another joke, as in the following example:
— My wife’s gone to the West Indies. — (A feleségem) Indonéziába utazott.
— Jamaica? — Dzsakarta?
— No, she went of her own accord.?? — Nem is én kényszeritettem.”
In the case of culture-specific items, denotative meaning can be conveyed
relatively easily, even where the TL lacks a corresponding lexical item. There
are several well-tried strategies (transfer operations) that can be used. Con¬
sider this sentence from a restaurant guide:
Bryndzové halusky
This is the Slovak classic! Bryndzové halusky is considered a national dish. It is made
out of potato dumplings, sheep cheese called “bryndza”, sour cream, and bacon.**
The English text borrows the Slovak word, and then explains it. If we want to
translate it into Hungarian, we can choose from among several transfer op¬
erations:
Borrowing bryndzové halusky
Borrowing + translation/explanation bryndzové halusky, azaz juhtúrós galuska
Calgue juhtúrós galuska
Paraphrase burgonyás/krumplis galuska, tipikus
szlovák étel, amelyre juhtúrót és
szalonnapörcöt tesznek; Magyarországon
sztrapacska néven ismerik
Adaptation túróscsusza; sajtostészta
"2 Wodehouse, P.G. 2008. Uncle Dynamite, London, Arrow. The pronunciation of Jamaica is
very similar to that of Did you make her as pronounced in rapid speech.
°3 Wodehouse, P.G. 2006. Dinamit bácsi, Translated by Révbíró, T. Budapest: Európa.
94 https://www.itinari.com/5-traditional-dishes-you-need-to-try-in-slovakia-e4x2. Accessed
04.11.2020.
* 198 +