Speech etiquette formulas in translation
(English - Russian)

Anastasia Koralova
UNC-Charlotte

Each language has a number of speech formulas which are expected to be used in certain communicative situations. They frame or intersperse our speech thus forming a kind of a scaffold which supports the communicative act. Such formulas (words or ready-made clichés) are usually referred to as speech etiquette. They can be almost devoid of real meaning, yet they are extremely important as signals of propriety of language and social behavior. Inobservance of rules ‘prescribed’ by speech etiquette may create a culture shock or a breech of communication. If this can easily happen within the same language community, the intercultural contacts can turn into a virtual mine field. Trite and empty as they can seem, these formulas are often culturally bound and may vary significantly from language to language. The translator often deals with different usage of correlating forms of speech etiquette in SL and TL, or their different frequency and/or intensity of meaning, or the complete absence of an equivalent verbal reaction in the TL. The paper is devoted to translation problems arising from such differences and looks into possible solutions and choice of strategies by the translator.