The problem of the transfer of onyms in the modern discourse of video games (based on the material of the game Disco Elysium)

Pak Leonid Evgen'evich ORCID: 0000-0003-2181-0259 PhD in Philology Associate Professor; Department of Intercultural Communications and Translation Studies; Vladivostok State University 690002, Russia, Primorsky Krai, Vladivostok, 41 Gogol Ave., room 5517 leonid.pak@vvsu.ru Other publications by this author

Marus Nikolai Dmitrievich ORCID: 0009-0005-8246-2958 Graduate student; Institute of Pedagogy and Linguistics; Vladivostok State University 690014, Russia, Primorsky Krai, Vladivostok, Gogol str., 41, room 5511 marus.nikolay@vvsu.ru

This work is devoted to the problems of proper name transmission in the modern video game discourse.

The question of the classification of different types of discourse is still relevant for the modern science of language. The grounds for defining different types of discourse remain debatable.

According to E. I. Sheigal, the combination of "agentive" and "geneticist" definitions is the main criterion for distinguishing types of discourse (discourse of consumer culture, power, market, political discourse, public discourse, etc.) ^[1].

It seems possible to supplement the classification given above with the classifications of other authors who identified the types of discourses based on the criterion of the relations of communication participants. For example, fairy-tale discourse ^[2], oral discourse ^[3], public discourse ^[4], linguistic discourse ^[5], etc.

In addition to the research of reputable linguists, modern works devoted to various types of discourses should also be cited. The discourse of ecological fairy tales is highlighted ^[6], the specifics of dramatic tonality are studied on the example of corporate news discourse ^[7], a comparative study of popular and media legal discourse is conducted ^[8], the features of pediatric discourse are analyzed ^[9], in addition, the component composition of economic discourse is described ^[10].

Such a variety of different types of discourse shows a whole palette of heterogeneous criteria, testifies to the large semantic scope of the term "discourse".

It should be noted that insufficient attention is paid to the study of the discourse of video games. Video game discourse is understood as a kind of computer discourse, which is limited by the framework of gaming reality, combines written and oral speech and a variety of non-verbal means ^[11].

Significant linguistic means functioning within the framework of the video game discourse are onyms. An onym is a lexical unit that performs the task of distinguishing a named object from other objects, identifies and individualizes it ^[12].

A large number of works by modern Russian researchers are devoted to the study of onyms. Linguists study French literary onyms in the aspect of synonymic diversity ^[13], the specifics of the dictionary description of onyms ^[14], the discourse of the onym and ways of its actualization ^[15], pseudo-borrowed onyms (their classes and subclasses) in literary German ^[16], the connotative polysemy of English-language onyms ^[17], transtextual and temporal onyms ^[18].

Among the scientific works devoted to the study of onyms through the prism of translation science, articles on the translation of onyms in animated discourse ^[19], the peculiarities of the transmission of proper names by means of audiovisual translation ^[20], the variability of the transmission of onyms by means of Slavic and Germanic languages ^[21] should be highlighted.

This study continues the aspect study of the peculiarities of the transfer of onyms from English to Russian in the framework of video game discourse.

The relevance of this study is due to several reasons. Firstly, due to the intensification of globalization processes and the increasing role of information technologies in modern society, there is a need to study Internet discourse from a linguistic point of view. The video game discourse acts as a platform for testing new language tools (in particular, onyms), which it is highly preferable to study by analyzing the specifics of transferring these tools from one language to another. Secondly, the methodology of this study corresponds to the level of development of modern linguistics, which is important for the development of its applied aspects. Thirdly, insufficient attention has been paid to the study of the peculiarities of the existence of proper names within the framework of the video game discourse so far.

The novelty of the designated topic lies in the fact that for the first time an analysis of the features of the transfer of onyms from English to Russian is carried out, translation strategies and tactics are described when working with proper names within the framework of video game discourse.

The purpose of the study is to identify and describe the features of the transfer of proper names from English to Russian in the modern discourse of video games.

The material for the study was fragments of oral and written texts selected from the game Disco Elysium. The sample size is 216 names.

The object of the research is the modern discourse of video games in English and Russian.

The subject of the study is the semantic and pragmatic features of the transfer of proper names from English to Russian.

Research methods: comparative, descriptive, functional, pragmatic methods, the method of component analysis, complex linguistic analysis.

The research algorithm. To achieve this goal, a three-stage structure was developed to identify semantic and pragmatic correspondences of synonyms in the language of the source text (hereinafter IT) and the translated text (hereinafter PT). At the first stage, the semantic and pragmatic features of onyms in the IT language are analyzed and described: the meaning of the onym (direct, indirect, contextual, non-contextual), the pragmatic effect on the recipient, functional style. At the second stage, the analysis of the analyzed onym in the PT language takes place according to a similar scheme. At the third stage, the synonyms in the IT and PT languages are compared according to the selected features and the degree of compliance is determined. In certain cases, the authors propose a different type of translation of the name.

When working with any translation material, it is initially necessary to determine the translation methods that will allow analyzing the translation process. To begin with, we will indicate a broad classification of the definition of translation methods:

· Partial translation, which is used when transmitting IT information (source text) in the language of the PT (translated text) for general familiarization of the recipient with the content.

· Selective partial translation, which is primarily used for the translation of official, scientific and journalistic texts. The purpose of this translation method is to obtain information about the nature of IT or the style of the author, but not to get acquainted with all the details of the content in detail.

· Functional partial translation, which is used to simplify IT, in situations where they are aimed at the general reader. Such texts include retellings, adaptations, etc.

· A complete translation, which is necessary for the detailed transmission of the IT content, including most of the details of the original work.

· Literal translation, which is rarely used in practice. For example, for educational or scientific purposes, for academic publications of unique texts or the transmission of an epic. In the case of a literal translation, the translator reproduces the IT text in the PT language almost word for word.

· A semantic complete translation that aims to convey texts of high socio-cultural or scientific significance. The received texts are primarily intended for specialists working in the fields in which the translation was carried out.

· Communicative-pragmatic full translation, a type of IT transfer that has high socio-cultural significance, and whose detailed content is designed for a mass recipient ^[22].

To a certain extent, the above list represents strategies for translating text from one language to another, so we can say that each translation method is a tactical and strategic element of working with the text, indicating the main approach, purpose and objectives of the work.

However, when working with proper names, the following translation methods are most often distinguished: transliteration, transcription and calcification ^{[22, 23]}. Some scientists also distinguish: transposition, semi-scaling, assimilating translation (functional replacement) and the creation of a neologism ^{[22, 23]}. The highlighted methods are the main tools for conducting research within the framework of this work.

In this study, a comparative analysis of proper names in Russian and English was carried out using the example of the names of the following characters from the classic narrative RPG Disco Elysium genre: Egghead (rus. Hey-Kamon), (The) Cuno (rus. KunoTM), George (Idiot Doom Spiral) (rus. George (Fool-from-rod-so)), Eugene (rus. Eugene), Joyce Leyton-Messier, Joyce Messier (rus. Joyce Messier), Gorący Kubek (rus. Goranci Kubek), Andre (Pete Andre) (rus. Andre) and Acele (Acele Berger) (rus. Assel).

Disco Elysium is an isometric role–playing game released in October 2019 and later re-released as a free update titled Disco Elysium - The Final Cut in March 2021.

Let's start analyzing the practical material. The analysis is carried out to identify the semantic and pragmatic correspondences of the original onym and the onym in the target language. In cases of inconsistency, the author's translation options are offered.

Let's start with the name "Egghead" (English: Hey-Kamon) – the real name is Germain van der Wijk (orig. Germaine van der Wijk). Introductory context: the character is a fan of the work of Arno van Eyck (orig. Arno van Eyck) is a well-known Orange DJ in the ent (world) of the game. He is a member of the speedpunk group (orig. speedfreaks). His love for music and in particular the work of van Eyck is reflected in his nickname "Egghead", which carries the meaning of "Eyck head" – a fan of Eyck ^{[24, 25]}. However, in addition to this, the fact is often omitted, which can be noticed during the passage of the game, that "Egghead", in moments of calm communication, sounds the most reasonable and logical among other speedpanks. In this case, the semantics of the given name has a double meaning: "Eika fan" (indirect, contextual) and "smart guy, smart (direct, contextual)". Functional style of the name: conversational.

The translation of this proper name (Egghead – Hey-Kamon) shows the difficulty of translating non-equivalent vocabulary. It is difficult to transfer synonyms from one language to another due to a number of factors (for example, within the framework of this game it is necessary to take into account which language is the lingua franca (French)). For example, the real name of "Egghead" is "Germaine". If you follow the phonetic rules of the English language (in which the work is written), then the name should be rendered in Russian as "Germain". However, the game takes place in a fictional world, specifically in a territory that is an allusion to France. In this case, despite the fact that the text is written in English, we need to take into account the specifics of the French language when translating this name. And as a result, the real name "Egghead" will sound like "Germain".

But if, within the limits of transferring the names of the characters into Russian, the translators tried to take into account the factor of where a particular name is taken from (example: Joseph – Joseph), then certain translation difficulties arise regarding pseudonyms and other similar linguistic units.

As part of the translation, "Egghead" was transferred using the functional replacement "Hey-Kamon" ^[24]. The current version does not fully convey the essence of the original onym, in the following aspects: firstly, stylistically, "Hey-Kamon" has a stronger functional and stylistic coloring, unlike the phraseology "Egghead"; secondly, semantically, this variant (Hey-Kamon) reveals the character as a fan of "van Eyck" by the fact that the nickname in Russian can mean "Eikoman" (mania for Eik). However, there is a stylistic deviation here that turns the love of "Germain" (Egghead) for the art of his idol into fanaticism. (The definition of a fan is a person who feels an increased attraction to a certain object ^[26]. A fanatic is a person who blindly, unconditionally and radically follows certain ideas and beliefs, usually accompanied by intolerance of ideas and beliefs of others ^[26]); thirdly, the second meaning of the name is completely lost, in Russian this phraseological unit is translated from English as a clever man, a polymath, an intellectual, etc. In the version proposed by the translators, the specified meaning is missing.

The above analysis shows how multifaceted and difficult the process of transferring synonyms from one language to another is, and even despite the above criticism, the version proposed in localization can be considered applicable (Egghead - Hey-Kamon). The most difficult thing, namely the play of words within phraseology, this variant conveys, despite the stylistic incorrectness. The author's version for the transfer of this name is – "Eikstein". Let's analyze the proposed remarks regarding the above: first, the example of the translation "Eikstein" supports the character of the original "Egghead" (when a person can be called Einstein in a derogatory manner). Secondly, despite the fact that this example conveys less love for "van Eyck" than the original, the name "Eyck" at the beginning of the received occasionalism tries to keep a reference to this character. Third, the designation of the original idea of the nickname, which lies on the surface, remains. As a result, a variant was obtained that conveys the superficial meaning of the original and has a connection with the hidden meaning of the name.

The following onomastic unit: (The) Cuno (Russian KunoTM) or Kuuno de Ruyter (Kuuno de Ruyter). The given pseudonym and name belong to a twelve-year-old boy, who is characterized by his profanity-rich speech. Disillusioned at such an early age with what the world was like, he began to respect violence and cruelty. Despite this, he sincerely seeks recognition from the RGM (Revashol Civil Militia). The protective mechanism for all the cruelty he has faced since childhood is that Kuno refers to himself in the third person, probably wanting to distance himself from a difficult situation in this way ^[24].

In fact, examples of such names are calculated in order to avoid discrepancies and violation of the logic of the narrative (for example, the names "John" and "Ivan" have the same roots of origin, but they cannot be interchanged either in written or oral speech). So in the example above, "Cuno" was calculated to get "Kuno" in Russian. The problem lies in one feature related to the dialog component of this character:

«Yeah, now we're talkin'. Entertain the Cuno…»,

«Talking **** 'bout the Cuno. Come here and say it to Cuno's face!»,

«Alright. - He juts his chin out. - Entertain the Cuno!»,

«What? - He studies your expression. - You don't believe the Cuno?»,

«He looks you in the eye and repeats: "Two days is *nothing* to the Cuno."» ^{[24, 27]}.

All these examples are united by a specific lexical unit that has no direct equivalent in the Russian language – the article "The". As you can see, this article is directly related to the character's name. Semantically, "The" means certainty, in this case the semantics remains the same, but the characteristic of certainty and concreteness is attributed here not to the object, but to the name – The Cuno. Thus, Kuno emphasizes his importance in dialogues, that he does not recognize authorities, wants to be the center of attention, reflects his unscrupulousness, but most importantly, he is the only one – this Kuno.

Let's move on to comparing the original and the translation.

The semantic level. "The" is a definite article, it emphasizes that we are talking about a specific subject. "TM" ("trademark" or "trade mark") is a designation whose purpose is to provide a distinction between goods or services. Semantically, two completely different lexemes, the translation is chosen loosely from a semantic point of view.

The stylistic level. The article, as a stylistically neutral unit, can be used within the framework of various stylistic plateaus: colloquial, artistic, scientific, official and business speech. The term "TM" is a pictorial type of information communication, i.e. it refers to a system of non-verbal communication. If you translate this term into a verbal system, it will be professional jargon or, if you delve into the study of Internet discourse, you can find the use of this sign in order to stand out from the rest, which represents a shade of colloquial style. Stylistically, these examples also differ.

The pragmatic level. "The Cuno" is a character trying to make his way in this world on his own, despite all the difficulties (and in one of the endings getting a chance to achieve this), he knows his worth, does not take anyone seriously, does not listen and does not recognize the authority of others until he makes sure for himself that with this person, he can achieve something, and this is what the article "The" emphasizes in him. "KunoTM" has similar features, however, the particle "TM", which periodically appears in dialogues over his name, rather than reinforces his character, but changes the meaning of his words (giving them the character of bragging).

The author's version of the translation suggests leaving aside the idea of calculus with a functional replacement (which does not reflect the original function of the language unit) and transferring this version of the boy's nickname: "This is Kuno." Where the context requires, you can also use the option: "Exactly Kuno". This preserves stylistic neutrality, there is certainty, and pragmatically this example is very close to the original.

Next, consider the alias George(Idiot Doom Spiral) (rus. George (Fool-from-birth-so)) – a character who appears on the 3rd day of the game, and reveals to us some details of the main character's life. George appears to the players as a man with a rather ambiguous fate, because unlike his other two friends, he had everything he needed in this life, but the accumulated stress led to the fact that one day the evil fate of fate (doom) solved his whole ^[24].

In this example, the main thing is the pragmatic effect created by them towards the recipient. In the English original, "Idiot Doom Spiral" causes an effect of interest when familiarized, because there is some mystery in this nickname, revealed through the character's backstory, why he associates himself with such a strange concept. In the Russian translation, an option is proposed – "Fool-by-birth-so", which makes the character look like a fool. However, the background shows that the situation associated with the choice of this pseudonym by the character is much more complicated. Let's consider this issue in more detail. Before starting the analysis, we point out that the translation of the name (George – George) is quite adequate. I am interested in his conceptual part and its translation "Idiot Doom Spiral" – "Fool-from-birth" ^[24]. Firstly, the semantics of the onym (in English, presented in the form of a certain metaphor) in the original conveys an abstract situation with a clear expressive coloring, which led to bad consequences. The translation (which is closer in form to the idiom) contains the meaning – "a stupid person from the moment of his birth." It can be seen that semantically the original and the translation have different meanings. Also, the form of expression is different (along with the fact that almost all elements except "Idiot" from the original are omitted in the translation). Secondly, stylistically, both lexical units ("Idiot Doom Spiral" – "Fool-from-birth") relate to colloquial speech. They can be distinguished by the degree of expressiveness, where the original is neutral (since without knowledge of the background, the player will not understand what is meant by these words), and the translation is critical, because there is a certain mockery of the character in the meaning. Thirdly, pragmatics. The original and the translation differ radically in this aspect. The initial opinion has the greatest impact, the translation makes you think of George as a "complete fool", since the essence of the name lies on the surface, while the original intrigues by the fact that you want to unravel the essence of what kind of "spiral" is meant.

Hypothetically, the option proposed by the translators (presented as a functional replacement) can be used, given that in life George really committed a rather stupid act, which led him to drunkenness and life on the street. However, it is also necessary to take into account the second side of the narrative, which explains the possibility of such an incident. And in this regard, the original conveys the essence of the character's entire life. The translation on the other hand tries to reflect his current situation. However, he is a "fool by birth" (Idiot-Doom-Spiral (George)) was not. In our opinion, it was possible to reflect this term by semi-scaling: "The stupid (stupid) spiral of fate".

Let's analyze the name Goranzi Kubek (Russian: Goranzi Kubek). Goranzi is a cook in "Dancing-in-Rags" (Whirling-in-Rags). He is a minor character whose small storyline can be easily overlooked. The most interesting example is the unusual transfer of the first part of the name Gorący – Goranzi ^[24]. An interesting fact is that the character's first and last name are a phrase that means "hot cup" in Polish. In this case, the translators decided to resort to transcription in order to reflect the pronunciation of the nasal vowel "er" (Gor an qi). The decision is rather ambiguous since the player will not know that the combination of the letters "an" means nasal "a" ^[24]. The difference between pronunciation is important here, the nasal sound and the combination of two letters sound different, because the sound "n" is sonorous, and nasal vowels in Russian are not transmitted in any way. The author's opinion is that it would be more logical to offer the players an option containing the Polish letter "y": Gornzi.

Next, the name Joyce Leyton-Messier, Joyce Messier (rus. Joyce Messier) will be investigated. Joyce is a representative of the Wild Pines Group in Martinez (the city that is the setting of the game). We first meet her at the pier of the Cape Side residential complex. Thanks to her prescribed high education, you can learn a lot of facts about the history of Revashol and the world of the game from her. He is also an important character to advance through the main quest of the game ^[24]. The onomastics of this name is interesting because, according to the character's background, her full name "Joyce" (similar to talking names such as Love, Faith, etc.) means "rejoice, rejoice", which does not reflect how the character behaves and who the character is. As a result of the created contrast, a certain pun is created, where the name seems to speak of something simple-minded and easy, while the character himself is a cold and calculating businessman. Initially, the translators offered a variant of the translation of this name as "Joy-Glad". Thus, the pun was preserved, and the player would understand the essence of the embedded joke. However, another problem arose, despite the preservation of the original pragmatic effect and the complete preservation of semantics with stylistics, the question of cultural perception arises. There would be a drastic change in the perception of the character, because the name has a touch of the Russian cultural code, while the character is a representative of the local analogue of English culture. In this regard, at the request of the players, it was decided to transliterate the name of this character as: "Joyce Messier" ^{[24, 28]}.

Earlier it was pointed out that the lingua franca of the world of this game is French. This fact defines the basic rules for translating names in Latin letters and the rules for reading them. All of them are translated and read as if they were French names. In such situations, it will not work to resort to the free transfer of meanings, as Boris Pasternak used to do. The translator uses methods and methods that do not consider discrepancies and other interpretations. The names of most of the game's characters require exactly this approach. Next, several examples of onyms will be given, which are the usual names and surnames of characters and do not cause any questions from the authors. Here are some examples:

Eugene (Russian Eugene). Forty-year-old dockworker, belongs to a group of Hardy guys. He is a kind of character of a minor role in the plot ^[24]. The example with his name perfectly demonstrates the French orientation of the translation of proper names. If you translate Eugene from English into Russian, Eugene (transcription), however, as discussed above, the world language of the Disco Elysium universe is French, so the translators correctly conveyed the name of the Eugene character – Eugene ^{[24, 28]}.

The following example demonstrates a similar trend by Andre (Pete Andre). The head of the speedpunk group (speedfreaks in the original), to which Hey-Kamon belongs. A minor character, which is necessary for a more detailed introduction to the world of the game ^[24]. "Andre" is also one of the characters whose onym is the character's name, not a pseudonym. The translation in this case represents transliteration, which is logical and justified in this case.

The last onomastic unit given in this work is –Acele(Acele Berger) (Russian Asel). Asel is the only woman in the "Pita" group. Understands technology and prohibited substances ^[24]. If you read her name according to the rules of the English language, it would sound like "Asil" (if the vowel at the end is in a weak position), or "Asele". This option, despite the adequate form of expression, does not fit the form of the content, since the character's name is also influenced by the French language as the lingua franca. The correctly marked vector of the translators made it possible to accurately convey the French sound of the name as "Asel".

In this paper, we have considered in detail the linguistic features of the video game discourse in relation to such a linguistic phenomenon as the transmission of proper names. This type of discourse acts as a platform for testing new lexical means (in particular, onyms). Having analyzed the work of domestic and foreign scientists, by the discourse of video games, we understand a complex multidimensional phenomenon that functions inside a video game and a significant near-game space.

From the analyzed material, it can be concluded that the greatest difficulties are caused by the transfer of aliases, or names associated with abstract concepts. The differences are manifested at the semantic, stylistic and pragmalinguistic levels. It is important when working with these units to convey the main nominative meaning of the original and its hidden meaning. The main translation techniques for transferring proper names from English to Russian, in this case, are semi-scaling, transliteration and functional substitution.

The transfer of other names that are not marked with the above features does not cause difficulties. Transliteration, transcription, calcification and the creation of a neologism are used.

The conducted research has indicated the prospect of further analysis of the problems both from the point of view of discursology and from the point of view of translation science. Firstly, the study of video game discourse can be carried out in comparison with other types of discourses, in addition, it is important to study the impact of video game discourse on spheres of public life that are not directly related to video games. Secondly, it is significant to use new empirical material to identify the translation specifics of working with various linguistic units within the framework of video game discourse.