English grammatical collocations of the verb and the preposition for and their collocational equivalents in the Slovak language

This paper focuses on empirical research of grammatical collocations of the type: verb and preposition FOR. Subject to analysis were the verbal prepostional structures of the pattern 1: V+prepositional phrase in the function of the object and the pattern 2: V+ preposition+fixed element. The study is based on comparisons of the English and Slovak sentences containing this specific verbal-prepositional structure. Data for contrastive study of English and Slovak languages are taken from the electronic corpus Slovak National Corpus, ie. English- Slovak Parallel Corpus. The aim of the study is to analyse, describe and classify only prepositional counterparts.

A Case Study in Slovak Translators’ Training: English Loanwords

The topic of English loanwords is discussed in various fields like, e.g. in linguistics or translatology. Translators are responsible for choosing adequate words in their translations so they often decide for the forms which seem to be the most appropriate for the given context. Education of future translators is highly challenging and demanding as students need to get general knowledge and practice for their future work. This study deals with the use of English loanwords and their different forms in Slovak journalistic texts. It presents the views of Slovak linguists on foreign words coming into the Slovak language, and shows how English loanwords are perceived by students of translation studies (N = 39) and professional translators (N = 21). These specific groups of language users tend to use loanwords when looking for adequate solutions in the process of translation, regarding different aspects of translation. Students and translators tend to use assimilated forms of English loanwords instead of their original forms and when considering the appropriate form of a loanword, they primarily take into account the reader and the comprehensibility of the text. The research findings show there is not a universal insight into the topic in the groups of students and translators so education in this area is inevitable.

Product and Process Analysis of Machine Translation into the Inflectional Language

This study focuses on the influence of quality of Machine Translation (MT) output on a translator’s performance. We analyze the translator’s effort by product analysis and process analysis. The product analysis consists of MT quality evaluation according to the Dynamic Quality Framework; using error typology and the criteria such as fluency and adequacy. We examine translator’s effort from the point of view of typing time, in the context of MT quality—focusing on error rate in language, accuracy, terminology, and style, and also in fluency and adequacy to the source text. We have found that the translator’s performance is influenced by MT quality. The typing time is very closely related to errors in language, accuracy, terminology, and style as well as to fluency and adequacy. We used the Mann-Whitney test to compare the productivity of post-editing of MT with human translation. The results of the study have shown that post-editing—compared to human translation of journalistic text from English into the inflectional Slovak language is more effective.

M. Valek, G. Aygi and “Woman on the Right”, or The first Slovak translation of G. Aygi’s poetry in the context of the 1960s and modern reception

The book of poetry by G. Aygi was translated and published into Slovak language as “Žena sprava” (“The Woman on the Right”) in 1967. The same year the book was translated into Czech language. It is the Czech translation that occupies the first place in the research and bibliography of G. Aygi’s publications. The paper examines the features of the Slovak translation through the views of the translator and poet M. Valek. The translations appeared when Slovak poets were in search of finding a modern artistic language and modifying the original in accordance with the artistic concept of the poet-translator. M. Valek’s interest in the poetry of G. Aygi was associated with the same range of problems. The translations have an imprint of M. Valek’s own stylistics and demonstrate his priority for existentiality and metaphor, which he emphasizes, leading to neglecting the peculiarities of the original form. The contemporary Slovak translations of G. Aygi’s poetry are more focused on the transfer of formal innovation, the preservation of the author’s punctuation and graphics. However, the novelty of G. Aygi’s verses, which is still far from being fully explored, was comprehensively analyzed only in the 2000s and contemporary translators rely on new theory as well as a rich history of translations.The novelty of the paper is that it compares the translations of different years, the views of G. Aygi and M. Valek on free verse, and also provides an assessment of the translations by G. Aygi himself.

Sentence-structure errors of machine translation into Slovak

The study identifies, classifies and analyses errors in machine translation (MT) outputs of journalistic texts from English into Slovak, using error analysis. The research results presented in the study are pioneering, since the issue of machine translation – with its strong interdisciplinary character and novelty – has not yet been studied in the Slovak academic environment. The evaluation of the errors is based on a framework for classification of MT errors devised by Vaňko, which was arranged for the Slovak language. The study discusses and explains the issues of sentence structure, including predicativeness, syntactic-semantic correlativeness, and a modal and communication sentence framework. We discovered that the majority of the errors are related to the categories of agreement, word order and nominal morpho-syntax. This fact clearly correlates with features of journalistic texts, in which nominal structures and nouns in all realizations are used to a great extent. Moreover, there are some serious differences between the languages which limit and affect the quality of translation.

The revived street names of Piliscsév

The characteristics of linguistic landscape are significantly impacted by the legal status of a language in question. Not all Slovak settlements in Hungary equally exploit the opportunities provided by law. Public space is a constantly transforming phenomenon which is in continuous motion; therefore, research in linguistic landscape always reflects a certain state or moment. Signboards and street signs appearing in the public space, the objects of our study, reveal a great deal of the linguistic dominance of a particular milieu, Piliscsév in this case. In case of bilingual street names, the most dominant practice is the Hungarian-Slovak bilingualism; thus, in most cases Hungarian signs are determining. Concerning the visual representation of street signs in Piliscsév, we have observed an interesting phenomenon which is unique and untraditional in the Slovak community in Hungary. The visual presence of Slovak language in street names indicates not only the representation of the ethnic language but also the local and ethnic bonds of the town.

Slovak Language Teaching in Italy in the Context of Slovak-Italian Cultural Relationships

The initial part of the paper describes the history of Slovak language and culture teaching in Italy, namely, Slovak lectorates at University of Naples L´Orientale, University of Rome Sapienza, and University of Bologna in Forlì. The central part of the paper discusses the foundation, development and activities of the most recent lectorate, founded in 2006, and currently affiliated with the Department of Interpreting and Translating at University of Bologna in Forlì. The paper mentions the circumstances related to the foundation of the lectorate, especially the message of Alexander Dubček (1921 – 1992) upon whom University of Bologna conferred the honorary doctorate in 1988. The paper discusses various activities of the lectorate (language teaching, research and publishing, promoting Slovakia and Slovak culture). It mentions the collaboration with Slovak and Italian institutions, including the Embassy of Slovak Republic in Rome, Slovak Institute in Rome and Honorary Consulate of Slovak Republic in Forlì. The final part of the paper mentions the current situation and perspectives of Slovak studies in Italy.

Language – identity – culture – minority (Sociolinguistic analysis of situational use of a minority language on the example of Slovak university youth in Hungaria)

Language plays an important role between identity, culture and minority relations. The knowledge and use of the minority language by the elite is an authoritative attribute of language position in the whole minority. The education of elites in the Slovak minority in Hungary is determined by minority education (teaching the Slovak language, history and culture). The top of this kind of education is the university study of Slovak studies at several universities in Hungary. Graduates gain the legitimacy to become the intellectual elite of the Slovak minority in Hungary. Sociolinguistic situation analysis shows their relationship to Slovak language and real aspects of its use.