ALGONKINI, KIKAPOWIE, UTE I INNI. O NAZYWANIU GRUP TUBYLCZYCH AMERYKI PÓŁNOCNEJ W POLSKOJĘZYCZNEJ LITERATURZE NAUKOWEJ I POPULARNONAUKOWEJ
ALGONKINI, KIKAPOWIE, UTE AND OTHERS. RENDERING THE NAMES OF NORTH AMERICAN INDIGENOUS GROUPS IN POLISH-LANGUAGE SCIENTIFIC AND POPULAR SCIENCE LITERATURE

Summary/Abstract: In Polish scholarship which I divide here into three groups: scientific, popularising, and ‘occasional’ publications, there is no uniform strategy for translating the names of native North American peoples. Drawing on many examples from Polish-language publications from the last twenty years mainly, I discuss various strategies utilised by authors and translators of rendering names of Native American groups into Polish. I distinguish three such strategies: 1. translating and declining all the names into Polish (e.g. changing ‘Apaches’ into ‘Apacze’); 2. leaving original names (i.e. using versions appropriated from the American English literature, e.g. ‘Apaches’); 3. trying out diverse mix approaches (e.g., translating and/or declining some names into Polish and leaving others in original). Although the latter approach seems confusing and challenging, paradoxically it is where reasonable solutions are found, that is how to make Native American names comprehensible and at the same time readable in Polish. In order to overcome the onomastic chaos that is common in Polish scientific and popular literature, I propose a set of rules that should help authors and translators to make proper translation decisions. I also discuss examples of the most common errors and suggest solutions of how to translate the most problematic names.

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