Pravdateam/Proper Nouns
From Scratchpad
This section of the Style Guide contains guidelines for translating proper nouns.
Please have a look at the Lexicon for the ready-to-use translations of the proper names.
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[edit] General notes
Proper nouns are very tricky and important. Search engine indexes our translations and if the proper name is misspelled, the user seeking information which includes this proper name will not see your translation in his search results. This means your translation will not reach the person to whom it was address.
Please pay the MAXIMUM of our attention to checking the spelling of the proper nouns or adjectives deriving our of these nouns.
The Guide covers only some issues which may arise while translating proper nouns. Always use Wikipedia and Google to verify the correctness of our variant. Currently the transliteration rules for Ukrainian proper nouns are messy and sometimes contradict each other. So if you still have doubts after the verification, use our community blog to ask your peers for advice.
[edit] Last Names
[edit] -skyi v. -sky
Names that end in the suffix -ський (Ukrainian) or -ский (Russian) should be transliterated as "-sky".
Please see the relevant section of the Lexicon for some live examples.
[edit] First Names
Only Ukrainian variants of spelling are given below. Please use the Russian variant for people with Russian origin.
Vladimir Putin shall be used instead of Volodymyr Putin
Alyaksandr Lukashenka shall be used instead of Oleksandr Lukashenko
(see Lukashenka for more details)
Please DO NOT use westernized name spellings instead of Slavic.
Oleksandr Moroz shall be used instead of Alexander Moroz
Evhen Kushnaryov shall be used instead of Eugene Kushnaryov
Please see the relevant section of the Lexicon for some live examples.
[edit] Titles
[edit] Using capital letters
Titles shall be only capitalized when followed by the surname of the person holding that office
President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko or Interior Minister Lutsenko
Titles can be full and brief. A good example of the difference between the full and the brief titles is the Minister for the Foreign Affairs and the Foreign Minister. Please use the full titles when the emphasis is made on position and brief titles when emphasis is made on person.
The President had now lost control over the appointment of the Minister of Interior President Yushchenko accepted the resignation of the Foreign Minister Tarasiuk
Please see the relevant section of the Lexicon for some live examples.
[edit] Using brief titles for defining a family status of women
- Use Miss in front of the name of an unmarried woman when you are speaking to her or referring to her.
- Use Mrs before the name of a married woman when you are speaking or referring to her (if her marital status is known for sure).
- If the marital status of a woman is unknown, use Ms. Ms is used regardless of marital status.
[edit] Geographic Names
Please use Wikipedia to verify geographic names.
[edit] Oblast v. Region
Please use Oblast instead of Region while translating the major administrative units of Ukraine.
Cherkasska Oblast NOT Cherkassy Region
Odesska Oblast NOT Odessa Region
Office of the Prosecutor for Kharkivska Oblast
Appellate Commercial Court for Kyivska Oblast
You may use city+region construction in case some area around the city is meant
This bar offers the best cocktails in Zhytomyr Region.
Some of Ukrainian MPs behave like the cheapest prostitutes in Kyiv Region.
Disregarding of what you mean please DO NOT use mixed variants like Cherkasska Region or Kyiv Oblast.
[edit] Rayons v. Districts
If Ukrainian "район" is used for the part of the city, this should be translated as districts.
Pechersky District Court for the City of Kyiv
or Pechersky District Court
If Ukrainian "район" is used for the subordinate administrative unit lower then oblast, then use rayon.
MP Evhen Kushnaryov was shot in Iziumsky Raion of Kharkivska Oblast.
[edit] Countries and Nationalities
Please use Wikipedia to verify countries and nationalities.
[edit] Tricky examples
Belarus (NOT Belarussia) BUT Belarusian, Belarusians
United Kingdom BUT British
United States (also United States of America) BUT American, Americans
[edit] Institutions and Corporations
[edit] Using Short and full titles
When translating name of the Ukrainian legal entities short and full titles may be used. Short title is those mentioning only the name of the legal entity without specifying its type.
Ukrtelecom
Mittal Steel Kryviy Rih
Short titles shall be used by default unless the source text mentions the full title.
Full title is those specifying the type of the legal entity.
Ukrtelecom Open Joint Stock Company
Mittal Steel Kryviy Rih Open Joint Stock Company
In most of the cases using short title with abbreviation will be appropriate.
Ukrtelecom OJSC
Mittal Steel Kryviy Rih OJSC
Please do not translate titles of the companies. E.g. Enerhetychna Kompaniya Ukrayiny NJSC should not be translated as Energy Company of Ukraine.
Please see the relevant section of our Lexicon for some live examples.
[edit] Political Parties
Initials should be included in parentheses on first reference, and can be used by themselves on the second reference.
[edit] Examples
- Communist Party of Ukraine (CPU)
- Our Ukraine People’s Union (NSNU) (use “the” when alone; do not use “the” when followed by “party”)
- Party of Regions (PR)
- Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (PPPU)
- People’s Movement of Ukraine (Rukh)
- Pora
- Reforms and Order Party (PRP)
- Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united) (SDPU(o))
- Socialist Party of Ukraine (SPU) (can be abbreviated to Socialist Party on second reference)
- Ukrainian People’s Party (UNP)
- Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (BYuT)
[edit] Media
The name of the Ukrainian media should be transliterated and followed by the activity description (TV channel, newspaper, magazine, etc.) upon the first reference.
Upon the second and next references only transliteration of the title should be used.
First reference: Pyatyi Kanal TV Channel Next references: Pyatyi Kanal
First reference: Dzerkalo Tyzhnia Newspaper Next references: Dzerkalo Tyzhnia
See Lexicon for examples.
