SPECIFICITY OF UKRAINIAN TRANSLATION OF MILITARY SLANG IN THE US MASS MEDIA

Abstract

The article is focused on the study of military slang used in U.S. mass media as well as on the specificities of its translation in official Ukrainian news. It has been defined that slang as a means of informal communication has its own etymology, scientific substantiation, and can fulfil nominative, expressive, socio-identifying, and interactive functions. Military slang is characterised by specific patterns of usage, and its translation requires taking into account cultural, social, and pragmatic features of both the source and the target languages. It has been established that military slang, being an essential component of armed forces communication, is transmitted through various platforms (news, reports, interviews, official defence department briefings, social media, etc.), adapting to the needs of media rhetoric and the ways military events are perceived by a broad audience. It has been proven that English military slang is marked by metaphorical richness, cultural specificity, irony, and emotional loading. These features affect the choice of translation tactics aimed at preserving the slang meaning, pragmatic impact, and cultural relevance. The article also shows that the use of a specific set of translation strategies also depends on the type of message, target audience, communicative context, as well as the dynamic development of slang in both languages – English and Ukrainian. It has been found out that while translating English military slang, borrowings and transliterations are actively applied (for translating abbreviations, technical terms, and established military jargon not having precise Ukrainian equivalents), calquing (to reproduce metaphors), paraphrasing (to explain slang meaning in expanded forms), modulation and adaptation (for creative rethinking and conveying emotional and ideological tones), omission and deletion (to maintain conciseness or cultural perception). It is concluded that military slang, combining formality and informality, also requires a well-balanced approach while translating English military texts into Ukrainian due to possible sensitivity of the audience.