Features of translating occasional units in the English version of A. Platonov’s novella “The Foundation Pit”

The aim of the research is to identify the mechanisms for translating occasional units (nonce formations) in the English version of A. Platonov’s dystopian novella “The Foundation Pit” (1930). The originality of the research lies in the differentiation of units of occasional syntagmatics, i.e., occasional words, phrases, and constructions, and the identification of methods for translating these units from Russian into English. As a result, the research revealed that occasional words in the analyzed work are primarily translated using loose and descriptive translation. Occasional phrases created through intentional violations of lexical-semantic compatibility are translated through contextual substitution, calquing, mixed, descriptive, and loose translation, as well as addition and grammatical substitution. Occasional constructions created based on intentional violations of grammatical compatibility of words are translated through calquing, mixed translation methods, and through grammatical and contextual substitution. In many analyzed contexts, more than one syntagmatic violation was identified, including violations of stylistic norms of the Russian language, which pose a particular challenge in translation.