Peculiarities of non-equivalent vocabulary translation (based on «The folk of the Air» series by Holly Black)

In modern literary translation, the transmission of non-equivalent vocabulary – words and expressions for which there are no exact equivalents in another language – from one language to another is considered to be a crucial problem. It becomes especially noticeable when translating the fantasy genre, where authors often create new terms and concepts that reflect fictional worlds and cultural characteristics. One of such authors is Holly Black, whose books, particularly the Folk of the Air series, contain a rich lexical range that is difficult to translate due to the lack of direct equivalents in other languages. The purpose of the study is to examine the peculiarities of translating non-equivalent vocabulary in Holly Black’s novels from the Folk of the Air series, as well as to analyze the methods used in their translation to Ukrainian. The non-equivalent vocabulary from Holly Black’s novels was classified into the following categories: cultural lacunae, no words in the language into which we are translating to denote concepts that exist only in certain cultures and societies and that must be conveyed in one word, and lack of words due to linguistic reasons (M. Kocherhan’s classification). The problems of translating non-equivalent vocabulary arise from the lack of cultural or linguistic analogs in the target language, which necessitates the use of special approaches to convey the meaning and atmosphere of the original. One of the main difficulties is the need to preserve semantic accuracy and stylistic conformity, while simultaneously creating a sense of immersion in the fictional world. The article presents several methods of translation of non-equivalent units: word-to-word translation, sense development, amplification, transcoding, and synonymous substitution. The analysis of translations has shown that the Ukrainian translator of the Folk of the Air series mostly prefers the word-to-word translation method to preserve the unique atmosphere of Holly Black’s world. This additionally facilitates understanding for the reader who is not familiar with the fantasy world.