Interpretation of fantasy toponyms in French-language translated literature

The purpose of the study is to identify the specifics of the transfer of fantasy toponyms in French-language translated literature. The article examines the toponymy of fiction of the fantasy genre, where, in addition to real-life geographical objects, there are author’s neologisms, the translation of which into a foreign language is fraught with significant difficulties. The scientific novelty of the work consists in the fact that, for the first time, the key characteristics of the interpretation and recreation of toponymic units in fantasy literature are described and systematized on the basis of the French-language translations of J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series of novels. As a result of the study, it was found that the actual strategies for the transfer of toponymy are exclusion and domestication, while the choice of specific linguistic means is directly correlated with both linguistic and non-linguistic characteristics of the unit. From the point of view of language, the etymology of the toponym is decisive, whereas the pragmatics of the unit is an extralinguistically significant factor. Considerable attention is paid to the semantics of lexical units and their correlation with reality, which often determine the choice of specific linguistic means of transmitting a fantasy toponym in French.