User:Hal Bregg II/Neologisms of Return from the Stars

by Stanisław Lem

This table is a juxtaposition of the Polish (original) and English (translated) sets of neologisms excerpted from Return from the Stars, a science-fiction novel by Stanisław Lem.

The table comprises a part of a project discussing Lem's neologisms.

The table's abbreviations:

ST = Source Text; SL - Source Language; TT = Target Text; TL = Target Language.

Ref.	ST neologism	Page	SL's morphological process	Meaning	TT rendition	Page	TL's morphological process	Analysis
1.	selenofor	5	blending; selen + luminofor	a type of lamp	selenium light	3	phrasal words	descriptive equivalent
2.	prum	8	coinage “out of the blue”	a drink	prum	6	borrowing	exact borrowing
3.	extran	8	coinage	a drink	extran	6	borrowing	exact borrowing
4.	morr	8	coinage	a drink	morr	6	borrowing	exact borrowing
5.	cydr	8	coinage and a wordplay; compare cedr	a drink	cider	6	conversion	functional equivalent, the name of an actual drink used
6.	polidukt	13	compound: poli+dukt	a type of road	polyduct	10	compound: morpheme poly+ duct	borrowing with transliteration
7.	dublować	13	conversion	to retake a missed projectile	backtrack	10	conversion	recognized equivalent
8.	rast	13	coinage	a type of projectile	rast	10	borrowing	exact borrowing
9.	DUKT CENTR	13	perhaps abbreviation	a part of a communication terminal	DUCT CENTR	10	borrowing	borrowing with transliteration
10.	styk	13	conversion	a slot to commute through	switch	10	conversion	recognized equivalent + conversion
11.	wuka	15	abbreviation	the abbreviation of “the inner circle” (wewnętrzny krąg)	vuk	12	borrowing with transliteration	traces of misformation; the pronunciation of the Polish neolog is retained; though the meaning of the abbreviation is lost
12.	transtel	18	blending: trans + telewizja	a type of television	transtel	14	borrowing	exact borrowing
13.	styk	19	conversion	a slot to commute through	change	15	conversion	the TT’s lack of cohesion, two various translations for the same term
14.	infor	21	clipping, comp. information	an interactive information panel	infor	17	borrowing	exact borrowing
15.	tridukt	22	compound; tri+dukt	a type of road	triduct	18	borrowing with transliteration	nearly literal translation, borrowing
16.	eskal	22	clipping; comp. eskalator	a type of elevator	escal	19	borrowing with transliteration	borrowing
17.	pława	23	conversion	a type of drink	raft	19	conversion	recognized equivalent
18.	kol	24	perhaps clipping; comp. kolega	a way of addressing a man; comp. dude, bro	col	20	borrowing with transliteration	coinage, borrowing, though the sense of Polish kolega – dude, pal is lost
19.	wziąć się	25	conversion	to date a random man; to go home with him	to take off	20	conversion	recognized equivalent
20.	bons	26	coinage	a certain express meal	bons	22	borrowing	exact borrowing
21.	wziąć się	28	as above	as above	to go	23	conversion	the same term translated twice in two different ways; lack of cohesion
22.	glider	28	coinage, perhaps an Anglicism; comp. to glide, glider	a wheel-less, windowless, driverless car of the future	gleeder	23	borrowing buttressed with cautious transliteration	borrowing with an element of coinage, to avoid glider which already exists
23.	kals	30	coinage	a type of flirt	cals	26	borrowing with transliteration	borrowing
24.	orka	30	conversion	a leisure	orka	26	borrowing	exact borrowing
25.	bryt	32	coinage, perhaps a wordplay	a drink that deletes the erotic mood, the “rejected suitor” drink	brit	27	borrowing with transliteration	borrowing
26.	Kawuta	33	perhaps abbreviation, though the plot does not reveal its source words	a university of arts	Cavuta	27	borrowing with transliteration	borrowing
27.	plastować	33	a coinage, comp. plastyk, plastelina	to create clothes by means of spraying fabrics directly at the customer	to plast	27	coinage	the core of the verb is borrowed
28.	real	36	conversion	a virtual reality theatre	real	31	conversion	exact borrowing
29.	mut	37	coinage	a virtual reality tourism	moot	31	conversion	recognized equivalent with similar pronunciation
30.	betryzacja	41	coinage	the pharmacological muzzle that erases all the aggression (and inclination for taking any risk) out of a man; the society-forming issue pivotal for the entire plot of the novel– everyone is betrizated at birth; for Lem’s comment on betrization cf. 2.4.	betrization	35	borrowing with transliteration	borrowing
31.	sap	48	conversion; a verb, comp. sapać	a humoristic, poking, perhaps disturbing expression	sap	42	borrowing with transliteration	an exact borrowing at the expense of the meaning: grunt, gasp, grumble
32.	czyst	57	clipping, comp. czystość, czysty	a machine that washes (or dry cleans) clothes	laundry	50	-	recognized equivalent
33.	Żekos	59	acronym: Żegluga Kosmiczna	Cosmic Navigation	Cosnav	51	acronym: Cosmic Navigation	acronym based on literal translation
34.	kalster	59	coinage	a device similar to credit card	calster	52	borrowing with transliteration	borrowing
35.	igłowiec	62	blending; comp. igła+wieżowiec	a tall skyscraper	spire	54	conversion	recognized equivalent with the meaning slightly converted
36.	kress	64	coinage	a type of meal of an unspecified nature	kress	56	borrowing	exact borrowing
37.	ozot	64	coinage	an unspecified meal; though it suits coffee	ozote	56	borrowing with transliteration	literal translation with a slight spelling shift
38.	herma	64	coinage	a type of meal of an unspecified nature	herma	56	borrowing	exact borrowing
39.	ity	66	coinage	a currency of a future	ets	58	borrowing with thorough transliteration	borrowing devised so that its pronunciation corresponds closely with the ST’s neologism
40.	ulder	67	coinage	a fraught aircraft, resembling a zeppelin	ulder	58	borrowing	exact borrowing
41.	realista	80	conversion	a performer that acts in realon	realist	71	conversion	recognized equivalent of a shifted sense
42.	opton	88	coinage; comp. optyka	an electronical book reader with “only one page between the covers”, comp. Kindle	opton	79	borrowing	exact borrowing
43.	lekton	88	coinage; comp. lektura	a device that reads a book aloud, comp. audiobook	lecton	79	borrowing with transliteration	borrowing
44.	parastatyka	97	blending; para+statyka	a science that tames and harnesses the gravity	parastatics	87	borrowing with transliteration	borrowng
45.	grawitologia	97	affixation, clipping: grawitacja + logia	a branch of science related to the gravity	gravitology	87	borrowing with transliteration	borrowing
46.	blar	116	coinage	an illegal drink that temporarily suspends the effects of betrization	blar	104	borrowing	exact borrowing
47.	perto	118	coinage	yet another liquid that hinders betrization	perto	106	borrowing	exact borrowing
48.	psychopeda	121	blending: perhaps psycholog+ortopeda	a profession	psychopedist	109	borrowing with transliteration and an recognized suffix (comp. psychologist)	borrowing
49.	czarna skrzynka	137	conversion	a device, mounted in every projectile, which accumulates in itself all the kinetic energy of a crash, thus it annuls all the material results of the impact	black box	123	conversion	recognized equivalent with an altered meaning
50.	teletaksja	141	coinage: comp. tele, taxi	a theory speculating on the possibility of travels faster than the speed of light	teletaxis	127	borrowing with transliteration	borrowing
51.	realon	155	coinage	a virtual reality theatre	realon	139	borrowing	exact borrowing
52.	hipnagog	170	blending; comp. hipnoza, pedagog	an apparatus of subthreshold influence that teaches one while he sleeps	hypnagog	153	borrowing with transliteration	borrowing
53.	mesk	207	coinage	a quasi-marriage, quasi-separation, a “trial period” relationship	mesk	189	exact borrowing	exact borrowing

Sources

Lem, Stanisław [1961] (1985) Powrót z gwiazd. Kraków – Wrocław: Wydawnictwo Literackie.

Lem, Stanisław [1961] Powrót z gwiazd. English translation (1980) by Barbara Marszal and Frank Simpson, Return from the stars. San Diego. New York. London: A Harvest/HBJ Book. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.