“What is Your Good Name?”: on Translating Multicultural Literature

The article discusses distinguishing features of speech etiquette in Indian English and certain aspects of its translation into Russian. The relevance of this research topic is determined by the current spread of English as an international language and by the emergence of the World Englishes paradigm. In India there are a lot of cultural conventions that do not have English equivalents and, thus, cannot be expressed adequatelyby means of the English language. As a result of the language contact, Indian English has got an impact on its linguistic setting from Hindi and other regional languages. This linguistic transfer from Indian languages can be seen at various levels, including the use of politeness formulas. In this article the focus is made on the politeness formula “What is your good name?”, which is a polite way of asking someone’s name. This etiquette question is one of the most common Indian English politeness patterns, generalized all over India. The article analyzes the etymology of this expression and explains why it is frequently encountered in the speech of Indian English users, as well as to show the important role of such an analysis in overcoming translation difficulties.