Science Fiction ‘Technobabble’: Lexical Features And Translation Challenges

• Published in: Філологічні студіі no. 24; pp. 266 - 276
• Main Author: Chernikova, Oleksandra
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Ukrainian
• Published: 2025
• ISSN: 2311-2425; 2412-2491
• DOI: 10.28925/2311-2425.2025.2419

The research paper considers the lexical features and translation problems of pseudoterminology in science fiction. The use of pseudoterminology in science fiction works is due to the author's desire to create an illusion of realism for the reader/viewer by using words and combinations of words similar to scientific terms that reflect the realities of the world created by the author. The lexical features of pseudoterminology coincide with the lexical features of real terminology, but the meaning is different, which poses a translation problem. The source material for the study consisted of 100 examples of pseudoterminology used in the dialogue of science fiction films and TV series (Back to the Future, Blade Runner, Doctor Who, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Stargate SG-1, Star Trek Voyager and Torchwood). The material was selected using a continuous sampling method and analyzed using a statistical method. The article examines the concept of pseudoterminology, its lexical and structural features. The study analyzes the methods of translation and transformation used by translators to convey the pseudoterminology of the original text in Ukrainian. Structurally, pseudoterms are divided into single-word and combinations, which, in turn, are divided into two-component, three-component and multi-component. It was found that the most frequent transformations used in the translation of pseudoscientific terminology in science fiction texts are tracing, transcoding and modulation, which coincides with the reproduction of real terms in the corresponding texts. Scientific research revealed that the translation of pseudoscientific terminology requires significant transformations on the part of the translator to create an adequate parallel text and bring the translation closer to equivalence.