On Translating English Sonnets and Limericks

Authors

  • Cristinel Munteanu “Danubius” University of Galaţi Author
  • Silvia Munteanu Liceul Pedagogic „D.P. Perpessicius”, Brăila Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.69475/

Keywords:

Romanian literary translation, fixed verse form, Shakespeare, sonnets, limericks

Abstract

In this article we have envisaged certain aspects regarding the translation from English into Romanian of two types of poetry with fixed verse form (some Shakespearean sonnets and a few limericks). On this occasion, we have (re)evaluated some (old and new) Romanian translations, suggesting, where necessary, other more appropriate versions. Thus, we have been mostly interested in the excessive use of neologisms, of euphemisms and of metaphors in the Romanian versions investigated by us.

Author Biographies

  • Cristinel Munteanu, “Danubius” University of Galaţi

    Cristinel Munteanu is currently Associate Professor, Ph.D., at “Danubius” University of Galaţi. He published, as author, Sinonimia frazeologică în limba română (2007), Lingvistica integrală coşeriană (2012), Frazeologie românească (2013), Tradition and Innovation in Language and Linguistics (2017); as editor, Discursul repetat între alteritate şi creativitate (2008), Tobias Peucer, De relationibus novellis/Despre relatările jurnalistice (2008), B.P. Hasdeu, Studii de ştiinţa limbii (2013); and, as translator, E. Coseriu, H. Geckeler, Orientări în semantica structurală (2016). He has also written more than 150 articles and papers. Fields of interest: philosophy of language, communication studies, semantics, phraseology, hermeneutics, text linguistics.

  • Silvia Munteanu, Liceul Pedagogic „D.P. Perpessicius”, Brăila

    Silvia Munteanu has been teaching English since 2001. She has a Bachelor’s degree in English and French and a Master’s degree in Translation and Interpretation. She is an author of scientific articles on the topic of traductology and English didactics. She has been involved in various Comenius and Erasmus projects: Teaching English through Games and Songs (2005) – London, UK; Developing Oral Fluency in the Secondary English Language Classroom (2012) – Exeter, UK; Integrating Technology in English Language Instruction with Teacher Education and Leadership Academy (2013) – an Edexcel Assured Programme – London, UK; Creativity Awakening with Pictures for Education (2014) – Olching, Germany (Grundtvig Workshop); initiator and coordinator of the Erasmus+ Project, Key Action K1, VET mobilities: New Horizons in Teaching. Training Future Teachers in accordance with European Requirements regarding Pre-schooling Teaching (2015-2016); coordinator in many E-twinning projects.

References

Coşeriu, Eugeniu (2009). Omul şi limbajul său. Studii de filozofie a limbajului, teorie a limbii şi lingvistică generală, Antologie, argument, note, bibliografie şi indici de Dorel Fînaru. Iaşi: Editura Universităţii „Alexandru Ioan Cuza” din Iaşi.

Cuddon, J. A. (1999). The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory (fourth edition). London: Penguin Books.

Deleanu, Andrei Ion (1978). Doamna Brună din Sonete (The Dark Lady of the Sonnets), versiune românească adnotată la 28 din sonetele lui William Shakespeare. Cluj-Napoca: Editura Dacia.

Lear, Edward (1973). Rime fără noimă, antologie şi traducere de Constantin Abăluţă şi Ştefan Stoenescu. Bucureşti: Editura Albatros.

Munteanu, Cristinel (2010). “Observaţii şi sugestii privind traducerea unor poezii englezeşti cu formă fixă”. Limba română (Chişinău), anul XX, nr. 5-6, 2010, pp. 64-72.

Sala, Marius (coord.) (2001). Enciclopedia limbii române. Bucureşti: Editura Univers Enciclopedic.

*** (1974). Topsy-Turvy World. English Humour in Verse. Moscow: Progress Publishers.

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Published

29-07-2025

Issue

Vol. 20 No. 2 (2017): Winter 2017

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Cristinel Munteanu, Silvia Munteanu (Author)

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

On Translating English Sonnets and Limericks. (2025). RATE Issues, 20(2). https://doi.org/10.69475/