Views by Ronald Langacker on Cognitive Semantics as a Model for Translation Quality Assessment (“The Discourse of a Certain Monk in Reading Scripture” in Contemporary Ukrainian- and English-language Translations)

Abstract. The aim of this study is to analyse the applicability of  R. Langacker’s views on cognitive semantics as a semantic and textual model for translation quality assessment. The text for this case study is an excerpt under the title “The Discourse of a Certain Monk in Reading Scripture” from the collection “Izbornyk of Sviatoslav of 1076”,  and its three translations: two translations into modern Ukrainian language (the complete one by V. Yaremenko, and the partial one by Ye. Karpilovska and L. Tarnovetska) and one translation into English (by W. Veder). The theory of cognitive semantics by R. Langacker focuses mainly on grammar issues and the description of the language via space parameters. Cognitive semantic dimensions for describing imagery lack clarity which is enjoyed by analytical methods in structuralism. However, they perform the main analytical function: they make it possible to show how and why violations and deviations from the original occur in a translated text as well as what their essence and limits are.