Seda Q. Gasparyan, Luiza A. Gasparyan
The paper deals with the study of the English translation of “History of Armenia” by Movses Khorenatsi – a unique monument of the 5th century historical literature the adequate translation of which is of crucial importance as far as the interpretation of Armenian historical, national, cultural and linguistic identities are concerned at the international arena.
The object of our research is the English translation by R. W. Thomson. Its overall study has revealed cases of inadequate translation especially on the lexical level: inaccurate calques of lexical elements, phraseological units among them, obscure transpositions of stylistically connoted words, as well as cases of non-motivated transliteration of elements indicating historical realias.
The research has shown that “History of Armenia” being a real entity of Armenian national historical records is a masterpiece, presenting a skillful intertwinement of the historical, the scientific and the literary – a fact that should have been taken into consideration by the translator.